BXBX NOVEL Chapter 185 - Playing Pretend
«They seem to have fun with little,» Scarlet whispered to her brother, observing the other kids from afar. «Do you think we can really be part of their group?»
«I don\'t know... Their games are boring.»
«How are the games?» Scarlet asked, her eyes shining with curiosity.
«Boring.»
«But what do they play?»
«I don\'t know.»
That said, Jaden pouted. Scarlet\'s smile transformed into a grimace of disappointment, and she sat there in silence.
«We can pretend it\'s fun,» she tried. «So mommy will be happy.»
«But mommy didn\'t say we need friends. She loves us even when we\'re alone,» Jaden pointed out, visibly unhappy.
«I trust Secretary Jack,» Scarlet said. «He always brings me food and new toys. And he does what I say even faster than Nate.»
«And he doesn\'t want our mommy,» Jaden reminded her. That was the principal reason why they liked Secretary Jack. He was a man, he could bring them food, and he wouldn\'t aim at their mommy.
«Let\'s give it a try,» Scarlet hummed, pulling Jaden\'s hand. She tried forcing the boy up, failing. Her brother was in one of his weird moods, and it might have been better to leave him there.
«You go,» he said, in fact. «I\'ll observe from here and intervene if you\'re in danger.»
«They are no danger,» Scarlet pointed out.
She had been worried at first, but all those kids weren\'t strong enough to hurt her. They were just that: kids.
«I\'ll look after you,» her brother repeated, and she sighed. What else could she do at that point?
She turned her back on him and walked away, approaching a group of kids. They were sitting around a table and exchanging things.
She saw the cups, empty, and the dolls.
«Hello,» she said, imitating one of Nate\'s business smiles. «What are you doing here?»
«We\'re playing pretend,» one of the girls replied. The closest to Scarlet. She had blonde hair tied in two tails. Her eyes were dark green, a shade close to brown.
«Can I play with you?»
«Yes, of course,» she said.
«How does one play?»
«You don\'t know how to play?» another girl, this time with short black hair, replied. Her tone was incredulous as if not knowing how to play was a crime.
Scarlet shook her head, sitting next to the first girl. That one seemed more friendly to her.
«How can you not know?»
«I haven\'t played before,» she explained. Play pretend... Pretend what?
«We\'re acting as if we are someone else,» the blonde girl explained, offering a cup to Scarlet. «And we\'re having tea together.»
«Someone else?»
«I am an international model,» the girl said. «And this is my daughter. She will become a model like me...»
Scarlet\'s brows rose to her hair as she moved her eyes between the girl and the doll. Jaden was right... Their games...
«She is your daughter?» she whispered, moving closer to the girl. «Are you sure?»
«Yes, of course.»
«But that\'s a doll!»
The blonde girl chuckled, amused by Scarlet\'s innocence. Well, she was just mimicking the ways adults used to laugh at children\'s jokes.
«We\'re playing pretend, remember?» she said. «I am pretending to be a model, and the doll is pretending to be my daughter.»
«Oh... Okay... And you?» she then said, turning to the black-haired girl.
The others around the table were oddly silent, and Scarlet didn\'t want to force them to talk if they didn\'t want to.
«I\'m an actress,» she said, moving her hair with a hand and raising her chin. «I make movies and take pictures with fans.»
«Oh, I see.»
Scarlet crossed her arms, still in doubt. Those jobs seemed very boring. Jaden was right.
«Then I want to be the CEO,» she said.
The girls around her, every one without exception, frowned.
«Why?» the blondie asked.
«Because you earn a lot of money without doing anything,» she said. «My daddy is a CEO, and he has a lot of free time to run after my mommy. I should tell him to find a real job, but he\'s stubborn and won\'t listen...»
She accepted the empty cup, starting to grasp the part about pretending. There was no food on that table, and thinking about eating without food was painful. But she didn\'t have to focus on food.
And she could ask Nate to bring her some as soon as he came to pick Jaden and her up from school.
For the moment, she could focus on the game. Eating would come after.
«You can\'t be a CEO,» the other girls said. «Only the Alpha can be the CEO.»
«What is a si-i-oh?» a shy kid, younger than the others, murmured.
«He\'s like the boss,» Scarlet explained, certain about her beliefs. «He orders the secretaries around, and he wears pretty clothes.»
«That\'s not true!» the dark-haired girl replied.
«No?»
«The CEO is the boss, and he helps the company make money!»
«How does he help?» Scarlet asked.
She had observed Nate for long, and all he did was sit at his desk and stare at the computer or at the papers. Her mommy\'s scent would be in the office lately, and she could swear it was more intense around the desk.
Most likely, the reason why Nate sat there was because of that.
As for the job... He didn\'t do anything much. He would write a few words sometimes, and that was it.
«But my daddy does nothing for the whole day,» she said. «He has time to bring me to the cinema! He isn\'t too busy.»
And her daddy was the CEO, that was sure.
«My mommy does most of the work,» she then added. «She works in the morning and, when daddy comes to work, she has finished everything for him!»
Oh, that must explain why the company was doing good while Nate didn\'t sweat a little.