Caught In A Name

CHAPTER TWENTY

Warning: Strong and sexual language used.

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The kitchen became quite after Richard's mini breakdown. Well it wasn't really a breakdown per se. He had a moment. Let's just call it that. A moment.

Nicomaine looked at the other two women in the room and watched as they too seemed to be transported to wherever that dark memory was. The look on both their faces were pure anguish while Richard's was simply unexplainable. The moment lasted five minutes tops but to Nicomaine, it felt longer than that. Probably because she couldn't relate with the others since she had no idea what just happened. As Richard looked like he seemed to be getting over that memory and coming back to the present, Elvira gave him one last squeeze before stepping back. Richard took one last deep sigh before looking back up at Nicomaine. That's when they both realized that their hands were still connected; him holding on to hers as if she's his lifeline.

Nicomaine looked down at their intertwined hands and as she was about to pull hers away, Richard tightened his hold. He immediately pulled her closer to his side as if saying 'don't you dare'. Nicomaine, for her part, didn't fight him. She let herself be pulled and in fact, she voluntarily moved a lot closer to him. Probably a lot closer than what was necessary because Richard glanced at her with a questioning expression but when she just shrugged her shoulders, he smiled and gave her a kiss on top of her head.

"I'm sorry" he whispered.

"Hey, no need to apologize. We all have our dark secrets. Skeletons in our closets, as the saying goes" Nicomaine whispered back. "But a background of the story would be nice. Only when you're ready" the last part she added in a hurry.

Richard laughed at that. If there was one thing that he's learned about Maine, it's the fact that she can be brutally honest. She does not sugar coat her words or hide her feelings. My kind of woman!

"I will explain everything later, okay. Later."

"Later then" Nicomaine reaffirmed.

Elvira and Lucy stood to the side observing the two. Watching the exchange with smiles on both their faces. Until finally Elvira clapped her hands to catch their attention.

"Bueno. Siéntate todo el mundo para que podamos comer. La sopa se está enfriando [Okay. Sit down everyone so we can eat. The soup is getting cold]."

Richard and Nicomaine literally jumped apart, guilty looks on both their faces as if caught doing something illegal. Lucy couldn't help but laugh out loud at their expressions. She was still laughing when she went to help her aunt scoop the soup into three more bowls.

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Lunch was a noisy affair even if it was mostly Richard, Elvira and Lucy were the ones talking. Nicomaine silently observed their exchange. She answered questions when asked directly but most of the time she remained silent. She noticed however, the first few times that Lucy or Elvira asked a question regarding her and Richard, Richard was quick to change the subject without sounding rude. The other two must have noticed because they stopped probing and the conversation mainly focused on nonsensical stuff such as the state of the house or Richard's horses. It was awkward at first but as the meal progressed, the mood turned to familial banter. But if she was being honest with herself, she kinda felt a little out of place because she can clearly see the strong sense of family among the three. It made her miss and long for her own family, suddenly feeling the emptiness of her life in the last month.