SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE. School has just started and I only have like 2 lectures a day yet I feel so busy now. Maybe it's because I had so much free time during the holidays and can't adjust to school now sigh.
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Inguinal: Groin area
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"Mr Ambrose!" I rapped noisily on his door.
Silence.
Unsurprised, I continued knocking furiously. "Mr Ambrose, sir!"
I waited for a while. Upon receiving no response, I tried again.
"Dick! I have information you bloody knobhead!"
A maid who was scurrying past jumped as I yelled.
"Sorry. I wasn't talking to you."
Shooting me a terrified look, like a mouse that had spotted a cat, she scuttled off as if her life depended on it.
I sighed. I found myself a perfectly normal and friendly person. Sadly, not everyone thought so.
I brought my knuckles up to bang against the door again. "Hey you with the stuffed ears! I--"
The door was flung open with so much force that I stumbled forward...straight into a very hard chest. A very hard and bare chest.
"What, pray, are you doing, Mr Linton?"
I couldn't respond. My brain didn't even register his words because it was too busy flashing warning signs and screaming.
The warning voice in my head bellowed: Danger, danger! Naked man alert!, while another side of it screamed in part horror, part exhileration.
He was not wearing a shirt, you hear me? No shirt! Nada. Nought. And I was pressed against his skin, his warmth seeping through the thin linen of my shirt.
Pull away! Be a strong feminist!
Against all my morals, I ended up pressing myself closer to him. He felt so good. As I sank into his strong frame, bubbles of warmth billowed in my chest.
Are you mad?
"What are you doing, Mr Linton?" His voice sounded strangled. Maybe I had heard him wrong. After all, he sounded so far away all of a sudden. "Stop this nonsense at once!"
"Mmhmm." My head felt fuzzy. He smelled rather nice. He smelled of money and a whole lot of mannish manliness. Was that even how you described a masculine man? I wasn't thinking straight at all.
Wake up!
"Mr Linton!"
His sharp voice chased away the fog in my brain. I jerked back. "What?"
"You were violating my personal space."
I didn't think you'd feel that way. Quite the contrary really.
Instead of apologising -- which I would only do when the grass becomes blue and sky green -- I snapped back. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt? Don't you know how indecent that is?"
"Indeed?" He cocked his head, making the rigid muscles on his torso move in a way that made my heartbeat quicken.
"Yes! So put a shirt on!" So that I can concentrate more on your face than elsewhere.
"You didn't seem to mind that much before that."
Hot blood rushed to my cheeks. Just as I was about to fire a retort, he turned and walked to the middle of his room, leaving me at the doorway. "If you have nothing to tell me then leave."
I shut the door snappily behind me. "Well, coincidentally, I have a lot to tell you. Things that you will definitely have an interest in."
He spun around. "Tell me," He commanded.
"First of all, I want to ask you a question, sir."
"Do not waste my time, Mr Linton. I want to receive answers, not give them."
"Alright, alright." I raised my hands defensively. "It won't take long!"
A grinding noise came from his tightly shut mouth. Oh those poor teeth, always subject to his temper.
When I hesitated for a second, his glare intensified.
"Have you, sir, managed to obtain any information about Samantha's whereabouts?"
There was a pause, so pregnant that maternal death was highly probable.
"No."
The corners of my lips twitched upwards. "None at all?"
"No." He was getting more agitated by the seconds. "Get to the point, Mr Linton."
My mouth stretched into a full blown smirk. "Well, how queer. Unlike you, I discovered some helpful information that could potentially help us find her."
All of a sudden, he was right before me. I blinked twice to make sure that my eyes were working right.
"Tell me everything. Now."
With him so close, my senses went on overdrive. Mind you, he still hadn't put on a shirt.
"What if I say no?"
He grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me fiercely against the wall. My breath caught. I'd be damned! His firm frame pressed against my slightly softer and jigglier one. I was finding it increasingly hard to concentrate.
He leaned in until his lips brushed my ear. I shivered. His voice was low. "Nobody will find your body out in these vast lands. So choose wisely, Mr Linton. Keep on playing a fool or give me what I want."
I ignored the simmering heat in my abdomen and pasted on a smile. "The first option sounds simply spiffing!"
He growled.
"Alright, alright. I'll tell you. But first, get your grubby hands off me!"
My poor, female heart could no longer take his suffocating proximity. I tried telling myself that my palpitating heartbeat was only due to me drinking two cups of tea.
"Back off!" I repeated.
He moved back.
I made a shooing gesture. "Further away. And put a shirt on!"
Eyes flashing like a bolt of lightning across a winter's night sky, he took another grudging step back.
I jabbed my finger at his shirt that was lying morosely on his bed. When he made no move to put it on, I threatened, "If you don't wear it, oh God so help me, I'll stuff you in it myself!"
He grabbed his shirt with one swift motion and slipped into it. I was almost sorry to see his bare skin disappear under clothes as he buttoned it up.
Stay focused. His chest might look absolutely enticing, but don't let that affect you, you idiot!
I shook my head to clear my thoughts and took a deep breath. "I spoke to your mother." He opened his mouth to berate me but I cut him off first. "Which was the only reason why I could pick up clues."
He pursed his lips into a thin line.
"She told me that Samantha returned just the week before but left on the same day. Your father knew nothing about it."
This is bad. Mr Ambrose's jaw was taut and eyes roared with the wrath of a thousand blizzards.
"Mrs Ambrose told me that Samantha broke down before her, trying to tell her something, but Mrs Ambrose couldn't understand her."
I could swear that I spotted a streak of pain across Mr Ambrose's unmovable features. He actually had emotions, more than I thought.
"The words Mrs Ambrose heard -- which weren't really words, mind you -- were," I started ticking them off with my fingers. "Scott, chirnsigh, help and Lord."
His eyebrow twitched.
"After some thought, and with the help of the books in the mansion's library none of you use, I figured something out. Scott is probably not some bugger but Scotland while Chirnsigh was meant to be Chirnside, a town." I crossed my arms and grinned smugly. "So we'll go to Chirnside in Scotland to look for her. Not bad, aren't I?"
"Adequate."
"Oh come on! Can't you give a word of praise for once?"
"Why would I? Whatever you discovered is far from earth shattering and is shockingly simplistic."
I glared at him. "Simplistic huh? So much so that even you couldn't figure it out."
"Irrelevant." He made a dismissive gesture.
"Fine!" I snapped. Even if I discovered a gold mine all by myself, he still wouldn't acknowledge me, simply because I was a female. "That isn't the only thing I now know. 'Lord' definitely stands for Lord Dalgliesh, considering how he was involved with her in the past."
I knew I had hit a soft spot as my employer's aura fell by another ten degrees. I was starting to feel the chill he emmitted.
"Mrs Ambrose told me that they were lovers." I continued on mercilessly. Yes, Mr Ambrose was getting more and more piqued as his sworn rival's name kept being brought up, but I couldn't be overly bothered. I needed to properly convey the information and that slimy, second richest bastard that had tried to kill us multiple times was integral to the plot. "Lord Dalgliesh had tried to woo Samantha and she fell for him in the process. However, you didn't agree to them getting together thus you tried to break them up. This didn't sit well with your father who wanted part of the Dalgliesh's money, resulting in a major disagreement with your father."
"That's only part of the story." He told me darkly.
I shot him a quizzical look.
His fists were clenched tight. "Did she tell you that I was being unreasonable? That I was being selfish?"
"No. But I concluded that myself."
"How quick to jump to conclusions, Mr Linton. Did I ever tell you that that trait could cost you?"
I grinned impishly although deep down, frost seemed to be spreading across my chest. "Nope."
He snorted softly.
"So what happened that makes you slightly less unreasonable and selfish? I doubt that anything can change the fact that you basically consist of those two traits."
"Silence, Mr Linton!"
"Yes sir! Of course, sir!"
He cleared his throat. There was a moment of pin-drop silence before he finally spoke. "It is a long story."
"Take your time, sir. We can afford to waste more time while your sister remains in danger. Furthermore, I wouldn't miss listening to your serene voice for the world."
"Mr Linton?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Quiet! I do not pay you to be sarcastic."
"Definitely, sir!" I mock saluted. "But if this is going to take long, may I take a seat?"
"No."
I sat down on a cushioned chair anyway. When he glared coolly at me, I gestured for him to start. "Go on. We haven't all day you know."
He sat too, opposite me. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he reopened them, they were unfocused as he delved into the anamnesis of his past. "It all started when I was fifteen."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Mr Ambrose's POV
"Eugene and I got into a fight."
"Who is Eugene?" She interrupted. What was with her and her incessent questioning?
But somehow you don't really mind.
"Lord Eugene Dalgliesh."
Her mouth formed an 'O' shape. "You knew each other then?"
"Yes. He used to be my best friend."
"What?" She gaped at me. "You're joking, aren't you?"
I mustered up my most dead panned expression, which got harder when she sported such a comical expression.
"How did you get into a fight? And what did you two fight over?"
"That is none of your business." I snapped. She flinched. My tone softened slightly. "It is not the main point of my story."
"I would still like to know."
"No. That would be a waste of time. The main point is that he tried to get back at me through Sammy--Samantha." I caught myself. Using my sister's nickname sounded strange after all these years apart from my family. "He tried to make her fall in love with him."
Her eyes widened. "Did it work?"
"Unfortunately yes. Knowing that she craved attention and love in which our parents couldn't truly give, he wooed her in hopes of turning into her 'special person'. He wasn't wrong. She fell head over heels in love with him."
"But I don't get how that is revenge!"
"Isn't making me watch my sister fall in love with someone who can't love her back difficult enough? He was lying to her and she believed him." More than she trusted me.
A hot band seemed to clench around my chest. I rarely felt such strong pangs of emotion. The only other time I experienced such tangible feelings was out at sea when I thought that Lillian, my Ifrit was going to di--
Get a grip! Stay in control of your emotions.
I clenched my teeth. I was going soft. Too emotional. I immediately placed a lockdown on my sentiments.
"You must love her."
"What?"
Lillian looked at me with watery eyes. "She must have meant so much to you for Lord Dalgliesh to use her to hurt you."
That simple sentence felt like a punch to the gut. I didn't want to think about it. All that I was speaking served to do was reopen old wounds.
You sound like such a sentimental hog.
I forced myself to continue. "At that time, we suffered from a financial crisis. Eugene provided a way out by offering to help us pay our debts. But it came with a condition." My hand closed around the arm of the chair. I heard a crack from the wood. Pain and bitterness welled up within me without my permission and I tried to surpress it. What was happening to me? My emotions were running rogue.
"What was the condition?"
Without intending to, my mind flashed back to that eventful scene.
We sat at the dining table. Eugene had joined us for dinner. Auden always welcomed him. Partly because Eugene was the epitome of a perfect, rich man's son who shared Auden's ideals. And partly due to the Dalgliesh family's incomparible wealth.
"Sir," Eugene called my father, voice pretentiously polite. Auden glanced up. "I have a proposal."
Auden nodded silently, signalling for him to continue.
Eugene turned and gave me a smug smile. I would have loved nothing more than to punch it off his snotty face. But of course, as a civilised gentleman, I didn't. "I have heard of your financial difficulties, sir. And I would like to help."
Auden tensed. He abhored getting any form of help, especially from a child. His pride often blinded him. I eagerly anticipated Eugene getting kicked out of the house, but it didn't happen.
"How can you help?"
My heart dropped to the depths of my stomach. I knew that once Auden heard of Eugene's plan, there would be no turning back.
"He can't." I hurriedly butted in, sending Eugene my most piercing glower.
Eugene smiled serenely, but beneath that was simmering detest. "Of course I can." Without looking at Auden, he addressed him. "I can help pay off your debts, sir."
"That's great, my boy." Auden's features soured. Getting help from a teenager was not exactly how he imagined clearing off his loans.
"Under one condition." Eugene smiled calmly. Little did I think that that smile would continue to haunt me into adult hood.
My parents stared, part incredulously, part curiously at him. Here was a adolescent boy announcing cockily that he had the power to drag out our family out of what Auden liked to call 'poverty'.
"What is that condition?" Auden asked cautiously.
Eugene grinned at Samantha who was picking restlessly at her food. The way his lips pulled up looked almost sinister. My eyes burned with fury.
"I would like Sammy's hand in marriage."
"That bloody bastard!" My fiery secretary yelled and waved her fist in the air after I gave her a concise account of the situation. "Wait 'til I meet him again. He won't know what hit him!"
"Mr Linton."
"I'll kick his sorry arse for all the bollocks he's given us. I swear to God, I'll kill him!"
"Mr Linton." I said sharply. She-he snapped to attention. I had to constantly remind myself that she was a he when under my employ. "Enough. We must leave immediately."
"We better! I can't wait to find him and give him a piece of my mind!" She started on a furious march out of my room.
"For your information, Mr Linton, we are not going to meet Lord Eugene Dalgliesh anytime soon."
She turned around and looked at me, disappointed. "Blast! There goes my plans for the weekend."
Seeing how crestfallen she was, I was tempted to set her loose on Eugene. Knowing her, she would let out a stream of creative insults and even attempt at hitting him in his inguinal region.
Unfortunately, Eugene isn't one to be easily defeated by a fiesty young woman.
Yet somehow, I didn't really doubt that she could tackle him to the ground.
"Pack your bags. We will leave in exactly ten minutes. Don't be late."
She saluted solemnly, a small smile threatening to break through. "Of course, sir! When am I ever late?"
I felt the muscles in my cheek twitch. I caught myself. Why was I tempted to smile after all that I had to recall about my past?
Have you ever considered that it's because of her?
I snapped, "Hurry, Mr Linton. I will deduct your wages for every second wasted."
"Definitely, sir!" She grinned cheekily at me, then turned and pranced out. Deep down, we both knew I didn't really mean it.
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Short Ambrose POV to make up for late update. *apologises profusely*. I wanted to give some insight into his pov to show his slight emotional development. Hope that it was alright.
Please ebear with me as I struggle to keep up with school. Love you all.
Love,
Beth <3