Chapter 6

• I yanked frustratingly at the collar of my shirt, forcing one of the buttons to pop open.
• "Tell me once again why you dragging me out here again."
• Benedict gave a hearty laugh from behind his menu. "Why must there be a reason? Can't I just drag my friend out because I missed seeing him and figured that he was coop himself indoors for the weekend if he had it his way?"
• I narrowed my eyes at him, making him shiver in his seat.
• He nervously diverted his eyes and raised his menu— a ridiculously pink and flowery menu— a bit higher as he mumbled, "Ok, so maybe I just want to try out a new popular dessert shop and figured that the fastest way to get in was to bring the Cordova name."
• That sounded more like the truth.
• I sighed as I rolled up my sleeves. "And why did you stuff me in this get-up? Couldn't I have just worn one of my own shirts?"
• He had arrived bright and early at my apartment this morning with a loud and sudden announcement that he was taking me for some 'Sunday morning fun.' Without telling me where we were going, he shoved a bag into my arms and pushed me into the bathroom with a single instruction to get changed before dragging me out of my building.
• It wasn't any weird outfit by any means, just a pair of dress pants with a white button-up shirt. The problem was with how tight, and slim-fitting everything was. The pants hugged my thighs like a secondary layer of skin and the shirt was so stretched out against my chest that buttons were practically threatening to pop open at moment.
• Benedict chuckled lowly under his breath and poked his head out from just over the top of the menu with a villainous-looking glimmer in his eyes. "You should know this by own, my dear friend Mr. Nikoloas. In today's fast consumeristic society, people can immediately place value on items with a glance. It's all based on first impressions. In other words, you could say the business world runs off of good-old natural looks. And I, the ever-changing entrepreneur, know how to take advantage of today's trends to push myself ahead of the pack."
• I deadpanned at his horrendous speech full of only bullshit that he pulled out of his ass.
• "Hey! You shouldn't glare at your only friend like that." He pouted and grumbled, "You're always no fun. Can't you just play along with me and help me get free stuff? The waitresses always give us extra stuff or specials whenever you join me. I'm just giving them a bit more eye candy than usual."
• My eyes twitched at his words.
• But, before I could chastise him, a waitress walked up to our table and cheerily chirped, "Good morning, gentlemen! Are you ready to order?"
• Benedict instantly perked up, ignoring me, and turned on his flirting habits. "Yes, we are. Can I get a chocolate drizzled cream puff, one slice of your famous fluffy cheesecake, a piece of the strawberry rhubarb Napolean and a matcha latte?"
• She nodded happily. "Anything else?"
• "Ah, my friend doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, but do you mind if I get your numbers to go? You seem just as wonderfully sweet as the rest of the desserts in this shop and I am currently looking for something tasty to carry me over in the afternoon." Propping his chin up, he looked up at her and shot her one of his award-winning smiles, making her instantly swoon at the sight and me feel like puking.
• "U-um, s-sure. That would be nice. M-Maybe we can meet up after my shift." She stuttered with an uncontrollable blush. She hastily gathered the menus before scurrying out of sight, nearly tripping over her feet after everything that had just happened.
• I shook my head at Benedict.
• He always did this whenever we went out. Messing around with the waitresses just to have a one-night stand and never call them back, making it so that he wouldn't be able to return to the same store twice in fear of being kicked out by an angry lady. Then he would complain to me about not being able to go back to his favorite shops as if the problems weren't caused by his own action in the first place.
• Benedict shrugged off my disapproving look and leaned back in his chair. "What? It's not as if I'm in a committed relationship, so I don't see what your problem is."
• "I hope you get STDs."
• He pouted. "That's mean. How could you say such a thing?"
• "I don't see the point in picking random women off the streets. It just seems like a hassle and a waste of time."
• He sighed. Sitting up in his chair, he asked, "Don't you ever get tired of work and just want to let loose? When was the last time you even had sex, anyway?"
• I frowned at his crude question. It's probably been a couple of years from what I last remembered, but I didn't see how that related to the previous question.
• Folding my arms across my chest, I grunted, "No, I don't get tired of my work, so I don't understand your point."
• He frustratingly ran his hand through his hair and grumbled something along the lines of "workaholic" and "waste of good looks."
• But, before I could refute his words, the waitress came back with a tray overflowing with sweets from Benedict's order and a large, white to-go box.
• I looked at the box in confusion. "We didn't order these."
• She immediately flushed at my words and wouldn't stop staring at my chest as she nervously shuffled in her spot. It was like she was trying to play innocent in front of me, as if she wasn't just flirting with my friend a moment ago. Definitely, nowhere near as cute as Ms. Belcalis
• I frowned at the thought. Why was I thinking of Ms. Belcalis?
• But, I was immediately brought out of my thoughts when her sickeningly sweet voice chirped, "Don't worry about it. It's on the house. Just a little something in hopes that you will become regular customers."
• She flashed me one of those fake smiles that made my skin crawl.
• I nodded mutely, not wanting to reply in hopes of making her go away faster.
• Luckily, Benedict, being the extroverted loudmouth that he was, cut in, "Everything looks wonderful, miss. I'm sure that we will be coming back here more often. Definitely wouldn't want to miss the chance to spend time with such beauties like yourself."
• She immediately blushed and bowed before scampering off to her other friends behind the counter with a loud giggle.
• I scowled at the annoying sound.
• "Cheer up, Rafael. Women really aren't as bad as you make them out to be."
• "Fuck off."
• He stuffed a giant forkful of cheesecake into his mouth, grumbling, "No wonder Danary hates you."
• Why was he bringing Ms. Belcalis up at a time like this? And why did I feel an urge to correct him? To tell him that he was wrong and she didn't hate me.
• She still became a bit tense whenever I was within an arm's length away from her, but she had at least begun to talk to me more over the last week. Although it wasn't much, and she still remained as silent as ever in public, she had at least started exchanging a few sentences here and there with me whenever I greeted her in the morning or when she left in the evening.
• Benedict slammed his fork down on his plate when he finished scarfing down his food and accusingly pointed a finger at me, stabbing me repetitively in the chest. "You are a disgrace to the handsome men's society. You have been gifted with such good looks and more riches than anyone else could wish! It puts all other men in envy. And yet, you do nothing with it. It's truly a waste on you."
• I rolled my eyes as I pushed his hand away from me.
• He continued with exaggerated floundering of his hands, "You always talk about how you want to avoid those brainless golddiggers and good-for-nothing whores, but you probably wouldn't even notice it when you found a keeper. Someone who does the little things like asking about your day or worrying about whether you had eaten."
• I wasn't really close enough with anyone for them to ask me such things. Plus, with who I am, no one would ever approach me with such innocent intentions to begin with.
• He continued, "Someone who sees things about you that you didn't even notice about yourself and actually does something to try to help you without wanting anything back."
• Who would do such a thing? No one does anything in this world without incentive.
• A pair of round violet eyes suddenly popped up in my head.
• I guess Ms. Belcalis would do such that. I didn't think much of it at the time due to large stacks of paperwork, but she had been dropping off a warm dinner and hot coffee cup every evening— ever since she noticed my overly worn-out state that first time— when she stopped by to say goodbye before leaving.
• My chest fluttered at the realization. Has she actually been going through all that trouble for me without expecting anything in return, even though I was just her boss, all because she noticed how late I worked into the evenings?
• Benedict angrily sipped at his latte. "I bet you wouldn't even notice it when you started to like them, you stupid big oaf. You'd probably just think that you were under the weather whenever your body heats up from being around them or think that you're brain just needs more coffee whenever your mind wanders off to them during work."
• Huh?
• I froze at his words.
• What was he talking about? And why did it sound so familiar? Did I—
• "Ughhh, I feel bad for the poor girl from just thinking about it. You probably wouldn't even have the slightest idea of how to treat her well. I can only imagine how horrifying your attempts at repaying her would be. Probably end up making her feel like she's being taken advantage of." He frustratingly pulled at his hair and started grumbling to himself something about a "heartless bastard."
• My heart dropped at the thought. Was I taking advantage of Ms. Belcalis's kindness? She was much too caring and sweet to be used in such a way.
• Maybe I should get her something as a thank you. But do I even know what she would like?
• I may have more money than I knew what to do with, but I had no clue what to get. I knew that I probably shouldn't buy her an overly expensive gift—the type that the golddiggers would usually be begging me to get— because it would only make her feel burdened.
• But, on the other hand, what would be considered an appropriate gift?
• I spent such little time around women, as in nice women like Ms. Belcalis, that I hadn't the faintest idea.
• What did I even know about Ms. Belcalis? I knew that taking her out would be a big no, especially from her previous reactions when I accidentally leaned a bit too close to her. I also knew that she didn't like to speak much. I knew that she was usually dressed in an adorable flared skirt with little to no decorative pieces in her hair. And uhhh, she always picked out the sweets in the snack cabinet on our floor?
• Oh wait, didn't she like the strawberry shortcake that I got her from before? I remember how brightly her eyes lit up when she caught a glance of the ruby red strawberries through the packaging.
• Maybe I could get her something similar again, but wouldn't that be a bit redundant? I didn't want her to feel like I didn't put any effort into her gift.
• "Raf—"
• "Rafa—"
• "Rafael!" shouted Benedict, effectively snapping me out of my thoughts.
• My attention immediately snapped to him, being slightly startled by the sudden call of my name.
• He stared at me with a strange look and asked, "What were you thinking so hard about? Are you alright?"
• "Nothing." I was just thinking about strawberries and the comforting sweet scent that came with the little lady that recently started working for me, not that I would actually ever tell him that.
• He narrowed his eyes at me as if he didn't believe me. "Are you sure?"
• I waved him off. "Yeah, I'm fine." I reached into my back pocket and fished out my wallet, throwing a couple of twenties onto the table. "You're done, right?"
• He nodded slowly as he continued to eye me.
• "Great." I reached for the large white bag containing the to-go box with all the complementary desserts. "I'll see you later then. I, um, have something to do."
• I hastily stood up from my seat with the heavy bag in one hand and quickly made my way out of the shop, not noticing how Benedict was calling after me.
• "Heeey, why are you taking the extra pastries with you? You don't even like sweets!"
• As I made my way through the streets of New York, I glanced down at the little bag of desserts in my hand, smiling at the sight of some light pink pastries decorated with thin slices of strawberries and a few other berry-based sweets.
• Maybe I could get one more little thing to add to it.