Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I couldn't get over what his mom said to me earlier today. It was unclear whether I felt hurt by her comments or pure anger. All I was trying to do was get to know Saida a little bit. Then here she comes insulting me like my feelings wouldn't be hurt. If that's how she talks to strangers, imagine how she talked to her own children? The things she expected out of them. Quite frankly it was too much.

Things made a little more sense why Cyrus wanted to meet with me after hours as he called it. Even though it was just ten at night. The man had no free time like his sister. Hearing that from his mom made me sympathize with him a little more. I may have missed judged him a bit.

The time had come for me to meet him at the fountain. Quietly but quickly, I rushed downstairs out the back door to the fountain. It being dark out now, the fountain was lit up with blue lights all around it. The moonlight adds a little more light to the area. It was more beautiful to look at now than before. I sat down right where I saw Saida this morning enjoying the water. The calmness taking over me. Getting to relax like this was wonderful. There was no sign of Cyrus yet, but as always when I think of him, he pops up.

Sitting down next to me, he was out of breath taking off his jacket running his fingers through his hair. He looked exhausted but somehow managed to come meet me out here. This was his idea. He had no choice but to be here. Though I would have understood if otherwise. Soon he'll be head of the family. That's got to be a lot of stress on one person. Too bad he had a sister instead of a brother.

Laughing, I nudged his shoulders in a joking manner. "Tired much?" I questioned him playfully.

He rolled his eyes sighing out of tiredness. "Very but I'm here." He admitted.

"You could, Ya know, go to sleep." I suggested. Anything to get out of this right?

Cyrus scoffed not listening to a word I said. "And miss spending time with you? Not a chance."

Somehow, he always made me blush. The fact that he was so determined to be around me gave me this nervous feeling. No matter how tired the man was he wasn't letting up. It was like playing one of those platform games and never stopping until you won. That's what he gave me, and I liked it. His mom's words never leave my head. I was filling a role.

Trying to forget it, my attention was supposed to be focused on Cyrus. It was hard because I wasn't really into this like he was. I was cool with being friends but anything more perturbed me. Like what happened in that room. The way he hungrily grasped at my body. That wasn't a friendly move. That was something I don't think I was quite ready for. Even if I didn't resist him. No, my process was going to be getting to know him. No matter how much I wanted so badly for him to pull me into him. His sweet scent captivated me. Be good Autumn.

Naughty thoughts aside, I decided to start asking more questions. Just to learn a little bit about his day-to-day life.

"What exactly do you do anyway?" It came off harsher than I thought. Genuinely I was curious.

Cyrus got comfortable resting back on his hands. "Meeting, after meeting, after meeting. A few interviews here and there but nothing of value." He shrugged. "Technically still learning the ropes."

I yawned. "Damn, you bored me without even trying." I joked. It did sound like a boring day though.

He laughed nudging me playfully. "Hey, I never said I did anything exciting."

We both laughed, feeling comfortable with each other. This wasn't something I expected. Enjoying talking to him. Making jokes together. It was nice and welcoming. Something I didn't know I was missing. Being around the girls was great but being around Cyrus was a different feeling all together. He had this lightness to him that no one would suspect was there. Quite easy to talk to.

"Since I'm so boring what fun thing do you do when you're not here?" He asked me. "You work in the bakery, was it?"

I nodded, surprised he remembered. "Yep! With my friend Kira. More like boss."

He seemed interested. "Do you bake?" The questions kept coming.

"I can, but I only ever bake when I work." I shrugged. "Can't do much of it outside of that."

When you were broke and poor like I was you couldn't always do the things you liked. Most of my money went to the house bills or for Summer. Occasionally I'd splurge on myself but that was always to buy clothes or something. Getting things to bake wasn't something I ever thought of doing. No matter how much I truly do love it. Right now, that can't be my priority.

Taking that in, we chatted some more, asking trivial things about each other. Cyrus was a pretty smart guy. Also talented just like his little sister. Though he wasn't an artist. He expressed to me how much he liked playing instruments of all sorts. He said his mom forced him to learn to read music reminding me of Saida. She was doing the same thing to her she did to him. There were strict rules he had to follow and abide by. Makes me wonder if they just had tedious childhoods with no fun in between.

"What did you do for fun?" I asked blown away by his parent's treatment of them.

He chuckled. "Believe it or not that was my fun." He continued, "especially during summer. See the winter months I'd have school obviously and got my break from that bullshit. But summer, I could kiss it goodbye."

Hearing that made me feel bad for him. I felt worse for Saida. She was going through this and barely had time to do what she really wanted. Draw. I haven't even seen her bring any friends over. If she even had any. Oh, my goodness! Did she have friends? Did he have friends?

"What about friends? You didn't hang out with them?" The concerns I had were endless.

He shrugged not too concerned about it. "I mean I had one friend. Ironically, my best friend but I didn't really concern myself with that."

I was appalled. "What? Why? Friends are one of the most important things growing up." I argued. Not that I know anything about that.

"Yeah sure. Only, when you come from a family like mine it's harder to trust people."

He had a point. I forget his family is filthy, stinking rich. It was hard to tell who his friend was really and who wanted to piggyback off being close to him. That must be why Saida doesn't seem to have any friends. Who could she trust? Not everyone will have the best intentions when it comes to befriending them. Maybe having all the money in the world does have its downfalls. If you could barely trust the people you're around.

The conversation went into a place that he didn't seem to want to talk about. Reading the room, I dropped it because it was supposed to be a fun time. I'm positive he felt the same way. Doing all his boring tasks for the day, I bet he needed to unwind and have a little fun. And fun was something I was going to bring him.

Smirking, I inched closer to the water dipping my hand in splashing him a little bit. His face told me he was intrigued by what I was proposing followed by him splashing me a little as well. I laughed going at him a little more and before we knew it, we were all the way in the fountain playing around like a bunch of kids. I was soaked, he was soaked, but it didn't matter. We were having an enjoyable time running around without a care in the world. This was the most fun I've had in a while. The same could be said about him. His face was gleaming, and I loved it.

However, our fun was short lived as we were in trouble. Thankfully not by his parents, but by their server. Jeremy to be exact and he looked a little furious. More at him than me but I felt the furry coming off him as he stared at Cyrus. Cyrus gulped out of nerves as well stepping outside of the fountain. I followed suit but stood behind him hoping not to draw attention to myself

"Mr. Cyrus, you know you shouldn't be doing this. Especially not at this hour." He whispered angrily. "This is breaking the rules as well, Ms. Monet. You should not be with him unless competition rules state."

"It's not her fault, Jeremy. I made her come out here." He defended me slightly by grabbing my hand in the process, but quickly let it go. Jeremy peeped it.

I stood there saying nothing as he was telling the truth. He did tell me to meet him out here currently. Granted we didn't know we would be caught so suddenly. It would be cool if I got to go home so I wouldn't be just some filler bitch. But at the same time, dare I say, I didn't want to go home. I was just starting to find my footing. It would have all meant nothing if I left now.

Jeremy sighed glancing at me and looking back at Cyrus. "Don't let it happen again, Cyrus, or I'll have to go to your mother. Now please, get cleaned up and rest. You have a big day tomorrow."

"Yes sir." He said before looking at me his eyes giving off this soft expression. Like he was sorry.

We both watched as he walked away, disappearing the further he walked. I missed his company already watching him walk away. I also felt bad that I sort of am to blame for this. We were just too loud, and he heard us. Whatever the case, I was happy he wasn't going to say anything. Saving both our asses.

Jeremy turned around to me with a less angry expression on his face. I couldn't tell if he was about to chew me out or if he was just going to walk away. I haven't really talked to him. I haven't talked to any of the servers honestly. This guy was the head and he seemed close to the family as well. He had more connections with them than the others had. Which scared me.

Sighing, he shook his head before looking away. "Listen young lady, I know this may seem like a terrific opportunity but be careful when dealing with the Hadid's'." He warned me. "I'm not saying anything bad, but because you're of lesser status if you're not careful they'll eat you up and spit you out. You seem like a nice girl, don't let them ruin you."

The way he was talking made it sound like I just joined a cult.