Chapter 7

• ALAYNA
• “I heard what you did,” Oliver says the next morning when I see him. He’s not in his usual chef uniform but his gym clothes. He steps into my kitchen.
• I instantly feel apologetic. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take your position.”
• “Nah. I should be thanking you. You’ve proven you can do the job alone, and you’re saving me, after all.” He slides his hands in his pocket, smiling. “You’ve given me more time to focus on other important things.”
• “Um... I asked him to come out.” I shrug.
• His eyebrows knit together. “Yeah? How did it go?” He leans on the sink.
• “I didn’t mean to ask him to come out immediately; I just got carried away in the situation, and I remembered what you said. Besides, I can’t think of any way to make him come out unless there’s a valid reason. And I’m sure you know the reason.”
• “Hmm.” He crosses his arms and scratches his chin. “Yes, I do.”
• “And why has no one told me the real reason I’m here?” I ask nicely, although I’m sure all the decisions are up to his cousin.
• “Okay, if you feel like I’ve hidden this from you, I’m sorry. But we can’t afford to lose you.”
• “I’m not going to leave. I need this job.” I look up at him. “But another reason why I wanted to see him is that the information he wants is confidential. It’s more on the trust side. I need to know if I can trust him.”
• He listens to me intently and nods. “I understand. You are entitled to your rights.”
• “Though I have to apologize. I was pretty reckless back there. If I could turn back time, I wouldn’t be that insensitive. But when I was talking to him in that room, it was strange. How does he live like this?”
• “It’s been difficult, Alayna. It was his choice.”
• “I’d be lying if I told you that I didn’t want to know his reasons. It’s not my place to meddle with your business, but somehow I did,” I say with guilt. I stare back at the spices I’m mixing and pick up the ladle.
• “Let’s just say your way is a bit different, but this is why I think you are the person most capable of helping him. He will tell you about the thing he needs from you anyway, despite the little incident. But did you really see him?”
• I shake my head. “No. At least... not his face.”
• “Nice timing,” Oliver continues in a teasing voice.
• I flush. “What bugs me right now was my proposition. I asked him to come out! I don’t know where I got all the nerve to demand that.”
• “You’re torturing yourself.” Oliver moves in front of me and holds my shoulders. “Calm down. He might be, you know, weird, but he’s a good man. He’s considerate. He even let you stay, remember?”
• “Because he needs something,” I answer, then roll my eyes. “I’m not this kind of person.”
• “I know. You don’t have to worry about that. You must’ve forgotten that I’m still here to help you. So, what’s on his menu today? I don’t always memorize everything.”
• “I prepared a courgette and Kostopoulos lemon.”
• “Well, I will bring this to him now.”
• “Wait!” I halt and add the additional spices I made for the chicken. Oliver then picks up the plates and places them on the food trolley.
• At dinner, Oliver still isn’t home, so Ms. Lennie takes our boss’s meal to his room. This time she asks me to follow her. I don’t know why, but I do as I’m told. We stop at his room, and she knocks three times. Not waiting for someone to answer, she opens and unlocks the door.
• “Stay here,” she demands sharply.
• “Oliver doesn’t usually ask me to come. Why am I here?”
• “The Master has something he wishes to say to you.”
• I nod in silence. The supposed contract signing will be tomorrow. I tap my feet and bite my lower lip as I watch Ms. Lennie continue inside.
• Ms. Lennie comes back a few moments later with the empty dishware. Undoubtedly, he likes what I made for him again.
• “What did he say?”
• “He did not complain about the meal,” she informs me with a blank expression.
• I smile in victory. “But did he say something about my contract? Is he going to privately see me?”
• “Master Brandon said he wanted to talk to you,” she repeats firmly, her expression blank as usual. “You can’t just force him like that. He is a very busy man. Isn’t it enough that Mr. Katrakis believed your scheme? You had to involve him in your plan?”
• Scheme? Plan? This woman surely thinks I’m such a gold digger. This is why I like talking to Oliver more than her. Her strict character bothers me. She is so overprotective; she can be insensitive with her judgment. And why does she have to be hard on me all the time?
• “Sorry, I just needed assurance. I didn’t mean to look like I’m only taking advantage of the situation. I’m going to speak to him now.”
• I don’t wait for her to speak about something else again and march toward the white room. I open the door and sit in the chair inside. I pick up the telephone.
• “Hello?”
• No answer.
• “Anybody here?”
• Nothing again.
• I sigh, shaking my head. “Hello?”
• I jerk in surprise when the speaker produces ear-shattering whistles, and I hear his voice again. “Good evening, Miss Hart.”
• “G-Good evening. Why did you ask me here?” I ask, trying to calm myself.
• “I need some time,” he says, and I sense the tension in his voice. “I’m going to have to arrange the contract first and speak to my lawyer. Why would you want to see me in the first place?” No hint of anger in his very masculine voice anymore.
• “I was just... you are...” I breathe. “I don’t know what the hell’s going on with me anymore,” I confess truthfully. “But I need to trust you, and I can only do that if you show yourself to me.” I also don’t want to end up like Ms. Lennie, who became humorless.
• “I am a monster, Miss Hart,” he states gruffly. “You wouldn’t want to see me... if you only knew.”
• “Knew what?”
• “This conversation is over.” He drops the call and disappears from the line.
• What the heck was that?
• My head throbs in pain. Everything is more complicated now. I walk out of the room and decide to go to the central kitchen, wishing to speak to a normal human being. Perhaps Oliver. Fortunately, he’s there, in a designer suit. He’s having a sandwich. I can’t help but chuckle.
• “Alayna, join me. I made sandwiches.”
• I look at the food on the island, and my stomach rumbles. It looks delicious. “Hey, thanks. I’d love to. When did you arrive?”
• “About thirty minutes ago.”
• I approach him and pick a slice. He watches me as I take a bite. “Hmm.” I gaze at him in surprise and swallow the food. “Porchetta.”
• He grins. “Right? I knew you’d like it. You’re fond of Italian cuisine.”
• “And the bread... It’s ciabatta.” I eat another bite, bigger this time. “Hmm. It’s delicious. You know what actually confuses me?”
• “What?” He munches on his sandwich as well.
• “How you two are cousins. You’re crazy if you don’t notice the huge difference between you.”
• He cocks his head. “What do you mean?”
• “I spoke to him again. In the creepy white room.”
• “Oh.” His expression brightens. “Tell me more.”
• “He said he’ll give me the contract, but I have to wait.”
• “But that’s a start, right? It’s progress.”
• “I don’t know. He is so enigmatic, and there’s... never mind. He’s odd.”
• “You’ll get along with him soon,” he states, so sure of himself. “He’s not always like that.” He munches on his food again.
• “I don’t know about that. But I hope you’re right. He’s my boss, after all. I mean, the higher boss.” I shrug and chuckle. “Thank you, by the way.”
• “For what?”
• “For being normal.”
• He chuckles back. “You’re welcome. Good night, Alayna.”
• “Good night, Oliver.”