by Elle, Leen
Sophie hadn't even thought about the learning process. She figured teaching was the last thing Robert wanted to do, and she felt guilty that he'd been forced into it. However, she needed to learn in order to reach her goal, and she wasn't going to back away from the challenge.
She lifted her hand to touch her newly cropped hair. She still wasn't used to the short length, and every time she remembered what she'd done, she felt a pang of regret.
Rylan seemed to notice where her thoughts were headed, and he smiled at her sweetly. "It honestly doesn't look that bad. You're pretty enough to pull it off."
Sophie laughed, appreciating him for lying so convincingly. "Thanks." She replied, and motioned to the boxes scattered around her room. "And thanks for helping me unload all of these. It's nice to know I'm not completely alone."
"No problem. Like I said before, if you need anything just ask and I'll be happy to help. Oh, and I'll try talking to Gwyn about being more friendly. She's stubborn, but I'm sure she'll come to like you." Rylan pushed himself up from the bed and walked towards the door to leave.
As she watched him exit the room, Sophie felt her heart sink. She'd temporarily forgotten how lonely it was going to be living here. She'd grown used to loneliness over the years, but she felt like she really wanted to fit in. After all, she was going to be a permanent resident until she reached her goal.
A part of her knew that this whole situation was crazy. Any normal person wouldn't have come this far, but as Sophie stared around her scattered possessions, she knew that there was no turning back. She still didn't know what it would take to be a thief, and the reality of how dangerous her tasks would be hadn't fully hit her. Right now she was still basking in the dream Cleo had created, but that small bubble of contentment was coming closer and closer to bursting.
Yet, behind her naïve trust in Cleo's promise, she felt determined to see her task out to the very end. All she needed to do now was bide her time, because with or without the support of the people here, she was going to fulfill her dream. It was all she felt like she had left to cling to.
* * *
"Hey." Teddy greeted her, while poking his head in the doorway.
"Hey." She answered back, setting down the box she'd been moving in her room. For the better part of the day Sophie had been arranging her things, oblivious to the world outside her bedroom. The sound of Teddy's voice had jolted her back into reality, and she glanced at him in surprise.
"Rob fixed us dinner." Teddy mumbled, not daring to meet her eyes. His lips were stuck out in a pout, and his brow was furrowed, the very picture of indecision. Teddy looked like he was bursting with curiosity, but his loyalty to Robert was telling him not to get close to Sophie.
Glancing at her watch, Sophie realized it was after six o'clock. Time had flown by while she was fixing up her room, and she was still far from done. Her room still seemed like the same chaotic mess from earlier.
"Oh, okay." Sophie wondered if this was Teddy's way of inviting her to eat. She took a hesitant step towards the door, debating whether she should go downstairs or not.
"Are you hungry?" He continued, still not looking at her.
"Kind of." Sophie said, putting a hand on her stomach. She hadn't realized it until now, but she was starving. "What's for dinner?"
"Spaghetti." Teddy said glancing at her curiously.
"Am I invited?" She probed, feeling like an idiot for being so awkward. She wasn't used to being around kids, and she felt like Teddy wasn't the average child.
"Duh." Teddy rolled his eyes, but his lips curled into a smile. He finally pushed her door all the way open, and stepped inside. "Hurry up!" He motioned for Sophie to follow him as he backed out of the room.
"Okay." Sophie hid her grin.
As they walked down the hallway towards the stairs leading to the first floor, Teddy didn't take his eyes off of her. His curly black hair continuously fell into his eyes, causing him to constantly brush it backwards. His sharp green eyes were wide with interest, and he seemed excited at the chance to talk to her.
"What happened to your hair?" Teddy asked her quickly.
"I cut it all off." She replied, frowning.
"Why'd you do that? It makes you look like a boy." Teddy couldn't fathom why she would do something so strange, and truthfully, Sophie wasn't sure how to explain her behavior either.
"I wanted to." She answered, trying not to get offended. He was only a child, and he didn't mean it to be rude. "Haven't you ever wanted to do something for no reason at all."
Teddy shrugged away the question. "Well, Rob said he likes it, so I guess I like it too."
"Who likes it?" Sophie froze on the first step, and watched Teddy clump down the rest.
"Rob." Teddy repeated, looking frustrated. "He said we should consider you a boy."
"What?" Sophie was at a loss for words. She'd been momentarily flattered by the fact that Robert had said he liked her hair, but this next part threw her off guard.
She followed after Teddy, wanting to catch up to him before they arrived in the kitchen. However, by the time she'd reached the bottom of the staircase, he'd already burst through the kitchen door. "She's coming." He announced loudly.
Taking a deep breath, Sophie braced herself for what she would find in the other room. She expected that neither Robert or Gwyn would be especially happy to see her, and she wondered if she should've declined dinner. She was still a stranger, and it was presumptuous of her to try and join in on their family time.
The moment she entered the kitchen, her eyes locked with Robert's. He was leaning back in a chair, staring at her with a smug expression on his face. His eyes searched her, trying to focus on something to find fault with. Once again, Sophie felt like he was challenging her, but she had no idea why. She was momentarily captivated by his expression, but the sound of Teddy's voice woke her up again.
"Come sit down!" He ordered, motioning to the chair sitting beside of him.
Sophie reluctantly complied, choosing to sit down as quietly as she could. Her plate was already made for her, and the others had politely waited until she'd sat down before they'd started eating. The clinking of silverware whittled away at the silence, though the atmosphere remained tense.
While everyone else was busy eating, Robert remained in his leaned back position, refusing to touch his food. Mid-bite, Sophie noticed his smile, and she slowly set her fork down so that she could turn her full attention on him.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked, trying not to let her voice shake.
"I'm disappointed that you chose to stay." He began, his eyes unmoving. "I assume you are aware of that."
Sophie had known the minute she'd walked into the room that he was going to try and argue with her. She just hadn't expected it would be this soon.
"Yeah, I sort of guessed you felt that way." She answered.
"I'm not going to make your life easy here. What you're doing is a mistake, and you haven't even begun to consider the dangers. By working for Cleo you've put me in a difficult situation." He tapped his hands on the table, and for a moment the rapping of his fingers was the only noise in the room. "In this line of work, a mistake made by you could cost me more than my job."
"There's your incentive to be the best teacher you can be." Sophie replied seriously. She met his eyes determinedly, accepting his challenge without backing down. She wasn't going to let him bully her out of her dream. "If you don't want me to screw up, teach me how to be as good as you are."
Robert smirked, though his eyes didn't leave her face. "Being a thief takes more than just having the guts to cut off all of your hair. I don't expect you'll make it through my training."
"Challenge accepted." Sophie answered, and Teddy giggled next to her. Robert glanced at him and his smile immediately faded.
"If that's how you're going to be, then let me lay down some rules. To start, you are no longer to consider yourself a girl. Part of being a thief means learning how to disguise yourself, and the more am
biguous you are, the better you'll blend in. You will start behaving like a male, and Cleo's taken it onto herself to help you change your wardrobe."
"Excuse me?" Sophie asked incredulously. "I have to act like a what?" She bit her lip, wondering if he was doing this just to be cruel. She'd hoped Teddy had misunderstood Robert's comment about her being like a boy. "There's no other way for me to learn how to disguise myself?"
"It's ridiculous how little you know." Robert sighed, and his smirk faded from his face. "There are people in this business who would be very interested to know that you are the daughter of Susanne and Gerard Parker. People who are more influential than Cleo, and by influential, I mean dangerous. Your parents stole from a lot of important figures, and they've yet to be forgotten."
"Cleo knows about this danger?" Sophie felt her determination begin to falter. She'd just begun to realize how far she'd gotten in over her head. "Why didn't she tell me about it?"
"You know now." Robert's eyes narrowed. "Why? Have you already changed your mind? It's not too late to go home."
Taking a deep breath, Sophie calmed herself down. She was going to have to figure everything out in small steps. This world was new to her, and she was just going to have to take it slow.
"No, I'll agree to your terms. If I need to pretend to be a boy, I will. For the time being." Her reply was as steady as she could make it.
Robert watched her carefully, his smile turning into a frown. He pushed away from the table, and paused in the middle of the kitchen. He looked like he was about to say something before he exited the room altogether.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sophie muttered, clenching her fists. She stood up from her seat as well, and charged out of the kitchen. She wasn't done speaking with him yet, though she wasn't sure what drove her to be this rash. Normally, Sophie was better at controlling her fiery attitude.
As soon as she'd excited the kitchen, Sophie immediately realized her mistake. Robert been hoping she'd follow him, and as she noticed him waiting on the steps she felt herself turn red in embarrassment. She'd played right into his hands. She paused in the middle of the hallway, and tried to ignore him as he began to laugh at her.
"You're just as predictable as I thought you were." Robert, who was leaning against the wall of the staircase, slowly stepped down from his perch. Though his eyes were blank, his body language seemed mocking. "How boring." He whispered, crossing his arms.
Sophie felt like he'd just slapped her. It wasn't so much the insult, as the way he said it. The way he spoke made her seem insignificant, and weak. The word "boring" took so many different forms in her mind, and each of them seemed worse to Sophie than the original meaning itself. It was like he was calling her a disappointment, and not worth his time.
Beyond her wounded pride, his comment made her temper ignite. Exactly what did this man know about her? Who was he to look down at her decision?
"Predictable." Sophie replied, laughing back at him. "We'll see about that." She took two steps forward, closing the distance between them. "You're right, Robert. I don't know the first thing about stealing, and I'm not aware of how this kind of world works. However, you're wrong about one thing. I do have what it takes, and I don't have to prove that to you, do I? As long as Cleo's happy, that's all that matters. You think throwing a few harsh rules is going to break me? Okay, let's see how far we can go with this." She glared up at him with everything she had. "Just watch how far I can go. I have nothing to lose, so I'll do anything to get what I want."
While Robert had initially been surprised at Sophie's confidence, he wasn't the type to back down.
"What exactly is it that you want?" He took another step closer to her, but Sophie refused to budge. They were inches apart now, though neither seemed to realize it. "A life where you can live as you want, wasting away the time as a painter?" He smirked, rolling his eyes. "What a childish dream. I'll tell you what you really want. All you desire is money."
"Money is a means to an end." Sophie answered, not registering his disgust.
"No, money is much more than that. Don't delude yourself into thinking you're working for Cleo for some romantic vision of the future. You just want to get rich as quickly as you can." He pulled away, his eyes glazing over with an emotion Sophie couldn't understand. "In my eyes, a mentality like that is pathetic."
He turned around, and began heading up the staircase.
"I'll call your challenge. Let's see how far you can get before you realize what kind of mess you've gotten yourself into." He paused for a moment, glancing back at her one last time. "Even though we work together, don't trust me. Don't trust anyone for that matter. If it comes down to it, I'll save myself a thousand times over before I extend a hand to help you." He grinned, brushing off his former anger as if it had never existed. "That's the world of thieves. Get used to it."
As she watched him disappear upstairs, Sophie found that she was shaking. She had so much more she wanted to shout at him, but not enough effort to say it. He'd silenced her with just one statement, and she hated how he'd just ended the fight.
More than ever she was determined to see this task through, to prove to Robert, and maybe even herself, that it wasn't as a pathetic a dream as he'd said.
* * *
Sophie knew the moment that she entered the kitchen the next morning that she'd started a battle that could last forever. The way Robert smiled up at her from his seat at the kitchen table made her shiver. It was the cunning smile of someone who already knew they had the upper hand.
"Have a seat." He said good-naturedly, with a fox-like smile.
"Thank you." Sophie scowled as she sat down in front of him. They were alone in the kitchen, though Sophie could hear voices coming from another room. Someone had politely fixed Sophie's breakfast for her, which consisted of a stack of at least five pancakes. They were lukewarm and somewhat soggy from the syrup, but she was still grateful for the gesture.
Feeling Robert staring at her, Sophie awkwardly began eating her meal.
"I have a surprise for you today." He began, and she tried not to wince. "Actually, to be fair, it's Cleo's surprise."
"Great." Sophie focused on her pancakes, trying not to seem nervous. She had yet to decide whether she should be concerned about the surprise he was speaking of. "I love surprises." She added quickly, hoping it sounded as confident as she meant it to.
"I doubt you'll like this one." Robert leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. Sophie chanced a glance at him and found that he'd stopped smiling. "No, I'm positive you won't like it at all."
"Is it some kind of torture?" Sophie joked, trying to smile away the tension that had settled between them.
Robert let her question hang in the air, and Sophie felt chill bumps race up her arms.
Feeling the need to break the silence, Sophie continued speaking. "Well, even if it is, I won't mind. I told you I wouldn't give up, so no matter how awful the surprise is, I'll deal with it."
Robert narrowed his eyes. "I wonder if it will be that easy." He whispered, looking genuinely curious.
Before Sophie could answer, Rylan interrupted their conversation by walking into the room. He held a pile of clothes in his arms, though Sophie was more focused on his face. It looked like he had eaten something rotten, and was about to throw up.
Walking towards her, Rylan offered out the pile of clothes. On closer inspection, Sophie found that the pile consisted of sweatpants and a sweatshirt.
"Your new wardrobe." Robert explained, as he stood up from the table. "As soon as you finish eating you can change into that." He placed a reassuring hand on Rylan's shoulder, but Rylan brushed it off rudely. Sighing, Robert turned towards the kitchen door. "We'll be having company soon, so you should hurry and get ready. After all, this is your first test."
"What kind of test?" Sophie pushed away her plate, deciding she couldn't eat while being this nervous.
"Oh, don't worry. It's really simple. If the guest finds out who you are, y
ou fail. If you convince him you're a boy, you pass. Easy as that."
Without waiting for a reply, Robert exited the room.
Sophie only realized after he'd left that her mouth had dropped open.
"Sophie." Rylan began, and she turned towards him in surprise. She'd forgotten he was still in the room.
"What's up?" She asked, smiling at him. Her frustration at Robert was hard to ignore, but she didn't want to take it out on Rylan.
"You should stop now. This test… it's not what you think it is." Rylan looked like he was struggling to speak. "Please, don't do this to yourself."