XCV

After taking a sip, Henry places the small cup of coffee that was offered to him on the glass table in front.

"Look, Mr. Creel—"

"Please call me Henry," he interrupts the blonde woman sitting in front of him.

"Oh, in that case, call me Martha," the woman urges with a saccharine smile. "As I was saying, Henry"—how awful his name sounds in her mouth—"I understand you want to fix what… that girl"—he supposes it's a good thing she doesn't call her by name; she'd only make it dirty—" did to my angel… But she has really done something very bad; there must be consequences for her."

Although he abhors the very idea, Henry nods in agreement. "Of course. And I assure you that she will face them: I have given her a harsh reprimand and I've grounded her: a month without TV, without phone calls, without going out."

The woman clears her throat. "With all due respect, Henry… Those are very appropriate measures for disrespectful young people or that break some rules… But this… This was a… much more serious act."

Henry nods again. "I completely understand." He then decides to get to the point: "And that is why I plan to offer monetary compensation to your family, Martha."

It's barely visible, but he notices the way the woman seems to sit straighter on the couch as her eyes open a little wider: he's caught her interest.

That's when footsteps are heard coming down the carpeted steps of the stairs. Henry turns just in time to see a blonde girl with a bandage over her nose.

"Angela." Martha smiles. "Could you come for a moment?"

Henry's polite smile remains in place. The girl approaches with clearly practiced shyness.

"Mom…?"

"This is Mr. Henry Creel, Jane's… guardian and cousin."

Indeed, it disgusts him to hear her name coming from this woman's mouth, but he is here to fix things, and he is not going to leave without doing exactly that.

"Nice to meet you, Angela."

The girl seems to forget that she should make everyone who sees her feel sorry for her, for her mouth opens slightly in a gesture of surprise. Henry wastes no time and accesses her mind without difficulty.

Wow, he's so hot.

That was not the information he was looking for. He decides to direct the girl's thoughts to what concerns him.

"Angela," he says then; the girl, just as ridiculous as her mother, straightens up at hearing her name. "I'm here to compensate your family for the damage my cousin caused yesterday."

The wave of thoughts comes quickly: yesterday afternoon, the skating rink, Eleven skating, being harassed, being insulted, the milkshake soaking her dress and her falling backwards to the ground…

Through all of this, he just sees Mike and Will— about whom he doesn't really care much—conversing with the dance floor's DJ.

Instead of helping his 'girlfriend', he thinks sourly. It's not that Henry is a romantic—on the contrary, he is not interested in anyone in that way, because it is a waste of time and energy for something ephemeral and irrelevant—but even he knows that there are certain codes that are supposed to be followed by those in a relationship.

Among them, protecting the person you love. And the fact that Eleven has been left unprotected, despite Mike's presence in the place, does not make him happy at all.

Well, it's not like I expected anything from him, to be honest.

"Oh… Yeah, about yesterday…" Now that his attention is focused on the current moment again, he notices that Angela has come to sit next to her mother on the couch. "What happened was—"

"You don't need to tell me."

This surprises the two women in front of him.

"No…?"

"No," he repeats. "I am aware of what happened."

And if you dared lie to my face, I would probably break your bones and gouge out your eyes.

"You mean Jane's version," Angela insists. "Because if she said—"

"You know, Miss Angela?" Henry interrupts her, always smiling. "All this reminds me of a situation I experienced in the past."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. I once met a boy with a lot of potential, or at least that's what his father said… But he had a problem: he had a hard time following the rules. Rules like 'don't hurt others'."

Angela raises her eyebrows, intrigued. "And what happened to him?"

Henry shrugs. "Well… That story didn't have a happy ending."

But this answer, of course, does not satisfy her curiosity: "Why are you telling me this? Shouldn't you be telling Jane instead?"

"Angela!" her mother scolds her. "Behave!"

Henry chuckles softly. "But of course I've told Jane, or are we talking about someone else?"

"See, Angela?" Her mother is obviously pleased with his words. "Henry is here to make amends…"

"Indeed," Henry agrees as he intertwines his fingers in a carefree gesture.

The girl instantly smiles in what she must consider a shy expression.

Henry, on the other hand, feels as if he's looking at a particularly slippery snake.