The Highest Bidder

❊ Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ Tᴡᴇɴᴛʏ﹣Nɪɴᴇ ❊

"You're going to talk?" Sophia had me pushed up against the wall, not allowing me to move even an inch. I tried to push myself further away, but obviously that didn't work. And even if I would have gotten some room between the two of us, she would have closed it again.

I tried to get the attention of the chefs to try and get them to get her away from me, but they made it a point to ignore the two of us. If they did happen to sneak a glance, they didn't help.

"About what?" She shook me. "No, no. Are you going to talk? Or are you going to talk?"

Normally I would have laughed at how flustered the poor girl was. And normally I wouldn't have quite understood what the hell she was saying - because, unlike normal girls, I didn't understand vagueness. Someone could tell me all day about the thing next to the thing with the red color on top and I'd be lost unless they told me what exactly they were talking about.

"I don't know yet," I answered to try and get her to let me go, but her grip only tightened.

"You admitted to his parents that you had feelings for him," she whispered loud enough for some of the chefs to hear and draw their ears closer to us. "And he said he had feelings for you. You two have kissed, too. Have you done it again?"

I had absolutely no idea why she needed to know all of these things. Maybe it was normal for two girls to talk about things like that. But ever since Vince, I kind of drifted away from people unless it was for work. He definitely did a number on me in the few years that we dated. When someone was nice to me, I wondered if it was for an ulterior motive. Then I wondered when it was they were going to change.

I looked away from her. "We need to bring their food to them."

I made it a point to look at the many chefs who had stopped their work to listen in.

She turned and scoffed before looking back at me. "Can we talk after we serve them? Please?"

I sighed and looked down into her sparkling eyes. I wasn't sure what she wanted from me, but if she expected me to tell her that he and I may or may not be talking later on that night, I couldn't say. Because I didn't know. I still had a lot to figure out before I allowed another man to get that close to me.

When I didn't answer her, she pulled away from me and grabbed the tray with the salads while I grabbed the tray with the main course. We had spent so much time speaking that their food was already done.

We walked into the dining room and I allowed her to set down the salads before I rounded the table, setting down the main course. I gave both guests an apologetic smile before turning away from them.

A hand wrapped around my wrist and I turned to look down at Enzo.

He pulled at my arm and I knelt down so that his lips were by my ear. "You can trust Sophia, you know."

I sighed and bowed my head. How was I supposed to tell him that it wasn't that I didn't trust her, but instead I didn't trust what she could become? Human beings are so easily manipulated and can change so drastically. In all actuality, I didn't trust anyone. Ever. I didn't completely trust my parents. I couldn't bring myself to completely trust Enzo. And although Sophia was like a sister to me, I couldn't bring myself to trust her fully either.

There were things that not even Enzo could bring up on his computer. Things that I had done in my past that made me into what I am. Things that have happened to me which shaped me into someone who couldn't trust anyone. Even before Vince, I had problems trusting people.

"Go," he whispered. "You know what you can and can't say."

I stood straight and jerked my head in the direction of the doors before turning. Sophia was by my side in a matter of seconds, glancing over her shoulder with a look of confusion. I didn't look back. I wasn't sure where I was going to start, so once we got to my room and sat down on the bed facing each other, I decided to start from the beginning.