What are you doing to me?
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Val walked down the steps, still wearing the same clothes as the day before. "Good morning, boss." Artem said as he began to eat his own food. "I don't know if I'd consider it good." Val said bluntly, still thinking about the horrible dream he had.
"What's wrong, why isn't it good?" Artem asks, curiously wondering what's going on. "Yeah, why isn't it good?" Sharna asks with a slight bit of fear, hoping that the other gang hasn't found them. "It's nothing, just no day is good to me." Val says as he shrugs, and Sharna frowns.
"What's wrong with Val?" Sharna asked Artem in a whisper tone. "Well, besides everything, he's stressed out about a lot of stuff. You girls being one of them." He says in the same kind of whisper tone, as Sharna shakes her head.
"Why is he stressed out about us? Even if anything happened, it's not like he would care." Sharna said with a harsh tone, as Artem raised his eyebrows. "I wouldn't be so sure about that." Artem said, as he left Sharna stunned.
"He cares? I think Artem's lost it." Sharna mentally said to herself as Val sat beside of her, starting to eat his breakfast at the kitchen table.
"How'd you sleep?" Val asks Sharna with a deep and raspy voice. "Not too bad, under the circumstances." She shrugged as Val nodded. "I'm glad. As long as some of us are getting sleep." He said with tiredness very evident in his voice. They both sat there in silence, as Sharna's mind wandered off.
"After you're done with breakfast, can we talk?" Sharna timidly asked as Val paused his motions. "About what?" He asks with a higher pitched tone, anxious about what her answer might be. "Just some things." She said simply as Val nodded. "Oh, okay. Um-" He isn't able to finish as she interrupts. "We can talk upstairs." She said, before quickly making her way up the stairs.
Val blinked a few times and tried to process everything she said. "Just some things? What does that even mean?" Val quietly asked himself, as he sat there in confusion, finishing his breakfast.
Once he was done with his food, he walked back upstairs, and assumed that she wanted to meet in her room. He lightly pushed the door, and saw her changing into different clothes. She was only wearing a lace bra to cover her chest as she began pulling up her pants while Val quickly stuttered out some words. "I'm sorry, I d-didn't realize y-you were- um, I'll be in the hallway." He shook his head as he shut the door, making sure it was completely closed.
Sharna quickly slipped on her t-shirt, and regathered herself. She slowly twisted the door knob and saw Val sitting on the ground, sitting against the wall. "I didn't realize you'd finish breakfast so quickly." Sharna said as her cheeks were obviously red. "I didn't expect you to be- um... undressing." Val said shyly as he re-entered her room.
"How about we forget that, and instead, we talk about the things I wanted to talk about." She said as Val took a seat on her bed. "Artem said you're stressed. I get being stressed about an enemy gang, being in the drug industry, and being the leader of a mafia. I definitely get that.-" Sharna paused, before resuming her statement.
"-But he also said, that you were stressed about us, 'the girls'." Sharna said as Val gulped. "Since my men took you, you're my responsibility now, and I-" before Val could fully finish, Sharna had a small response. "A quick reminder that we aren't children, and that we're grown women." Sharna said as Val nodded.
"I understand, but in a situation like this, you are- I mean, you guys are still my responsibility." Val said as Sharna began to slowly pace back and forth. "We don't have to be your responsibility! Take us back to New York, I doubt that this "enemy gang" will care." She said as Val shook his head.
"You don't understand. I could spend hours trying to explain everything to you, and you still wouldn't comprehend the things that they would and could do to you." Val said finally as Sharna stopped pacing. "Why would we be important to them?" Sharna asks the question that she's been wondering.
"Because you're worth more than you think." Val said, hoping she didn't ask further questions, but she did. "What I'm worth... do I want to know what that means?" She asks slowly as Val shrugs.
"You shouldn't want to know, but I'm sure you're going to ask anyways." Val said bluntly as Sharna decided it was her only chance to ask him. "What exactly do you mean by 'my worth'?" Sharna asked as Val sighed.
"They know that you girls are with us, and they've gotten a good look at you. You're obviously beautiful women, and they're in a specific business that targets children and young women such as yourself." Val said, as Sharna slightly knew what he was hinting at.
"They're human traffickers. They abduct you, but not in the way we did, they are much more aggressive. They tie you up and blind fold you, throw you into a truck with a bunch of other girls, and take you into another country before selling you off to the highest bidder. They're evil people. So the next time I say I'm protecting you, just take my word for it." Val said as Sharna's eyes were full of fear.
Sharna sat beside of him, and began to silently cry. Val noticed her tears, and decided it was an appropriate time to embrace her. "Why did you guys have to rob the bank I work at? Why did you have to rob any bank at all?! You're my only source of protection, but you should also be my enemy. I don't understand how I ended up in this twisted situation." Sharna said angrily and sadly as Val began to wipe away her tears.
"If I could rewind time and tell them not to go in that bank, I would have. My plan wasn't supposed to go that way, and I never intended for any of this. Alan and Keo screwed up the mission by revealing their identities. But they screwed up even worse when they took you." Val said shamefully as Sharna sat up, and out of Val's embrace.
"Can we at least go back to New York? You don't have to leave us there by ourselves, but I miss my home." Sharna asked as Val quietly thought about it. "If it will make you more comfortable, I'll do what I can to get us there soon." Val said as Sharna grinned.
"In the meantime, I want you to relax. My men are constantly keeping watch in this house and around this house. I hate to see those tears rolling your cheeks, okay?" Val said as gentle as he could, as Sharna's lips pulled up into a smile.
"Thank you, for finally talking and answering some of my questions." Sharna said calmly and slightly timidly. "It's the least I can do under the circumstances of everything." Val shrugged as Sharna leaned closer to him and pecked him on the cheek.
After that, she got up and left the room, as Val was left with nothing but his thoughts.
"What are you doing to me?" Val asked out loud once she had left the room.
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A/N
If "forgetting to update" was an olympic sport, I'd get gold, silver, and bronze.
- B.
