As Nick passed the hallway following the housemaid to his room, he heard laughter from behind a door. The people in the room were quite loud, and it seemed that they had a good time. The voices were so youthful and carefree. He thought it strange. What were they talking about that they were so happy?
Before he could continue listening, the maid pointed at a door. It turned out that his room was across from that room. He sighed. It looked like he would have no peace for the duration of the time he spent at this place. He quietly opened the door and turned on the lights. He had his own bathroom. Nick walked up to the bed and placed his backpack down beside the bed. The room was beautifully furnished with silk. Even the light blue bed sheets looked so cool and inviting.
He nodded to the maid and she closed the door behind her as she left. He heard her walk to the room across and knock on the door. Then he walked to the bathroom and washed his face. The trip had somewhat exhausted him since he spent the whole time thinking about how he would interact with the Brooks. He did not like pretending to be someone he was not in front of people. He much preferred to act detached from them and carry his own business.
But Urgof would not let him. Was this Urgof's way of punishing him? Nick didn't know if he had done anything to offend anybody at the government. True, he seemed a bit cold, but how else was he supposed to act?
Suddenly, he felt his eyelids drooping. He sighed. He had not slept in 48 hours. He'd better get a cold shower before dinner so that he would be more awake. This was not vacation. He had a job to do. He quickly undressed and turned on the water.
Outside, the housemaid knocked incessantly on Caitlyn's door. The kids were too absorbed in their chatting to notice. The maid continued knocking.
"Is that knocking I hear?" Katerina asked the others.
"Yep, I think it is," Andy rubbed his stomach.
"Please!" Elisa laughed. "You always think of food!"
Without saying another word, all seven started for the door. Before they went further, Caitlyn stopped. "What's that I hear? Someone's in the room." She pointed to the door across from her room.
"Are you just hearing things, Caitlyn?" Michael asked.
Caitlyn pouted. "No way. I've inhabited this room forever. I know what everything around here is supposed to sound like."
Caitlyn began to grab the door knob when Clara, the housemaid, stopped her. "Sorry, mam, but Mr. Brooks has a guest in there."
"A guest?" Michael asked. "Who? And why didn't father tell us about this guest?"
"Mr. Brooks said that this young man-his name is Nick-is his nephew, your cousin," the maid replied.
"Odd," Andy rubbed his chin. "So why didn't father tell us?" Before the maid answered, Andy turned to look at the door, only to see Caitlyn lean into it, listening intently. "And Caitlyn, what are you doing?"
"Shhhh," Caitlyn replied. "I think he's taking a bath." She giggled and looked wickedly at Katerina and Elisa.
Chad shook his head. "You guys are dirty and cruel."
The girls ignored him. By now, three ears were glued to the door, dirty thoughts racing through their minds. "Want to?" Elisa squirmed in delight, happy that there was another guy there to talk to besides the boring four that stood beside her. Katerina and Caitlyn nodded their heads eagerly. Caitlyn placed her hand on the door knob, her heart racing. This is going to be fun. They're going to give this cousin of theirs a heart attack. But hey, it would be a good ice breaker.
"Hold it there!" Michael said emphatically.
"Shhhh. He'll hear us," Caitlyn motioned for Michael to be quiet. "You're lucky he's still in the shower!"
"Oh you are perverted, all of you girls," Andy shook his head in disbelief. But he didn't have the chance to say more when Caitlyn went ahead and opened the door. Both her and Katerina were the first to fall into the room in their anticipation. Soon all the others followed. They stopped in their tracks when they saw a tall, handsome guy standing across the room without anything but a pair of boxers on. Quickly, he grabbed his wet towel and covered whatever bare skin he could.
All pairs of eyes stared in amazement at his well-built body. They could not see his face well because he started looking at the floor in embarrassment while slowly backing into the bathroom.
Nick couldn't believe what was happening. There was a gang of obnoxious kids staring shamelessly at him. He instinctively found something to cover his body because he felt exposed and vulnerable. No one ever saw any of his flesh. He made sure of that. He had become so sensitive. He didn't want to be, but after living with his adopted father and being physically abused, he hated his body. He felt ugly and used. He never let anyone look at his body, let alone touch it.
He had never felt so out of place in his life. He dealt with criminals of all sorts, but at this moment, he had no clue as to how to react. He hoped that they would just go away and leave him alone. That's why he remained silent, praying for them to disappear. To his horror, they tried to make conversation while he was still half-naked. Do they have any manners?
"Uh, helllllllO." Andy spoke slowly while never taking his eyes off the guy. He was doing his best to break the uncomfortable silence. He was greeted with silence. He began to back out of the room and pulling the other guys with him, but apparently, the girls didn't take the hint. As soon as the guy gave a curt "hello", Caitlyn, Katerina and Elisa barged onto his bed and sat down comfortably.
"Hi," Caitlyn said light-heartedly. "So what's your name?" Her eyes were beaming with mischief.
Nick's eyes darted around the room. He could not believe how blind these people were. He was only wearing his boxers and they expected him to carry on a decent conversation with them?
Nick ignored her question. "Do you mind?" Though the question suggested that he was irritated, his mild, gentle tone suggested something else.
"Caitlyn, you're embarrassing us!" Michael started. "Clara already told us his name, remember?" Michael's teeth were clenched while he mumbled as softly as he could.
"Oh, yeah, right," Katerina answered. "Nick, that's your name, right?" All 7 pairs of eyes once again focused on Nick.
Nick stared back at these odd people again praying that they would disappear into thin air. Unfortunately, their bodies looked as solid as stone. None of them budged. "Yes." He hoped they could take the hint and leave.
"All right, he said another word!" Chad cheered.
"Yeah, keep on talking, girls, and you might break a record and get a sixth word out of his mouth!" Andy chimed in with his friend. All seven bodies at once bursted into laughter.
Nick had never felt so out of touch in his life. He paused for a moment to allow his slightly accelerated breathing to slow down. By now, the towel seemed too small. Why was the government so cheap? Couldn't they have given him a towel that was not meant for an infant?
Rick was the first to feel sorry for the guy. He approached Nick slowly and held out his hand. "I'm sorry about their immaturity. You'll have to forgive them."
Nick stared at the hand and back at its owner's face. Didn't this guy see that he was using both his hands to hold the towel up? "They're forgiven," Nick replied without holding his hand out. He then remained silent. All was quiet again. The silence was interrupted by the growl from Andy's stomach.
"Umm, guys, I'm hungry," Andy began. No one answered him. Everyone continued to stand in their awkward positions. Nick felt himself sweating from the shear tension in the room.
Finally, Katerina answered to the grateful Andy. "Okay, let's eat. Are you coming Nick?" she asked as if nothing awkward was going on.
"Yes," Nick answered immediately praying once and for all that they would leave. To his relief, all seven bodies filed out of his room in an amazingly orderly fashion. When the door closed behind him, Nick did away with the towel and put on his clothes. Within seconds, he was done, but he sat on his bed to wait a while longer before he would see those people again. He needed time to recover from what he believed was a traumatic experience.