Skaii rubbed her tender shoulder as she sat up from her fetal position on the bed. The point of her toes were crisp, and her teeth chattered, she automatically turned to the floor to ceiling window in her room, the ink black curtains were dancing to the morning draft. A wave of anxiety encompassed her when she saw this, but she then realized that she left it open last night when she used the stairs outside her bedroom.
This was her route when she needed to avoid Matthew, now it was to avoid her mother. Skaii was not too concerned with what happened last night, she knew Deane. He was a proud man, that meant his wife should be too. He wouldn't attack Skaii for what happened, he'd blame Sophie for not disciplining her daughter enough.
Skaii rolled her eyes at the thought and slipped out of bed. Today was the day to feel like herself again, she might be one hand down for the rest of the semester but at least she had her legs. She noticed that the house was more quiet than usual but did not spare that notion a second thought. She got ready to leave the house with just one thing fresh in her mind, Nicholas' words and it was only when she neared the kitchen that her mind mulled over by the two people who were seemingly waiting for her.
"And where do you think you're going?" Deane spoke up first, his tone cold, which mirrored his face.
Skaii glanced behind the big blonde man to her mother, who was ironically standing in the same position as last night when she received her slap. Sophie smiled and turned her head slightly to reveal the cheek Skaii had planted her hand, it was swollen and slightly discolored. Skaii's eyes narrowed slightly, those bruises were clearly exaggerated, she wasn't even hit that hard. She must have applied some form of makeup to pull off this look.
"Yes, I told her that I admired your strength," Deane chuckled as he took in Skaii's expression. "But do you know how much time it will take for her to get back to work?"
Skaii's gaze shifted back to her step father and noticed that he was playfully shifting a paper between his fingers. She remained silent. "I asked you a question." His voice rose slightly.
Skaii shrugged, "I don't care."
"I know, but no wife of mine will appear anywhere like that!" He swiftly pointed to Sophie's face who was standing there meekly, and as delicate as a white rose. Skaii almost laughed, wasn't this the woman who was screaming at her the night before? The woman who sold her? It did not take long for Skaii to figure out Sophie's rouse, she knew that Deane would have simply ignored the situation if it was just a mere slap so she decided to use something else she knew would anger him. Her face.
Sophie was the face of a multimillion dollar firm in the country, since she was the wife of not just the CEO but the company's managing partner. This meant she was also dealt with high end deals when Deane was not available, no top ranked socialite would want her to represent them with her current appearance.
"Sophie, tell your daughter how long it will take your face to heal." Deane ordered.
"A few weeks, maybe a month, if there's any serious dermal damage." Sophie hurriedly spoke.
Skaii rolled her eyes and snorted at Sophie's incredulousness, "A few weeks?"
Deane nodded, "And that's how long you will work to prevent any losses to the company and others around it."
"Work?" Skaii rose an eyebrow, her heart quickened as he handed her the paper in her hand,
Scripts
5:30pm
-Were etched on it. She recognized it almost instantly, it was a bookstore not very far from the square. A bookstore. When Deane proposed work, that wasn't what he had in mind for her. A club was more his style.
"School is in 10 minutes." Deane added before Skaii could say anything else. What did he just say? School? They expected her to return to school this quickly, it wasn't even two days since she got discharged. He headed towards the large G shaped kitchen and snatched up a mug from the rack. "Oh, and Skaii, since your mother can't leave the house, you're driving with Matthew today."
Skaii's stomach churned at the mention of her step brother's name, she opened her mouth to speak but no words came. Deane didn't spare her another look but his tone was resolute. Matthew had been non-existent for the past couple of weeks, no one had mentioned him, nor did she hear him. This was going to be the first time she would see him after what he did to her, the sudden ache in her stomach was an indication of her dreaded impending encounter with him. Ominous thoughts raced through her mind, she had lived with Matthew for some time now and was almost sure he had some dark scheme intended for her. Skaii left the room, she did not bother to refute Deane's decision of work, she would have to deal with her actions somehow, but there was no way she was getting into a car with his son.
Skaii hissed under her breath when she stepped through the door and her eyes landed on Matthew. He was propped up on the hood of his black Porsche that was parked in front of the house. Ever since their move, Sophie drove her to school and almost every morning she was reminded that Deane did not trust her enough to give a car.
When Matthew spotted her, he began to grin from ear to ear and a cold shiver ran down her spine. Skaii cursed herself for not turning back before he saw her. She took a deep breath and held it, unconsciously dipping her head under her long black hair to avoid eye contact as she stalked towards the gate.
"Good morning Skaii." Matthew shouted, his heavy footsteps sounded on the granite floor, indicating that he was now following her. The footsteps increased and Skaii cursed herself for not being able to run. "Careful Skaii, it would be sad for you to tragically fall and break your next hand." His voice was dark as he tapped the cast on her hand. She swallowed hard. He was towering over her, she couldn't move, he was holding the buzzer to the front gate in his hand. The heels of her feet hit the cold metal of the gate, and a fresh wave of fear blossomed. There was no more room to escape him. As he was about to grab her arm someone shouted Matthew's name. They turned to the person standing on the lush lawn the next property above the fence.
It was Nicholas.
Skaii found herself breathing out in relief. Nicholas's eyebrow was raised as he took in her presence, his mind went back to their meeting yesterday- in not many words, he told her that she only came to the neighborhood to sleep with someone.
"Hey Nick what are you up to?" Matthew saluted, he glanced back once at Skaii who took the opportunity to quickly snatched the key from his hand. His mouth pressed together tightly then turned to Nicholas, completely masking the fire in his chest he wanted to release.
Nicholas shrugged, "My car is coming in today." He told Matthew nonchalantly, then shrugged. "So you just gonna stand there the whole day looking pretty?"
"Me? No man, that's my sister's job." He laughed and nudged Skaii in her side with his elbow. She just stood there. Nicholas shifted to Skaii again after Matthews revelation. So she was the step sister Matthew talked about. That meant she lived in this lake house with them for years, Nicholas smiled to himself. She could've shut him down anytime she wanted last night.
Skaii looked between the two and scoffed. Matthew was so good at pretending. Sometimes she found herself wondering if he really was. A few seconds ago, he was threatening to break her hand, now he laughed and talked like nothing happened.
Nicholas' front door opened and slammed closed and a few seconds later, Mr. Harvey was walking towards them, fully clad in a grey suit, his badge on the waist of his pants. His dark-brown hair bounced, his gray strands glistened in the morning sun.
He smiled in surprise when he saw Skaii.
"Mr. Shaw, Miss Holder, nice to see you again." He greeted from the tall fence that parted the compounds and then turned to Nicholas and said, "Nicholas, if you don't mind, I'm running late." With those words, Matthew's lips curved upwards in a triumphant grin. Soon Skaii will be alone with him again.
As if reading his thoughts, she created more space between them.
"Mr. Harvey," Skaii blurted out unconsciously, she ignored the curiosity in both boys eyes and continued, "I don't want to intrude, but do you mind me riding with you today? It's getting late and Matthew's not ready yet." Skaii made sure the smile she pasted on her lips didn't falter, even though her inside was going through a storm.
"Who says I'm not ready? Five minutes isn't long." Matthew said, realizing her true intentions.
"No, I think it would be best to not be late on my first day back, just for today." Skaii insisted, smiling at the man. Matthew knew he couldn't create a scene before the two men so he didn't protest any further. She could feel Nicholas staring at her, but she didn't dare meet his eyes.
"Of course you can ride with me Skaii, but for the rest of the journey it's just you and Nick." He said gesturing to his son, Nicholas threw his father a look. This man really knew how grate on his skin. "I'm taking him to pick his car up, then I go to work." He said while he fished for his keys. Skaii bit down on her bottom lip as she looked over to Nicholas, his expression was blank.
Skaii buzzed herself out the gate and followed Mr. Harvey to his black Chevrolet Cruze. Matthew remained standing in the yard with a look his eyes that told Skaii she would regret it. With the use of her right hand, she got in the back. Nicholas was the last one to enter. He sat in the front passenger seat and popped out his phone after clicking his seat belt in place.
"I thought you said you didn't live around here Skaii." John glanced behind Nicholas to Skaii who was leaning onto the door.
"I did, your son was so convinced that I didn't. I didn't want to burst his bubble." John threw back his head in laughter. Nicholas looked from his father to the mirror at her with a frown. When their eyes met, Skaii winked at him.