Chapter 10 - Be More Careful
After breakfast Samuel found himself left on his own. After eating and telling him he hadn't done a half bad job and could do it again tomorrow, Lena left him on his own because she had work to do. As did pretty much everyone else.
He thought that he could use the time to explore and get used to the mansion of the house and surrounding area, but wasn't sure where was off-limits to him or not. He determined however that the safest bet would be to start outside the house.
being summer, it was already getting rather warm despite how early it still was in the day. The way the outside of the house was setup though, it helped to deflect a certain amount of the heat so it didn't feel to miserable right outside.
Looking around, Samuel realized that there also wasn't a lot of people visible outside other as he descended the steps from the house. He had hoped he would see Zane somewhere so he could talk to him. Seeing as he was boss of the Red Scorpions, it was likely that he also had important business to attend to. Samuel didn't mind being lazy occasionally but this felt different because he was invading a space that wasn't his own but at the same time it was expected that he wouldn't be taking care of anything because of his potential position.
If this was what as going to be expected of him if he and Lena married, this was not something that he was certain he would be able to handle. Day one and it already felt like he was on a roller coaster with his feelings.
As Samuel was making his way around towards the back of the mansion where he assumed there was much of the land to see, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. It was a text message from Roger. Seeing it he sighed as he began to reply to his friend's question as to how it was going and what the girl was like. He had remembered to update his parents the previous night, but he had forgotten that he also promised to let Roger know how it.
Roger had a lot of questions he wanted to ask, but other decided to keep it to texting only rather than calling his friend as he wasn't ready to have to explain who his friends were if Zane, Lena, or someone else came upon him on call.
Samuel's attention was taken away from his phone however because the sight that met him once he had made his way around the back of the mansion was not what he had expected. From what he could see, it seemed that the Red Scorpions had set themselves up to be self-sufficient for everything they might need food wise.
Behind the mansion was a slope that let anyone standing on it see quite far. Everything wasn't clear from where he stood, but he could make out what seemed to be horses, cows, goats, sheep, pigs, and what appeared to be an area that might hold fowl. There was an area that was setup to appeared to be an orchard and perhaps much further to the right of that a vegetable garden and greenhouse. Seeing how everything was so efficiently setup with the size of land that was owned, he found himself feeling a bit ashamed.
Samuel had been expecting something very different when he had been told he was going to be staying with Lena. Based upon what he had heard in school, read in books, and seen in movies, a completely different picture had been painted in his mind as to what he had expected to encounter when he came here. However, only the mansion and the hierarchical setup were the only things that matched his expectations.
He had to remind himself however that this was more modern times compared to what was usually depicted in movies and books so even if the Red Scorpions were involved in illegal activities, the use of the money and setup would come across as more legitimate and normalized compared to the past.
Samuel had forgotten about Roger until he felt his phone buzzing in his hand signaling that the other was trying to call. He rejected the call and sent him a quick message that something had come up, but he would be getting back to him later. He wanted to take this time to further explore what he saw.
He had considered the idea of having a farm at one point in time, but this wasn't at all what he was expecting and far to elaborate for what he felt he could handle. Whoever had put the work and effort into however had made sure that everything had been done with great care and detail. Seeing the animals up close, Samuel felt some kind of way about when he considered that this was where the source of the meat he was eating that morning and the night before had come from. He had a soft spot for animals and seeing what he would be eating didn't work well for him.
Back around this area, he saw a few people who he assumed had been hired as farm hands or staff, but aside from a nod of their head or a glance at him while they were working, they didn't seem interested in talking to him. Perhaps this would be something he would be allowed to do over time. Samuel understood that there were hired staff to do the job, but if he was going to be stuck in such a place depending on whether or not he was going to be allowed to pursue a job or how the rules worked around marrying into the family, this would give him something to do to keep the boredom away.
His biggest interest was in the horse out of all the animals. There were more than he expected based upon the appearance from further away of the size of the enclosure, but now being closer he saw that its span reached much farther back than he thought which gave more than enough space for the majestic animals in front of him. They all seemed well fed and as though they were bred to be gentle yet powerful with speed.
Samuel had the opportunity on a few occasions year ago to do horse riding and it was something that he had greatly enjoyed. He had to be careful of course so as not get hurt or thrown off, but he enjoyed the feeling of wind around him as the horse would run while he was riding. He had wished to do it more often but in his small town, the couple who had setup the horse-riding school ended up selling the horses and land when the husband fell sick and eventually passed away. After that he hadn't found another opportunity for it.
"You know, if you're going to go wandering off, you need to make sure that someone knows where to find you and call you call little chickadee. Otherwise, I am going to end up being the one in trouble if something happens to you." Samuel turned around when he heard Lena's annoyed voice come from behind him.
"Oh sorry. No one was around so I thought this would fine." Samuel replied. He didn't think he was going to get used to how someone so small could have such an intimidating aura any time soon.
"Not everyone here knows you yet, and while it is unlikely that anyone would hurt you, you need to be more careful." She replied with a huff.
"There's nothing to worry about, I am not a child after all." He replied brushing her off. This caused her eyes to narrow. She didn't like that he wasn't taking her serious.
"Sammy-boy." She tried again, motioning for him to pay attention to her again. He barely had a chance to turn and look at her before he felt his feet swept out from under him and in the next second a foreign weight on top of him.
He winced slightly at the pain in the back of his legs, he hadn't realized that Lena was wearing steel-toed boots.
"What are you doing." He protested, attempting to get up, only to realize that the other much smaller figure had his hands pinned above his head and her legs pinning his. He glared up at Lena but all she did was give him a wicked smile in return.
"Since you didn't seem to be taking me seriously, I thought I should show you why you need to be careful." She replied as though her actions made perfect sense. "And you see Sammy-boy, if you cannot even handle me, you most certainly can't take care of yourself against anyone else here." She explained to him as she moved her face closer to his.
"Fine, get off me. You've made your point already." He told her, trying to move his hands only to find that her grip really was that much stronger than his.
"No, I don't think I shall, I am quiet enjoying this position." She replied as she shifted her weight on him. "And I think I want to enjoy it a little longer."