The Primus Daughter

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

"Good day, Ma'am,

I am sorry if I had called at the wrong time but I was calling to inform you that the meeting has been set for noon tomorrow. Please let me know as soon as possible if that would not be convenient for you.

Attached are the details and address of the lunch. Let me know if you have any suggestions and/or adjustments to the sent plans.

Thank you.

Bennett"

Selene read the email and a curse escaped her lips. By the morrow, she was sure to feel way better but she knew it was not advisable for her to move around that much just yet. As if her luck wasn't bad enough already, it just kept getting worse and worse but she did tell him to set the meeting up for as soon as possible and now she was regretting that decision.

She finally made it back to the living room and threw herself on the couch as she got ready to shoot a reply.

She was not sure what means of communication she would use to reply but she was certain she did not want to speak to him on the phone, it sounded too exhausting, so she decided to reply to his email with another of hers.

She did not write much, just said that she was fine with the time and would make it to the venue by the said time unless he wanted them to meet beforehand. No sooner did she send the message that she got a reply. She had not even decided what next when the email appeared.

"Dear Miss Valak," the email said.

"I was slightly worried when you took a while to reply and began to fear I would have to reschedule with the Jefferson. I am glad everything will still go according to plan.

About if we should meet before the lunch meeting, I do not think there is a need to if there is one, we could easily have a conversation a couple of minutes before it is time for the lunch meeting and it can be at the restaurant. Please let me know if this is favorable or you would prefer otherwise.

Bennett."

She sent a quick reply that his decision was fine and that she would be at the restaurant about fifteen minutes before it was time for the meeting. Mr. Bennett replied with his acknowledgments and that brought an end to the conversation which meant phrase two was next.

She wished she could avoid this part but she knew the longer she put the conversation off the worse her situation would get, so taking her phone she dialed her father's number. He picked on the first ring.

"Selene," it was one word but she could hear all his feelings in them.

"Hello Dad," she replied softly, a little deflated at the worry in his voice.

"Well, good to know you are fine." He said.

She paused, waiting for him to say more but he did not. "You called?" She muttered, wanting to end the conversation as soon as possible.

"Yeah, I did. Even if you don't want to pick my call, a simple message to indicate you're fine would do the trick." He replied stiffly.

"It escaped my thoughts, I was a little busy with work." There was no way she could tell him she was not with her phone, he would definitely want to know why and there was no lie that she could think of to make up for why she was not with her phone.

"I called at different intervals, you could not have been busy the six times I called." His tone was getting higher even though he was not raising his voice.

Selene rolled her eyes, she definitely could not handle this right now. "I called back, didn't I? Does it matter when?" She placed her left thumb and left index finger against the different sides of her head as she tried to ease up the ache she could feel starting.

She heard him sigh and she knew he knew better than to drag this out, she would definitely emerge the winner. "I am glad you eventually did even though you waited for me to be worried sick before I got a call."

She groaned, she could not believe he was still whining about it. "Now that I did. May I ask why you called and what this conversation is leading to else might have to end it as I have affairs to attend to?"

"There is a meeting tomorrow by midnight." His tone changed, it sounded formal.

"What has that got to do with me?" She asked stiffly, the wheels in her head were spinning as she realized she might be in trouble.

"Everything. It is our first official meeting with the Blackwood since the proposition of the treaty and as the Primus' daughter, it would be disrespectful if you were not in attendance."

Selene clamped her teeth together at her father's words. "Disrespectful?! And what fancy-ass words you used, proposition of the treaty… Yes, very fancy. Why not use what you actually intended to do? Sell your daughter off to terrorists."

"Selene," Her father scolded. "That was a little too much."

"Huh, was it?" She asked nonchalantly. "What if I don't show up?" Of course, the consequences would be grave, she wanted to know how grave and if it was something she could handle.

"I will monitor every of your movements, that includes guards at your house and your personal entourage whenever you have to go somewhere."

Selene gasped, "Are you threatening me?" She asked coldly.

"No, I could never. I just want to make sure you'll be at the meeting." His voice softened but Selene was not buying it and she was already sick of the conversation.

"I hear you, " and with a click, she ended the phone call. She threw her hands to the sides and sighed, things just kept getting shittier and shittier.

However, she did not have the energy to think about any of the things going wrong in her life right now, she had other pressing matters like the state of her house. It looked like a crime scene.

She wasn't afraid she might get an unexpected visitor but it was times like these that the strangest of things tended to happen. So, she forced herself out of the sitting position on the couch with the intention to start slow.

She would start her cleaning from the living room and then the kitchen, her bedroom would be the last for sure. She did not plan to rush but her house needed to stop looking like the prime suspect in a murder case.

She slowly made her way back to her bedroom. It felt awkward and of course painful as she walked but she knew this was a pain she would have to get used to so she forced through it. Got to the bathroom and took a bowl of water, some washing agents, and a sponge before slowly making her way once again to the living room.

Starting from the main entrance, she got to her knees and started to scrub vigorously, hoping to finish what she had to do before she ran out of gas. More than halfway through the urge to stop became so strong she would have sworn the pain in her side tripled but that was not possible as she was in the process of healing.

Finally done, she left the cleaning tools at the last spot that she cleaned and threw herself on the couch. Picking her food, she ordered as much as she could eat and extra just in case she got hungry before daybreak. She would probably spend the entirety of the night on the couch only because it seemed like a lot of work to move.

Her meals arrived in no time. It was a struggle to leave the couch but she knew she had to. She still had on her robe which she tied tighter as it had slipped off during her while endeavors.

She opened the door to the delivery guy thinking it was a house party and how he could not hide his expression when she was the only one at the door. He tried to stretch over her shoulders to see into the house but quickly cut himself and stopped.

"Your order is here," he announced a little cheerily, the disappointment sort of finding its way into his tone.

"I can see that," she said and chuckled but did not get any response back.

She quickly accepted the meals which she put by the door as there was no way she could hold them. She signed, tipped him, and sent him on his way. Then she closed the door and made sure to lock it behind him.

Picking the nearest plate, she took it to the couch and got comfortable as she prepared to dig in. She would take care of the rest of the food later. She was sure it would spoil if it spent a little while on the floor.

With that in mind, she turned on the television. She did not have anything planned to watch but she was sure she would find something suitable to go with eating. Soon enough, she found a cartoon that seemed interesting enough.

It was at least a couple of minutes gone but she did not care and as she dug into the meal, she felt everything fade. The only thing she was aware of was the food, each bite she took, and the show that was on.

She did not know how long she sat there but noticed it wasn't until the sure was over that she realized she had finished the meal. Using the break from the end of the movie, she kept the rest of the food she was not going to eat in the refrigerator and picked another. She quickly sat once again on her place on the couch as she repeated the routine.