If You Make a Deal With a Shadow...

Chapter 20

"I gotta' be the one you touch. Baby, I gotta' be the one you love. I gotta' be the one you feel. I gotta' be the one to fill your life with sunshine I gotta' be the one you know. 'Cause I will always love you so."

- I Gotta' Be by Jagged Edge

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PRESENT DAY...

After Aubrey was done showering she put on something quick but comfy. Noticing that she was late for dinner she attempted to jog down the stairs, but her injured ankle prevented that. She decided to take it slow, making sure to speak to all of the different guards she passed.

"You're late, Miss Wilson," Payton muttered when she walked into the dining room.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Aubrey spoke sarcastically. She reached over and snagged a grape from the platter that a male-maid was holding beside her, popping it into her mouth. "Okay... What's for dinner?" she looked around the table for food. "Are their menus?" she asked when she noticed there were no plates, but it stayed silent. Aubrey continued. "I especially like the ones that come with crayons," she smiled before clapping her hands sarcastically.

She looked over and noticed Payton seemed to be turning red. The three girls and the other guards were lightly snickering. Oh yea, he is definitely upset. Aubrey shrugged before reaching to grab another grape. Before she could pop that one in her mouth she was interrupted.

"Don't. You. Dare," he spoke through clenched teeth.

She sat down, making sure to position her able comfortably. "So he finally speaks," she says, feigning enthusiasm.

That made him even more angry.

"Why are you late?" he spat. The entire table was watching their heated debate unfold.

Aubrey sat up in her chair, cleared her throat, and put her folded hands on the table. "I, Aubrey Nicole Wilson, got lost in this... house of yours," she looked around before landing her eyes back on him. "Plus, that shower was a bonus."

"I—"

"Just think of it as..." she trailed off before beginning again. "... fashionably late..." she smiled.

There were immediate whispers heard throughout the room. The waiters, maids, cooks, and guards were all talking, that included the other three women as well. "I like her," she heard someone say.

"She cut him off," another person whispered.

"Ooo, she's gonna' get it," one guy said in mock horror.

"Miss Wilson... You will be dismissed from the table if you do not stop the puerility," Payton said firmly.

"How am I being puerile?" she asked as she continued to snack on her grapes. The male-maid did nothing as he stood next to her while she continuously grabbed handfuls of grapes and shoved them into her mouth rudely. He was too busy trying not to laugh.

"First, you came to dinner late. We do not come to dinner late. You are also being very disrespectful and disrupting dinner," he growled.

She nodded, still hardly paying him any attention. "But, then again... It is kinda' your fault I'm late. No one told me I couldn't be late," she protested.

"Because, it's common sense," he hissed, tight-lipped. Everyone was watching the two intensively now, knowing Mr. Hampton was to blow any minute. "Then, you cut me off when I was spe—"