The Chase by Amber Riel (story reading txt) 📖

of food in front of Louis.

          I looked down a my plate as the sweet smell of ham hit my nose.  My plate was filled with peas, mash potatoes, and of course honey glanced ham.  The smell of hot fresh food filled the air and I could feel my mouth start to water.  “Thank you,” I told the maid as she walked past me again.

          “No problem,” she replied with a smile then left the room.

          “Uncle Louis, can you say the prayer please?” Lainie asked with big wide eyes as she looked over the man on the other side of the table.

          Louis smiled at the child and nodded.  “Everyone, bow your heads and close your eyes.”

          We all did as we waited for the man to speak.  “Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this meal which the cooks had prepared for us and I pray please reach down and bless it so it will fill us up.  Lord, thank you for letting Samantha have a good and safe trip here on the plane and thank you for giving us this moment to share and to be here with one another as well.  Thank you for everything in Jesus name, amen.”

          As I opened my eyes, I kind of glanced over at Louis surprised that he had thanked God for me arriving safely.  I didn’t think that was something that he would have been thankful for but then I remembered that Lainie was there as well and that he was probably just trying to show her how to be gracious for others whether she got along with them or not.

          Lainie stuck her fork into a little piece of ham which one of the maids had cut up for her and placed it into her mouth.  She tried to chew with her mouth close out of respect but she was kind of having trouble.

          I kind of smiled to her and held up a napkin.  “Watch and learn,” I told her.  I took a sharp knife and cut a piece of ham for myself keeping it on the fork and took a bite.  As I began to chew I took my napkin and placed it over my mouth so that I wouldn’t seem rude to the others.

          Lainie smiled as she got the idea and copied what I had done with the napkin.

          “Nice trick,” Louis said as he smiled at Lainie.  “Keep it up, kid.”

          Lainie removed the napkin from her mouth so she could return the smile and went back to eating.

 

          After dinner, Lainie had me follow her into a bathroom so we could wash up.  She stood on a stool so she could reach the rounded sink and look into the rectangular mirror.  “Why don’t you like my Uncle Louis?” she asked.

          I sighed as I placed my hands under the warm water which ran down the faucet.  I didn’t know how to explain the situation to the little child.  “We just don’t agree with each other.”

          “Why don’t you agree with him?”

          I looked at my hands as I placed squirted some soap on my hands and I did the same for Lainie because she couldn’t reach the bottle of the hand soap.  “It’s just one of those things…. You can get along with someone the moment you meet them or you can’t.  It just depends on the person.”

          “Oh you mean like my cousin Phillip?  He is so spoiled and he always gets whatever he wants…. Then he comes here and he brags about everything…. He takes my toys and says, ‘I have a better one than this version.’  And I don’t say anything but he makes me so mad when he does that…. It hurts my feelings.”

          “Something like that,” I replied, nodding.  Little children were so interesting to talk to because they seemed to be getting smarter and smarter each year and the conversations they have are insanely similar to ours but dealing with things that only a child would understand.  I felt that in a way they were little people.

 

          I stood in the room I was staying in, looking out of the window.  The sky was a beautiful dark blue color with small silver stars to light up the sky.  It was such a beautiful night and I just loved the scene.  There were few streets light which let the stars shine through the neighbor.  I had never seen such a sight being from a town where when people would look up to the night sky the street lights would over run the stars.  It was amazing.  I looked down and noticed that Ron was outside talking to Louis as Louis began to get into his car.  They laughed and joked.  I didn’t know what they were talking about but just watching them made me think that they were close like brothers.  I shook my head as I looked at Louis who obviously hated me for some unknown reason.

          Knock, knock.

          I snapped out of the daze and turned my attention toward the door.  “Come in,” I spoke softly wondering if the person on the other side of the door had heard me.

          As if to answer my thought Annie walked in and smiled.  “Like your room?” she asked.

          I nodded.  “Yea.  I love being able to look at the stars being in the city is so different.”

          Annie nodded.  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

          I nodded again.

          She walked over to the window and stood next to me, looking down at the two men on the ground below us.  “They grew up together like brothers,” she told me as her smile grew at the sight of her husband.

          “I can tell,” I replied.

          “Aside from the fact that you and Louis got off on the wrong foot what do you think about him?”

          “Well, I have to admit that he is handsome but that doesn’t mean anything especially seeing that he was so rude to me today.”

          Annie smiled.  “You two just had a bad first impression….”

          “Bad first impression?” I asked.  “He talked to me like I was a dumb dog or something.  It was rude…. I don’t know how they are here but his way of wording certain things about me were very insulting.”

          Annie sighed.  “He’s really not that bad believe me.”

          I raise an eye brow as I looked at my sister.

          “He was just having a bad day.”

          “He acted like he didn’t even want to be there to pick me up from the airport earlier…. He talked like he had better things to do.  You know that really hurt as if I was just some outcast who shouldn’t have even been here….” As I spoke I felt my voice shake from hurt and pain.  I kind of wanted to cry but for some reason the tears weren’t coming out.  “Do you really expect me to get to know that guy?”

          “Sam, if I didn’t think that he was good for you then I wouldn’t even have tried to play matchmaker,” she admitted.  “I wouldn’t try to set you up with someone who only cared about himself…. Louis is a good guy, you just have to get to know him better…. He’s been through quite a bit in the past couple of years and he may seem cold hearted but he’s really not…. Do you really believe that I would want to hook you, my dear sister, up with some jerk?”

          I shrugged.

          “That would be cruel.  I love you and I want you to find a guy who’s worth your time and believe me I think that you and Louis are meant for each even if you two don’t see it yet.”

          “If we are meant for each other, don’t you think that he would have at least been nicer to me today?”

          I watched Annie play with a few facial expressions which gave her a few minutes to think.  “If he didn’t think that you were worth the time, do you think that he would have thank God that you had a safe trip?”

          I thought about Annie’s question for a moment then closed my eyes.  “Yea, if he only said that for Lainie’s benefit.”

          “I don’t think he did.”  She looked down the window and we both watched as Louis climbed into his small black car and drive off as Ron headed back into the mansion.  “I’m going to go ahead and go so you can sleep if you want or stay up…. Whatever you want to do.  Good night, sis.”

          “Good night.”

          Annie left the room.

          I stood at the window and continued to stare out of the window.  Louis?  What a jerk? I thought as I stared out at the night sky.

At the Park With Lainie

          I woke up to the sunlight shining through the window.  As I sat up on the bed I looked around the room.  There was this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach telling me that something bad was going to happen but I shrugged it off.  Usually when I got that feeling the worst thing that would happen was me being late for a meeting or losing my keys which I always manage to find but I knew that it wasn’t either of those because I wasn’t at home.  I had the feeling that the worst thing that I’d have to deal with was seeing Louis again.  I rolled my eyes at the thought of even being in the same room as that man.  He was ruining my vacation which was aggravating.  I didn’t even know why I had let him bother me so bad.  I stood up and let my hair fall out of the bun which I had wrapped it up in the night before.  I took the hair tie out and kind of shook my head letting my hair fall down a little past my shoulders.

          “COME IN!” I yelled and started heading for the door when it opened unexpectedly and little Lainie ran in wrapping her arms around my waist.  I felt so small compared to the men whom she had to hug their legs in order to hug them.  “Good morning, Lainie.”  I smiled at her.

          Her beautiful hazel eyes looked up at me with a wide smile underneath them.  “Good morning, Auntie Samantha.”  Her little voice was so full of excitement.  “Did you sleep well?”

          I nodded.  “Yes I did.  The bed was really comfortable.”

          “That’s good.  I helped mummy fix it for you yesterday.  I even choose the blankets and pillows to place on it.”

          “Well, you did a good job.  They were perfect for me.”

          Lainie’s smile grew even more from the compliment I had giving her.  I could tell that I had made her morning.  She broke out of the hug and backed away.  “I was wondering if we could go to the park today?”

          “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

          “And you don’t have to worry about Uncle Louis…. He had to work today so he’s not going to be around.”

          Thank goodness, I thought.  Knowing that I didn’t have to deal