Leandro took a deep breath and put his hands on his hips as he was staring at Jean. He was looking the crying form of Ingrid and Jean. He had been interrupted by her and reluctantly he had just stopped what he was about to do. He would not have stopped if anyone else interrupted him. In fact he would have chased them out with his knife throwing moves until he dealt with them later. But this was jean.
Leandro for some reason was reminded of the situations when his mother interrupted his father as he was dealing with business. His father stopped too. Always. But he gave his mother a hard time and they argued afterwards of course.
Jean was just standing there and she mouthed to him "Stop please."
Leandro muttered under his breath "I hadn't even started." Then he walked to her direction. He climbed the steps and as he reached her, Jean said to him "Can we go somewhere private please to talk?"
Leandro nodded as he walked past her. Jean turned and saw him. He held the door open for her and gestured to her silently with moving his head for her to come through.
Jean walked through the door and Leandro then walked past her to another door and held it open.
Jean entered the room that was small but cozy. He said "Why dont you take a seat on that sofa while I go back and finish what I was about to start. There is tea and coffee there next to the sink. Once I finish, I will come chat to you." He then walked to the door.
Jean said "No. Leandro. Wait."
Leandro sighed and turned "Jean. Now is not really a good time to talk. This is out of hours anyway. Just stay here and I will come back."
Jean walked towards him "Leandro. I want to talk to you about Ingrid."
Leandro put his hand on the door handle and sighed "Fine... What about her?"
Jean said " I would like to speak to Ingrid and discuss what happened. Will you let me please instead of punishing her?"
Leandro looked into Jean's eyes as he let go of the door "Jean. I respect your wish. You can talk to her."
jean said "I can?"
Leandro said "Yes. Of course. But after I am done with her."
Jean said "No. Please... You are being too harsh on her. You are punishing her publicly in the most humiliating manner. Please call it off... Its too much. What your committee has decided on is too harsh for Ingrid..."
Leandro asked "Which member of my committee told you about the decision?" He walked towards her "Jean... Which one?" I ordered them specifically not to tell you. I was going to talk to you about Ingrid tomorrow."
Jean took a step back and ended up seated on a sofa. She looked up at him as he towered over her.
Leandro said expectantly "Jean. Which one of them told you?"
Jean shook her head "None of them."
Leandro said "I knew you would object to her punishment because you want to forgive. Melanie told me how you prefer to just forget. Fine. If you dont say who disobeyed my orders, I will find out tomorrow who was the culprit."
Jean said "Leandro. It doesnt matter who told me. Please can you leave it? I cant believe how harsh the decision is. It cant happen. When police deals with the matter, if charges are dropped the police drops the case... I never even put in a complaint. Please let me talk to her. I want to know why she hates me that much. I dont want you to hurt her. Please..." Her voice was shaking now. Looking up at him and meeting his intense gaze that was even softer than earlier on, was taking its toll on her. She took a deep breath and looked away. Also imagining Ingrid's punishment was scaring her. She had never heard of anything more horrific.
Leandro walked away slowly to the sink. He poured Jean a glass of water and handed it to her. "Here. Have some water Jean. Relax."
Jean shakily took the glass of water and drank from it.
Leandro then walked away and stood at the window looking outside as he crossed his arms over his chest. He was trying to give Jean some space. He said slowly and as softly as he could manage "Jean. You dont understand. Ingrid is not a normal girl. She is a repeat offender. Its not her first time she has been caught being bitter and rude to people. She is really on her last warning and she is on her way out the door. You shouldn't feel sorry for her. She needs to take responsibility for her actions."
Jean leaned back and put away the glass of water on the side table. "Leandro. This is too harsh. I dont want her punished any further. Please let her go and let me see her."
Leandro turned to her and put his hands behind his back "Her punishment is too soft actually. So I am going to give her the real punishment she should get. She didnt convince me that she deserved any mercy of what my committee decided even. I will add to her punishment and will make it much harsher."
Jean was shocked. She did not expect Leandro to say this.
Leandro said "Now. Stay here and make yourself a cup of hot drink. I will be back..."
Jean tried hard not to panic. She stood up "Leandro. But I have no complaints... You must drop all charges."
Leandro said "No. I must not Jean. In case you havent noticed, we dont comply with the rules of the society. We have our own. You dropping the charges wont change what she has done. She must pay for what she has done and more."
Jean said "But Leandro. You dont understand. There is a reason she said what she said to me...I want to talk to her and resolve it. I have never done anything to her. But she spoke to me with hate. I could see the hate in her eyes."
Leandro said "Thank you for the new information. Thats handy to know she made you feel the hate in the air. I will deal with that offence too."
Jean said quickly "But... She seemed scared. She was crying when I saw her."
Leandro spoke "Not good enough... She deserves whats coming to her. Do you have any idea why she said everything that she did? She was jealous of you because you are my girl. She told you to disappear because she wanted you to leave me. She likes me for some reason and I have warned her what would happen if she keeps flirting with me. So now that she is not allowed to flirt with me, she is coming after you."
Jean gasped and was looking at Leandro with shock. "It makes sense. Perfect sense. I now understand what she meant. She told you this?"
Leandro said "She confessed right now. She wanted you to leave me... That makes her crime even worse now. Her malicious intent is the cherry on top of her actions... I can't forgive her. There is no redemption when someone is trying to take you away from me. I must go and deal with her. You will stay here. You said you don't want a public punishment for her. Fine I make it private. But I can't let it go. She was not even remorseful at her trial."
Jean whispered to Leandro "Wait. Lets talk about this."
Leandro said "I am listening. But I have to go."
Jean reached her hand slowly to Leandro and put her hand on his arm.
Leandro froze and looked at jean with an unreadable expression. He just stared at her silently and didnt move.
Jean then moved her hand to his hand and squeezed it "Leandro."
Leandro took a deep breath "Jean..." and looked at Jean's hand on his that made him tense up. He wanted more. He wished she took his other hand too. Her touch was just so fulfilling. He just couldnt describe the feeling. He slowly reached his other hand to her free hand and held it slowly. She didnt seem to mind and in fact she seemed to be relaxing slightly. She squeezed his other hand too. He closed his eyes and tried to memorise this moment. This was quite an intimate feeling. He just wanted to remember it. It had happened in the most unlikely situation but he made the most of it. The feeling was just too special. Leandro then opened his eyes while holding both her hands as he looked at her. He said in a gentle voice "Jean. You mean so much to me."
Jean swallowed hard and spoke with urgency "I know you are the one who has all the power. I know you can overturn your decision. I am asking you Leandro. Dont do this. Dont hurt her any more."
Leandro said "Why not?..."
Jean hesitated and said " She has paid already. If you hurt her further then you will be hurting me..."
Leandro pressed his lips "You dont mean that."
Jean said "I do."
Leandro looked at Jean and remained silent.
Jean was worried sick. Moments went past and Leandro didnt say anything. He was just looking at her. He whispered "You do know that I cant hurt you Jean. I would never hurt you. Why would it hurt you if I hurt her?"
Jean said "Because I feel she has been punished more than in enough in private in your committee and I like to just talk to her. I dont want an apology..."
Leandro said "She will actually apologise now. While I stood there looking at you, she realised I had stopped for you.... So she grabbed the paper and was scribbling like her life depended on it... She was writing her apologies. Its not worth much to me..."
Jean said "But it does to me... She was mean to me unprovoked and even if she doesnt apologise now that she confessed she likes you, it just makes sense. She has apologised now by the sound of it... She has paid already. Please dont punish her any further than she has been punished. You ordered her tongue to be burnt for having a sharp tongue... Mel told me..." She the realised what she had said and covered her mouth with her hands.
Leandro looked at Jean with narrowed eyes "Mel? Melanie told you? Did she?"