Haven And Chaos

57) Gale's flickers of jealousy

I helped Rose prepare lunch while keenly observing her. She was indeed pretty and not an open villain, so why was she trying to attach herself to Gale?

"You like him don't you?" My mouth ran before I could control it.

She cocked her head towards me and gave me a broad smile. "Maybe. Don't you?"

I frowned, feeling insulted. Why would I like Gale Grayson? He was the one man I hated even though my body sometimes responded to him in ways that disgusted me.
"I don't even know him," I murmured throwing my eyes out the window. But I did know him, a little too well than I wanted to.

"Then why, why-" she put down the knife to face me fully, "-why did you do it?"

"Huh? Do what?"

She brought her hand to her mouth and made the BJ gesture. My eyes couldn't help but grow round like inflated balls. How...

Rose chuckled picking up the knife and continuing with her chopping. "I guess you want to escape this little place as well. I've been dreaming about leaving the village, but with no money and no connection in the big cities, it has slowly become a fantasy."

So, she wanted to use Gale to leave here?
That was more believable and quite smart. I thought she'd turn out to be like Lori and Mia. But she was after Gale only for her survival. It was acceptable, I guess.
It just hurt me that I couldn't help her out at all for I needed more salvation than she did.

"Where are you from? And how did you end up in this shitty place?"

About time. She hadn't asked me such expected questions since we met days ago.
I turned for the sink and turned it on to wash the lettuce. Could I trust her?
But if I continued holding in all these feelings and urges, I'd explode and die.
Ever since Gale showed up in the club, I lost any social exposure, isolating me from people whom I could be friends with.

Rose might have been a stranger with her share of difficulties, but I could connect with her through our need to escape our realities.
"I'm the daughter of a baron-"

Her knife clattered noisily on the counter from what I presumed as shock.
Our eyes collided, letting me see the dread consuming every inch of her face. "Are you..."

"Oh no. I'm not from this county or anywhere close by."

She relaxed a bit, lowering her guard. "I guess you're not lying. Not that the monster had any female kids... But, how did you end up here? You must be far away from your home."

I smiled painfully as the events of the recent past flashed before my eyes. It felt like I had lived three lifetimes in less than sixteen months.
"I could tell you the whole story, but that would take ages... To make it short, I made a mistake and I'm being made to pay for it dearly. My family left me in the hands of my captor so they'd reap political benefits, and thus my entire life crumbled. How I got here, I don't know. They might have drugged and dumped me here to suffer."

My words weren't entirely lies. Gale did want me to suffer. But I also wanted to prove to him that I could hold on even in a storm.
"Oh Maya, you're more pitiful than I am. How old are you? You look like a seventeen-"

"Nineteen," I corrected with a teary smile as my emotions came undone and the mental stress rolled off my shoulders for a little while. I had been dying to say these words to another living soul but hadn't had the chance to. And now that someone else knew my story, I just wanted to cry and feel vulnerable without any judgment.

"Jesus! You're so young. I'm so sorry."
One moment I was restraining my tears and looking away, and the next I was being embraced by Rose, robbing me of the control I had over my emotions.
I hugged her back and began wailing like a damned baby while she rubbed and patted my back comfortingly.

"Hush, it's okay. You managed to escape them, don't let the bad memories dull your present Maya. We got to live through these horrible challenges so that we can appreciate the peace when it comes."

More tears.
More ugly sobs.

"How about this," she pushed me back gently to look into my eyes. Using her thumbs, she wiped my tears. "I heard that traveling merchants live a promiscuous life. If either of us can manage to trap Sir Grayson, we can get out of this place," she whispered rubbing my cheeks. "He doesn't seem like a terrible man. All we need is his money to leave this village and go somewhere else to start a new life."

The sincerity in her face as she told me her plan without fearing I might betray her was too touching. I had judged her too harshly before getting to know her story and why she approached Gale. That was quite terrible of me. Made me feel guilty as I looked into her glittering brown eyes filled with so much hope.

I knew Gale and his trust issues. He wouldn't willingly take Rose from this place unless he got something in return.

*************************************

I knocked on his door, my hands possessing a slight tremble to the request I wanted to ask of him.
'I think he likes you. Take this and try to lure him in. But don't do anything you're not comfortable with,' Rose had said letting me bring Gale his lunch.

"Come in."

I saw him lying leisurely on his bed scrolling through his phone as if he didn't have an entire state to manage.
"Anything else?" I asked placing the tray on the bedside table.
I had to act normal and stomach any rudeness from him just for today.

"Were you jealous?"

"Sorry, what do you me-"

He lifted his eyes from his phone to give me a look of disinterest. "About Rose. She seems to like me enough to want to accompany me at night."

'Don't get angry Maya. Hold it in. Hold it in.'
"Why would I be jealous of that? She's a woman, you're a man. What's wrong with two grown-ups fucking?"

Gale sneered throwing the phone on the space beside him to focus his stare on me.
"Or is it that you're jealous of me?"

That made no sense from whatever angle one looked at it from. Jealous of Gale? The absurdity!
"Are you feeling okay, 'Lord Gale'? You're uttering nonsensical statements that make-"

"Then what were you two doing in the kitchen?"

I gave him a disappointed look. "What else, cooking of course."

"Your eyes are swollen. Did you cry your jealousy away in her arms while she comforted you like a child?"

"Jesus, Gale, just say what you wanna say already!" I snapped, my patience disappearing in an instant.
He stared into my eyes for half a minute as if searching for the answers he sought without needing my words.

"I saw you two in the kitchen while passing by. You two must be really close. I'm unsure what you intend to achieve by developing a relationship with her. Or is this your true nature coming out?

"So, have you slept with her already? Or do you intend to make her chase you for a little longer?"

My jaw almost came undone. What the fuck had I just heard from a proud man like Gale? He sounded like he was...jealous.