CH 7

The word 'DEAL' confused Sofia. "What deal are you talking about?"

He set down everything in his hands and slowly got up from his seat while looking into her eyes. Step after step, they got closer, never breaking off his stare. Calculating her eye movements and all possible thoughts.

With each step closer, Sofia's Fight & Flight instincts were fighting each other. Did she want to know what the deal was? Or could she think of this conversation as a dream and try to find a way to quickly earn the remainder of the money.

He got behind her, put his hands on her shoulder and in a soft husky voice whispered in her ear "That my dear.... is a secret. You will know all about it when it is time."

He slowly moved his hands from her shoulder to the tip of her fingers before completely letting to. Walking around her as he went back towards his seat he added, "You can leave now. And don't forget to take your money with you. Just so you don't think of me as the bad guy, I'll have my men drop you off back home."

After a short period of blanking, Sofia was in a Rolls Royce Phantom moving towards her house. As she looked out the tinted windows, she tried to make sense of what had just occurred, with no result.

At her most confused moment, a phone's ringtone sounded breaking the daze. Taking a look at her phone, a smile appeared on her face. Ben had just called. Right when she needed someone to talk to.

"Hello? Ben?"

"Hi love. How was your trip back home? What did your parents think about us? Were they happy?"

Hearing his voice was the last straw for her. She started to silently cry, not because see missed him but because she had completely forgotten about him this whole time.

"What is wrong? Sofia what happened? Were they not happy?"

After many tries, she was finally able speak "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I could not tell them anything. My brother was in an accident, and now we owe a million dollars for his treatment. I dont know what to do. I'm so lost."

"Hey it's ok. You will find a way. I just called to see how you were. I need to get to work now. Bye."

His ending the call so abruptly left a bad taste in her mouth. Should he not have asked how Sam was doing? Or how she was holding up with all the additional information?

Seeing the familiar metal gate getting closer, she felt a sense of relief. She had gotten to her safe place.

Inside the house, everyone was in a state of panic. Sofia was missing. When they had gotten up, she was nowhere to be seen. Her clothes were there so she should not have gone too far, but they still worried about her. Everything she had heard the day before was not sweets and roses. It was stuff that left a mark on a person, and her having basically raised Sam in their place does not make it any easier, infact it makes it harder. She had thought him how to walk, and was there when he fell. And now that he in a wheelchair, she could not do anything to help.

Right before Rose could call Sofia's cellphone, she entered through the front door with slow hesitant steps. Her face pale and her eyes filled with tears.

"Mom Dad. I dont know what to do. I tried to talk to Mr. King to get an extension but he wanted to go through with his deal only if we not have the ful amount. What do I do now? I dont want to go through the deal."