"I don't care about what people are going to say!" He held her hands so she couldn't hit him again. Her hands quivered in his.
"That's a bizarre thing for a senator, and a man who wants to be the next president of this country to say." He was the selfish one now. "Of course you care," she said in a low tone. Harriet saw it in his eyes that he cared when she gazed deeply into them.
He didn't want to show it.
"Of course I don't care."
"That's a selfish thing to say, sweetheart. You of all people should care about what people will say, care about those children that look up to you for a bright future, care about those people that you want to vote for you for presidency."
Violence doesn't always work. Peace doesn't always work either. You just have to try something. And she was trying peace. "I'm not walking out there by myself, Luther, when this is for your own good. I don't care if you have an appointment or do not."
Luther was about to get started when Thomas came down the steps, already dressed in clothes for the summer. The summer didn't call for something flamboyant, it called for simplicity.
He knew they were fighting. He had been watching them, but they didn't know. And, to be honest, he was getting scared that his family was going to tear apart. He didn't know what they were fighting about. Seeing them fight made it harder for him to come out to them.
He would never be ready to tell them what he really was. They might just start to fight him like they're fighting each other. That is if they'll be in one piece.
As if he hadn't heard, neither seen anything, he smiled at them. "Hope I'm not going to make you late."
"Um... I am..." Luther began to say.
"Luther," Harriet interrupted. "You will start the program, you'll go with me. I'll make some adjustments on the agenda so you can get to your appointment soon. Fair enough?" Her voice was so calm as if it'd never gone above that pitch.
"OK...Fine. I speak first before anyone, then leave, and be back when my meeting is finished. Fair enough?"
"Let's go," Thomas said, walking between them. He'd not meant to do that. They put him in the middle on purpose. He was fine with that, though. "I don't want to take the blame when you guys are late. You won't remember you had been fixing agenda. What you'll remember is waiting for me."
They giggled. That was exactly what Thomas wanted— a big happy family. He was used to them loving each other than he was watching them fight.
When they stepped outside the house, they spotted Ashley looking at the outside of the fence. She'd not even noticed them reach her.
Since they weren't riding the same vehicle with their children, Harriet and Luther entered theirs and waited for Thomas to get his sister into the one they were to ride. All they did was stare at each other, no comments. The eyes did the talking.
Ashley jerked when Thomas tapped her shoulder. She looked as if she'd seen a ghost.
"Are you okay?" He couldn't resist asking her. "You're sweating..."
"Yeah, I am fine. Hot weather," she retorted, walking past him into the black SUV whose door was already opened and held by one of their bodyguards.
Thomas gazed at the direction she had been looking for few minutes before joining her in the car. He noticed her look out the window in the same direction and wondered what was up with her.
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He'd seen her, again. It brought so much joy to his heart.
He waited for the cars to start moving out the fence before coming from behind the tree he had hidden himself behind when she almost saw him. He watched the convoy that contained five different types of SUVs leave the well–secured fence.
"You can't keep taking such risks, Benjamin," Jane said, coming from behind him, taking off the glasses. "You could get us all here into big trouble."
He would have told her he was sorry, but sorry exposed the weakness of the soul, he thought. Feeling sorry all the time is right. Saying sorry once is wrong. Bad guy's code.
When he was little, his father used to hit him when he said sorry. The man hated the word so bad. He preferred you do the right thing than for you to stand before him stupidly and say you're sorry. That was bullshit.
"I just wanted to see her. She's a beautiful woman, isn't she?" The picture of her standing before him was still in his head. She looked like an angel in that white dress. He had never wanted to take his eyes off her, until she turned his way. He had to hide from her.
"Why do you always want to see her? Why are you so connected to her, Benjamin, huh? What's up with the obsession" She worked for him. She couldn't raise her voice at him.
Benjamin had told her to stop asking him so many questions. He wasn't obligated to answering any of her silly questions. He never would.
Why couldn't he be obsessed with her? He had gone to jail for many things, had knew many people who had gone to jail for many thing, but has never gone to jail or seen a person go to because of obsession.
"I told you to stop asking me a lot of questions." His voice was very demanding. virile.
"I work with you, you shouldn't keep me in the dark. I'm fighting this war, as you call it, with you, but it's meaningless fighting when I don't know what I'm fighting for." She stared at his beautiful eyes, searching for the answers behind the walls he'd built. If only she could climb those walls to see what was on the other side of the fence.
Benjamin was uptight. With information about himself, like what made him go to prison, he was downright uptight.
He walked closer to her, went down to her ear level. "You and I know who owes who here," he whispered, watching the hair on her neck stand. "Satisying me is your first priority, you know that? The fact that you're fighting for me makes this meaningful. You also know that, right?" She nodded.
Benjamin took few steps back after speaking into her soul. "Have you done what I asked you?" She nodded her response.
"Yes. I was able to make only one side of the securities system weak. You'll be able to see her from there, and everything else that you'll want to see. He's the last speaker, so there's no need to rush getting your men over the building opposite the venue. They'll get bored or caught, because the security has good eyes that would spot the nose of a sniper," she explained everything to him.
He was satisfied with her work, her dedication. He didn't break a smile, though. "That's good. No more mistakes this time."
"The first one wasn't mine. She found out and found a way to stop you. Us. She wouldn't admit that." Jane tucked her glasses along with her hands in her coat pocket.
"She better not find out about this one, you hear? Do you think she's expecting me to show up?" He didn't ask out of fear; rather, he anticipated imposing fear.
"She expects anything, Benjamin. But don't worry, I have it all settled. There's a hotel on the right side of the place, I got a room facing the stage. You can watch it all happen from there."
"I'm going in," Benjamin said.
"What?" She was shocked. This man had to be a psycho.
He tapped her shoulder and walked past her. "I'm not watching from a goddamn hotel. I am going in." He continued walking amongst the trees. Dried leaves crunched under his boots.
She waited few seconds, gazing ahead of her, taking in the words, before walking fast behind him. "You can't go in!" He was mad. He was. "It's impossible."
Reaching to his black van, he said, "Make it possible." He stepped in. The door was closed by one of his men. The driver drove away when Benjamin settled in his seat at the back of the van.
Jane watched the van disappear. She put her glasses back on and walked into the direction she had come from.
She had to reach the venue before Harriet, and Benjamin. She didn't want Harriet asking where she had been. And she needed to put a trusted man at the gate of the building so Benjamin could enter with ease.
Benjamin sat straight in his seat when he couldn't see her again. He knew she was a strong woman. What she'd been through made it evident that she was a goddamm strong woman.
"If you'd ask me, I will say we need to keep a close eye on her. She seems to be getting weak."
"No need for that, Rio. I need her to believe that I trust her very much. Jane is smart, she'll know when we start to do that." He lit a cigarette. "I'll get rid of her when I don't need her. For now, let her clear the path for us without any fear." He keep his eyes straight ahead of him.
Benjamin reclined in his seat. He blew out a mouthful of smoke from his mouth and nose.
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A/N
Can't believe I edited two chapters today. I'm proud of myself. I'm a good writer but a damn lazy editor (clearly one of the reasons I have so many mistakes in the story).
Hey...my lovely readers, here is a little secret for you. I have written chapter 35 through forty. I just need to edit and post. I'm too lazy, though. Maybe your comments and rates will make me strong. I'm sure.
Trust me...I'll post chapter 35 tomorrow if I can get five comments and votes on the story today. That's a promise. But I'll still post it, though, just not tomorrow. That is if I don't get the comments and votes. Please don't take it differently. Its just for fun. I'm not imposing. I can never impose on the lovely people that I need.
Xoxo Mitch.