When I told Vanna about what was to transpire, the first thing she said was, "You need to fuck him." My jaw dropped, not expecting her to say that out of the many ways she could have reacted. I expected an argument. I expected her to yell at me for taking her to Italy and then ditching her to go to Romania with some guy, not for her to tell me that we needed to bang. "It's the perfect opportunity!" Vanna exclaimed, "Romania's such a romantic place!" "We're going to meet his brothers, who are 85% positive that they want to kill him," I said, still struggling to comprehend what she said, "I think whatever chance for romance was there originally died." "Romance is what you make of it," Vanna started packing her suitcase and I moved to sit on her bed.
Outside, Tom and Sebastian were talking quietly to each other. I kicked Tom out of the bedroom after about two hours of him and Vanna "reconnecting". I couldn't take being around Sebastian after our conversation so I packed my clothes, cleaned my room, and cleaned the rest of the Airbnb, refusing Sebastian's multiple offers of help. To be honest, I needed the help. Even though I couldn't remember much of the trip, it was very apparent that Vanna and I were very messy when we were sad. But I was cleaning in order to not think about Sebastian or to say anything I didn't want to be said.
"So you're okay with you and Tom going to Prague?" I asked, sitting criss cross applesauce on the bed. Vanna took her clothes off the hangers while nodding vehemently. "Lola, I'm more than okay with this. You don't need to worry about me, I'll be in good hands," she pointed a hanger at me, "You, however, need to call me at least once a day so I know you didn't get kidnapped or stabbed or whatever it is that mafia people do."
"Scout's honor," I placed my hand over my heart and laughed. There was a knock on the door before it opened and Tom's head popped in. "Lola, are you ready to go?" he asked and Vanna and I shared a glance. Even though we were both fine with the situation, it was still the first time we were going to be separated in years. I knew that we were going to reunite in a week or two, but my God was it going to feel like forever. We broke from the glance and I nodded toward Tom, standing up from the bed and brushing myself off. "As ready as I can be," I said and before I left the bedroom, I scampered to Vanna and hugged her tightly for a good five minutes.
When I finally stood beside Tom, he lowered his voice, "Be careful, okay? Call if you need anything." He then handed me a slip of paper with his phone number on it. I put it in the pocket of my hoodie before I hugged him as well, catching him by surprise. "If I find out you hurt Vanna in any shape, way, or form I will use your balls as a Christmas ornament," I whispered in his ear before letting go. Tom's eyes were widened and he was either frightened or amused by my threat.
I then turned from Tom and saw Sebastian, who was holding my suitcase. Slowly, I walked toward him and timidly claimed the suitcase. "After you," Sebastian opened the door for me and I exited the Airbnb. Outside the steps of the place was a black car that reminded me of the one Tom drove. There was no driver which led me to the understanding that Sebastian was to drive. He opened the trunk and I threw the suitcase in. I closed the trunk and got into the passenger side of the car, suddenly very nervous for the car ride to the airport.
Sebastian slid into the driver's seat and started the car. As we pulled away from the Airbnb, I watched as Vanna and Tom faded from view. They were practically one person, with his hand around her waist and her head on his shoulder. For as much as I joked about their relationship, a part of me envied it. They were so unafraid to fall into each other. Then again, they didn't start off pretending to be utterly devoted to one another in order to not be killed. They also knew how they felt for each other, unlike some of us.
Whereas the car ride would have been filled with conversation, banter, and me insulting him, it was quiet. I looked down at my lap, playing with the hair tie on my wrist, listening to the music on the radio. It was my fault that the car ride was silent. I left. I destroyed what trust we had toward each other. I left him for dead and he didn't even think of laying a hand on me or coming up with some scheme to get me back. But now we couldn't talk to each other like we used to, and I sort of thought that was worse.
As we pulled into the airport, the night sky was starting to transform into dawn. There was a sliver of pink threatening to invade as the sun peeked over the horizon. It reminded me of the days at the club, when Vanna and I would come home so late and spend the daytime asleep. I used to watch the sunrise so often, drinking tea in a fuzzy robe I bought just to watch the sunrise in. I was a nervous wreck, but watching as daylight reappeared soothed me. As much as I prayed for change, I wanted a sign that told me some of my old life would return.
"Have you ever flown in a private jet before?" Sebastian broke the silence. I shook my head, "We can barely afford economy seats." "Well you're about to now," he said and I rolled my eyes. "I gathered that much, thanks Sherlock." Sebastian laughed quietly, but it just wasn't the same. We both knew it. There was something wrong between the two of us. I guess it was a good thing this was our last event together.
Since we didn't have to share the plane without about a hundred other people, the jet was spacious. It was almost too spacious just for Sebastian and I, so when I saw two other men playing cards as I entered the plane, I breathed a sigh of relief. The car ride alone was torture enough, thank God I wouldn't have to go through a whole flight. "Lola, this is Rob and Junior," Sebastian introduced me to the two men and I shook both their hands, "Since Tom's in Prague with Vanna, they volunteered to go to Romania with us."
"Tom literally made the decision a couple hours ago, how did you already find men to take his place?" I asked as I set my suitcase on a sofa and sat down next to it. "Tom's not my only employee," Sebastian said, "He's just the one you interact with most. Now let me show you to the bedroom." My eyes bulged out of their sockets. "The what now?" "It's a private jet, there's beds in here," Sebastian explained as he extended his hand to me, "And you look like you're about to drop." He was right about that. As much as I loved seeing the sunrise, I didn't want to see it anymore. I was dog tired. I was planning on sleeping on the sofa, which already impressed me with its presence on the jet, but if there's a bed I will gladly take it.
The flight was short, probably only about ninety minutes, but I was glad to even sleep for just five. Sebastian nudged my shoulder gently and I woke up, swiping his hand away from me. "Someone's not a pleasant sleeper," he joked and I flipped him off. "Fuck off," I said, "At least you had a full night's sleep before breaking into my place." "Actually I haven't really slept since you left," Sebastian replied, "I've been living off adrenaline and coffee. Speaking of coffee, would you care for some?" I nodded and bit the inside of my cheek. Great. Another thing to feel guilty about.
He handed me a piping hot mug and I winced when grabbing the mug instead of the handle. Sebastian raised an eyebrow out of concern, but I took the mug by the handle. "I'm fine," I muttered and sipped the coffee. It burnt my tongue, but anything to avoid conversation. After downing the coffee in a span of ten minutes, we gathered our things and left the plane, where we were met with two black SUVs with two men leaning on them, folding their arms across their chest.
It didn't take a genius to realize that these were Sebastian's brothers. They looked like him in different fonts. One was scrawny but looked as if his glare could kill you and the other was more leaning. The scrawny one had long hair pulled back into a bun and he was smoking a cigarette. "You were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago," he said, his accent thick and intimidating.
"No, you just showed up twenty minutes early," Sebastian said as he greeted his brother. They shared a crisp handshake and nothing more. The scrawny one eyed me and suddenly I remembered that I was pretending to be Sebastian's girlfriend. "This the girl?" he asked and Sebastian nodded, making way for me to introduce myself. I extended my hand for him to shake, but he did no such thing. "Lola," I put my hand in the pocket of my hoodie shamefully, "Lola Barnes."
"Gregor," the man said distastefully. He pointed his cigarette in the direction of his brother, "That is Stelios. Now get in the car." Gregor dropped the cigarette to the ground and stomped on it, twisting and crumbling it. He opened the passenger door for Sebastian and walked to the driver's side and got in. I took the seat behind Sebastian and buckled myself in quietly. Despite Sebastian telling me that his brothers insisted on my presence, I did not feel welcome.
Gregor started the car and followed his brother's car out of the airport. When he was on the highway, he looked back at me and asked, "You speak Romanian?" I shook my head, opting out of saying something. He nodded, "Good." He then proceeded to speak to Sebastian in Romanian and Sebastian replied. It had been a long time since I heard him speak in something other than English and hearing him speak the language released the cage of butterflies in my stomach that I spent so much time capturing. It wasn't going to be particularly hard to pretend to be in love with Sebastian, but my God was it going to be painful.
About thirty minutes into the drive we pulled into a countryside estate. There were two houses within a thousand feet from each other, both radiating glamour. They were nearly identical, almost like Gregor and Stelios, but there were still slight distinctions. The house on the right had more windows and gave a warm glow whilst the house on the left was darker. Despite both having a warm ambience I felt unwelcome in both of them. This was partly due to the company I was keeping, however. If Vanna and I lived in any of these houses, we wouldn't even think of going anywhere. This would be everything we ever dreamed of, house-wise.
Gregor pulled into the darker house and killed the engine. The three of us got out of the car and I followed Gregor and Sebastian inside. Despite the dark exterior of the house, the interior was light and cold. It was quiet, like nobody dared to live here, but the semi dirty kitchen I passed on the way upstairs told me otherwise.
The house wasn't empty despite my initial observations. There was a housekeeper whose heels clicked on the tile floor, which grasped my attention. I turned around while climbing the stairs, startled at the sound of her heels on the floor. Gregor noticed my fright. "That's Reyna. Go to her with your questions," he explained and I nodded along.
The second floor of the house had so many rooms it made me think that the fucking Von Trapp family was living here. The bedrooms were most likely empty or turned into offices and spare rooms, but I couldn't help but let my imagination run rampant. Did Gregor have any kids? Was he married? Dating? Or was he like Sebastian in that he preferred not to commit to anything but a lie?
Gregor opened the door to the last room on the floor. It was a spacious bedroom with a bathroom attached to it. There was a large window and natural light poured in. The walls were painted a charcoal gray and the bed matched, giving me 21st century vampire vibes. Speaking of the bed, it was huge, bigger than any bed I had ever slept on. It looked like it could have saved at least six people from the Titanic and I had to fight the urge not to run and jump on it. I didn't need to give Gregor another reason to dislike me.
"Is this good for you?" Gregor asked Sebastian, completely ignoring my opinion on the matter. Sebastian, however, turned to me and asked, "What do you think?" Playing it nonchalant, I looked around and shrugged, "It's very nice. Thank you." I looked Gregor in the eyes when I thanked him and as a response I got a half hearted grunt. "I'll give you time to unpack. Then we discuss business," Gregor said and then finally acknowledged my existence, "I trust you can entertain yourself while he's gone?"
"He's not that essential to my leisure," I said, surprised to find the corners of Gregor's mouth turn upwards. "I like hearing that," he said and then closed the door, leaving Sebastian and I to ourselves. The first thing I did was look around the rest of the bedroom for a couch or a sofa substitute. As much as I wanted to sleep on that damn bed, I doubted my abilities to sleep in the same bed with Sebastian.
Peeking into the bathroom I saw the giant bathtub that stood separate from the shower and I grinned widely. I was definitely going to use that at some point. "What are you doing?" Sebastian asked as I started taking pillows from the bed and placing them in the tub. "I'm gonna sleep in the tub. I don't see a need to pretend when it's just us in here," I walked past him and he snatched a pillow from my hands, throwing it back on the bed. "What do you mean you're sleeping in the tub? You're not sleeping in the tub," Sebastian scoffed, "That's ridiculous."
"I...Well-I...I figured that-" "We're not teenagers, Lola," Sebastian went into the bathroom to grab the remaining pillow and tossed it on the bed, "Besides the bed's huge, we won't even be near each other. Do you not trust me?" "Of course I do!" I defended, I don't trust myself. "Then it's agreed, you're not sleeping in the fucking tub," Sebastian then shrugged his jacket off and hung it up in the closet. Strapped across his shoulders were two guns and I watched as he took the holster off and placed it on the bed. I didn't take my eyes off the guns until he spoke again.
"Are you okay?" he folded his arms across his chest and leant against the closet door frame, "You've been acting strange. You're quiet." "Are you okay?" I asked back, deflecting the question, "You've been acting about as strange as I've been." "I'm fine," Sebastian shrugged, "Just peachy." I narrowed my eyes, "Liar." Sebastian cocked his head to the side, and then he laughed dryly, "Yeah, you're right. I'm not fine. I guess I'm still a little fucked up from you leaving."
I kept my hardened expression despite not feeling very hard at all. "I did what I thought was best for Vanna and I," I argued, "I'm not cut out for this mafia shit you and I both know it." "Just because what you did was rational for you doesn't mean I'm not allowed to feel betrayed," Sebastian said, "I mean I picked you because I thought I could trust you and then you flaked at the first sight of danger."
"But you didn't pick me!" I snapped, "You wanted Vanna! You just wanted to prove a fucking point!" "Believe me, Lola, if I was so dead set on Vanna I would have gotten her, regardless of what some loudmouth waitress said," Sebastian raised his voice to match my volume, "Besides, who was the first choice doesn't matter, because you're here now and we're in this position together." I laughed. He didn't know the weight of his sentence. He didn't know that I struggled with wanting to be wanted. Being first choice was all that fucking mattered to me and he was going to tell me it didn't? Who was he to say that? He didn't have to settle a day in his fucking life, he got everything he wanted. He was everybody's first choice. He was even mine.
Instead of acting on my emotions like I usually did, I breathed deeply and calmed myself down. However, I kept one hand balled into a fist; I needed somewhere to channel my rage. With gritted teeth, I spoke. "I truly am sorry I left, Sebastian," I seethed, "You don't know how bad I wanted to stay...but that doesn't matter now. All that matters is finishing whatever the fuck needs to be done here and then we can part ways."
"Lola-" "No, don't say a word. Not right now. Go meet with your brothers. I'll be here," I backed away as he tried to reach out to me. I guess I started crying and I didn't notice. "The quicker your business is finished here, the sooner we can go back to living our separate lives and you don't have to put your faith in me again." I then turned fiercely on my heel and went into the bathroom, locking the door and starting the bath. If this was going to be how the next few days were going to be, I was going to need to take a lot of baths.
i have really lacked in updating omg. like I've been so motivated but with no time and i just wanna finish this bad boy. anywayyy 2k! that's so awesome thanks so much for all the love this is getting and i say this all the time but i literally love every one of your interactions they're literally like one of the best parts of my day.
don't forget to vote, comment, that good stuff
~not edited~