Chapter 40- Dinner gone Wrong

''Hero, I didn't know you were coming'' Claire smiles after a few moments of awkward silence.

''Yeah, remember we talked about it Sia'' he says and I nod, his eyes glowering into mine as his lips form a straight line.

''Well, come sit let me get another plate'' Claire says and disappears in the kitchen.

Hero pulls out the chair right next to me and takes a seat without looking at his father or Evelyn. Claire returns with a huge white plate in her hand and more cutlery. She places it in front of Hero and he takes out some food.

I catch Hero looking down at something and I realize he's staring at my legs so I pull my dress a bit down to cover them.

We all finish up our dinner in awkward silence, not a word from any of us since Hero sat down at the table.

''How was your day today?'' He calmly asks me.

''Good'' I reply.

''It's really nice to see you son I'm glad you decided to come'' Brent says and Hero ignores him and continues to pick at his food.

Hero doesn't really seem to like home-cooked food that much, he's more into fast food especially in the night. It's been a while since I've had such a delicious dinner, the dinner was going so well, I was hoping to come here and have a good time and end the dinner on a good note and return back to the tent without Hero having any idea.

''So Hero what did you do today?'' Brent asks.

''Nothing'' He says calmly.

Hero's father tries so hard to make conversation with him and get his attention but the more he tries to talk to him the more Hero ignores him.

Every day that went by without hearing from him I always wonder what he's doing every second and it takes everything in me not to pick up the phone and call him. We finish dinner and Claire and Evelyn start to clean up. They both go in the kitchen and leave me, Hero and his dad at the dining table.

''So how's the job going son?'' he asks.

''Good'' he responds and looks down at his hands on the table.

I give his father a look telling him not to ask anymore and I'm happy that he doesn't, Hero is in no mood to talk to anyone especially his father right now and things will get worse.

The man's face looks like he wants to engage in conversation with his son but is keeping it to a minimum. I wanna excuse myself and leave the room to go and see if Claire and Evelyn need help in the kitchen but I can't leave Hero in here with his father alone, especially when he's drunk he's in a worse mood and leaving the two of them in a room alone together would not end well.

''Sia would you like to come help us in the kitchen?'' Evelyn peeps through the door.

''I'm gonna go read the newspaper in the living room'' Brent rises from his seat.

Hero gets up and walks to the corner of the room as I follow Evelyn into the kitchen. I help them do the dishes, clean up the counter and the rest of the kitchen.

''I didn't even get to ask if anyone wanted dessert'' Claire smiles.

She goes into the fridge and pulls out a large cheesecake. She asks me if I would like a piece and I politely say yes and help her cut it. She carries a piece for Brent and I eat my piece in the kitchen.

''Do you know if Hero would want any?'' Evelyn asks.

''I don't know but I can ask him'' I say.

The cheesecake is delicious maybe the best piece I've ever had and it's strawberry cheesecake my favorite. I finish eating my piece first then I take the piece that Evelyn has cut for Hero and walk into the dining room to ask him if he wants and if he doesn't I'll just eat his share.

As I enter the dining room it's empty, I look around but he's not there. I walk into the living room and search for him but he's not there either. I peep through the curtain and notice that his car is still parked in the driveway so he is still here. I look around the entire downstairs of the house but there's no sign of him.

I notice the huge red carpet staircase leading to upstairs but it would be disrespectful to just go upstairs to look for him when this is not even my house and I barely know the people. I wanna ask them if I could but I can't think of a way to do that without it not being awkward.

''Uhm did any of you see Hero?'' I ask them in the living room.

Brent has his glasses on and the newspaper in his hands, Claire is making a list of what looks like groceries and Evelyn is reading a book.

''I thought he left'' Brent says a bit puzzled.

''No his car is still in the driveway'' I tell them.

''Maybe he's upstairs'' Claire says.

''You can check upstairs'' Evelyn says.

I leave the room but put the plate with the cheesecake back in the kitchen.

I walk up the huge staircase then continue my search for Hero. All of the rooms are neatly designed, they're not that fancy but everything is just simple yet it looks so elegant. The upstairs probably has about 6 rooms, I scan every one of them hoping to find Hero but return with no such luck, he's not in anyone of the bathrooms nor anyone of the rooms. I quickly descend the staircase and make my way back to everyone else in the living room.

''He's not up there'' I say almost breathless from my search.

''Did you check outside?'' Brent asks and looks up from his newspaper.

He moves to stand up then leads me outside. Evelyn moves to the right side of the house, Claire moves to the back and I take the left by the pool while Brent stands in the middle of the driveway keeping an eye out for all of us. I scan the entire side of the house, look in the room where they keep the pool supplies and also the changing room trying to find him. I return back to the front with my hands in my hair.

Now I'm officially distraught, where the hell is he? Is he okay?

I've searched the entire house and he's not here. His car is here so that means he has to be here, at least I hope so. What if he left his car here and ran off somewhere or something, oh god where is he? Even if he is here is he hiding or something? Brent leads us all back into the house and locks the door behind him. We all form a small circle in the living room.

''Don't worry honey we'll find him, I'm sure he's around here somewhere and when he's ready he'll come out'' Claire assures me.

I sit down on the couch next to Evelyn and I look at the ground worrying over where Hero could be.

''Your necklace is really pretty'' She tells me.

''Thank you''

''The words are really deep'' She says and stares at my necklace. The words are more than deep they're amazing and every time I read them I feel a sense of warmth and security and the need to be with Hero grows even more.

''Who gave it to you?'' She asks. I don't know if I should tell her that Hero gave it to me or just lie and make up something because if I tell her that Hero gave it to me more questions may arise and things might get complicated.

''My boyfriend'' I say.

''Hero?''

''No uhm my boyfriend back at home Nelson'' I hate how much I have to lie to everyone, and all the lies involve Nelson, every time I use his name an ounce of pain seeps through my chest followed by guilt.

''Oh I though you and Hero are dating'' She says and looks a bit baffled.

''No we aren't'' I wish we were but we aren't, he made that perfectly clear to me.

''Well Brent seems to think that you guys are''

''Oh why?''

''I don't know but when he came home from the ice cream shop that day when he saw you guys together that's what he said and he was so happy about it''

''So you guys are just friends then?''

''Yeah.. maybe, honestly I have no idea what we were. He's so confusing and hard to understand''

''Well you both are two very different people so it's just gonna take time I guess''

''Yeah I hope so''

''He looked really mad today when he saw you here''

''He was but he tried his best to stay calm although I know I'm in for it later''

''Did you tell him that you were coming here?'' she asks and I shake my head no.

''So your boyfriend how often do you see him?''

''Not too often since I came here''

I don't even want to see him and look into his eyes and pretend like everything's fine between us when really I've been hurting him with Hero since I came here. I try to stop and think about how much I'm hurting Nelson but I can't stop, I try to stay away from him but the more I do, the closer I get to him and the more we fight the more I get pulled in and it's not just him it's me too.

He consumes my thoughts and he's all that I think about ever since I met him as much as I try not to admit it it's true, I can't stop thinking about him and I don't wanna leave or stay away from him, I want him to be the magnet and let me be the force that he continues to attract.

''So what about you, do you have a boyfriend?'' I ask.

''No actually I'm not really focusing on that right now, after I have everything my job, my house and my car and I'm in a good place then I'll be ready to let someone in on my life but not right now'' She says and I know someone who said that exact same thing just a couple of months ago.

I did, I've said that I've always said that throughout the years.

Nelson was my boyfriend and my best friend and we both didn't go far into the relationship, we both took it slow because we didn't want to rush anything because we have many important things ahead of us in life to think about and a relationship is the least of them. We've always been there for each other more as friends and we have promised to not rush anything until the timing was right and that's nowhere near. I talk about our relationship in the past now because let's face it we don't have one anymore but he doesn't know it and I can't bear to see the hurt look on his face when he finds out.

''That's actually maybe the best thing'' I tell her.

I notice a scrabble board game under the coffee table in the center of the room. I ask her if we can play and she smiles and nods in response. We play for a while and make some jokes in between.

My head immediately snaps to the side as I see Hero descending the staircase. Relief washes over me as I see him. I leave the game and run up to him, I just wanna wrap my arms around him but by his expression, I can tell he would hate that and would say something to humiliate me in front of his family.

''Where were you?'' I question him.

''Upstairs'' He says looking behind me. He wouldn't even look me in the eye. He walks past me and heads into the kitchen.

There is no way he could've been upstairs this whole time, I looked everywhere and he wasn't there, I scanned every room upstairs like a hawk and he wasn't there, I was sure of it. I run up and stop right in front of him blocking him from the door to enter the kitchen.

''Where upstairs?'' I ask softly as I place each arm across the side of the door trying my best to block him from leaving the room. He doesn't say anything instead he just looks above me straight at the door.

''Did you hear me? I asked where upstairs were you? I searched the entire upstairs and you weren't there'' I say my voice a bit louder.

''Well clearly you didn't look properly'' He says and looks at me for a second before he looks away.

He turns in his heels and walks quickly back upstairs as I follow him. He walks into a room and slams the door behind him which causes me to jump and step back a bit. I turn the doorknob and I'm relieved when it opens but still a bit scared of his actions. He stares out the window of the darkroom and looks at me once before he snaps.

''Would you fucking stop following me! Find something else to keep yourself occupied!'' He shouts and I'm sure that everyone heard him downstairs.

''Why are you running away from me?'' I ask and walk a bit closer to him.

''Take a hint Stessian it's because I don't wanna fucking see you!'' He growls.

''Stop calling me Stessian and if you didn't wanna see me then why are you here?'' I ask and he walks past me down the stairs without answering me.

I walk downstairs and I don't follow him as I don't even know which direction he went. I walk into the kitchen to eat out my piece of cheesecake then get ready to leave. As I enter the kitchen I spot Hero by the counter with his back turned to me and I'm assuming he's on his phone.

''Claire wanted to know if you wanted this'' I say and slide the plate with the cheesecake on it next to him then turn to walk away but he grabs me by the arm and pulls me back to him making me gasp.

''It's time to go'' He whispers and I'm speechless. I look down at the ground then into his eyes.

With his eyes on me, his hand on my arm keeping me in place and his breath on my skin I can't seem to think or move at this point. I just look into his bloodshot, dark eyes and his raging face. I smell smoke on his chest and alcohol on his breath, no matter how much alcohol he has on his breath or how much smoke I smell from him, he still smells heavenly and it's the only scent I would ever want to inhale. It's obvious that he was drinking and smoking tonight, why does he do that every night? We continue to stare at each other not a word from the both of us and the room is silent only my heavy breathing and my racing heart which I'm sure he can hear too.

''Sia..'' Claire stops when she sees Hero and me in the kitchen with his hand on my arm holding me in place and our bodies only centimeters apart.

He releases his grip and I pull my hand away and look at Claire. She looks at both of us and Hero once more as he continues to go on his phone with his back to us.

''I uhm... wanted to know if you would like any food to carry? There are some leftovers'' She asks.

''No thanks although I really love the cheesecake'' I say and place my hand over the spot where Hero's tight grip was once a few seconds ago.

''Perfect, I will pack you a piece to go'' She says and moves over to the fridge.

I put my plate in the sink and Hero walks out of the room.

''Is everything okay?'' She asks.

''Yeah uhm we were just talking'' I lie, I knew that they heard him shouting at me upstairs but she's not the type to meddle.

I make my way to the dining room to get my purse, phone, and jacket. As I put my arms through the jacket, my upper arm hurts a bit as the jacket makes its way up.

I pull the jacket down a bit to examine the spot and there is a slight bruise, the bruise is a bit blue-black in color, it's not that noticeable but it's there. I was so caught up in the moment with us staring deep into each other 's eyes that I didn't realize his hand was wrapped around my arm so tightly, so tight and rough that it left a bruise. He pulled me back a bit rough and it startled me but I didn't realize he gripped my arm so tightly.

I put the jacket on, grab my things and make my way to the kitchen. Claire hands me a bowl with cheesecake slices in it and I smile and thank her. I make my way to the living room and thank everyone for having me and the delicious dinner. They tell me how great it was to have me and how much they enjoyed getting to know me.

''I hope we get to see you again Sia, it was really great having you'' Brent tells me and I look at Hero impatiently standing by the door with his hands in his pockets as he looks down with his serious and furious expression before I answer.

''I really hope so too'' I tell him and hug them all once more.

''Goodnight son'' Brent says as he walks us out the door. Hero doesn't say anything he just turns away and looks outside by the doorway.

I give the people one more good look and a look at the living room before I say my final good night for the night. Maybe I might not ever come here again or ever see them again but I will never change my opinion of them, of the sweet, kind and happy family that they are and I wish Hero could be a part of it, I know that they consider him a part of theirs but he doesn't consider them his.

I will always remember them even if I don't see them again because after all, I don't know what's really going on with Hero and I and it wasn't my place to come here, I had no right too. I wish that it isn't the last time and I get to see them again, they're such nice people. I will hold on to the hope that I will see them again and I know they will too.