Found in Darkness

Chapter 11

ELENORA

Rico gnaws on his bottom lip with a look of concentration on his face as he scrolls through multiple phones; there are at least five that he alternates between. His eyes flicker to traffic every now and then but always return to his phones constantly going off; enough to sound like a musical jingle, a really damn annoying one.

Maybe that's why he wears impatient annoyance on his face permanently. From the few encounters dealing with him, the varied looks range from irritation, frustration, boredom, and even amusement, but the underlying impatience is always there.

His cold voice snaps me from my thoughts. "Why don't you take a picture?"

I discover his dark eyes are staring back at me through the visor mirror. How long was he watching me watch him? Of course, knowing his arrogant ass, he probably thinks I'm admiring him.

Even though my face reddens, I give him a scathing glare before I focus my attention on the scenery blurring by in the sunny glow of the morning. The colors are starting to show signs of the season changing.

I love the transitions into a new season; the colors on the leaves fade but give off warmth with a pop of reds, yellows, oranges, and the hint of spice in the air for the incoming fall.

In the winter, I like the crispness and chill in the air that hits you when you walk outside. I can't explain it, but it always gives me a burst of energy. I also love the warmth that seeps into your body after being outside as you sip hot chocolate or curl under mounds of blankets. And there's something magical about everything covered in the pillowy softness of snow.

In the spring, the signs of new life sprouting and fighting through the drabness and dead foliage of the winter gives me hope for what's to come. Finally, there's summer, a feeling of adventure, excitement, and the slight sense of carelessness that sometimes comes with it.

I frown, realizing I didn't enjoy much of that over the last few months because of the depressive mode I've been in after the breakup and not to mention the zombie-like state before that, recovering from what happened.

A sobering thought hits me that the depression I recently experienced felt like a vacation, considering I'm now chained to a new set of problems.

Rico's patronizing voice once again breaks my contemplation. "Since you've gotten that out of your system, there will be an expectation to reign in your lack of propriety and 'whoring' around, as you call it, once we become official."

I gaze back at him slowly as he peruses a folder in his hands. "Excuse me?"

He doesn't bother looking up from whatever he's reviewing. "I can't have a fiancé getting sloppily drunk again to the point where you put yourself in a situation that will end with you getting gang-raped. You realize that's what was going to happen to you, your sister, and your friend, don't you? All three of you would have been fucked up, naked, and dead in a ditch somewhere."

I lean forward in my seat, but the damn seatbelt locks, snapping me back. I grumble under my breath and move the shoulder strap behind me so that I can address the asshole in front of me. "Back the fuck up. Who said anything about being your fiancé? We're supposed to be dating, nothing more. And are you seriously going to lecture me when you were having sex with one of your punch card whores this morning while I was in the same room?"

Jackie gasps next to me and looks between the two of us.

"Angela isn't a whore; we've known each other for years." He snaps the folder shut. "I guess you could say it's the longest relationship I've had." He smirks back at me as I remember teasing him.