Chapter 13
Rated "M"
XIII - Sokrates Tertius Pachis
"Sokrates Tertius Pachis is by far my favorite my favorite artist." Lily said as we entered the building. I rose a brow at her statement."Who?" I asked, but Lily didn't hear me as she had disappeared in the crowd of people. I sighed.
"Sokrates Tertius Pachis, also known as Ryan Delgarthy. His paintings are very popular in the Broncs. His income starts at forty thousand a year and can increase up to fifty percent. He also has eight misdemeanors, two felonies, and was sentenced to six years in jail in 2005."
"And how come you know all of this and didn't mother mentioning it to Lily of all people?" I asked. Roxanne shrugged and continued to look for Lily.
"I'd be more worried if she liked him in another way, other than liking his artwork."
"Great." I said, my word drowned in sarcasm. Roxanne rolled her eyes as we continued to walk. We stopped when we found the nineteen-year old brunette as she stared blankly at one painting. It was just swirls of red, white and black, but somehow it seemed to hypnotize the girl.
"So how long does Lily usually stay?" I asked out of pure curiosity. Roxanne looked up from her phone that she had just pulled out to see Lily, still hypnotized by the confusing simple painting.
"Depends. How long are you staying?" Roxanne looked at me with a smirk. I rolled my own eyes this time.
"What do I have to do with this? And I'm not 'staying' anywhere. I'm merely watching out for the citizens of New York."
"Uh, huh, and is that why you end up on my couch every night?"
"It was two nights. The first night, I couldn't get a taxi. The second night, Lily was a little..."
"If you say tipsy..."
"No! Why the hell would I let a teenage girl drink? Let alone an alcoholic..." I said as Roxanne glared at me.
"I don't know. Lily is pretty damn cunning for her status." Roxanne paused and slid her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. "I told you, Sempers. Lily does truly like you."
Roxanne folded her arms before turning to Lily again, who was now on the opposite side of the room, staring at another painting that was equally boring in my own mind.
"Is it normal to be nervous about it?" I asked, hoping that Roxanne had an answer.
"Unfortunately. At least until someone comes around..."
"You're implying that she needs a husband? What ever happened to independence? You don't seem like the type to tell women off like that." Roxanne looked at me for a moment before turning away again.
"Lily was raised with everything being handed to her on a silver platter. I'm quite surprised that she's actually doing her own schoolwork instead of finding the answers on a computer - which I never let her use unless all the works complete and turned in. Lily's the girl who will not make it out alive without a significant other who has the income of a defense lawyer."
"You seem to have that income..." I stated, making Roxanne glare at me. She shook her head.
"I'm a special agent, not an attorney, Sempers. You know that."
"How do you pay for your house and everything else you own, then?"
"It's complicated." Was all she said before walking over to Lily who was already putting on her jacket. I followed quickly, catching up to the blonde before she left without me.
Neither of us knew how we got into the position. And that was saying something with Roxanne's non-stop brain.
"Please!" Lily begged. "Come on! You've been in there before, Roxanne! Come on! It'll only take a few minutes!" Roxanne's arms were folded as she looked up at Lily from the bench we were sitting at.
"I am not going in. If you're so dead set on having someone go in with you, take Sempers. Maybe it'll be good for him when he finds a wife."
"Woah!" I said, surprised by Roxanne's statement. "I am not going into a lingerie shop. That's the end of it." Lily growled as she looked back and forth from Roxanne to me and vice versa.
"You know, I feel really bad for your future children. I feel bad for them so much that I am going to have to teach them how to deal with you two!" Lily said before walking into the store.
"Please say that you are not okay with her talking like that." I said as soon as I couldn't see Lily anymore. Roxanne sighed.
"How could I? I'm just not going to add gasoline to the fire. Even if I'm quite disturbed at her misuse of the word 'partners.'"
"Great. You know why she's acting like this, right?" I asked, almost knowing that Roxanne would know what the hell was going on with the teenager. She shrugged.
"No clue."
"Seriously? Out of everything you know, it can't be this?" Roxanne looked at me.
"I'm good at deduction, Sempers. Not emotions. Or... this..."
"What happened to yesterday's speech then? The whole 'Lily needs to get out of the house' thing?"
"It's exactly that. I convinced you to take Lily out to dinner by using words that connected with normal human emotions."
"Great. Just what I wanted to hear..." I glared at Roxanne.
"What? Did you want me to be sweet about it? Aw, thank you so much for taking Lily out yesterday. It helped her a lot. She's now more attached to you than before. Isn't that so adorable. Do you need help buying a ring?" Roxanne mimicked and then glared at me.
"Never do that again. Please." I said. It almost scared me to Roxanne acting that way. Scared, nervous, whatever the hell those other words for how I felt at the moment were.
"Likewise. I despise being sweet and kind to you, Sempers."
"Great. Our children will definitely benefit from that." I said with enough sarcasm to kill a person.
"Don't even go there right now." Roxanne said, shaking her head. I couldn't help but smile at her discomfort.
"Why not? It was Lily's inquiry, and as you said, she is pretty damn cunning."
"We are not talking about this, Sempers."
"We just did." Roxanne glared at me.
"I hope to God you don't do this to every woman you meet, because if you do... I feel bad for your future wife."
"Uh, huh... And who's my future wife, again?"
"If I knew... I'd tell you."
"Why?"
"Because there's no way in hell I'd be able to look at you when you're madly in love."
"Wow. Just... wow. I was not expecting that. And what exactly would I look like when I'm madly in love."
"No idea. Either way, I don't want to imagine it."
I merely rolled my eyes before turning my attention to Lily, who was just walking out of the store with a few bags.
"Ready to go?" She said, a smile on her face. Roxanne didn't say a word before standing up and walking towards the mall exit. All I could think of as we walked outside to call a taxi was what Roxanne was thinking. What she knew, what she thought, how her brain worked in such mysterious ways. I knew I'd never figure it out, not unless something happened that made Roxanne crack. But either way, she was too enclosed to let anything slip. Anything being everything revolving around her. And that was a lot of information.
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