Soap

Verschlimmbessern

Verschlimmbessern (noun. german)

To make something worse by trying to make it better.

I knew Frank was not okay with how things were executed right now by the way he hesitated when I asked him to take that conversation to the living room.
I couldn't even blame him. At first he though he would win this little made up game and then I just come around and ruin his plans by finding this valuable information.

I couldn't help but smile again when I left the bedroom first on my way to the big couch right in fron of the photograph.
I let myself fall down onto it with a big sigh.
The couch didn't just look expensive, it also felt that way. The fabric was soft yet firm and I was sure that his back wouldn't hurt if he had to sleep on this thing for more than a night.

"Now can you tell me what you want?", Frank said through gritted teeth. He was getting impatient already.
I hope he knew that this was only making me want to make him wait a little longer.

"Where did you get this couch. It's so comfortable!", I exclaimed and let my hand stroke across the backrest.
Frank still hadn't sat down but stood a short distance away, looking down on me.

"You couldn't afford it anyway.", he hissed.

"I think you should sit down with me. I dont like having you look down on me like that. Ever.", I said, completely ignoring what he had just said.
It looked like Frank was debating wether or not to follow my request and even let his gaze hover over the front door for a short second. Maybe he would just run out and still call the police.
That thought scared me a little but I could convince myself that Frank wasn't that stupid.
With a sigh Frank sat down at the other end of the couch as if to bring as much distance between us as possible.

"I'm not going to ask again, Way. What do you want?"

I wanted to keep going with what he had going on here because I liked having the upper hand against Frank Iero. At least once in a lifetime.
But I knew that, the more I waited, the less willing Frank would be to give me what I'm asking for.

"I think you know what I want.", I said and shrugged.

"You want money, right? How much."

I laughed. Of course he thought about money first.
"I dont want your fucking money, idiot.", I said.
When he heard me call him an idiot I could see that he wante to say something about that but still decided against it.
"I want.... no, I need you to tell the police that you will take back everything you said about me stealing your stupid statuette. We both know I didn't take it and you will take back any report you may have given."

"Yes. Yes I will do that."

"And you will tell them that you found it somewhere around your apartment and apologize for your stupidity."
I have him another smile.

"That's a little over-dramatif, isn't it?", he asked.
I just raised my eyebrow to which he held up his hands in defeat.
"Fine. I'll do that too."

"And then...", I continued but got instantly interrupted.
"Wait that wasn't part of the deal. You can't just add wishes upon wishes. Do I look like a fucking genie to you?"
"We don't have a deal yet. And fine, if you don't want any of this I can just go to the police myself. I bet they would love to see the pictures on my phone!"

I acted like I was about to get up off the couch.

"No!", Frank almost yelled and reached out to me.
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back onto the sofa.
For a second I hesitated. I had never touched Frank Iero before. Or rather I had never have him touch me before. and I dont know how but having that changed now made me uncomfortable.
It didnt help that I noticed how soft his fingers feel.
But looking at Frank showed me that he didnt pay any thoughts to that.

"You took fucking pictures?", he asked.

"Of course I did. You could just set the fucking box on fire and everything would be gone. We wouldn't want that, would we?", I grinned.
Frank's face told me that he had tho8ght about doing just that. Burn the box and get it over with. Now that he knew I'm not that easy to get rid of I could feel him get even more impatient.

"Okay fine then tell me what else you want."

"I want you to call my mother tomorrow and tell her that you would like to stay a client of Fresh Heavens. And of course you will pay double to make up for the trouble you have cause us the last few days. Oh, and I will be the one taking care of the job here, not my mother.", I said and leaned back a little.
Frank took a few seconds to take all of it in.
He gave me a confused look before saying:
"Wait, you don't want money but you want to keep fucking working here?"

I knew that to him this would be confusing. Other people might have asked for a ridiculously high amount of money so the would never have to work again.
But I didnt just worn for the money. I worked because it was fun and I could be proud of the money I earned myself. It also gave me a structure in life that I needed to stay sane. So yes, I wanted to keep working.
I also imagined working for Iero with all that I have to hold against him could be fun at least.

"Yes, you heard me right.", I just said.

"And that would be it? Take back my police report and pay double to have you work here?", he asked again, clearly not convinced yet.

I nodded firmly.
"Yes, that's it. For now at least."

"And will you delete the photos when I do all that?"

I though about it for a moment, even though i had already made the decision.

"I will keep them for as long as I find it necessary."

"That is not fair!", frank exclaimed. I almost jumped at how loud he had gotten.

"Maybe. Maybe not. What would you rather have me do? Keep them and be quiet about it or go hand in the evidence right now, huh?"

Frank didn't say anything to that, just shook his head and closed his eyes.

"Then we do have a deal now.", I said and got up.
Frank did the same.

I held out my hand for him to shake.
There is no deal without a proper handshake.

Frank eyed my hand as if it were contagious or something, but after a second or two he finally shook it.

Soft fingers again.

I couldn't help but glance at the photograph to my right that had captured me in every single time I had come here to work.
I almost couldn't believe that this was supposed to be the man right in front of me.

I looked back at Frank, having him stare right into my eyes.

Okay, maybe I could see the resemblance.