"Hey, Alana let me help you with that." Owen offered as he saw Alana hold up a tray of food. He did not wait for Alana's response and gently took it from her. Alana thought it was pointless to argue at this point, "Why, thank you". she said, "You seem to be on break way too early." she noticed as no one else was out inside the factory.
"I just have fast hands." Owen simply said although he seems very proud of it. They continued walking together. "How are you liking this place so far?" he wondered, slightly glancing at her.
She wobbled her head from side to side before answering, "Everything is very new to me, but this place isn't bad at all. Kind of a new setting... which I like." she talked in a soft voice while smiling a bit.
"You talk as if you came from a very far place, or locked up from somewhere you're isolated." Owen joked.
Alana paused with walking which made Owen stop as well, she looked at him and innocently smiled, she looked straight on the road, "Yeah, something like that." then she continued walking.
For a second, Owen thought what she said is something concerning, "Wait what?" he ran to remove the distance from her as she continued walking. He wanted to ask more questions about her.
"There you are" Owen and Alana looked behind them and saw Arch running towards them. Owen rolled his eyes, he thought he had this chance to stroll with Alana by himself. Alana waited for Arch as he runs, Owen stayed there too, thinking of how to shoo Arch away.
"Hi Alana, cool shades." Arch sweetly smiled, "Where are you headed?"
"It's the same sunglasses from yesterday..." Owen muttered under his breath, but loud enough for all of them to hear.
"To the factory house I guess, Georgia told me to give the snacks to the workers," Alana explained as she pointed to the tray Owen is holding.
"Nice, let's go there together." Arch happily suggested.
"Hey hey hey, pull yourself together, Arch, can't you see she's already got company?" Owen butted in.
"So what? That doesn't mean I can't join, right Alana?" Arch protested.
"Well, I don't mind you guys tagging along. Are you sure you don't have other things to do?"
"No, not me, I don't know with Owen, he leaves most of his stuff undone during the day." Arch subtly shades Owen, and he's not having it.
"But, I'm still one of the top workers here, I get the work done really well, when was the last time you've been on the top list Arch? I can't remember-- oh wait, you were never in one." Owen burst out laughing. Alana chuckled too because of the way Owen was laughing, it's overly exaggerated and taunting. She knows what these boys are up to, and she's just quietly enjoying the show.
-
"How's the soup so far?" Georgia checked on the pot Kiel had been stirring.
"It's going really well, I think," Kiel replied, he sure hopes he's doing it well. He was never really in charge of the kitchen even back in the orphanage. He was usually into cleaning or gardening. He was thinking of just doing the cleaning but Castro had been doing it ever since they woke up.
"It smells good, you learn fast." Georgia complimented as she taps him on the shoulder and moves away to check the other dishes. The truth is it was all Georgia, she was the one telling him and Jolene what to do this whole time. It's like the kitchen was naturally a part of her.
"Be careful with the knife." Castro's grandmother, whom they all call Nana, worriedly reminded Jolene as she slices the ingredients.
Jolene smiled, "Don't worry Nana, I'm being cautious."
"it's just that the knife is very sharp, I get cut when I use it," Nana added, Jolene noticed the small cuts on Nana's fingers that she touched after reminding her. She sighed, Nana is very old so it wouldn't be surprising if she has poor eyesight, causing her to cut herself whenever she helps in the kitchen. Fortunately, she's being kept out of heavy work as soon as the three of them arrived yesterday.
Jolene's granny is not as old as Nana but she strongly remembers her granny from Nana. She wonders if she's doing well by herself, whether if someone's assisting her, reminding her to take care of herself, if she ever gets lonely, or whether granny worries for her.
"Ouch," Jolene whispered as she got distracted and cut her finger. Drops of blood dripped on the table which made her rush towards the nearest sink and let the running water wash her wound.
"I told you so," Nana told her in a calm, unsurprised way. She is still sitting at the same place, watching Jolene in the nearby sink. Jolene sheepishly smiled as she turned off the sink and looked back at her, "Yeah, you're right. I'm gonna go get the first aid, do you know where to find it?"
"Right there at the back pantry where we store dry goods, there's a medicine cabinet there," Nana instructed. Kiel noticed the commotion and looked at Jolene as she holds on tight to one finger, "What happened Jolene?"
Jolene looked at him and shook her head while giving a reassuring smile, she walked toward his direction, "Nothing, just a small cut." she passed by him and walked to go to the back pantry.
The pantry looked pretty full because of the vegetables, cans, sacks of condiments around. It's long but narrow, composed of two long shelves with an aisle in the middle. She began to walk around to find the medicine cabinet. The pantry was all quiet and all Jolene heard are sounds from the factory. The medicine cabinet was at the end of the aisle. She got an ointment and was about to return back to the kitchen. But something else caught her eye. She discovered that there's another door that leads outside the kitchen and into the back of the factory, where there's a wide window made of grills. She went out and peeked inside the factory and saw all the workers.
Jolene's eyes marveled at all the work the men are doing, most of them are half-naked due to the heat, she can hear different kinds of roaring from men at work, all of them are sweaty from sawing, banging, and carrying big chunks of wood, metal, and all sorts of stuff. The men are all noticeably bulky, accustomed to hard work, it seems like most of them are really doing this for a long time.
"Jolene?"
Jolene jolted when someone called her, she saw Kiel coming out from where she came from. He looks curious about where she's been peeking. "What are you doing there?" he asked in a whispering tone. She gestured Kiel to come and see for himself. Kiel peeked as well and saw what is inside the factory. "Woah, look at them," he said in awe.
"Yeah, so I'm guessing whoever we are looking for is someone strong, because of the nature of their work."
"What if it's Castro?" Kiel smirked.
"Castro's a kid."
"Umm... Georgia?"
Jolene rolled her eyes and diverted her gaze at him, "Kiel, we are both eighteen, Alana's eighteen too, don't you think we are all supposed to be of the same age and Georgia is a bit too old to be the same age as us?"
Kiel cackled, "I'm just playing with you. You seem so serious looking at them as if you'd determine who is it by just looking." he told Jolene as she looks closely at the workers again.
"What do you know? We might see the tracker."
Both of them pinned their eyes on Gray as it walks in their direction, still not noticing them. Its wavy hair could use a little trimming as it covers half of his eyes. He's just silently carrying piles of wood back to his workplace, in the deep focus of his craft. He gives a mysterious aura that intrigues them the most. Unlike other men around, he's not an inch perplexed or interested in seeing a girl. He's doesn't seem to interact with others too, although most people admire him, Jolene saw it with the four guys yesterday.
For some reason, Jolene remembers her old self. "I think it's Gray."
Kiel looked at her and curved a smile, "We all think it's him."
"Here take a snack." Alana politely handed food to a male worker that came to get some food. He smiled at her without breaking eye contact. He left soon enough.
"Wow, suddenly everyone's gentle and friendly" Sky commented after seeing the scene. The four boys are now together again beside Alana, now she looks like she has security guards who judge everyone who goes near her.
"You speak my mind, those guys are tough and aggressive when you see them in the workshop." Tito has been saying that after every guy that gets food.
They are standing at the front door of the factory, it's gigantic and wide open. But all Alana can see from her view are the finished furniture products. There's a covering that blocks people from seeing the workshop from the outside.
She pointed out the furniture, "Are those your works?" she asked.
"Yep. These are products ready to be sent to Oran with those trucks." Arch pointed out an entire lot of delivery trucks for the factory. Alana gazed at it and then back at the furniture, she slowly nodded, "I see, can I go see it?"
The four guys looked at each other, "Georgia never really goes inside, but well, she never asked." Arch reasoned. Tito agreed, "Yeah, I'm sure we can go inside, plus everyone's on break."
The five of them walked inside, headed by Alana. She walked across, looking at the furniture, most of these are gorgeous and have a good quality just by staring at it.
"Hey, I created this shelf." Arch introduced it to Alana.
"This lampshade is my piece." Tito butted in. Alana just kept focusing on where the boys diverted her attention. She is amused as she touches some of it. They kept walking further and the boys just kept introducing the stuff in there, some even have a side story.
"Ah, here, look at this table." Owen enthusiastically went beside it, "I made this."
Alana ran her fingers on the smooth table, she looked closely and saw some very intricate details, she knocked on it and it sounded really strong and firm. She looked back at him, impressed.
"I told you I make masterpieces here," he said, smirking.
The rest of the boys couldn't argue to that, "But hey, he only stands behind Gray, he makes the best of it all. Aside from our boss, of course, the best among all, but now he just does quality-control, making sure things are exquisite." Sky explained, "Check that wardrobe, that's Gray's." he pointed in the other direction and they all saw a huge elegant two-door wardrobe. Alana walked towards it, from what she can see, it's mahogany with a bronze handle, it has a full-body mirror on one door, and the sides of it are all carved with vines and flowers. It's the most beautiful of all.
They did not notice that they had gone further and now they have reached the covering that separates the production room. Alana bit her lower lip and peeked, the boys didn't mind too and they opened the cover wide enough for everyone to see. After all, they are assuming that everyone's on break and no one is there.
Except there was. Just the man they are very curious to see.