Chapter 25 - Sweatpants And A Tank

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I closed the door to the bathroom, licking my cut lip as I braced against the counter for support. I lifted my shirt slowly to look at my stomach. The bruise wasn't formed yet, but it was getting there. The redness was bright and even running a hand over it hurt. I pulled my white long sleeve all the way off, turning the faucet on in the shower before stripping the rest down. I stood under the warm water, letting it run over me and down to the floor and disappearing down the drain. My muscles relaxed, and I held the back of my head with my hands as I tipped my head back. 

I quickly washed my body clean and turned off the water, stepping out and wrapping the white towel around me and rubbing a space clear in the mirror. I grabbed my toothbrush and quickly cleaned them before going back into my room. I picked a long sleeve with a turtle neck at the top to try and hide the redness there as well, but it wasn't working. 

I had told Robert that I would be back down in less than half an hour to help him get my father over here, so I just thew some leggings on and let my hair fall around my face. I didn't bother with makeup as I walked barefoot down the stairs and past the living room. I passed Marissa and immediately all three of my bruises felt more painful, like I was super aware of them. I absentmindedly covered the part of my left arm that had hit the bottom of the stairs when I had let Robert punch me a second time. 

I knocked on the open door to Robert's office before walking in, catching his attention before making my way in and sitting in one of the chairs. He nodded to me and picked up the phone, dialing a number from the pad to the right of his phone. He waited a couple of moments before seeming to respond to something on the other side of the phone. 

"I know- yes- John you need to listen- I know the importance of not calling- John just- JOHN!" It was almost kind of comical to finally see someone that got any sort of response from Robert, and even more amusement from my dad constantly interrupting him. 

"Your daughter is here." Pause. "Yes I know what I said." Pause. "She escaped." Pause. "If anyone could it would be someone of your blood." Pause. "Yes, she is." Pause. "Yes, she knows." Pause. "Yes she does." There was a longer pause as Robert listened to whatever my father was saying on the other line, and the silence grew inside my stomach. "She needs her father to explain it all to her. I think you have been gone long enough, John. They know you're alive anyways, just come back." Then suddenly Robert hung up the phone. 

My eyes went wide and I raised me eyebrows, looking at him for answers. I had been down here in case my father wanted proof fo me bring there, wanted to hear my voice, but he didn't. Maybe Robert was right. Maybe my father wasn't the kind of man that I thought he was. 

I hadn't thought about anything but my father coming back. I didn't think about what I might see from this side of him, or what was going to happen once he came home. The man that I knew would have wanted to talk to me. 

"He'll be here in under an hour." I nodded my head. Doubt was swimming in my veins now. I fiddled with the end of my sleeves. 

"Are you, uh, ok?" My eyebrows twitched at the question. I nodded my head and got up from the chair. "You might want to be in something that makes you look less...comfortable here." I nodded again and left his office. There was no doubt that the relationship between the two of us was nothing short of business, but his moments of showing emotion always confused me. 

I walked out of the office, my breathing getting faster as the thought of my father coming here filled every inch of my body. It had been two years. So much can happen in two years. Maybe he wouldn't be the same man that I remembered. Maybe I wouldn't be the same girl her remembered. Maybe he wouldn't be happy with who I turned out to be. 

I was so lost in my head that I ran right into Marcus in the living room. By the looks of it, he had just walked through the door. He held both of my arms, and I winced a little at his hand over my left one. 

"Hey, why the haunted expression?" he asked. 

"Marcus, good, you're home. I need you, now," Robert said from behind me. Marcus gave me one last confused expression. I stepped to the side and wordlessly looked at him, trying to act like everything was okay. He furrowing his eyebrows before walking back to Robert's office. I sighed, running my hand over my forehead and turning back to the direction I was walking. I ended up in the garden, walking through the high walls of greens. 

I ran my hand over the soft petals of the flowers, taking in the peaceful atmosphere. I stood before the bench that I had once called him master. I smiled a bit at the memory of him getting angry about it.

"What's that smile for?" I turned around to see Marcus walking towards me. He had a light grey muscle shirt on with blue jeans. 

"Just remembering when you pinned me to this tree," he smirked a little. "I never really understood why you got so angry with me when I called you master." Marcus walked closer to me, wrapping his arms around my waist and I wrapped mine around his neck. 

"One day you'll find out." I narrowed my eyes at him before he continued. "I have a question."

"I have an answer."

Marcus smirked before returning to his natural state of serious, "What happened while I was gone?"

"Nothing," I said it too quickly. I knew I did, but I didn't know what I was going to say to Marcus about what had happened. 

"Okay, what happened with the pictures this morning?"

"Nothing," damn it, I did it again. 

Marcus leaned into my right ear, "You know your face gets red when you lie." I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. Marcus leaned back and looked back into my eyes. "Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not." Marcus let go over me. 

"Fine, lie to me. It's not like I give a damn-" he was starting to walk away when I grabbed his arm. 

"Wait," I said. "I'm sorry. I just don't know how you are going to react."

"If you don't know then why don't you tell me so that you can find out?"

"Because I'm scared..."

"Of me?" Marcus looked into my eyes, and I watched as a mixture of concern and hurt swam around the backs of his. 

"No, no. I- I just. Your father isn't what I'm used to. Maybe I am blowing things out of proportion," Marcus put a hand on the side of my face. I saw him go to open his mouth when his eyes fluttered to the side that his hand was covering. He pushed more of my hair out of the way.

I tried to pull away but his strong arms held me there.

"What is this?" he asked sternly.

"It's no-"

"Do not tell me it's nothing. Your jaw is swelling like it has just been punched."

I finally pushed his hand away and turned around, "Leave it alone, Marcus. Your father-" I stopped. Shit. I shouldn't have said that. 

"My father?" he was getting increasingly angry. "He did this to you?" I turned around, not saying anything in fear of saying the wrong thing. I saw the switch turn and he was back to the emotionless man I had met the day he rammed his car into mine. 

I watched him walk away into the house. I wasn't afraid of what he would do to me. I was afraid of him saying something to his father to make him hate me more than he already did. I didn't know why I cared about the opinion of the heartless man, other than the small amounts of care he had shown me. It was easy to see the bad in people. Now that I stood here, I could see the small times that Robert had shown me kindness. When he apologized for what needed to be done to get my father back, and when he told me nicely to act the part better. I knew he was just trying to cover his own ass, but it did feel as though there was something more behind it. I didn't know what to do other than go change into sweatpants and a tank top. 


N/A  Uh oh. Family feud might be coming to this book...

What do you think is going to happen when we see Marcus next. Robert?

What do you think is going to happen when John walks through the door? Do you think they are going to be able to fake it so that everything goes the way as planned?

Thank you as always, and until next time, <3 :)

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