A rose to grind

-20-

              The bid was finally over, and Eton Junta allowed both Etienne and I back to the backstage, where I had anticipated that Etienne would be interrogating me anytime sooner. He was staring at me in a profound gaze, and my skin prickled, as if a million ants were crawling all over me. He didn't speak, nor made a sound, and perhaps that was what I found more eerie than any other factors. I rubbed my hands, providing friction for the little warmth to warm the chill in my body.

He advanced towards me with a face that held no expression, a blank face, with cold eyes, just like how I remembered the first time I had transmigrated into Yugo's body. I touched the scar on the corners of my lips, and his eyes followed with a flash of realization.

"Do you know...what the fuck you have done?" Etienne's face was contorted. He riveted my arm to the spot, as if he wanted to swallow me whole, he looked at me with such a searing gaze. He hissed, "You're worth more than a bid, Yugo, why must you lower yourself to this standard?"

"Etienne," I placed my hand over his own that was clambering onto my arm. I lowered my gaze to the placement, nonchalantly speaking in a low voice, "It's Louise's father. I'm sure...I'm certain he would do nothing to me. We know Lucio."

Even my voice sounded ludicrous to my own ears, and I breathed in through my nose, feeling as though if I opened my mouth, it would only send Etienne into a rare fit of anger. Usually, Etienne was such a person that he kept his cool until the very end, even in an unpleasant ordeal. I had known him to be laid-back, but at the spur of the moment, I had thought that I hadn't seen such a sight of Etienne. Did I know him that well? On a deeper, more emotional and personal level than a book character I was unexpectedly living with under the same roof? Maybe, I only knew him from the novel, and not personally.

The rims of Etienne's eyes were red from suppressing anger; he knew he couldn't lash out at Lucio, who just happened to have been supporting the Karrinas' company. He didn't have to, but he did, which gave me the notion that he would have ulterior motives. He was a cunning man. That much, I had learned from the last time I met him, when he wished to bring me over to his estate. But then at that time, I hadn't showcased myself to be a capable person.

"Fuck!" Etienne was biting down harshly on his lips, drawing immediate blood to seep out. He moved his tongue over his bottom lip, and his face was blanched. The blood had drained from his expressionless face, and mumbled to himself, which I wasn't even able to hear in this close proximity. He finally met my silent, yet unperturbed gaze, and gave out a dry chuckle. "...You don't care about yourself, do you, Yugo? You shouldn't have forgiven me for what I did to you, but you did. Whatever happens to you doesn't bother you. I'm the only one concerned for you! For fuck sakes, Yugo...please. Why don't you care about yourself?"

By now, Etienne's hands were on my shoulders, and as he spoke with emotion in a defeated voice, I was shook rampantly. I felt a throb in my temples, and supplied, unbridled, "If you're so worried, why don't you bid on me? I trust you. Don't you want to take me away?"

"Yugo..." Etienne trailed off, chanting my name like a religious prayer in a fervor. He squeezed his eyes shut, I assumed, facing a dilemma. He ran a hand through his slick hair, strands stiff from a special kind of gel. "You're like a demon, you know? As much as I restrain myself, you break the little strand of self-restraint I have. I want to love you like a normal person--normal love, but the more you shine, the more I just want to fly away, and take you with me. Aren't you the one responsible for my insanity?"

"The one who should be in control of your mental capacities is yourself," I refuted, and wretched Etienne's hands away from you. "I hope to see you at the manor when I come back. Come greet me."