Loving Him

Chapter 6

    "You can walk?!"

    Sophie stood shell shocked, looking him up and down, not quite believing her eyes. For a moment, she thought maybe she was hallucinating. She blinked and pinched her cheeks. Nope, not dreaming. He really was standing next to her.

    "Yes, I can walk and you don't have to make a big deal out of it," he replied, his voice as calm and devoid of emotion as ever.

    Was this some sort of joke?

    "No big deal?" she asked incredulously. "You don't think it's a big deal that you're lying to everyone that you have a broken leg when you're perfectly fine?"

    He ignored her, attempting to go back to the dining but she pulled him back.

    "You don't get to walk away until you give me an answer."

    He glared at the hand that was holding on to him. "Get your hands off me."

    She pulled her hands off hastily.

    He faced her then. "And do not ever touch me again. Please, know your place in this house. I don't owe you any explanations."

    Sophie felt as though she'd been slapped, she nodded, managing to keep her voice as calm as his although she was livid. "Fine. Explain to your brother when he gets back then."

    He moved so he was standing right in front of her, towering over her. "You wouldn't speak a word about this to my brother or anyone else."

     She'd been right about his height. At about six two, he was much taller than she was and she felt very intimidated but she chose to hold her stand.

    "Don't be so sure about that."

    He glared at her for so long but then realized she wasn't about to back down. He looked away, his jaw clenching. "You won't gain anything by telling my brother. Once he realizes I am fine, your services here will no longer be needed. I'll make sure of that."

    Sophie almost rolled her eyes. She was getting used to him threatening her job already but she knew he had a point this time around.

    He continued, "Don't tell my brother and you can keep your job."

    Sophie's eyes narrowed, "Why? Why are you pretending you can't walk when you can? Are you even sick at all? What are those drugs for?"

    "It's none of your business what my reasons are," he replied sharply. "Except for the fact that I can walk, I assure you everything else is true."

    Were they though? They'd gone to the hospital just last week...

    Her eyes widened, "Does the doctor know about this too? Did you plan it together?"

    "I already told you it's not your business."

    But Sophie knew the answer to her question already. There was no way the doctor didn't know. Somehow, they'd planned this together but the question was why?

    "What do you say? Keep my secret and keep your job?" he asked impatiently.

    Sophie chewed on her lip, thinking. Keeping something so huge from Raymond didn't sit well with her but she had her job to consider. She didn't know what reason Alex had for what he was doing but she knew she could lose her job if the truth got out and she couldn't risk that, especially with what Raymond had said that morning.

    She made her decision. Sighing, she answered, "Fine. I won't tell anyone. But in return, you won't make this job hard for me. You'll observe the total rest you've been asked to."