THE TOXIC DEAL

8. ONE MORE TROUBLE

BRIA

Two days passed in a blur. Everyone was constantly in the shadow of fear and the atmosphere was tensed. Benji was avoiding having conversation for more than five minutes, fearing he would snap for no reason at us. The house was quiet without any chattering or arguments. Whenever I tried to lift their mood, they gave me smiles not reaching their eyes at all. My heart sank at the thought of my family living constantly in the fear of danger. All I want was just to wake up in the morning and realised it was all just a bad dream that I was eager to forget.

"Hey, old man! What are we having for the dinner tonight?" I plopped down beside him in a chair. It was afternoon time so there was no rush in the café.

"I don't know. We will make something..." He trailed off.

He was tired and exhausted. I knew that all the events happened during these past days were taking a toll on him. He had the responsibility of eight lives on his shoulders. I have seen him waking at odd hours in the night, surveying and checking around the house, checking on me and kids multiple times when we were asleep. Whenever I told him to relax and take some rest, he shrugged me away saying he was fine. I felt bad for him. It was painful to look at my old man worried.

I sighed and draped my arm around his shoulder, rubbing soothingly to relax his tensed body. I have never seen him this worried before and it was twisting my heart in pain.

"Hey, you ok?" I whispered. He pulled me to his side protectively as I lean to look at his tired and red eyes.

"Yeah. I am." He placed his head on mine and closed his eyes.

"why don't you go and get some rest? I and Cody will handle the café." I suggested.

"no. it's ok, darling. I am fine." he pulled away from me rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

"don't be stubborn Benji. Look at you... you are exhausted. Your eyes are red due to lack of sleep. You need some rest" I scolded him but he shrugged indifferently.

I sighed and tried again in a soft voice "look. I know you are worried about our safety but please, don't be hard on yourself. How are you going to protect us when you couldn't even stand steady on your own?"

"but-"

"no, but. Nothing. You are going to get some rest while I and Cody will look after the café. Right, Cody?" I asked Cody, our new employee, as he walked into the kitchen. Benji thought it would be helpful if we hire a worker so that we will get a helping hand in the cafe while we were busy handling the unnecessary shit that was happening in our lives.

"Yo, Benji. Bria is right. I will take care of the café and this beautiful piece of your heart here." He gave me a boyish smile, winking at me.

I rolled my eyes at him knowing very well that an argument was about to broke. Cody was a guy around my age and needed little money for his college fees. We used to go to the same school so I agreed right away to hire him when he applied for the job in our cafe. But he was also a flirty idiot. From his first day, he was constantly flirting with me much to my old man's dismay. Whenever he tried to flirt with me Benji gave him his heated looks and even threatened to chop his pervert tongue off. But this man was an exceptional piece. I thought he likes to rile up Benji just for fun. But he was a nice guy nonetheless and got along well with kids too.

"It's Benjamin or Sir for you young man. And I can't trust you with Bria" Benji gave him an annoyed look.

I stepped in before Cody say something stupid to convince Benji about his opinion about Cody. After much convincing from my and Cody's part, Benji agreed to take a break. He headed back into house not before warning Cody to keep his hands to himself and his mouth in check. Cody bowed down dramatically in response but we all knew that he could never keep his word in this case.