Cathalina sat quiet in the van.
The fury inside of her boiled by the minute of that moment and the team quickly caught up to it and let her be.
It was a Friday and apparently their work was done only half of the day because Yehezkel was on a private trip as per a brusque decision.
She sat still, her knees bobbing in impatience while her intwined fingers rested on her thighs and her gaze remained lowered.
Noone dared to speak to her.
Yes, she had already spoken to the team about the decision to divide, nevertheless she aimed for a diplomatic approach to convince him and make him understand the dangers and risks he was putting her, her team and himself into.
'Reckless' she concluded his temperament.
She thought they had agreed to work together or was this his idea of partnership?
It wasn't long till they arrived at their accommodation.
Each member of the team watched with careful and steady eyes till Cathalina stepped into her room.
The building had two wings. The East and West wing divided sort of automatically with the East being for the ladies and the West being for the men and so each one of them dispersed into their various rooms.
It wasn't particularly the first time Cathalina had gotten emotional during a job neither was it going to be the last especially, if she was going to continue in the business.
They all understood.
Many times, the clients weren't understanding of the consequences their actions had. Sometimes, they were right and sometimes wrong but irrespective it was a fact that clients tended to forget the responsibilities on the part of the team and how certain things requested by the client could fall back on them, negatively.
Dusk came.
Penny watched as Nick and Cathalina sat by the pool chatting away while she dug her hand into the pockets of her sweatpants with the messy intention to conceal her anxiety.
…
"Hey" Nick nudged against the small of Cathalina's arm. "Need a beer?"
She scoffed.
"I don't know" she began "I feel like I want to do this sober"
"Well" he began "It's getting to the fun part of the job"
"Urgh" Cathalina rubbed her palms against her face before kicking her feet in the pool. "I don't want anyone to get hurt, why can't he just understand?"
"Maybe because he cares for Athena much more than anyone, including himself"
Silence.
The wind blew calmly along the long trees, giving off hushed whispers and for the first time, Cathalina saw his actions in a different light.
The pain she saw in his eyes that she mistook for anger, the tone he spoke in that she mistook for impatience but irrespective it was her duty to think on the safety of everyone under her wing, including her clients and that was the clash.
She finally understood and Nick saw how she relaxed quietly in her spot.
"You're smart"
Nick chuckled, "That's what I'm here for" he turned to her with a smug smile, "I'm not the leader, I'm the assistant"
"And" she added, "The thinker"
Nick knew what he thought of himself but chose to remain silent, watching her smile blossom again instead.
"Next week's when the arrangement takes place, feels a bit rushed but I guess I was driven into a corner"
"You already feeling lonely?"
"Stop" she smacked his arm.
He chuckled.
"We have to be on our toes, more alert and focused"
"A Monday pep talk will do"
She nodded.
They both went quiet before Nick stood to his feet,
"Now that you're in good spirits" he began "Let's host a swimming competition"
A smile formed over her lips gradually, evidently interested in the idea.
"Before the job gets busy, leaving us probably five hours of sleep, it's best we get to use this pool"
"Gather the team then".
…
The clouds had turned dark through the windows.
Athena watched them with fiddling hands, the one behavior her mother and etiquette teacher constantly criticized. It never left her.
She was known to be naughty from a young age but sometimes, Yehezkel covered up for her and taught her the right thing to do instead. The ideal brother.
It was wrong but there were times when she felt he was favored above her, loved much more.
He was usually the quiet one, more obedient but yet oozed a certain sense of charisma. He sometimes explained that he didn't often feel obligated to do anything he didn't want to but he did understand early that he was born a little different from mere people.
That difference brought along responsibilities. He wasn't obligated but they were necessary.
They arrived Norway.
Settling into their home wasn't at all hard and Athena was grateful.
They each had separate rooms and soon after taking a quick shower, she dashed over to his room,
"Let's go out"
He looked up from his phone, perplexed "We just arrived"
"Yh but the nightlife awaits us, come on"
Sitting up slowly, he put aside his phone "Where do you have in mind?"
Her lips parted to speak before he raised his index in warning,
"Not the club"
"Urgh" she groaned before turning to him, a question evident on her face, "Yez" she called.
He listened, his arms down.
"Have you had sex?"
He arched a brow at her, "You want to have this conversation?", "Really?"
"Yes actually" she nodded, shutting the door and walking into his room properly.
"And how does my answer matter to you?"
"My love", "You're my older brother, you can't possibly be a virgin"
"And if I am?"
She stood speechless, her hand on her hip while the other pressed down on her lips.
"Then" she managed to find words, "How do you deal with urges?"
He shrugged, "I'm not particularly sexually active"
"Isn't that a problem?" she found herself whispering, her brows furrowed in worry.
"I have little time for that" he shrugged "And", "You above others should know that I'm not particularly the best with women"
Yehezkel sat back on a corner of his bed, watching her reaction grow soft.
"How about you then, have you had sex?"
Athena observed him and something about his nonchalance to the question made her believe there was more to his story and she was going to ask.
"I have actually" A long exhale escaped her and with a small nod, "Does that bother you?"
"Why do you think so?"
She shrugged shyly, "I don't know", "Sometimes it feels like you, mother and father see me as a flower that shouldn't be tainted"
"Are you tainted?"
Athena grew silent as their gaze sat steadily on each other.
"What do you want to hear?"
"The truth"
Her gaze grew somewhat blurry as she looked away, hearing the pulsation of her heart.
"Some" she found her words, "Some might say my naughtiness is a resemblance of taint but I believe otherwise"
Yehezkel stood and walked over to her,
"Let's go out for dinner", "You look pale" he brushed her cheek lightly, with the back of his fingers before walking out of his room.
Athena held unto the wall, relieving her stifled breath.
Secrecy was hell, doubt and anxiety were going to be the death of her but maybe it would all go away before the end of the trip.
Slowly, Athena headed out of the room and over to her own room before taking a seat at the corner of her bed. Subconsciously, she found herself fiddling with her hands as she remembered Theodore's words.
'What If he already knew?'
She couldn't tell how to feel but maybe -just maybe, she could decide to hope that her possible attempt to courage wouldn't be met with the harshness she imagined from her dear brother.