Buer

CHAPTER 15 - CHÂTEAU

“Where are we going?” This was the sixth time August was asking Buer. The bear man on the driver's seat sighed but didn't say anything. She didn't want to irritate him. But not knowing the destination was eating her alive. 

It was already afternoon now. 

After Buer's heated promise, August ran into her room to get ready. Since the climate was getting cooler, she decided on dark blue jeans, a tank top followed by a loose shirt which almost fell to the mid-thigh. Her short hair was in a ponytail and simple sneakers on her foot. A bit of lipgloss and eyeliner, she was ready. 

Buer had cooked a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs with bacon and juice. Then rushed her out, grumbling how late they already were. 

Buer had been driving for more than an hour now. We were far away from the main town. He also stopped at a gas station, getting her chips and coke. An easy way of shutting her up. 

“Why can you not tell me?” 

“Château. Nous allons à un château.”

(Castle. We are going to a castle) 

“That's not fair asshole.” He was well aware that she sucked at French. He was deliberately doing this. 

“I answered your question. That does not make me an asshole.

There were no other sentences after that. For another hour, they rode in silence. An occasional sound of chewing or slurping. 

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.” She felt a need to apologize. The man in the driver’s seat has been nothing but nice to her. If Grandma knew how rude August was, she would have been grounded for a week at least. Then again if Grandma knew that she was going away for the weekend with a man she barely knew, August would be sentenced to house arrest for sure. 

“It’s alright. I don’t do well when someone questions my authority. Part of my nature.” 

August snickered at his answer.“So you’re a control freak?” 

“Kind of.” 

Buer looked so clueless at her supposed question that she had to turn away from him. To laugh that is. It started as small giggles before growing to full blown laughter. “Am I missing something?”

She wanted to say ‘Don’t you always.’ But instead settled for a, “you were supposed to reply ‘Oh, I exercise control in all things Ms.Collins’ or something similar.” 

When he still looked blank, she continued. “It’s a famous dialogue from a very famous book. Fifty Shades of Gray.” 

He simply shrugged in reply. “Oh, come on! It’s the most famous erotica in the world. It’s practically porn.”

Buer didn’t pay attention to her. “Sounds like something Kron must know.” That’s it and he was back to his driving. August just couldn’t believe him. “I’m going to call you old man from now on.”

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Deciding that talking to Buer anymore would be fruitless and boring, August settled on a radio channel with American country songs. That was her favourite genre. It was soft, meaningful and gave her immense happiness. 

“I hope at least you know some of these songs.” She didn’t mean to sound rude, again. His lack of worldly knowledge was starting to piss her off. They had nothing in common to talk about. If the man knew nothing about anything, this would mean that he is the busiest person ever or the most idle man. Only one way to know.

“This never came up.” She started off slow, making sure that she had his attention. “What is it that you do for a living? I know that you are a doctor. Does it keep you really busy?” 

“Being a doctor was my main focus for the first initial years. The thought that I am saving so many lives gave me a great deal of satisfaction. Until it didn't. I realised that people are living in some really bad conditions. It didn't feel right. So I decided to go to some remote place, buy a lot of land. Open up a hospital. Employ those in need. Treat for free. That's what I have been upto since the last few years.” 

Buer sounded so passionate. He was really doing what made his soul happy. He was also good at it. Instead of dousing her curiosity, it was increased. The number of questions were now double. 

When did he get his degree? Med school takes a lot of years. How did he have so much money? How old is he? How loaded were his parents? 

“That’s such a noble cause.” After a second’s pause she added further. “Your parents must be really proud.” 

“I hope.” The desperateness in his tone clearly indicated that Buer wasn’t in contact with his parents anymore. Maybe they were dead, or just plain estranged. 

Young heir leaves the riches to commit to social service. Kinda like Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. She could picture the headlines in front of her eyes. 

“So….. are we there yet?”

Again began another round of questions and sighs. 

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“You brought me to a forest old man?” They were way far from the main city and all the hullabaloo. The new place was basically a small road surrounded by many many trees. August could already feel the difference in air quality. It was almost difficult to breathe in the pure oxygen. 

They were now slowly driving at a speed of ten in a narrow road. Already a herd of deer had already almost ambushed them. She now only feared being hunted by wild animals and her mutilated body dumped in the middle of nowhere. 

“Be patient dear. We will reach soon enough.” 

The man had been saying the same thing from morning and it was getting on her nerves now. 

“Yeah. Whatever.” 

Finally after what felt like years, the two of them reached a clear road. It was much wider than the past roads and she could see a building ahead. The clearer the image got, she realised that the thing in front of her was no normal building. It looked a lot like the ones in Outlander and Spartacus. The tall grey building was a frigging castle. Not very big like the ones which the queen owns. But not small either. There were surely twenty rooms in minimum and was very scary looking. Beautiful but scary. Much like the man beside her. 

“You've got to be kidding me. You brought me to a castle? A frigging castle?” 

“I will assume that you like it.” 

August got out of the car, running towards it while Buer took care of the luggage.

It took him a while, while she waited at the entrance.  

The structure was obviously old but well maintained. It was just a one storey places. The road led directly to the entrance which was just a small single door. Buer placed our luggage at the entrance while opening the door. The best part was that the door was made of really thick wood and had a really huge key. Like in olden times. 

“Did you rent this place?” 

“Sort of.” There was no eye contact when Buer said that. It was so not convincing at all. 

She entered first once the door was open. It all dark. The only source of light was the through the door which was currently blocked by the man carrying the luggage. “Are you going to offer me for some sacrifice?”

He didn’t answer her. He never did. Simply switched on the flashlight of his phone and wandered somewhere inside the place. Leaving her standing at the entrance like an i***t. “I’ll take that as a yes and will leave with your car now.” Except she doesn’t have his car key. 

There was some strange sounds coming from one room and suddenly the lights were on. So many bulbs that it almost blinded her. 

Once the initial shock came off, things got clearer. Everything was covered either in paper or cloth. Like the place was uninhabited for a long time. 

“Before you start, I have called up staff to clean this. They will be here in some time. Everything will be cleaned in an hour, tops.” 

That satisfied her. There was no way that she was cleaning this house too. Her house was more than enough. “Why don’t you freshen up till then?” 

That sounded like a reasonable suggestion to her. “Okay.” 

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August looked outside the window at the view while combing through her wet hair. She had no intention of taking a bath. The bathtub enticed her. Both of them were able to unwrap one room. Buer informed her that this was supposed to be the master bedroom. By the size of it, she never questioned. Despite its size the room was void any comforts. There was only basic furniture. One king size bed with silk drapes. Beautiful french white long windows on either side of the room. A closet by the door on the opposite side of the bed. A dressing table on the other side. The door to the bathroom beside the window. A study table and chair opposite it on the other side. 

August's original plan was to wear shorts and a t-shirt. That's what she had packed. Instead where she opened the closet, it was filled with clothes. Mostly been manufacture in the early 1900s. Some were ball gowns. Beautiful silk packed in some material she had no idea about. The rest were plain cotton dresses. 

When asked about them to Buer, his only reply was, “wear them if you want.” 

That was all she got before being left alone as the cleaners had come. 

Deciding that it would too creepy to be wearing someone else's clothes, she stuck to her own. Donning her very unglamorous torn shorts and t-shirt which read dreamer, she went on a journey to find her bear. 

She could hear the sounds of men moving things around. Wanting to make Buer pay for his silence during the journey, August thought of the perfect plan. 

She changed into a white cotton dress from the closet and simply decided to walk around. Her plan was pretty simple but would surely be effective. 

As she walked to the main hall, there were three boys she could see. There were mostly around her age and were dressed in simple pants and t shirt. The piano was uncovered while the rest of the stuff was under wraps. Luckily for her, she was good at playing the piano. She toe walked to the seat and placed herself on it without being noticed. 

Then began her plan. 

At first it was just the soft notes so that it wouldn’t be very suspicious. The boys barely noticed anything. She upped the tone gradually so that the music was heard throughout the room. One by one they looked around until they spotted me in a white dress, damp hair and a frown on my face. That was followed by loud screams. Instead of doing anything, August went back to playing the piano. 

“What happened?” She heard Buer’s voice and was about to be busted. She turned around to look at him with the same frown. That is when his frame came into her sight. His shirtless frame. 

“Fantôme monsieur.” (Ghost sir.) 

Buer glared at her while he explained to the boys. “Elle n'est pas un fantôme. Elle est ma bien-aimée.” (She is no ghost. She is my beloved.) Whatever Buer said had the boys glaring at her. That only caused her to laugh aloud. “Sorry boys.” She quickly apologized. Not wanting to leave them in mid job. She was sure Buer would make her clean if that happened. 

They didn't look convinced at her apology. “Ange moyen.” (Mean Angel.) She turned to stick her tongue at him when she was blessed with that sight. Him, shirtless with a sheen of sweat. Just jeans. Really low hip  jeans. With his hair in a high ponytail and trimmed beard. I was on the verge of having a stroke. He was built just like a bear. Six abs with a smattering light blonde chest hair. He looked a lot like Henry Cavill, but just blonde. Or more like Thor. “Retournez au travail les garçons.” (Get back to work boys.) Man, she has to start learning French. 

“What did you tell them? That I am an angel?” Buer walked his sexy walk towards her. She wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He wrapped a thick arm around her, picking her up with ease. 

To balance herself, August placed her right hand on his shoulder and her left on his chest. What a sizzling chest it was!