Running From the Devil

Chapter 11

I swung my gaze between the two men.  They were staring intently at each other, tension in their shoulders until a slow grin crept onto Steve's face.

"I see you've forgiven him already."  He said to me, leaning against the door frame with a cocky grin.

"Forgiven me for what?" Ben demanded.

"Oh yeah." I suddenly felt foolish.  Just a few hours ago I was ready to skewer this man on a pogo stick. He hadn't even apologized and here I was throwing myself at him. 

"Seriously, forgiven me for what?" 

"Oh you know, making Laney think we were throwing her out and making her cry."

"huh?"  Poor Ben, he really did look confused.

I suddenly snapped. "You didn't even say goodbye to me!  I thought you hated me!"

Ben groaned, running his hands through his hair. "Oh no Laney that's not what I meant, I was just trying to control myself.  The things you told me about.  I just, I, well honestly I want to go find him and rip his head off! Can you forgive me?"   He grabbed my shoulders and stared at me, begging me to believe him. 

"Oh.  Well, I guess."  I bit my lip, trying not to be upset about his threat of violence even though it was directed at the devil himself. 

"Come on lovebirds, let's go get some dinner."  Steve swept his hand towards the hallway.  For a minute I thought about throwing him out but decided against it.  I needed some time around other people to get my head on straight so I wouldn't embarrass myself again. 

After dressing we walked to the other end of the building while I stared at everything.  This place was stunning.  I tried to walk slowly enough to look at everything but the men hurried me on telling me I'd have plenty of time to explore tomorrow.  I found out that, just like at the warehouse, everyone ate major meals together in a giant dining room.  This one was furnished with long polished wood tables accented with vases of flowers.  Large windows were framed with cream and red scarves draped elegantly across the panes.  The portion sizes were still insane with half the plate covered in meat and the rest heaped in side dishes. 

There were oodles of children running around, laughing joyfully.  One little girl with platinum blonde pigtails and sparkling blue eyes launched herself at Ben.  He wrapped his arms around the little girl and gave her a big hug.  When she squeezed him back he pretended to be hurt. 

"Oh gosh Emy, don't break my bones!  I'm a delicate flower you know!" 

"Silly Ben!" She giggled back "You aren't a flower, you're a big brown wolf!"

The entire room went silent and Ben whispered in the little girl's ear.  She squinted her eyes at me and then squealed in laughter.  Ben put her down and shrugged at me with a smile.

"She's right you know" I announced, staring up at him "You're certainly no flower." 

The room roared in laughter and everyone went back to what they were doing.  While we ate I looked around at everyone.  It was easy to see why Ben said they weren't just a company of employees, they were a family.  There was nothing to indicate family when you looked at them, I saw people of every shade and hue of skin tone and hair color, but something about their smiles said they'd known each other for a very long time.  Of course the presence of children always makes a place feel like home and in no time I was chewing on a lamb chop listening to the chatter about the farm. 

The dinner was so yummy, and the conversation was so lively that it was dark before I knew it.  Ben said goodnight to everyone and took me by the arm.