Love Me Tender (On Hold)

Dinner

"Good grief, honestly, it was nothing, just a little bandaging up, he needed it!" My voice cracked. Kaitlyn's glare could have burned a hole in the ozone. "Go get cleaned." Her words were hard and precise. I jumped up and ran to the next flight of stairs, jumping up the stairs two at a time. I slammed the door to Angie's bathroom and spun around. You would think I'd committed a murder downstairs.

I scrubbed my face and arms till they hurt. I didn't know who I was more mad at, me or Kaitlyn? Sure, it was stupid of me to be alone with him, but the door had been open the whole time. No harm done. Yeah, I could convince myself of that.

Did she need to sound so harsh? She had yelled at me like a kid with their hand stuck in a cookie jar. I was no kid, and he was no cookie jar. I laughed.

There was a light tapping at the door. "I know, I know. I'm cleaning." I knew I sounded exasperated. I felt it. The door opened slowly. Little red spikes peaked around the corner. "Angie?" I was surprised they would send her. She was the closest one to my age, and we were just as close as sister's.

"Hey Mirah, just wanted to check and make sure you were okay." Such a sweetie. "Yeah, I'm okay. Do you have any clothes I could borrow?" I really didn't want to put on anything from my wardrobe. Grandfather saw fit to buy me the most shiny, awful things, as gifts, and I knew it was only because they were expensive. His way of getting back at me for not spending his money.

"Yeah sure. Jeans do you okay?" Perfect, "Oh yeah, jeans would be great, thanks." I tried to sound pleasant. I didn't like jeans. My dress was long and flouncey and covered me in all the right places. I didn't like being, well, in jeans. Not a good thing. She came back a moment later with a plain pair of blue jeans and a plain white v-neck shirt. I yanked them on quickly, knowing that everyone was probably waiting on me. I grabbed a brush and pulled it quickly through my hair. "Oh, hey, Roberto needs you to cut his hair again, that okay with you?" "Sure sure, no problem, after dinner." Cutting hair would keep me occupied. I yanked my hair up and tucked it into a messy ponytail.

I walked down the hall, my bare feet not making a sound. I wondered idly if Gerard was going to criticize my lack of shoes. When I turned the corner, I saw them. My grandfather was sitting at the head of the table, the strange man sitting to his right. I went to sit down and the strange man stood. I stared at him. What was he doing? He just stared back at me. I yanked my chair underneath me and he sat.

Weird, was he trying to use manners? I fought back the smile pressing into my face. He had a shirt on now, a simple black polo that matched his board shorts. I wondered how Roberto liked having someone else wear his clothes. "Alexander, this is my granddaughter Mirah, Mirah, this is Alexander." My grandfathers voice was sweetly polite. I looked between the two men. So he had a name. I smiled. Of course he had a name. "Hello Alexander." I tried to sound just as sweet. His brows pulled together for just a moment, and he seemed to flush. His skin became a lovely pale pink. I smiled wider.

"Dinner is ready." Kaitlyn's voice was shrill in my ear. I shot her a warning glance to back off.

Dinner smelled delicious, I couldn't quite guess what it was yet, but I was practically drooling over the scent coming from the kitchen. Kaitlyn was standing against the far wall, arms crossed over her chest, the most pensive look on her face. She had better behave herself or I was going to have a good long talk with her. And my talks were never good.

Angie emerged from the kitchen, trays and plates in hand. She laid down the bread basket, and sat large plates of salad in front of the three of us. I closed my eyes and mumbled a quick grace. I was not the most religious person, but I had priorities. I took a small fork full and ate slowly. I was starving but I had to be ladylike. I glanced at the man, at Alexander. I would have to start thinking of him as being a little more human, as he now had a name.