--- 7:32 A.M. ---
The smell of waffles and ham awakens the man, causing him to roll over and fall off of the small sofa.
He enters the kitchen and Khristina waves a spoon in the air, waffle batter flying through the air.
"Morning, Mr. Kazimir! Me and Pierre made breakfast for you!"
"And considering my bed was a floor, you should be grateful." Pierre adds.
"I didn't have anywhere else to put you, so you should be grateful I didn't leave you outside to freeze."
Kazimir grabs a plate and puts a bit of breakfast on it, sitting down to eat.
*DING!*
Picking up his phone, the young man looks down at it.
"Your brother is coming over in the next thirty minutes to pick you up, Khristina."
The little girl's eyes widen and she jumps down from the small stool needed to reach the counter.
"Really?! I still haven't decided on a beautiful dress to wear!"
"I'm sure all those dresses in your closet are beautiful." Pierre replies.
"Noooooo! It has to be more beautiful than the rest 'cause this is the handsome prince Amir we're talking about!"
Pierre chuckles as she runs off to her room.
"Females, boy I tell ya."
He sits in front of Kazimir, who stares down at his food.
"What's up with you? Cat got your tongue?"
"No, I'm just thinking about school and this job."
Rolling his eyes, Pierre takes a sip of his coffee.
"Not this shit again. It's simple, just quit one or the other. Or if you wanna feel like a real man, do both."
Kazimir looks up at him.
"You can take the "real man" part out because I'm not doing both."
"Damn, I was only being sarcastic. That's the thing with you kids these days, can't take a joke even if it shakes your hand and gives you money."
"Not everything is meant to be taken lightly, Pierre." Kazimir replies, getting up from his seat.
"You barely ate." the older detective says, pointing to his co-worker's plate.
"Not hungry. I need to get ready for work."
Watching as his co-worker walks off, Pierre shrugs and continues to eat.
"Good thing I ain't in his situation."
Hearing a pair of little footsteps, Pierre looks up to see the small girl twirling around in her dress.
"Isn't it pretty?!" Khristina asks, as she reaches for the man's coffee cup.
"It has too much ruffles." he replies, quickly grabbing his cup.
"That's how it's supposed to be, clown. Hey! Where's Mr. Kazimir? I wanna show him too!"
"He's getting ready for work. But do you mind if I ask you something?" Pierre asks, leaning down to get height.
"Nope!" The small girl happily replies.
"Have you noticed anything off about Mr. Kazimir in the past few days? Like for example, has he picked you up late in the past three days?"
Pointing to the coffee machine, Khristina smiles.
"I'll answer your question if you give me some."
"Kid, you're too little to drink that."
"Then I guess you'll never know!"
Pierre rolls his eyes and walks over to the coffee machine, picking up the pot and pouring some coffee in a mug.
"Here. Now may I get an answer?"
"Can you give me some more?"
He groans, taking the mug from the girl's hands and pours some in.
"Is that enough?"
"Yep!"
She takes a sip and makes a disgusted face.
"Ewwww! It tastes bitter and sugary at the same time!"
Handing the cup back to Pierre, he pours it back in the pot and gives her a napkin to wipe her mouth with.
"Now, may I have an answer to my question?"
Khristina finishes wiping the sides of her mouth, putting the napkin down at her side.
"I need a chocolate bar to make up for the bitterness."
Pierre's eye starts to twitch and he shakes his head.
"You know what? Forget it."
He walks back to his chair, the small girl following with her arms crossed.
"You have to give me my chocolate bar, Mr. Pierre. You promised!"
"I ain't promise shit. Now be a good little princess and sit down in the living room until your chauffeur arrives to take you to Prince Amir's castle."
Khristina stomps her foot and Pierre turns to her, chewing on his waffle.
"Give me my chocolate bar right now or I'm telling Mr. Kazimir and Alexei that you tried to pour hot coffee on my dress!"
Pierre's brows raise and he gives her a psychotic smile.
"Then be my guest."
Walking back into the kitchen, the small girl quickly pushes her step stool over to the coffee machine.
Sighing, Pierre gets up from his seat and picks her up, reaching into his pocket.
He takes out a flimsy milk chocolate bar, handing it to Khristina.
"Here. It's half melted so be careful not to get any on your dress."
She smiles and opens the wrapper.
"Thank you, Mr. Pierre. And to answer your question, no Mr. Kazimir has not been late in picking me up. But he has seemed very sad lately."
"Yeah, yeah. Tell me something I don't know."
All of a sudden, the small girl lets out a sneeze, Pierre almost dropping her.
Putting a hand to her head, his brow raises.
"You seem to have come down with something, lil' girl."
Walking into the kitchen, Kazimir looks over at the both of them.
"Is Khristina alright?"
"No, I think she has a cold and didn't want to tell us." Pierre says, looking down at the small girl who gives him a cheeky smile.
"Let me hold her."
The older man quickly hands Khristina to Kazimir, who feels her head as well.
"The bastard's right. How's your throat feeling, Khristina?"
"Kinda itchy. I really need to scratch it, it feels horrible!"
She begins to cry and Kazimir gently bounces her up and down.
"It's alright, Khristina. We can get you some medicine to help with it."
*DING DONG!*
"That must be your brother. We'll have to tell him you're-
"NOOOOO! I WANNA SEE MR. AMIR!"
Pierre chuckles and shakes his head.
"Mr. Amir can't even leave his house. Literally. You can always visit him later."
Kazimir gives Pierre a "shut up" look, opening the front door to the young girl's brother.
"Good morning, Mr. Cizetto. Is Khristina ready to go?" Alexei asks.
Kazimir sighs and shakes his head.
"About that. I believe she's caught a cold."
Raising her head from his shoulder, Khristina frowns.
"But I don't even feel that sick! I can still go see Mr. Amir! Tell him that I can, Alexei!"
The law student shakes his head.
"I'm sorry, Khristina, but Mr. Cizetto is right. You need your rest and we don't want to put Mr. Kansaye at risk of getting sick, either."
"But he won't care! You can call him right now and tell him! Do it!"
"Khristina, he may not mind, but it's rude to go visit someone knowing you have something that can put others at risk of catching it as well. For now, I'll drop you off at Dréy's place and he can watch you while Mr. Cizetto works."
The small girl sighs and folds her arms.
"Fine."
"I thank you both for putting up with her. I understand she can be quite troublesome at times." Alexei says, grabbing his sister from Kazimir's arms.
"It's alright. She's going through a hard time right now, so we should all be easy on her."
Alexei nods and sighs.
"Well, I suppose I'll see you two during my next break, whenever that may be. Goodbye for now."
"Goodbye. Stay safe as well." Kazimir replies.
"See ya! Also, tell Dréy to meet me near Misty Avenue at around 9 P.M.!" Pierre adds.
The young law student nods before walking down the steps and to his car.
"Well, ready for work?" the professional detective asks.
Kazimir watches as the young girl sits in her car seat, a disappointed expression plastered across her face.
"Yeah."
--- one hour later ---
"I WANNA GO TOO! DRÉY, TELL ALEXEI TO LET ME GO WITH HIM!"
Grabbing the small girl off of his brother's leg, Dréy groans.
"Bruh, hurry up and leave before she hop on yo' leg again."
Looking up at his brother, Alexei gives him an angry look.
"I have to head out of town immediately after my visit with Amir. I won't be seeing you or Khrissy for a while, so can I have a chance to say a proper goodbye?"
Shrugging, Dréy puts the young girl down who immediately runs over to her second eldest brother, wrapping her arms around him.
"I WANNA SEE MR. AMIR! LET ME SEE HIM!"
"Khristina, for the final time, you're sick. You have to stay here and rest. I told you on our way here you can do video chat."
Tears start to roll down the small girl's face and the young law student rubs her back in reassurance.
"Tell you what; when I come back on my next break, the first thing we'll go do is visit Mr. Kansaye, alright?"
Lifting her head from his shoulder, she nods.
"But what if Mr. Kazimir wants to come? He seems very lonely and sad. I don't want him to turn into the mean man who only comes around during Christmas time!"
Dréy laughs and Alexei chuckles.
"Yes. If Mr. Cizetto wants to come along, then he's welcome to."
Khristina smiles, giving the young man a hug.
"Since I won't see you for a while, make sure you keep my big bear hug since you're going back into hibernation!"
Alexei warmly smiles, hugging his small sister back.
"Thank you, Khrissy. I'll need it a lot."
She runs back over to Dréy, who picks her up.
"Tell Amir I said wassup. And when you go back on campus, make sure to take it easy. I know how you like to show a strong work ethic and all but I don't need my lil' bro in the hospital 'cause he stressin' over a pop quiz."
Alexei nods, his older brother giving him a hug.
"A'ight, stay safe, gang."
"I will. Goodbye for now."
Stepping into his car, the young law student starts it, pulling out of the driveway.
About twenty minutes later, he turns into a residential neighborhood, immediately becoming blocked.
Police cars and an ambulance surrounded the small cul-de-sac, their lights practically blinding the young man.
"I guess I'll just park here and walk."
Putting the gear shift in park, he turns off his car and steps out.
Walking onto the sidewalk, his heart slowly began to sink.
*"Maybe I'm seeing something wrong. I have to be."*
Coming closer to his friend's house, the young law student shakes his head out of concern and begins to sprint towards his friend's front lawn.
*"What the hell?"*
Turning to his left, Alexei notices his friend's mother standing under a tree in distraught.
"Mrs. Kansaye!"
The woman looks up and begins to tear up even harder, as her son's best friend gives her a hug.
"Mrs. Kansaye, what's going on? What happened? Where's Amir?"
Looking up at the young man, all the grieving mother could do was turn her head.
Turning to where she did, a heart-shattering feeling overcomes him as he stares down at the lumpy white sheet on the ground.