Act II
Chapter 16
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Week 13 - Day 6
Alessia watched as he sun was setting outside the jet even though it had already set when the jet that she, along with Noland and Cael, had left the airport. Cael was asleep in his chair while Noland stared blankly out the the window. The sound of the jet's engine and the air sliding against the outside of the vehicle were among the only sounds that could be heard from the inside of the jet.
"I'm glad you guys came with me," Alessia said to Noland but he wasn't listening to her. His thoughts were elsewhere. "Nol? Nol...? Nol!"
"What...?" Noland asked, startled by Alessia's loud call.
"I said I'm glad you two came," Alessia repeated.
"Oh. My mom told me to go but, honestly, I-" Noland was interuppted by the pilot coming on the speaker to inform them that they were landing soon.
"We'll have the credits to pay for your mom's hospital care when we finish the job and besides, your mom's pretty tough and this is as close a vacation you'll get until the season's over so enjoy it." Alessia said.
The jet landed and Cael woke up as it touched down. The three of them got their things and Alessia opened the hatch while the down ramp extended to the ground. "What's that smell...?" Alessia asked as she made her way doen the ramp.
Noland followed her down, sniffing the air as he did, trying to figure out what the smell was. Cael was the last to disembark from the jet. He looked around the airstrip and sniffed the air as well as he went down the ramp.
"Smell's familiar," Noland said, "Cael, do you know what that smell is?"
Cael shook his head, "No," and Alessia checked her phone for the time then looked around the airstrip, searching. "The representative should be here to meet us," Alessia thought out loud. Noland and Cael searched the airstrip for the representative not knowing who they were looking for, just that they were representatives.
"Is that them?" Cael asked, pointing to a truck approaching them. The car pulled up and three people exited the vehicle.
"He... is... dead...!" Alessia said, thinking out loud, enraged.
"Alessia!" Alessia's grandmother exclaimed, running up to hug her grand daughter. "I'm so glad you could make it!"
"I thought your grandparents lived in France?" Noland asked.
"They do..." Alessia said annoyed, prying herself away from her grandmother's embrace, "We're leaving..."
"What about the representative we're supposed to meet?" Noland asked, "We need to finish the job for the extra credits,"
"They are the representatives and we've met them," Alessia said, heading back towards the jet.
"Not so fast Alessia Ciara Saint-Claire!" Alessia's grandfather shouted as he approached. Alessia sighed in frustration, turning around to face her grandfather. "We made a deal, a deal that you have yet to deliver on,"
"I already told you. The agreement was that I'd come visit you. I never agreed to let you decide when I visit you...!" Alessia said.
"You agreed to it when you took my money and used it for your little endeavor," Alessia's grandfather said.
"I didn't see that anywhere our contract," Alessia said.
"Then you've learned a life lesson. When someone offers you something and you take it, contract or not, they own you. It's a hidden condition, written in the fine print that you never see," her grandfather explained.
"Can you two stop! We're finally back together and you two talk like you aren't related!" Alessia's grandmother interjected, "Come, come. It's getting late and we're having dinner!"
"Dinner...? Where?" Alessia asked as her grandmother took her arm and pulled her towards the truck.
"We bought a new house. Small thing but it's lovely. You'll love it!" her grandmother said.
"I doubt that..."
"You gentlemen are invited as well you know," Alessia's grandfather said to Noland and Cael as he took Alessia's bags. Noland looked to Cael who shrugged and the two of them followed.
"Who's she?" Alessia asked, reffering to the woman waiting at the truck.
"That's Rita, dear. You haven't been in America long enough to forget Rita have you?" Alessia's grandmother asked.
"It's getting dark out so I can't blame her," Rita said as she took Alessia's bags from Alessia's grandfather. She loaded them in the back of the truck along with Cael and Noland's bags. When everyone was inside, Rita got in the front seat and drove the truck off the airstrip, onto the road.
Later that night, when they had arrived at Alessia's grandparents' new house, Rita showed Alessia, Cael and Noland to their rooms. Alessia got her own room while Noland and Cael shared the guest room where there were two beds. Noland and Alessia took a shower while Cael looked around the house since there were only two bathrooms they could use.
The house, though Alessia's grandmother called it small, was actually quite large. There was a master bedrrom, two smaller bedrooms, a guest bedroom, along with two bathrooms, a master bathroom, a kitchen, a living room, and a deck that overlooked the backyard. The entire house was covered in plants and flowers of all kinds. The different scents made Cael nauseous so he went back inside the house where he passed by the kitchen where Rita was assisting Alessia's grandmother with cooking dinner. Cael went back upstairs where he bumped into Alessia who had just finished showering.
"You can use the shower in my room," she said, "I'm pretty much done in there anyway,"
"This place stinks," Cael said, holding his nose.
"Suck it up," Alessia joked.
Cael went back to the guest room to get a towel and rag, then went to the bathroom in Alessia's room to take his shower. Alessia went to the other bed room where Rita stayed. She looked around the room, looking at the pictures of her and Rita over the years. She picked up one of the framed pictures and held it in her hand, smiling.
"That was the day we went to the park and you ran and ran and ran... Then you fell and cried and cried and cried," Rita said as she entered the room. Alessia surprised, almost dropped the picture but kept her grip, sitting the picture back down on the dresser.
"I remember that, kinda," Alessia said, "I remember you... but... you're not Rita,"
"Aye," the woman laughed as she removed her apron, "She said you were smart but didn't mention you were sharp,"
"You're Rita's sister?" Alessia asked.
"Si. Sofia. We've met a few times before but you were very small. Troublesome nina," the woman said.
"Where's Rita? And why do my grandparents think you're her?"
"She's taking a vacation. I don't think she knew you were coming though. You should hear the way she talks about you. As for your grandparents, I think the old lady might know but this is really the only way Rita gets a vacation. I just take her place for a little while..." Sofia explained. "Now out out out. I need to change and don't tell anyone!"
Alessia left Sofia's room with a smile on her face and went back to her room where she picked out the clothes she's be wearing to dinner. The water stopped running in the bathroom and Cael came out shortly after, shaking.
"You used up all the hot water," he said.
"Cold showers are good for you," Alessia joked, "now out out out. I need to change!"
Later that night, Sofia, Noland, Cael, Alessia and her grandparents sat at the dinner table that was moved into the the living room since there house had no dedicated place for eating. Noland and Cael hadn't expected to be eating dinner with Alessia's grandparents so they didn't have any formal clothes. Noland dressed in jeans and a shirt while Cael wore jeans as well as a dress shirt that appeared to be a formal shirt. Alessia also dressed casually in a longsleeved shirt and shorts while her grandparents wore formal clothing. Her grandfather wore a suit and her grandmother wore a dress. Sofia, wearing Rita's uniform, finished placing the last of the dishes on the round table and sat down next to Cael, smiling at Alessia on the other side of him. Alessia's grandfather sat on the other side of Sofia, across from Alessia and filled his glass with wine.
"Are any of you religious? If so, say so now. Otherwise we'll skip the prayer," Alessia's grandfather said. His question was met with silence. "Very well,"
Everyone began placing food on their plates, passing the food around to the table when they were done. Alessia ate chicken alfredo, Noland did as well. Alessia's grandmother and Sofia ate salads while her grandfather ate steak. Cael ate a bit of everything though he ate slowly compared to the others.
They were quiet as they ate their dinner, the only sounds were the clanging of the cutlery against the dishes and the occassional thump from when they'd lift their glass to drink then sit it back down on the table. The dinner went by without much incident however there was a tension at the table, evidenced by the lack of chatter aside from occassionally asking for a dish to be passed around or bringing up something trivial only for it to be dropped a moment later. When they had finished dinner, Alessia's grandmother and Sofia brought out ice cream and cake for desert.
"I'm actually pretty stuffed," Noland said as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his belly. "Then again... it's not everyday I get to eat this good!"
"Would that have anything to do with your criminal history...?" Alessia's grandfather asked. The question and it's timing stunned everyone.
"Francis! You said you wouldn't bring that up at dinner!" Alessia's grandmother scolded.
"Well we've moved passed dinner now haven't we? Besides, I'm getting tired of the elephants in the room..." Alessia's grandfather said, locking eyes with Alessia.
"And what elephants are those?" Alessia asked, her voice's tone becoming confrontational.
"I've met Mr. North here once before and years have since passed... At what point was I going to be made aware of Mr. North's criminal history? Before or after the next arson?"
"I-" Noland began but Alessia interupted.
"Noland's past is none of your business..." Alessia said, outraged.
"His past was about a month ago and it is my business. It became my business when Lewis decided to put a criminal in close proximity of my granddaughter. It became my business when you asked me to help fund this little project of yours without telling me you still have a criminal on your payroll. It became my business when a deal I was working on in secret was exposed and put on hold due to snooping journalists who began trying to find my connection to a criminal who had recently blown up a rocket factory...!"
Francis' voice was loud with anger and when he realized it, he composed himself. Alessia stood up from the table and left, heading upstairs to her room. A silence took hold at the dinner table and the insects outside could be heard making their noises. "I think the evening's done..." Alessia's grandmother said.
"Indeed..." Alessia's grandfather said as he stood and left the room.
"I'll help with the dishes..." Noland said, "Thank you for the dinner, Mrs. Saint-Claire."
"You're welcome," Alessia's grandmother said, smiling though it was clear she was saddened.
Cael knocked on Alessia's door before entering the already wide open door. Alessia was sitting on the bed facing the door to the balcony. He sat on the floor next to her legs and stared at the stars in the sky that the balcony railing didn't block. The two of them sat there, neither speaking until Alessia finally sighed in frustration.
"I should've never let him help," Alessia said, "I should've known he was only doing it so he could hold it over my head! I didn't need his help in the first place! We would've figured it out on our own...!"
Cael listened as Alessia continued to mumble under her breath, complaining about her grand father and what had just happened. When she had tired herself out, she laid back on the bed and sighed in frustration again. "Trying to tell me about my friends... Noland's not a criminal criminal he's-"
"A criminal...?" Cael asked.
"You know what I mean...! He's not, you know, the bad kind of criminal..."
"Illegal MT fighting and blowing up a rocket storage building... not the bad kinda criminal at all..."
"Shut up...!"
"He's kinda right though..." Cael said, his words causing Alessia to sit up.
"How could you say that?" Alessia asked.
"I'm not saying you should kick Nol off the team but your granddad isn't wrong. Noland is a criminal... Maybe you shouldn't get so mad at him...?" Cael said. Alessia was about to fire back but she stopped when she saw the expression on Cael's face as he stared out the door to the balcony.
"I... I'm such an idiot," she said as she fell back onto her bed, "Here I am complaining about my grandparents... Yeah... maybe you're right... "
"So, you're a bad boy huh?" Sofia asked Noland as he placed the dishes in the dishwasher. The two of them had been getting the dishes ready for the dishwasher. They had cleared the dinner table of everything, stored the uneaten dessert and were almost finshed with the dirty dishes.
"Guess you could say that..." Noland answered.
"What kind of crimes could a guy with one arm commit?"
"Nothing too serious. Most of my record happened before I lost the arm,"
"But you could still blow up a building with one arm?"
"It's not like it was just me..." Noland said, embarassed, "There were... other people there too."
"Yeah, another one of your teammates I hear," Sofia said.
"Yeah... Between you and me, it was more her fault than mine,"
"Not how the news's been telling it," Sofia laughed.
"Yeah," Noland laughed but stopped suddenly, "You keep up with american news...?"
"Uh-" Sofia said before Alessia's grandmother called. She left the kitchen immediately, asking Noland to finish up as she left.
