The Untold Truth

Chapter 9

I looked up at Shadow, waiting to see if he would continue, but he was somberly staring at the table.

I sighed heavily and said, "I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused today. I hope it didn't keep you from anything important."

Shadow looked up at me and said, "It's been quiet today."

Again, I waited for him to continue, but he quickly said, "Come on. I have something to show you."

I gave him a questioning look, but he silently stood up and led me out of the kitchen. He led me up the stairs into the hallway that led to my room if we went right. We turned in the direction of my room, and I wondered if he was just leading me back to my room. Halfway down the hallway, however, he turned left and continued down another hallway. There were a couple of darkly stained wood doors on either sides of us, but Shadow continued to walk past them. He finally stopped in front of a door that was painted red, matching the walls and carpet so well that I had to double take to notice it at first. The doorknob was painted gold, matching the accents all around us, making the door practically invisible to anyone who wasn't specifically looking for the door.

He looked at me and gave a mischievous look before fully opening the door.

He said as the door opened, "Welcome to my private theater."

As soon as he turned on the lights, I gasped slightly. Instead of rows of seats like normal theaters, in the floor was a giant sunken-in square that was filled to the brim with pillows and blankets and cushions. It seemed to face wall that was painted white, with a projector hanging from the ceiling. The sight of all the pillows and blankets made me eager to sit down and see how comfy it really was.

I asked him, "Can I watch a movie right now?"

He nodded his head and motioned for me to take a seat. I couldn't hide the giddiness in my steps as I walked over to get the best seat in the giant square. Shadow saw my entertained reaction and he had a small smile on his lips as he set the movie up on a laptop in the corner of the room and sat down beside me in the square.

I gave him a strange look and he asked me, "What?"

I said awkwardly, "Why are you staying?"

The way his eyebrows shot up in surprise made me realize how rude of a statement that was. It was his personal theater and he had invited me in, and now I was the one asking him to leave. I felt my cheeks flare with a deep blush as I started to stammer out an explanation.

"Well I-I only say that be-because you just said how you never have time to relax and-and now you're here relaxing while watching a movie with me wh-which is fine because it's your theater so that's not the problem but I was just curious and-"

He cut off my rambling and said while chuckling, "It's fine Aleksandria. I'll probably have to leave some time during the movie, but it would be nice to just sit for a moment, since it's a quiet day."

His words made me feel a little less embarrassed, but my cheeks were still painted a deep red. He pulled a remote out of one of the cushions and pointed it toward the projector. While it was booting up, he stood back up and walked over to the light switch. He used the light dimmer to make it really feel like a movie theater. After he had sat down, the introduction to a movie began to play. I grabbed the nearest pillow and hugged it close to me and just stared at the screen wall in awe. Shadow laughed when he saw my reaction with the pillow, which made me throw the pillow at him. He easily grabbed it out of the air and used the pillow as a backrest. I did the same and we started to watch the movie. It was some kind of action movie that was made with what seemed like only fight scenes and car chases, and I was bored within the first thirty minutes of the film.

I asked Shadow, hoping he would catch a hint that I was bored, "What's the point of this movie?"

"Fighting."

"What are they fighting against?"

"Bad people."

"Why are the people bad?"

"Because they talk during movies."

I glared at him for a second before returning my attention to the mind-numbing violence.

After a few minutes of silence I asked him, "So do you prefer people call you Bradan or Shadow?"

He sighed heavily and said, "Close friends, which is mainly just Benjamin, call me Bradan. Everyone else calls me Shadow."

I sighed heavily as I realized that he didn't really answer my question. Maybe it was my fault for asking him a somewhat serious question while the movie was playing, but I needed him to clarify.

"So what can I call you?"

He finally looked away from the movie and said quietly, "Whatever you feel more comfortable with."

We looked at each other in silence for a split second before his eyes widened a little and he quickly returned his gaze to his movie. I was slightly surprised when I saw a slight tinge of red on his cheeks, but I felt like maybe I had imagined it. Shadow, or Bradan, doesn't usually get embarrassed. What made him feel embarrassed? Maybe it was because I asked him to clarify and he didn't want to hurt my feelings? I felt incredible indecisiveness as to what to call him, and I knew I couldn't just outright ask him what he wanted to be called again, since he would just answer vaguely like before. I knew Shadow liked to joke around, so I decided to joke with him to make him decide.

I said out loud, "Hmmm...Bradan or Shadow? Shadow or Bradan? Bradan? Shadow?"

He said quickly, "Bradan."

He showed that he was unamused since he missed the full effect of one guy punching another guy's face.

I asked out loud, "Bradan?"

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well you know where I live for one."

He added hesitantly, "Two, because you're..."

I waited for him to respond as butterflies appeared in my stomach as I thought of what he would say. A second later, I mentally scolded myself for getting so worked up over what he was going to say. I knew that ever since he had saved me from Dorian, I had started to go down a road of deep emotions that was incredibly hard to come back from, and I needed to remember his words from earlier. He barely has any time outside of his work, he made that very clear just earlier today. So why was I still hanging on his words to see what he thought of me?

He finished lamely, "...cool."

I couldn't help the let down I felt.

I voiced out loud, "Cool?"

He nodded at me and pretended to watch the movie, but I noticed that his eyes would flicker in my direction every few seconds. I gave him a waiting look and I saw the tips of his mouth twitch up as if he was fighting a smile.

I poked him in side and asked, "That's it?"

He flinched and even almost slapped my hand away when I poked his side and dread filled his eyes when he saw what I was thinking. Bradan was ticklish? I reached my hand out toward his side again to confirm my suspicion, but this time he gently pushed my hand away.

He said cautiously, "Aleksandria stop. I don't want to hurt you. If you continue, I don't know what kind of reflexes are going to happen. I have been expertly trained not to let anything-"

I didn't let him finish as I jumped toward him and reached for his side as fast as I could. My fingers didn't even make a purchase on him before he was able to grab both of my arms and keep them at bay.

He smiled triumphantly at me and said, "Nice try. You'll have to do better than that if you want to succeed."

I tried to pull my hands back toward me, but he pulled my arms toward him to counteract my move to get free. I didn't expect him to pull on me so quickly, so his momentum brought me into his body, with my face inches from his.