"Is there something you want to talk about?"
Abihirt asked once again. It was understandable that the man felt odd about her unsolicited presence. It was an absurd initiative—Moreau thought, but did not remove the motivation towards the need to address Abihirt's unexpected decision. She quickly took out the necklace and it was now prominently displayed in her palm. "My mother gave this necklace to me this morning," she said after a silence fell between them. There was no hint of Abihirt's reaction. The man barely showed anything, which Moreau felt should have been quite significant. Her guess was wrong. "Didn't I say you should keep it? Why ask my mother to give me this necklace?" she spoke again simply to test the extent to which Abihirt could be more patient with her, though to be honest it was close to not. The man was even too calm as he leaned back against the back of the exclusive chair; typical of an unavoidable boss. "I don't need anyone's permissionMoreau stared longingly at the moment where Abihirt picked up the object, while the man's gray eyes seemed to be studying something on her face. There was nothing for them to talk about. Just the slightest hint of Abihirt's fingertips undoing the clasp of the necklace, then the man removing the remaining distance between them—just urging Moreau to stare at Abihirt's chest in a light blue shirt with a contrasting tie and suit. The masculine scent instantly invaded wildly. Instinctively urging him to hold his breath while whatever Abihirt was doing still put too much distance between them. The chain of the necklace had settled perfectly around her neck and how Moreau felt the man pull out the strands of hair sandwiched there. "Take good care of this necklace." Abihirt's deep, hoarse voice whispered too faintly, but Moreau seriously doubted the trust her stepfather had placed in her. "What if I can't take good care of this necklace?" she asked while touching t
It was almost too long for Moreau to wait in her stepfather's office alone, when Abihirt did not have the slightest chance to object to whatever she had declared. Indeed. There were other forms of alternatives that had been offered to her, but she absolutely refused if Gabriel was tasked with spending something as a form of crucial necessity towards times like these. The most important thing to prevent was to not let others know about the sudden urgency that had almost forgotten to be pinned to the main list. Moreau felt embarrassed at the mere thought of Gabriel receiving even the slightest hint, though in the end she knew how Abihirt would have taken it. It wasn't too bad to have her stepfather pay some attention, though it wasn't the first time Abihirt had shown the attitude—which everyone wanted, including herself, especially Barbara. For a few moments Moreau stared at her reflection in the mirror. The faucet was no longer splashing. It was time to leav
An unexpected question and Moreau instinctively shook her head. Something she never really thought about was watching Abihirt's arm move like he was reaching for something under the table. "Didn't know what you'd like, so I bought you a burger." The man continued to speak, almost mumbling. It was quite demanding that Moreau raised one eyebrow high, as if she needed an image to recall something forgotten, but there wasn't a single piece of crucial information in her mind. "When did you go out for the second time to get a burger?" she asked almost without pause, while a beautiful sight never seemed to want to leave anything between them. "I bought it earlier. Just waiting for you to finish with your important business." Perhaps it should have been like that. Earlier, aside from hurriedly receiving the plastic containing the thing she desperately needed, Moreau had seen something else in Abihirt's hand. Just didn't think the man had thought of the complementary part. It would h
Alright, a little challenging this time. Moreau pursed her lips thinking of a more appropriate attack. Must be really calm as she slowly took bite after bite of the burger in hand. It might be necessary to leave the last small piece until a determined courageous attack emerged. Silently one of Moreau's feet moved under the table. She searched for her stepfather's by simply making a rubbing motion there. Yes, almost a slight rubbing of the leg although there was no direct skin contact. Only the hem of his cloth pants sometimes lifted with her movements. Moreau smiled in satisfaction noticing how Abihirt exhaled heavily. "At least for the next few days you won't be able to touch me, won't you?" she asked rather defiantly. Let Abihirt still be ambushed by various urges not to overstep his bounds. Moreau was amused to find the faintest movement of her stepfather's fingers, then took the action of slowly clenching his fist. There was no hesitation in those gray eye
"Why don't you continue your activities down there?" Again. The man asked the question again, almost making Moreau only leave her lips half open. Immediately relieved when she then said, "I'm leaving. Juan is waiting for me at the training center." A clichéd excuse, but Moreau had made sure that she could act immediately. "Are you sure you can take one step away from this place?" Just didn't think her stepfather would ask something and provoke something between them. "Yes," Moreau said with an almost choked breath. She was ready to run, but Abihirt's touch on her wrist was an electric shock. It held her in place. Moreau stared straight ahead, afraid. However, she would not show hesitation in front of her stepfather. "Are you really leaving now?" Let the man's question again sound like the most threatening part. Moreau just did not want to know that Abihirt suddenly knew how to take part in the game. "Yes, now." And now she could hear
Shrugging, Moreau tried to understand Caroline's reaction... following when the middle-aged woman briefly looked down just to notice Abihirt's work clothes. There was something odd behind Caroline's expression, but Moreau had almost no clue about the most likely thoughts of the middle-aged woman before her. Maybe she was sad? There was no telling whether Caroline recognized that such a pathetic statement was true or the opposite. She made no attempt to learn more about the situation when she detected a loud footstep as it approached towards them. "What are you talking about?" Barbara .... Never would she have thought that her mother would come down to the kitchen dressed in almost... Moreau really didn't have the best words to comment. She hurriedly looked at Caroline as a cue for the woman beside her to understand what was left to do. "Mr. Abi's suit, Madame. I forgot and it was left in the laundry." There was some relief after Caroline said the
Over and over again, Moreau felt the need to really make up her mind after waiting for her mother to seem conversational. At least it was just in time—when dinner was over and the woman was busy with the flickering monitor screen again. Maybe Barbara's work wasn't done yet. Maybe her mother felt the need for more ambition when what Moreau wanted to say was relevant. "I didn't come to this place for pleasantries, Moreau. Considering that you were once my photo model and our sales suddenly increased significantly, I would like to invite you back to be my model. How's that? Do you agree?" "But, I'm not sure about my mom. She'll be furious if she finds out I'm doing a photo shoot. Probably wouldn't be too upset if she found out I modeled for you without telling her." "Then you should talk to her. Persuade your mom until she's willing." That was a conversation some time ago. Moreau was a little surprised at first to find Mrs. Smift showing up at the rehearsal ha
The door to the room opened slightly making Moreau flinch as she was preoccupied with her cell phone. There was no warning from Abihirt that the man would suddenly step in. Showing a barely legible expression. Towering there with an almost flawless appearance—still in his suit. It seemed Moreau was quite affected when Abihirt's single step ushered the man closer. No conversation was expected to start yet. It was urgent enough that she suspected her stepfather wasn't just coming over, but had a specific purpose and didn't want to make it obvious. Moreau instinctively arranged her shoulders against the headboard. Her bright blue irises never failed to notice every detail of the action until the man's buttocks touched the edge of the bed. How she almost held her breath as the sound of the bed crunching became the only thing that was loud. Though undeniably, the quiet between them did not require Abihirt to do anything significant, so it had better be okay. "My mom d
Moreau let her hand soak in the water, letting the touch there, on Abihirt's arm like leaving a trace of mutual need. "Your mother will not be home today." Then a whisper from that deep, hoarse voice added something Moreau had hardly ever thought about. Reflexively... she parted her lips and asked, "Why?" "Your mother asked permission to take a vacation." Okay. She might have forgotten that; about Barbara's statement the other day during their dinner together. But that didn't mean this was part of their freedom, did it? Moreau still wanted to keep the boundaries or actually she was still waiting for when the irritation in her mind would disappear. "But I still want to go home," she said finally. Let Abihirt relent. The man should always give in, though Moreau unexpectedly felt her stepfather's embrace loosen. Only briefly, which made the new touch feel more intimate as she was lifted high and invited to sit by the lake. Perhaps Abihirt
"Thank you." There shouldn't have been anything else. The only thing Moreau wanted to do was put the necklace back on. She would be self-sufficient for times like this. Ironically, there was no time to read the slightest warning when Abihirt unexpectedly pulled her into the lake. "Abi—my phone!" Moreau shouted instinctively. She was now flooded quite high up. Almost her entire body was completely wet. And the very first thing she did was to grab the handheld cell phone that was clearly tucked into the back pocket of her pant. At least it was still on, but it was quite doubtful that it would last after almost the entire compound was submerged in water. She gave Abihirt a sharp look. Didn't know whether to feel grateful when still holding the necklace in hand so tightly. Probably, she would have gone straight to the edge just to make sure if her cell phone was okay or not. Moreau lifted the flat object high into the air. The lake shore felt shallow enough tha
"You have to be careful." Don't know why, but that's what Moreau said. She looked longingly at Abihirt's face. The first brief reaction was a faint nod. There was nothing else to do when she only needed to observe her stepfather's body was out of sight. Abihirt dived. Moreau did not expect that she would be waiting for quite some time. That was surprising. There was no clue about her stepfather from the start. Abihirt's method was definitely not like Froy's who often popped into the air, though this made Moreau feel very scared as she further examined the calm surface after a few puddle runs. Abihirt was completely unpredictable about appearing, and then... at times she would daydream—the sound of splashing water immediately drawing her attention closer. Moreau straightened her shoulders. Unfortunately, she would not immediately find Abihirt turning his head towards her. The man presumably just wanted to scoop up some oxygen and dive back into the water.
Moreau's body suddenly stiffened at the sight of the water splashing, while Abihirt had gotten closer to Froy. The man offered help to his nephew and there was some relief that they were slowly swimming to the shore. She and Gabriel instinctively ran to the lip of the lake. It wasn't Froy Moreau was thinking about. Only her stepfather. Let Gabriel take the remaining action by welcoming the man—who seemed to be panting—to be laid down on the grass with a groan. The cramping was painful. The feeling could be imagined so clearly in her mind. Moreau winced, but also looked over to find that Abihirt had climbed to the ground. Now the man towered over her soaking wet. Staring at his nephew half annoyed, though saying nothing but letting Froy calm down a bit more. Slowly... at least it had subsided. There was still no conversation. However, Gabriel again offered to help when Froy tried to get up from his seat and looked up hesitantly. "I can't find the necklace."
Moreau continued to watch her stepfather. The unpredictable handsome man was now at least trying not to be incensed at any form of resistance from Froy. "You know that throwing something small into the lake will make it difficult for you to find, so why do you keep doing it? You keep throwing Moreau's necklace for no reason." Abihirt's question was simple enough, but it more than made Froy almost faint. The man's eyes moved restlessly. It took a few moments of pause to actually find an answer. "I was out of line, Uncle. I was angry at the attitude you gave Lewi and the way you gave the necklace to Moreau instead!" That was like a huge protest. Froy's voice boomed loudly. The man was lucky, because it seemed like Abihirt had paid with money to make people leave the park, which Moreau only realized when she looked around. Not a surprise. She should be used to it. "What's wrong with that? Didn't I replace Lewi's necklace with a new one?" Abihirt's statement this time made Fro
Moreau thought that Gabriel's involvement in the trip to Sierre De Guadarrama National Park was something that made it an unfair prospect. However, it turned out that she was wrong to include such a notion, as Abihirt's wishes were more understandable when asking her to move to Gabriel's car, while the man walked into the building—quite a flashy place there. Moreau had been to this place before; it was where Froy got married and she ended up asking for permission to leave early. It was a little odd to think that Abihirt had actually come to the man's nephew for some sort of accountability. Now she found her stepfather forcing Froy to walk. Although it seemed forced, Froy would have no choice. The man's body had disappeared in the car. Only a tendrils of shadow remained, then she also had to watch Abihirt's body get into the driver's seat. The car engine started and that's when Gabriel understood to bring them up behind. "Abi wants to ask his nephew to dive
Moreau shook her head for a while. In the end, she decided to lift her face. She was almost surprised—of course, because this was not what she wanted to find; the smallest hint of disappointment on her stepfather's handsome face, no matter how much Abihirt tried to keep every detail of the reaction between them brief. The necklace left to her was indeed a lasting memory and Moreau was sure it was very-very precious. "I apologize." She still could not take it for granted that Abihirt did not want to prosecute anything at the moment. There was an impact where her heart felt like it was being crushed. Staring at the man made her eyes sting and heat up. To the time that kept crawling forward... would soon be accompanied by seepage of water and Moreau would not be able to hold back. Perhaps Abihirt understood how worry controlled the fear in her mind, so the man hugged instead of saying angry. Hugging after letting her tremble as if this was an unexpected outburst of trouble. "N
There was only one step left, so Moreau should have been able to finish this sooner. She swallowed harshly. A moment of staring at the doorknob with great fear before finally being overwhelmed by the determined action of pressing and pushing inside. Perhaps she did so in such a hurry, that the sound that broke the surface immediately attracted someone there. Who would have thought that Abihirt would be towering in front of the translucent glass, while the man's gray eyes were assaulted by the view from outside. There was something Moreau couldn't quite put her finger on. She felt—then—Abihirt was daydreaming, because after all... detecting the man's response; little could be expressed in the odd way that Abihirt acted oddly upon realizing her presence. There were no words. No sentence was even close to being uttered. Silence. And yet, in those moments of near—closeness, Moreau felt how her heart rumbled loudly. Like it didn't want to stop. It was still hammering and sh
"Why don't you come with me, Juan? I'm afraid to go in alone." Everything was supposed to be fine—no; actually—a little fine, until Juan's shocking confession almost made the whole stability of Moreau's mind and how she had desperately fought for, now suddenly fall apart. Juan's decision seemed so absolute, though Moreau still hoped the man would suddenly change his mind and then they could settle this whole matter quickly. Unfortunately, the faint shaking response was something so real. It had such an impact that Moreau almost forgot how to breathe properly. She turned her face out the window, glancing around the place. Not ready to go down yet. Almost desperate at the thought of being so close to Abihirt. What was the man currently doing in there? Busy with some important business? "Just accompany me for a moment." Once again Moreau tried to persuade. This time really craving how Juan would agree. She looked up at the man, but was always met with the