BXBX NOVEL Chapter 12 - Manners Aren't Too Much
Leo made the walk back to the far house far more bearable for Samuel then he was certain it would've been with just him and Lena.
With her younger brother there, she seemed much more passive and focused on what he was saying rather than paying attention to other boy.
From what Samuel could gather by what Leo was saying, it seemed like he had been away in the UK for some time before he came back. He could only guess that the younger boy must've been fairly smart for being a year younger than the princess yet already starting within the family business.
"I'm just glad that being back here I won't have to worry about driving myself anywhere. My senses are all backwards after being over there for so long I'm not sure I'd remember which way is the right one to drive on." Leo sighed as they got closer to the house.
"I think you'd remember pretty quick once you were actually on the road and another car was coming towards." Lena commented as she made her way up the stairs first.
"Touche, but do you really think father wouldn't ban me from driving if I ruined one of the family's dear vehicles?"
"Not for life, just until you could pay it back." She shrugged waiting outside the door.
"Isn't that basically the same difference?" Leo retorted.
"How much exactly does one of the vehicles here cost?" Samuel thought it might have been a bad question to ask but he was really curious. Lena looked at him for a few seconds before a smirked appeared on her face.
"Let's say it would cost you probably most of your lifetime to pay it off." He didn't like that response and would've thought she was joking if it wasn't for the serious the siblings were having.
"That might be a bit of an exaggeration depending on the job his career choice." Leo had hardly finished speaking before Lena scoffed.
"He wants to be some mathematician." Samuel felt rather offended by the way she had said it. She might not have liked his career choice, but it was something he was interested in pursuing.
He got ready to protest her attitude when he saw the heavy look that she was giving him while waiting outside the door.
"What's wrong now?" Leo asked looking between the two of them as he got ready to open the door. Lena stopped him prematurely however.
"You can go in if you want, but Chickadee here should be the one opening the door for me. It's polite manners after all." Leo could feel the slight amount of tension that was building between the two as Lena kept staring at Samuel who didn't seem very keen to get the door.
"Under normal circumstances I would because I do have manners but I don't think you're earlier behavior was warranted thus I won't." Samuel replied. His partners of course had taught him such manners but he didn't think they applied to the girl standing before him.
"It's not my fault you decided not to listen to me when I told you that you should be more careful wandering around on your own. All I did was prove my point that you can't take care of yourself." Lena retorted; her temper was beginning to rise over how impudent the other boy was being. "You're also just proving to me what a liability you would be at this point if I decided to marry you. I don't have time to be protecting a juvenile peacock while trying to maintain business. So why don't you be good and just get the door like you're told. It's not like you even have much say to not do as I ask while you're here considering your position." Leo could even tell that those words seemed to have hit a sore spot with Samuel who stiffened upon hearing.
Samuel knew that Lena wasn't wrong in what she was saying, but that didn't mean it hurt any less when she snapped those words at him. Especially considering they were engaged.
"It's not like I would be in this position either if I had the choice." He replied, though his voice wasn't as high as he had hoped it to be. Leo wanted to intervene as he watched the two argue but being younger and not having as much authority as his sister did, he wasn't quite sure what it was that he should do to dispel the tension.
"Then if you understand that, open the door for me so that we can move onto more important things." Lena crossed her arms as she said this, keeping her stare focused on the other as she waited to see what he was going to do. Samuel didn't budge at first as he continued to stare at the small princess seeming to not want to give into her brash attitude and manners. Right when Leo was deciding that he was going to open the door and coax Lena into coming in behind him and allowing Samuel to come in on his own, Samuel seemed to mentally decide to give on this situation and moved past the two to open the door with a swift tug and straight.
"After you then little queen." He said as he stood with the door wide open while waiting for her to walk in. He didn't miss the wry the smile on her face that matched the fire that glowed in her eyes most likely due to annoyance at being called that.
"See that wasn't too hard now was it Sammy-boy. I don't ask for much except for some proper manners." Lena told him as she patted his back non too gentle as she walked past him to enter the mansion where her father had been waiting rather impatiently for their return. Leo offered him an apologetic smile as Samuel held the door open for him as well.
"My sister certainly has quite the attitude, but I am sure that the more you two spend time together, you'll get used to it and everything will work out." He tried to assure the other boy who didn't seem that convinced.
"I will believe you if I can get past this week." Samuel replied, making sure that his voice was low enough so that only the other boy was able to hear what he said. Leo chuckled at his words.
"A week is a short span of time compared to how many years you two will be spending together, with kids at that. I think maybe you do need to get yourself in better shape before long if you're going to survive." Samuel cringed inwardly at what the other said. He knew that kids would probably be an expectation in the future, especially as Lena was the first born and all, but he wasn't quite ready to think that far ahead in his life considering he had hardly been there a day and the new life he was expected to live was already proving to be quite the challenge for him. He didn't want to think about how he was going to manage smaller versions of Lena before he even got to understanding how to handle the princess herself.