An Eye For An Eye

Trois

When the Betas had left, I finally looked around the apartment. It was spacious with a rather large tv and leather sofas and a glass coffee table. The dining table was dark wood, it was probably expensive, and the chairs had fany carvings on the legs and the back. The kitchen area was close to the dining table and there was a breakfast with two chairs tucked under it.

“This place is rather nice, actually,” I said with a small smile. It looked like it cost more than I could ever earn from writing articles and short stories.
“Not what you were expecting?” he asked as he moved to the sofa.
“I don’t know what I was expecting.” Him living in a penthouse screamed wealth but I wasn’t expecting it to look so… cozy?
“To be blinded, perhaps?” Which I was still surprised he didn't want to do. “Are you going to stand there? There's a television you could put to use.”

Biting my lip, I walked over to the sofa and grabbed the remote to turn the TV on. I sat as far away from Deucalion as possible, I still didn't trust him, he was a werewolf. Flicking through the channels, I tried to find something that might be somewhat enjoyable for both of us to watch, or in Deucalion’s case, listen to. Figuring ER might not be Deucalion’s type of show, I ended up watching Frasier. I'd only ended up liking it because of Mom watching it and now I was sort of hooked.

“So where do I sleep?” I spoke quietly, there wasn't any need to be loud and I knew he would be able to hear me anyway.
“One would assume the guest bedroom,” he said. There was a smile on his face and I almost smiled back. “If you're facing the lift, it's the door on the right.”
“Thank you,” I said as I stood up. Just before I reached the door, I heard him say something.
“Goodnight, Elizabeth Argent.” I ignored it and opened the door.

Why was he being so nice? I knew I was his guest but it was hardly conventional. And I was only doing this to make Dad deal with some consequences.

Exploring the room I was in, I discovered it was en suite with its own bathroom. The wardrobe was large and so were the windows. Looking out across the city, I frowned as I realised I couldn't see home from this window. I pulled the curtains across the windows before stripping down and climbing into the double bed.

Weirdly, I slept well. I dressed in yesterday's clothes and decided to leave the room. There was no point hiding in there, I needed to eat and drink and there wasn't much to do in the bedroom.

Heading to the kitchen, I searched for spoons, bowls and cereal in the reverse order. Chocolate cheerios weren't my favourite but they were chocolate so they were okay. I'd poured them into the bowl and had a mouthful to eat as I put the cereal box back.

“Could you do me a favour and pour some into a bowl for me, please?” Deucalion stood a few feet away, leaning against the breakfast bar.
“Sure, but I'm not going to be your slave for three days,” I said as I grabbed another bowl. “And, I pinned you as a Cornflakes or porridge kind of person, not Chocolate Cheerios.”
He chuckled as you poured some of the cereal into the bowl. “I suppose I'm not entirely what you expected.”

“I guess not, do you have milk with your cereal?” I asked. I picked up a spoon and waited for an answer.
“You don’t have milk?”
“I'm lactose intolerant, can't have most dairy products.” Unless I wanted painful cramps and bloating. Which I did not. It was way more common than a lot of people realised but I was glad he didn't immediately get offended as if I had a choice in it. “So milk or no milk?”
“Only a little, thank you.”

After shoving another mouthful of cereal into my mouth, I poured a little milk into the bowl and hoped it was roughly the right amount.
“Do you want a drink while I'm at it?”
“If that's not too much hassle,” he said. The chair scraping against the floor made me wince as he pulled it out from underneath the breakfast bar to sit down. “Tea would be nice, two sugars and a bit of milk.”
I stared at him for a moment. “I don’t know how to make tea, I’ve never drunk it before.”

It seemed like he was staring at me for a moment and then he stood up.
“Then I’ll teach you,” he said. He left the chair out and walked around to stand next to me.
“What?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
“I’ll talk you through it, you can make two cups.” Well, I had nothing better to do.
“Okay,” I said as I nodded. “What do I do?”

Deucalion talked me through making a cup of tea and it was weirdly enjoyable. I sat next to him at the breakfast bar and nervously sipped at the tea. It was hot and I didn’t know how to feel about it.
“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever used a kettle before today,” I mused before eating more of my cereal. It tasted a little odd, probably because I had just drunk tea.
He chuckled. “Really?”
“Yeah, I don’t think anyone in the house drinks tea, we tend to drink coffee.”

“Ah, I hate to disappoint but I don’t drink coffee,” he said before drinking his own tea.
I gasped. “So I’m not getting coffee for three days? Never mind, that’s it. I have to go home and have my coffee.”
“A shame, I was curious what your company is like,” he said.
“What?”
“You don’t have to stay here, I’m not holding you here against your will. If you want to leave over that, then you’re welcome to,” he said with a smile on his face.
“I was joking?” It sounded more like a question. He just chuckled and continued to eat his breakfast and drink his tea.

It did mean I could leave at any time though, he truly wasn’t set on keeping me here for the three days if I didn’t want to be here. One I had finished my cereal, I realised something. Pulling my phone out, I discovered it was dead.
“Great, my phone’s dead, I have no clean clothes and no way to work,” I sighed. I hadn’t thought about that but then again, I hadn’t been expecting to stay.
“What work do you do?”
“Freelance stuff, short stories, articles, ghost writing for other people, things like that,” I said, not really sure why he would care.

“Interesting,” he said. “Well, I can send someone to fetch you some clean clothes if you would like.”
“You’d do that?” I furrowed my brow, why was he offering and being so nice?
“You’re staying here as a guest, not a prisoner. Though, it might be for the best your phone stays off. I can’t imagine the number of texts and missed calls you’ll have from your family.” Biting my lip, I sighed. It would be harder to ignore Chris and Dad if the phone was turned on.

“Alright then,” I said a little nervously. “The phone can stay off but how are they going to get clothes that fit?”
“Write down your sizes, I can give it to one of my Betas or something like that. There’s a notepad on the coffee table unless someone’s moved it,” he said with a shrug. He finished his cup of tea and set down the empty cup. Looking down at the cup, there was only a little bit of tea left. I drank it all before standing up to get the notebook. Thankfully, there was a pen next to it so I didn’t have to worry about finding a pen.

Sitting back down at the breakfast bar, I moved the cup and bowl out of the way and took the lid off the pen.
“Did you like the tea then?” he asked.
“Well, I drank it all,” I said as I opened the notebook. One of the pages had writing on it but the writing wasn’t on the lines at all. Was this Deucalion’s writing? Glancing at him, I then turned the page and found a blank one.
“That doesn’t mean you liked it,” he said as he turned his head towards me.
“It was… okay. I think I still prefer coffee at the moment though.” I started listing items of clothing and my size in them.

As if it was planned, which it might have been for all I knew, one of Deucalion’s Betas stepped out of the lift.
“Ah, just at the right time,” said Deucalion with a smile. “Could you do me a favour, Becca, and use this list to buy my guest a few sets of clothes?”
“I suppose,” she said as she glared at me. It seemed that, understandably, not all of them wanted me to be here. “I have something to talk to you about.”
“I’m sure we can do that when you return,” he said. His words made it sound like a suggestion but the tone of his voice implied something else.

Awkwardly watching them, I felt a little fearful. If Deucalion wanted, he could easily bite me and eliminate another Argent. And while it didn’t seem like he was going to do that, there was always the chance he would.

I still didn’t understand why he had suggested this at all. I suppose it would irritate my dad but so would have kidnapping or blinding me, why was he choosing to be nice? I didn’t understand him.