“I understand how you feel. My dad has just left us. It can be a terribly lonely feeling.”
“I used to cry myself to sleep.”
“It’s healthy for boys to cry. I’m sure your dad will come around to seeing what a great son he’s got. He’s sure to change. They all do.”
“I’m sure he will.” He welcomed the warmth of her body. He was reminded of the Police Station scene where Byron had held her so tenderly as she cried. He felt funny because their roles had reversed. She was confident and affirming while he seemed unsure of himself. It seemed that they were made for each other. They were kindred spirits. They both had gone through personal trauma but she was more resilient than him. He needed her to affirm his spirit and convince him that he could rise above all the difficult things he faced. It was an awesome feeling of love. He sorely needed that kind of loving and he wanted lots of it!
“Can I make a confession to you?”
There was something about Matt that she found refreshing. He was not trying to impress her but just being himself and being honest with his feelings. It was almost childlike in its innocence.
“I suspect it has something to do with me,” she said perceptively. “Can I punch you in the mouth if I don’t like the sound of it?” she asked gently. She didn’t want a formal kind of confession but a rather more casual one. If she didn’t like the sound of it she could decline without sounding too formal and rude.
“Yes, please. I’d love that very much,” he said liking her style instantly. “I fell in love the first time I saw you in the station. Your eyes were all red and you were in tears. When Byron told me how you had defended Quentin I wanted to put my arms around you and say, “That’s my kind of girl.” What I love about you is that in spite of your problems you went out of your way to help Quentin.”
Natalie stared at him noncommittally. “A knight in shining armor observing her princess.” She knew she sounded awkward but she was trying to hide the fluttering of her heart. He was so direct in the way he spoke and his words sounded so powerful because he spoke so sincerely from the heart. There was nothing contrived. He hadn’t practiced and memorized the words to say. It just came out naturally.
“You hear this all the time from boys trying to date you?” He sound rather deflated.
“No,” she said rather too quickly.
“You’re not going to punch me?”
Natalie realized that in many ways Russ, Byron and Matt were birds of the same feather. They all came from challenging homes. Matt was very fortunate because he was able to process his issues very quickly. He could be a positive influence on Byron and her on how to adjust to the traumas and angst of growing up.
“I didn’t make my little speech after watching Gone With The Wind,” Matt said trying to be witty.
“Or listening to Taylor Swift?” Natalie joked.
“I won’t bring you trouble,” Matt said paraphrasing the song’s lyrics. He came closer to her and wanted so desperately to kiss her passionately.
Natalie touched his mouth. He remained still as he kissed the part of his lips that Byron had punched. It sent shock waves through his body. He felt numb with the awesome feeling of falling in love.
“And Nat I’m not very good at having a normal conversation. I just found that out with Byron. I’m awkward sometimes. If I say anything that hurts you in the next two weeks can you promise me something?”
“What?”
“Can you punch me where you kissed me?”
“You’re impossible,” she sighed. She was beginning to like him.
“Nat, I’m going to say this every day. I love you.”
She was not sure what to say and swam away to take hold of herself and see how she should react to him. She was beginning to feel butterflies in her stomach. She had felt a very warm tingling sensation through her body when she kissed him.
“I’m free,” he shouted again.
For the first time in his life he was overpowered by the feeling of forgiving his dad, of being loved by his grandparents and of understanding what it was like to love someone.
His eyes became moist again when he thought of the awesome turn of events. It was just a great feeling to be alive.
She swam closer to him, “You’re in tears again Matt,” he said gently.
“I’m so happy. I cried for you.”
“My crybaby,” she held him again. She couldn’t quite understand why whenever he cried she felt this strong impulse to be kissed by him. It sounded odd but she was turned on by this handsome hunk tearing up. She just hoped it was not a ploy on his part to win her love. If he was crying on cue she’d definitely punch him in the mouth.
He seemed to sense what she was thinking because he said, “I’m not usually like this; I mean crying in front of a pretty girl. But I guess I like you so much to be an open book to you. I’m so comfortable in your presence that I can just be myself. And you started all this!”
“What do you mean?”
“You were crying in the Station and I wanted to reach out to you. The only way to make you see that I loved you was to show you I also went through pain and through it I understood what love meant.”
“So you’re kind of crying to support me?”
“It sounds weird, yes that’s kind of right.” They broke into laughter.
She thought of taking the initiative to kiss him but worried that he might think she was coming on to him. Oh these Indiana boys! Why were they too nice? Couldn’t he take the hint that he should hold her in those bulging arms and give her a warm passionate kiss? Was he quite nervous too? This would explain the monologues! Why did he have to say so much? Can’t his lips do the talking for a change? Oh the trials of being sophomores!
“But don’t tell anyone about this. They might not understand.”
“I’ll tell everyone that you cried all afternoon and the water became salty.”
She swam away and he followed her pulling her legs down. His strong body pulled him gently to the top. “Nat I just don’t have any words to explain what I’d been meaning to do ever since I saw you at the station.” He respected her boundaries and hesitated momentarily to see if her body language was negative.
“Please no more talking or I’ll really have to punch your mouth,” she hinted.
He understood straightaway what she meant.
She felt the warmth of his embrace and the gentle kiss, tentative at first, of someone who cared for her and loved her deeply. When he found her responding with such enthusiasm, he became confident and kissed her with gay abandon.
“You’re the first girl I’ve kissed,” he said smiling. She seemed to lose all sense of time as he kissed her again, this time with confidence. “You’re so warm.”
“My crybaby,” she teased him lovingly.
He held her tenderly and said softly, “Whenever you feel like crying, you can do so in my arms.”
She felt affirmed that in spite of her challenging experiences, love conquered all and gave her the strength to deal with all the issues she faced.
Chapter 16: Final confrontation
Natalie and Matt looked at Byron in mock horror.
“Let me get this straight,” Matt began, “what you’re saying is that you’ve never cooked anything in your life. It’s all done by servants.”
“Well Juanita and the gang cook the meals. I’ll ask her to teach me some recipes after this,” Byron said weakly.
“We have a genuine Prince of Genovia in our presence,” Natalie laughed.
“Look I can learn. You guys will admit that this is a good learning opportunity for me,” he said lamely.
“Your highness, we’ll teach you to cook pasta now,” Natalie said.
“You’ll have to come home for a sleepover so my grand dad and I can teach you,” Matt said.
“I was going to invite you but my mum might want to adopt you seeing as you’re like a brother to me so I’ll pass,” Natalie laughed.
“I think I’ll go for the adoption,
” Byron tried to be witty. “You both will have to come to my place too.”
“I’ll want room service and my own personal butler,” Matt laughed.
“An English manor in the US? I’d really love to meet Lord Carrington and Lady Marchington in the drawing room,” Natalie said.
“I can arrange that with the palace secretary,” Byron played along.
“We’re not amused,” Matt said trying to sound like Queen Victoria.
“It is quite clear (she pronounced it as clair) that Lord Byron has been gallivanting in Heresford, Hemsford Hemisphere,” Natalie said as she mimicked what she thought was a British high society accent.
“Oh you two will kill me,” Byron said as he doubled over with laughter.
There was an innocuous beeping sound from Natalie’s Galaxy.
Byron became tense.”Let me have a look at it.” He was familiar with surveillance devices as his home was routinely swept for bugs. It was due to his dad’s paranoia about snoopy reporters and his suspicion about rivals trying to undercut him by eavesdropping. Byron had learnt a few tricks from these experiences. Something did not seem right from the very subtle beeping in Natalie’s phone. He had an intuition of trouble and felt he needed to check it. He opened up the phone and then gasped. “Oh my God!”
“What’s the matter?”
“There’s a tracking device here.”
“You mean Russ knows where we are?”
“Yes and he’s probably on his way here unless he’s arrived already and sneaking round now.”
“Quentin did say he was going to drop by.”
“He’d be no match for Russ and his goons. His best bet is to come in without being seen and then call the Police,” Byron said.
“That means that Russ is probably not hurt,” Natalie said sounding disappointed.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Matt said.
“Okay, let’s call the Police.”
Both Byron and Matt’s phones registered busy dial tones.
“I hate to say this guys but I think Russ has put up a jamming device so we can’t send or receive calls.”
“Trust a devious mind to think up everything,” Natalie said.
“Oh the lengths that people will go for the love of a beautiful maiden,” Byron said with his tongue in his cheek. He was trying to lighten up the tense atmosphere.
The first shot shattered the window in the kitchen. They dived for cover and then crawled out to one of the bedroom upstairs.
From this vantage point Byron saw Bugsy leaning against the car. He had on a snapback that was barely sitting on top of his head. Byron took carefully aim. The snapback flew out of his head and Bugsy squealed in fear. He also took aim at the front car lights.
Russ’s team shouted as they moved out of his vision.
More shots were fired at them and they could hear feet running. The front door was smashed open.
In the background they could hear the police siren sounding furiously. There was the faint sound of a helicopter in the distance.
Byron realized his mistake too late.
They should have dispersed in different directions. At least that way one of them could have escaped to bring help.
They were together and worse still, he had revealed their position by firing when he should have drawn them away before firing from a different area and then doubling back.
He now realized that they had come in earlier and had he not had his sense of intuition they would have all been taken by surprise in the kitchen.
The police siren was sounding closer.
“You can come out now,” Russ ordered. “We know you’re all inside.”
“I think its best that we go out and try to reason with him,” Matt said.
“Good idea. I only have two bullets and come to think of it, the sound of hurting fellow students doesn’t appeal to me.”
“We’re coming out,” Natalie shouted.
“You thought you could run away from me,” he gloated.
“Don’t do anything unreasonable,” Natalie pleaded. “Let them go. You have me now.”
“Not so fast Nat. These two humiliated me,” he paused for effect. “Tarzan here became famous and popular at my expense. I gather he’s got a fan club now ready to roll on kickstarter. And Romeo here was obsessed with getting his tadpoles in the tank.”
“He’s not like that. He respects me. He has a name.”
“And I don’t respect you? You implied that, didn’t you?”
“Let them go Russ. You have me here with you.”
“Now that I think about it, I’ll have my little fun with you first,” Russ said. “Then I’ll start shooting and my problems will be solved.”
“Don’t you dare touch her,” Byron shouted.
“Oh so you do have a voice. You couldn’t wait could you? I saw your clammy snake like lips on her.”
“I’m not clammy and I’m not a snake. Speak for yourself.”
“You’ll have to shoot me first before you get your hands on her,” Matt said coldly.
Russ’s hand shook visibly as his death like stare penetrated Matt. It suddenly occurred to them that Russ was not acting normally. He seemed to be high on some drugs and was acting rather strangely.
The Police siren came much close now. A helicopter hovered above the mansion.
It happened all of a sudden. Russ and his three goons had not seen Quentin come in quietly from a side door positioned behind Russ.
“Drop it Russ,” he said in a determined voice. “Don’t you dare touch Nat.” He gave a fierce look to Russ and his gang and a tender loving look to Natalie. Byron noticed this look of longing and affection. Was there something he was missing? Was there another reason why Russ had attacked Quentin in the wooded jogging area? He was aware that Natalie socialized also with him but thought this friendship was platonic. It seemed there was a romantic interest between them otherwise he would not have risked his life to barge in to try and save her. Byron was not sure if she had reciprocated his romantic interest. It looked like the four of them loved Natalie with the same level of intensity and only one had emerged victorious from the race. Natalie was a special kind of girl; intelligent, affirming, attractive, resilient and it didn’t surprise him that they all wanted to win her love. Small world, he shrugged and tried to suppress a smile in this tense situation.
Russ’s jaw dropped.
“If you don’t drop it I swear to God I’ll shoot. I don’t care if your gang takes me down. At least I would have gotten rid of a scum like you.”
Russ hesitated.
“I’m going to count to 5 and shoot you if you don’t put down your guns.”
Russ put down his gun and signaled to the rest to do likewise.
They could hear the sound of footsteps coming much closer. Armed police officers burst in.
Quentin’s hand was shaking with all the pent up frustration and anger building up inside him.
“It’s okay Quentin. Everything should be okay now,” Byron said gently.
Quentin looked at Natalie who smiled gratefully for his timely help.
“Put down the gun, son,” one of the officers commanded Quentin.
He put down his gun slowly. There was a look of relief on his face.
Chapter 17: Finale
Their statements were taken at the Police Station. Quentin and Natalie filed additional reports of the incident where they were terrorized and attacked in the wooded area.
Byron’s dad sounded very concerned on the phone. He was in New York and he was flying over. He was sending Warren, the family lawyer.
“It’s okay dad. I can manage until you come back,” Byron said pleasantly.
His dad was intrigued at his enlightened attitude. Something positive must have happened although he couldn’t figure it out at that time. He said he had some good news. He was flying out in the weekend to Texas to meet his mum. They were making another attempt at reconciliation. Byron was very happy to hear this.
Quentin’s parents were the first to come in. They were in their mid forties and appeared well adjusted. They acted like any other normal parents and seemed genuinely concerned not only for Quentin but for everyone involved in the conflict. They had a discussion with the Officer in Charge.
Quentin introduced them and told them that Byron would come for a sleep over in the weekend.
At that point Quentin’s sister walked in from the car park and Byron’s heart also missed a beat.
As Quentin introduced Chloe to Byron, he mentioned that he was coming for a sleep over.
“That’s great Byron,” she said as she came over and gave him a friendly hug.
Byron’s face turned read and he felt weak at the knees.
He sat back on the bench feeling quite embarrassed as Chloe went out to get something she had misplaced. Matt came over to him and whispered good naturedly, “I’ll let her know that you don’t like getting hugged.” He pretended to go after Chloe. Byron took hold of his arm rather too quickly. “I love hugs.” Byron was slowly appreciating him. He was the brother he never had. There was some dried blood around his nose and lips. He felt a pang of guilt at his violent nature which he didn’t realize he had coiled up inside him.
“Everything should be okay,” he said sensing Byron’s concern. “I’m used to the hard knocks. Used to learn kick boxing and wrestling in Indiana.”
Byron looked surprised.
“It was a hobby to help me deal with my tensions. I couldn’t use it on you because I’d said when we first met that we were brothers. So I allowed you to punch me up.”
“After all the awful things I said to you, you’re the real hero,” he said with conviction. “You’ll have to teach me some boxing and driving lessons.”
“Oh that’ll be great. I’ll have my chance to punch you up,” Matt joked.
“That’s fine,” Byron couldn’t help wincing, “so long as you don’t punch too hard!”
“You’ll have to teach me some social skills. I notice that every time I opened my mouth I came up with howlers that didn’t go down well.”
Byron was not sure if he was joking. He felt that they matched each other in the number of howlers they produced and they certainly antagonized each other!
Trouble Page 7