Nothing To Lose

You'd Be Surprised

Chleo's POV

"Alejandro?"

"Yes?"

"I'm just calling to let you know that I'm going out."

"Where?"

'To explore the town."

"Who's going with you?"

"I'll ask one or two of the guards."

"Alright. Keep your phone on you."

"Yeah, Boss."

I hung up and went in search of a guard.

Usually, this place was littered, where are they now?

From the kitchen, I heard some commotion outback.

Stepping out I saw a group of men looking to be in their 30s and 40s, talking and smoking whilst others were standing at their posts.

"Hello?" The conversation ceased as they all stared; there was a mixture of expressions.

Lust.

Confusion.

Fear.

Why fear?

Adoration.

Annoyance.

And the best of all...

none.

"Is there anything we can help you with, Miss?"

"Yes, thank you. I wanna go out today to explore the town."

"And you 'd like one of us to go with you?"

"Yes, please. Two actually."

"I'd be happy to, I'm Howard. And this is Lance, we usually come as a pair."

"How sweet." He smiled. "Well, nice to meet you both, I'm Chleo."

"We know, your arrival was big news."

"Oh, you flatter me. While we're all here, how about you all introduce yourselves."

"Well, you know me and Lance. That's Jude, Claude, Grant, and Orson. There's more and some younger ones, but they're out doing the grunt work on shifts." I sat on an empty stool.

"So, what's a normal day like around here?" I asked no one in particular.

"Not much, just some usual drills."

"Drills for..."

Howard looked like a man who'd said too much.

"It's alright, I won't ask you to lie to me." They laughed.

"Very much appreciated ma'am."

"So, are you two ready to go, or do you need time?"

"No, we're good to go. Do your brothers know you're leaving?"

"The Boss knows, and you won't get in trouble if that's what you mean."

We made our way out front where the cars were, and I got in the back, Lance and Howard took the front.

"Anywhere, in particular, you'd like to see?"

"No, not really."

"I guess we're just going for a ride today."

"Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself," Lance suggested, lighting up.

"Hey, don't smoke around her. At least crack a window, boss will kill us if we give his princess lung cancer."