Rich Man

"Relax kid, we already have," I felt as though my remark came with a cocky sneer, but the way the boy was staring at me in awe caught me, in some way or another, a tad off guard.

He lingered under the weight of my gaze, studying my face as my smirk melted into a smile. His distress began fading away, instead a quizzical tweak of the features brought to my attention just how sober and aware he appeared in the low light. Perhaps it would have been smart to flick a light on, but the open curtains and incoming stream of moonlight did perfect justice to the boy's form, strong body leaning against the back of the bedroom door. It was nice to see him like that for a change, somehow relaxed by something that came out of my mouth.

"How?" he inquired simply, not moving so much as an inch.

"Succinct planning."

"Well I understand that. Hello, have we met?" he spouted, eyes troubling themselves with focusing on a particular spot on my face. His gaze seemed to dart all over me as I smiled slyly and stared at the ground.

"For now, just trust me. We tie up loose ends and make sure no one figures out anything, which could be a little tricky, but I trust you."

"So that's it... What happened to the doom and terror involved?" he chuckled with a slight air of nervousness, understanding that what he was hearing could potentially be too good to be true and yet struggling to trust me like he should. Perhaps to him this was but an apologetic gesture, trying to handle the entire situation myself to lessen his load. That was far from the case.

"The doom and terror is still there, but it should be much more manageable," I spoke simply, taking a quick glance down at my phone. Shutting the touch screen off, I stuffed the gadget in the pocket of my jeans and straightened out my top, not so much concerned with my appearance as I was with comfort and mobility. A little birdie set off the red light in my head that had the entirety of my attention angled for the downstairs. Without hesitation, I took the necessary steps to land me right in front of the door and Patrice. "We should head downstairs."

The boy lingered, head cocked to the side as he studied me. There was no intent to move in his eyes, but rather a deep-set skepticism in his eyes that I could not ignore. It was clear that he knew. "What aren't you telling me?"

"You'll understand in time."

He shook his head. "None of that bullshit."

I stopped. "I told you to trust me."

"An I'm trying, but this is all just... It's fucking crazy, Amanda."

The words "no shit Sherlock" threatened to float from my lips, but I held fast and put a hand on his shoulder. The contact forced his eyes from mine, instantly shooting to my wrist as it glided past his face. "Have some faith in me. After tonight and maybe some further coaxing in the next few days, we'll be ready set for the finish. Winrey will be a thing of the past. I'll be gone. Nothing to it."

My fingers curled around the door knob as I spouted those poison words and moved my body past his. I'll be gone. And I could swear, even for the slightest split second, that those words stung him too. Even if it was just a little, there was something there in his expression that changed when he followed me out the door.

But I was not allotted the luxury of time to ponder his potential recurring feelings, nor was I able to take a single relaxed breath as we made our way down stairs. My eyes and ears honed in on Matt and Matt alone, all the while playing my perking ears off like nothing really mattered whatsoever. I was greeted by a glass of wine, handed to me by Savvy, whose sweet expression and intent to converse left me with an ailing heart. Do I force him to take care of the dirty work an watch to see how he handles it? Or do I just--

"So how much longer do you think your cousin is going to be here?" I could clearly make out the movement of Matt's lips, even from across the room. I should have made my move to glide closer to the action, but one urgent glance at Patrice over my shoulder had the taller boy's eyebrows nitting together in confusion.

"What's wrong?" he mouthed, until I plastered on a fake smile and turned my head away from Savvy.

There was a moment of awkward quiet, during which both Marc and Patrice were completely baffled as to my behavior, until the hissing words left my mouth just out of Marc's earshot. "You should check on Matt." When Patrice didn't move immediately, I reiterated with a slightly louder, "That wasn't a suggestion."

Maybe I'm not giving him enough credit, I had thought to myself right before I turned back to Savvy. But I'll move closer, just in case Bergy gets tongue-tied and can't handle cooking up a convincing white lie or two.

"Are you okay?" Marc asked, facially confused.

I sucked in my bottom lip and smiled a soft smile, taking the glass of Zin and inhaling its rich scent. "I'm fine. Bergy just gets a little clingy is all."

The older man smiled at the thought, nodding, "Ahh, I get it. You two love birds enjoying yourselves? I mean I've heard rumors, but I figured I might as well get some kind of confirmation from you before I assume anything."

"Look at you, so wise with age," I cracked. He chuckled. A faux shiver shot up my spine and he nearly tore off his coat, but I shook my head at the sweet gesture and nodded toward the roaring fireplace on the opposing side of the room; it was the same side of the room only feet from where Matt was standing, perhaps growing even more suspicious with the passing second. Patrice was standing leisurely beside him, not so tuned into their conversation so much as he was enjoying himself talking to some other girl.

I clenched my fist, trying not to break the neck of the delicate glass in my hand. He was paying no mind, even after I dropped a hint like that. We'll have to have a little chit chat later, I mentally sneered, pulling myself together enough to lick my lips and nod toward the fireplace. "Let's sit by the fire and talk. I guess I've got some explaining to do," I tousled my hair as I lead the way, weaving through bodies until I found my place maybe all of three feet from Matt's back. It was reasonably within earshot.

"Really," Matt had just finished saying the word, "I didn't know she was that smart."

"How long do you think you'll stay here?" Savvy asked quietly, watching me with intent eyes as though my reply were somehow critical to his state of well-being. Little did he know that I had just had the same conversation with Blake.

"I'm not so sure," I stated honestly. "If I find that I can create enough work for myself here then maybe I'll stay, but for now I need to set my sites back on the big picture."

"Which is?"

I took a breath, but sighed. "I don't know."

"You've been here for how many months now? And I remember you talking to Milan about how you thought about selling your apartment back home to find one here... I mean it's obvious you love a little more than just the city... It'd be a shame if you just up and left."

My fingers twitched against the pocket of my jeans, over where my phone lay silent, unmoving. "Yeah," I murmured, taking a slightly longer swig from the win glass in my hand, "A real shame."

"Where's she from again?" Matt asked quizzically, watching Lex's face with all too much curiosity, suspicion. My entire body tensed, eyes darting over to Patrice's turned, clueless back. The urge to give him a good palm to the back of the head was prevalent, but I held fast and turned back to Marc with alert ears.

"I mean if anything, if Lex gets sick of you living with her, I always have an extra room. Plus I've got the whole house, not just an apartment," the older man offered sheepishly. "That is, if you're not already moved into Berg's place."

"She's from Minnesota," Lex offered Matt.

The blonde boy paused for a moment, watching her with a perplexity that made my stomach knot, but my mind reel with potential answers to fire back at him. Recover, Lex. Fucking recover, I mentally coaxed, but to no avail. Matt beat me to the punch. "But I thought you said... Didn't you say Ray's from Arizona?"

I was about to stand up, thankfully hearing my own name as not too look like some kind of shameless eavesdropper. However, an unexpected tap to Matt's shoulder left me flat on my ass in front of the roar of flame, Savvy now watching me, likely wondering what the hell was going on. The poor guy was offering me a place to live and I was busy getting ready to cover my own ass.

"No, man, she's living in Arizona for work, but she grew up in Minny," Bergy cut him off, turning just enough to shoot the answer at him. Matt seemed to take the information just enough to drop the subject, but there was still something there; something dark lingered in that boys eyes, his shoulders never quite relaxing in acceptance of accurate information. His body language never changed, whimsicality never returning to his usually boyish features.

Patrice shot me the briefest of glances, blank as slate, before returning to his conversation. I was forced then, to lean back into my conversation with Marc as though nothing had happened, as though Patrice hadn't just completely handled everything at the drop of a hat.

As if he wasn't just as good as I was.

"Relax," the text I received but two minutes later read, "I've got your back. Talk later, okay?"