Nineteen- An intense look

Chloe had no idea why she had thought that they would be going to a cemetery. Well, it would have been a bit creepy if they did.

But, Amir had mentioned his mother in a way that would make one think that she was dead. But she wasn't.

She was across the street in a restaurant with two young boys and a man who couldn't take his eyes off her or take down his really large smile as he wished her a happy birthday and watched her blow out the candle lights.

"Uh... Amir..." Chloe shook him out of his dazed state. "Aren't you going in to wish her? Standing here is a little bit weird."

"Wish her?" He bluntly pushed her suggestion away . "She made it clear that she never wants to see my face. She thinks I am bad luck."

"But you are not, right?" She could imagine the look on the face of a younger Amir who had just been told by his mother that he is bad luck. He must have been greatly hurt.

"I don't know. Maybe to her, I am ill luck. But to me," he sighed. ", I am just fine."

Chloe tore her eyes off him to take one more look at his mother who resembled him. She wondered what could have happened that would make her reject her son in such a way. She wanted to ask Amir, but she had to know her boundaries, especially at that particular moment.

Amir kicked the solid black road with his shoe before he said, "Everyone is entitled to have an opinion about me, good or bad. My mother clearly does and it is just fine. Even if she doesn't want to see my face, at least I get to wish her a happy birthday like this every year till she stops coming here."

"You don't hate her for casting you away?" He shook his head in negative, and Chloe frowned. He was not like her , she never wasted her time on people who don't want her around. But she did not question his way of thinking. Instead, she asked, "Do you think you will ever be able to walk up to her?"

"No," came his quiet answer that made him sound so delicate. He sounded like a little boy that was still scared of that little monster under his bed. "I don't want to hear her scream at me like she did before. "

Chloe did not push further. She just wrapped her arms around him and drew him closer for a hug.

"Happy birthday mum," Chloe heard him whisper as his arms went around her in acceptance of her invitation. He did seem like a little boy at that moment. "Chloe?"

"Yeah?" She watched the little family get up and proceeded to dance to the music being played by a live band.

"Thank you for being here with me. You are a good friend."

Chloe found her chest going warm at his words. As he pulled away, she began to reason how dangerous getting attached to any of them would be. At first, she was worried about Nathaniel, but her newfound relationship with Amir or any other new bond formed could affect her if the brothers do end up in jail.

"We can leave now," Amir shook her out of her thoughts with his words.

"Yes," she smiled. "We should get going."

~

Two worried men were outside the mansion, waiting for them.

As Chloe and Amir got down from the car, Nathaniel's expression instantly turned angry.

"And, where the hell have you both been?"

"We were getting pieces of evidence that would prove me not guilty of those absurd accusations," Amir said, his words progressing with his steps which he halted when he was just a few metres away from Nathaniel.

"And, did you have to drag her into your mess?"

"I decided to help him," Chloe answered instead.

"You heard her. She decided to help me since," Amir's eyes darted to Gabriel and then back to Nathaniel, "the both of you refused to believe me or help me in any way."

Nathaniel looked toward Chloe whose hair was being turned into a plaything in the night's breeze. "How could you be so dumb?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why on earth would you decide to go out for so long with someone you barely know? Someone who has just been accused of something... crazy."

"The nerve of this guy," Amir said unbelievably.

Chloe couldn't believe her ears as well. Nathaniel was clearly insulting her. She knew she had to ignore the voice telling her to calm down and throw him a response that would shut him up.

"Well, I am so sorry I decided to help Amir. And, I am so sorry I decided to help a man who I felt was innocent. And, God so helping me, I am very sorry that I have been more of a friend to Amir than both of you this night. So please, your royal twatness," she joined her palms together and placed them close to her forehead, "forgive me for being helpful."

"Wow," Amir said after nothing but night sounds surrounded them.

"Damn, Nathaniel. I am very disappointed in you," Gabriel finally spoke. Nathaniel whose eyes kept raking through a confident-looking Chloe, looked to the side, his jaws clenching. Gabriel walked past Nathaniel and toward Chloe before he continued, "I am so disappointed. Chloe here shouldn't be spoken to that way."

His eyes locked with hers firmly. "She should be appreciated. She is one of a kind, such a beautiful soul." Chloe's eyes shifted as the tone of Gabriel's voice changed . It seemed like that of a poet who was confessing his love.

"You should be thanking her for being there for Amir, not questioning her in an insulting way."

His eyes didn't leave her at all. When his legs reached where she was, he reached out and held her chin, and with that single touch, Gabriel made her look his way with a gentle shift. "You should appreciate her real good because she is one of a kind. So," he dropped his hold, reduced the intense look, and went on to stand by her side, "thank you so much, Chloe. Nathaniel, say thank you."

There was this look in Nathaniel's eyes that bore a resemblance to anger, just that it wasn't so obvious, it barely existed. His eyes locked with Chloe's who was still trying to make sense of what just happened with Gabriel, and his lips parted. But no words came out. Instead, he turned in his heels and walked toward the house.

"Yeah... I need to go do some office stuff," Amir said as he broke the pregnant silence that followed.

"And, Chloe here needs to rest. Right?" Gabriel looked down at her with this gentle smile that seemed a little suggestive to Chloe. She immediately shook her head, she was starting to have ideas she didn't like.

"Yes, I uh... need to rest."

"Good," that smile still looked suggestive, "I will be tucking you in tonight."