The One He Needs

5. Third Wheel

“Here hold this.” Natasha said shoving her bags into her sister’s arms. “Don’t drop them!” She snapped at her. Ariel juggled the bags so that she could hold them properly. Out of the ten shopping bags that she held only one was hers. Plus it was actual items she needed, unlike Natasha. 

“Natasha I don’t know about this.” Ariel said as she followed her sister and her friend Marie. Marie had darker blonde hair that was straight. She was shorter than the two of them as well, but no less conceded than Natasha. Birds of a feather those two. 

“Your opinion wasn’t asked for Ariel.” Marie reprimanded as they walked out the door. She turned to Natasha to start talking to her. “So you’ll be like your parents, rich and married to a very powerful man.“ She added the last part in a whisper. Ariel suppressed a shudder. The way they talked about it, just didn’t sit right with her. Ariel thought her sister was really taking this for granted. 

“Yes. But it will be a while yet, but not too long. Not now that I’m eighteen we can be a bit more public. Start outwardly dating, though he hasn’t really asked much of me. Kind of questions me a lot about the things that I do. What I would do being his wife, because you know that others will come to me because of it. Have an image to up hold.” Ariel frowned. That wasn’t how she remembered the conversations she’d been present for. Especially with Malachi, he’d been asking her if she was taking her business classes seriously. Just what she planned on helping run once they had joint accounts. Yeah she was still young and so was he, but clearly Malachi wanted to start thinking about how to run his holdings. Natasha seemed to not care.  

“I’m jealous.” Marie said. Natasha just had a smug smile.

“Well let’s go we are supposed to meet Nick and Dave in a little bit for lunch.” Ariel frowned again. That was exactly what she didn’t think was smart. She hadn’t been talking about the bags shoved at her. She was talking about leaving to meet these other friends. 

“Natasha, I don’t think that he would like it very much if he knew you were seeing others. Isn’t that cheating?” Ariel asked in her quiet voice. Natasha whipped around and narrowed her eyes at her sister.

“Not if someone doesn’t go blabbing their mouth to him. Who’s side are you onAriel!” She turned and went back to walking toward the red sports car that was there. There were only a couple of cities on this planet. Most places were smaller villages with decent homes, farming families. The cities were where most of the shipping stock came in. The main higher education schools were for those wishing bigger and better things. 

“I hate that you have to come with me. Don’t see why he requests it.” Ever since that first night she was told Ariel would come with her family. She would  enter with them as well. They did not want it to appear like there was separation or favoritism. Natasha thought it was all wasted on Ariel. 

“Yeah why is that?” Marie asked looking at Ariel. Marie’s father had plenty of dealing with Lord Vento. He managed large accounts for him. Plus contacted a great many powerful figures through out the worlds. Helped with shipping. 

“I don’t know. He just requests it.” Ariel said putting the bags in the trunk. Marie waited while Ariel climbed into the back seat which was cramped. She  made sure that the skirt of her purple summer dress was tucked nicely around her. 

Natasha was wearing a pink and orange summer dress that was rather short. Ariel never commented on her sister’s choice of clothing. She always wore better clothing than she did. Always looked better than her. Marie wore a black skirt and a red top. Ariel knew they liked to pick on her, or point out her flaws to make themselves look better. Ariel just sighed inwardly.

“Well just remember that I’m betrothed to him. Not you. So you should keep your eyes to yourself. Just because you play the poor misunderstood little girl doesn’t mean anyone really wants you.” Natasha said backing up. It was her favorite pastime to tear Ariel down. She was very used to it, but that didn't mean it didn’t hurt. Besides her gaze rarely left the carpet when they were there. She would never check anyone out. 

“Yeah I saw you with Matt the other day. All over him.” Ariel felt a redness in her face. It was anger and embarrassment. That was not true!

“He came on to me. I didn’t want his attention and pushed him away.” She said quietly and the other two laughed.

“Not before a good necking.” That was a lie. Matt had tried to force himself on her thinking her an easy target. She knew what kind of guy Matt was. Yeah he’d managed to kiss her but just barely and he now had a limp. She had a couple tricks up her sleeve. Though she did feel bad about it. If she could heal, she could un-heal too.

“Is it true that there was an attack on the Ventos the other day?” Marie asked changing topics and Ariel was glad for it. Anything was better than being the center of attention in Ariel’s book.

“Yeah, word is that it may have been Ricardo‘s men.” Marie laughed at what Natasha said.

“That would be stupid and foolish.”

“What happened?” Marie inquired. Clearly she just wanted to gossip, not caring that people might have gotten hurt. 

“A group of people came in and tired to kill him. Not like it hasn’t happened before, but all of them are dead now.”

“Jeremiah said that he was injured when he called to tell us what happened. So was Malachi but not as bad.” Ariel supplied from the backseat. It had been her who answered the call. She was very happy to hear that everyone was okay. Natasha had ripped the phone from her to find out what had happened after that.

“He’s perfectly fine. They are different, you know that? Odd never seen either of them sick.” Natasha stated and a couple times noted a few other things. Still they were powerful people, so what if they were a bit odd. Ariel didn’t care, clearly she was different too. 

“That doesn’t always mean you live forever.” Ariel said from the backseat. Natasha turned giving her a very nasty look. She shrank back into herself and looked out the small window not talking the rest of the time. Clearly Natasha didn’t want to hear her. 

They came to a Japanese restaurant and pulled into a parking spot. The three of them got out and moved toward two young men leaning against a black Mercedes. Both were tall, with brown hair but the one was more muscled. That was Dave. Ariel was a bit slower to follow. She didn’t want to be here. 

“Hey!” Natasha said with a bright smile coming up to them and hugging Nick. Marie moved to Dave and did the same. Ariel stood up on the curb holding her left wrist. The front of her hair was pulled back to the back of her head. She wished she hadn’t pulled it back so she could use it to hide behind.

“Ariel, joining us today?” Nick asked coming up to where she was standing. An arm around Natasha. Ariel felt uncomfortable with the way that his gaze moved over her. Just as it moved over her sister. She fidgeted a little and opened her mouth to speak but Natasha beat her to it.

“No, she wanted to go to one of the shops here.” Natasha gave her a smile, and her eyes told her to get lost. Ariel wasn’t offend in the slightest. She didn’t want to hang out with Natasha and her friends. She’d been brought along as Natasha’s bag carrier. Once more, just her servant and verbal punching bag.

“Well that’s to bad.” Nick said moving passed her and Ariel gave a nod. She looked at all the shops here. Where to go now that she was dismissed? It was like a huge square with a small park area in the middle and a fountain. She walked to one store and took her time in there. Then she went to a coffee shop and got something to drink. She was only given fifty dollars to use when they went out and had to give the change back. 

She said her thanks and walked out the coffee shop. She sat down in a chair right outside. As she sat there sipping her coffee, a man came up to her. She looked up at him, he was good looking and his smile was a bit too charming. He couldn’t be much older than her. 

“Hello.”

“Hi.” She said quietly. 

“What’s a pretty little thing doing out here by yourself?” 

“Waiting for a few friends.” She shifted a bit, she hated when strangers came up to her like this. They tended to do that a lot. They always called her pretty, or beautiful, or babe. She didn’t like it, she would much rather be left alone. She felt awkward and couldn’t meet their gaze.

“If they are all as good looking as you, perhaps I’ll wait around.”

“They aren’t available.”

“Doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.” He said smiling and tipped his glasses down to look her over. Ariel stood up, she might let her family walk all over her, but she wouldn’t let strangers do it. Believe it or not she did have a little self respect. That and the thought of another touching her, in the way that their eyes suggested made her sick. Literally sick, she got nauseous, it terrified her. Ariel was incredibly aware that she had intimacy issues. 

“Maybe some other time.” She stated and walked away from him into the park and sitting area. She found a bench and sat down. She watched the fountain. It was a beautiful, an abstract piece of art that water flowed down. She leaned over and looked down into the rippling water. The basin was a black color.

She moved from the bench to sit on the edge of it and played with the water for a moment. Ariel liked the tranquil moment, though it didn’t last. She heard laughter and looked up. Her sister was moving down the walkway with the others. They were window shopping, but none of them even looked over at her, nor where she sat. 

Ariel sighed a sad sigh. She should just fade into the background and then she wouldn’t have to worry about anything after that. Just become part of the scenery and then no one would pick on her. Or hit her, or tell her how worthless she was. She looked at her arms, very faint marks were there. Still from times past there were still marks. 

A couple that looked like burn marks. She touched them gently. They had hurt badly, her parents had sometimes used that as punishment. She was surprised that she didn’t have more scars visible, but they like to hit where it didn’t show. She really hoped that going away to school would be nice. Though that had been crushed a bit. She was going to be doing more online than anything else. Ariel was actually a couple grades above those her age in learning. It was never mentioned of course, especially since Natasha wasn’t. So Ariel just learned on her own, took the courses and signed herself up. Her parents didn’t care. Didn’t even look at her grades. Just as long as she helped Natasha if she struggled. 

Ariel got up and decided to move toward a different store. She walked past the one that her sister had gone into. She could just see her in there laughing with Nick. She just stopped and watched them, her gaze moving to others in the store. How could they all be so at ease with the others? Weren’t they afraid that the other was going to hurt them? That they were just lying to them? Ariel felt her sadness creep back up. She didn’t see that someone was moving toward her at first. 

“Your sister is testing my patience.” She nearly jumped ten feet when the strong deep voice sounded next to her. She turned and found Malachi standing there. He was looking in the glass at her sister then back to her. He had on sunglasses, and she thought that he looked rather pale. She thought for a moment that he might be sick. She didn’t get the sense of sickness though, just tired. Then again he and his family had been attacked. 

“She’s just with friends.” She said not meeting his gaze.

“Don’t lie for your sister. She would never cover for you. Second, I’m not blind Ariel.” He said. Ariel gave a nod and looked down at the ground, her heart beating a bit faster. He made her unbelievable nervous for no reason that she could name. They’d known each other for several years now, you’d think it would be easier. Malachi spoke again.

“I came to make sure that neither of you had been attacked. I didn’t think they would know about you nor the deal made. Hasn‘t really been announced and my father isn‘t well enough to travel yet. A couple more days. I saw the ping from Natasha’s phone. That and her media uploads.” He gestured with his phone. So that was how he found them huh? Ariel glanced at him, but kept her gaze from his. She could feel that he was injured but he looked okay. Her mind more on that. 

“Are you still hurt? Jeremiah said that you were okay, but got injured.” 

“Fine.” He stated looking at her. He looked back at her sister who was very close to some young man. He was annoyed but it didn’t really bother him like it should. Not as much as it had when he’d seen Ariel talking with some man over by the coffee shop. He had been watching the two just seeing what they were doing. Ariel just seemed a lot less like her sister in getting the attention of others. So he’d felt almost disappointed to see her talking with the man. He wasn’t sure why it should really matter anyways. 

He didn’t know what it was about Ariel and not her sister that seemed to be drawing his eye lately. With his deal he had to take Natasha as his wife. That didn’t mean she had to be the one he used for anything else. Quite literally the two of them were gorgeous. They turned heads, full womanly figures and looks. Natasha would definitely be one to do whatever it took to please. However he had a feeling that Ariel would actually be pleasing. Yeah he’d let his mind wander with thoughts of them both. He wasn’t a saint. The one was supposed to be his wife. 

“I can feel that you are still wounded.” She said her gaze at the ground, like it always was. He hated that she did that. He wanted her to look at him. No matter the number of times he told her not to look at the ground she would. Her submissive gesture, it made her seem weak to him and it made him think less of her.

“It’ll heal.” She brought her gaze up to look at him. Then it went back down but stopped at his right side. She was extremely sensitive to that kind of thing. She always knew when someone was sick, when they were hurt. The only odd talent she admitted to having.

“Who would do such a thing?” She asked quietly. He assessed her. Besides Jeremiah and a few in his family, he didn’t confide in others about things. Even to them it was rare, Malachi didn’t share what was on the inside much. However Ariel was easy to talk to. Mainly because she could keep her mouth shut and just wondered for the sake of it. He appreciated her for it.

“Those that want me and my father dead.” He said. He noted that she kept moving her hands like she wanted to reach forward. She wouldn’t though, he made her far too nervous and fearful. 

“Have either of you noticed anyone odd?” She shook her head. “Your father or mother?” They were targets after all. The power play and money to be gained was immense if you could monopolize the colonies and cities here. 

“No, but they have been rather busy working for your father.” That was very true, one of their constraints was that they had to work for him so long as he deemed it. It wasn’t a free ride and they were merging some of their holdings now.

“Your sister will soon come to live with us. Better protection, just wanted to make sure you two were okay.” He turned moving away from her. His business here was done.

“Lord?” Ariel said unable to take it anymore and hurried after him. He walked with a quick fluid stride. She had to almost jog to keep up with him. 

“What? And why do you call me that? It makes me feel old. My first name is fine Ariel. For the love of god use it. Don’t call me Lord.” He demanded not looking at her as he moved. She always did that, gave him a proper title, it was annoying. His father wasn’t dead yet and he didn’t want the title that early. It gave him chills.

“Will you let me heal you? I’m sorry it’s bothering me, I know you said that you were fine.” He stopped looking down at her. There wasn’t anyone else on the walkway at the moment, just them. He was surprised at her.

“Bothers you?” He asked frowning. She gave a nod. Ariel was surprised at him being out and about so soon after the attack.

“I can’t help it, I’m sorry. Please let me.” Ariel felt silly and rather stupid practically begging him to let her do it. She wouldn’t touch him unless he said it was okay. It just bothered her, and she could do something about it for him. She wanted to. He glanced about and then spoke.

“Be quick about it.” He commented to her and she nodded reaching forward. He didn’t get her, she was odd. Her upbringing could explain that very well. She didn’t owe him anything, it shouldn’t bother her. However she clearly wanted to, and he honestly would not mind being healed. He just never asked anything of her normally. Just felt kind of wrong, she was already over used by her family.

Ariel touched the black shirt and was shocked when she touched his side. She moved the shirt and saw the bandaging there. Blood had seeped into it clearly. 

“Your still bleeding! Why are you not resting Malachi? Or at a clinic?” She said in a rather severe tone that he’d never heard her use before. Like she couldn’t believe he lied about the severity of his wound. Well if she knew what he really was she might not think about it then.

She pulled up the side of his shirt and edge of the bandage. Ariel looked at the horrible jagged wound that was there. 

“Oh my god.” She said in a whisper, he just stood there. Wasn’t like he hadn’t been stabbed or maimed before, especially when he went out hunting. This really wasn’t that bad. Couldn’t tell her that though. Otherwise he’d have to explain a few things.

Everyone knew that he and his father were odd, that perhaps they were a bit more than they appeared. Well that was very true, oh they were mostly human. Could die just like the next person from a severe enough wound. However they had certain skills that were passed on from father to son, mother to daughter. He wasn’t going to share his inner most secret with one like her. It was the reason their family had left Earth so quickly. His abilities were not like hers to heal. 

Her hands gently touched his side around the wound. He sucked in a breath as the burning feeling came from her hands and then a cooling. She moved her hands over him concentration on the wound, and her hands felt really good. A soft stroke, it was stimulating to say the least.

He stepped back as he felt the wound closed, she was like what seventeen? He gave a slight shudder down his spine, for a couple reasons. He actually felt kind of awkward. Almost shameful for a few stray thoughts that went through his head. 

Okay, yes, he’d admit it already hadn’t he? She and her sister were damn good looking. He’d had thoughts about them both. He wasn’t a freaking priest. Besides, Ariel was far too breakable, unlike her sister. 

“Sorry, did I hurt you?” She asked her head dropping down. Couldn’t she look at a person and hold her own? She always apologized and then stood there like she was waiting to be struck.

“It’s fine. Better than.” He said tugging his shirt down. He couldn’t help his irritation and spoke. “Can’t you ever look at a person right in the eye? It makes you look weaker.”

“That’s what I am.” She said with a sigh. “I’ve accepted my role.” She glanced up at him then back down. “If Lord Vento is in need of healing…”

“It’s nothing that one of our doctors, nor I could help him with.” His father was in no condition to be seen by anyone but Malachi at the moment. With the injuries that he’d received he’d become… a bit more animal than man. A family curse he was afraid. Perhaps an arranged marriage was best, not like someone could accept the truth of what his family was. Money and power kept a lot of things out of view. 

“Oh. Just offering.” She said. The door to the music store opened and the two of them looked down there as Natasha and their small group came out. Natasha spotted them first and looked shocked and a bit flustered. She walked toward them, the others hanging back just a bit.