Bullied Cinderella - Hollie Hutchins Page 0,35

dressed. All the while a sinking feeling was growing in my gut. I didn’t know what Jorge would want with Lucia if anything, but something about this wasn’t right.

I’m sure my sense of dread only helped my cause as I stormed into the servants quarters where several of the men were up drinking and playing cards. It wasn’t terribly uncommon for us to stumble out to them when we were drunk. We’d tease them or shoot the shit. But they could see that I was out of sorts over something, or maybe they were waiting for me to come find them. Either way, they grew quiet as I got close and each stiffened in their chairs.

“Evening, gentleman. Enjoying a game of blackjack, I see.” They nodded and grumbled. “I was wondering if you might be able to tell me where my cousin Jorge has run off to this evening.”

No one answered right away, but they were obviously uneasy about the question. Finally one of them suggested that maybe he had taken one of the horses out. Another said they thought they saw him walking along the new fence being built. All of it sounded like bull shit. I could tell they knew exactly where he was, but they were keeping it from me.

I smiled and shook my head - my silent warning to them that I could see they were going to make this difficult. The problem with being so bored all the time is that everyone had grown used to me being a wasted, blubbering bully. They had forgotten who I was underneath all of that. Especially when something that I wanted was under threat. But I was about to remind them.

I paced along the edge of their table and prepared to give one of my favorite speeches. “Some of you have been with our family long enough to remember my father. Isn’t that right?” A few of the older gentlemen nodded. “Yes, so you’ll remember how notorious he was for strolling out on nights like this and addressing his workers. If someone would respond in a way he didn’t like or...let’s say he felt that they weren’t forthcoming enough for him...he would sometimes just fire everyone in sight! And have them all replaced by the next morning!”

I smiled casually and spread my hands in the air, waiting for their response. They were growing more uncomfortable by the second, but they kept quiet aside from nervously clearing their throats. They waited to see where I was going with it.

“I’m sure that will keep a few of you on edge, but...I don’t think any of you remember another method my father had for dealing with his workers. How he’d keep them in line. If he felt that someone was being dishonest with him...especially if he felt a whole group was being dishonest with him, he’d make a little speech...sort of like what I’m doing now. Then he’d casually approach someone at the table.”

I positioned myself behind one of the men, close enough to make him uncomfortable. I snaked my hands around his shoulders then up to his face. “He’d hold the man’s head in his hands like this. And he’d ask his question again.”

They watched with wide eyes as the man in my grip began sweating and breathing heavily. “Something like...oh, I don’t know...Where has Jorge gone to this evening?”

I waited again to see if someone might answer this time, but no one did. The man in front of me swallowed hard. He obviously didn’t know where Jorge was, or he would have started talking by now. He didn’t even have to know exactly what I was about to demonstrate. He just knew it was bad. But it was the three men at the other end of the table who I had my sights set on. They were the ones staring at their laps, wringing their hands together. They were the ones who knew where Jorge was.

“And if no one answered truthfully that time around...,” I continued, pausing to build the suspense. When everyone was good and on edge - Bam! I slammed my fist down to the table as hard as I could. It was enough to send several glasses shattering to the floor while cards floated up and fell again like confetti. The man in front of me looked like he probably just shit himself, while the rest of them took a good minute to catch their breath.

I started laughing, and slowly the rest of them eased into