He fumbled with some things in the refrigerator and she watched him bring out an orange juice and an orange. Turning to her his eyes were on what he was holding and he held them out to her. Anastasia quickly got off her seat and walks to him thinking he wanted her to hold them for him. But he retracted his hands and took a step backward when she moved closer. She also stopped in her tracks.
"This or that?"
She glanced at his hand before glancing at his face that was focused on what he was holding. He had asked her if she wanted a drink and she had said orange. Was he asking if she liked her orange juice natural or if it has gone under the metal?
"I will take the orange juice." He quickly turns around and Ana closed the refrigerator while he took a glass. Was her boss trying got avoid her? Perhaps he doesn't like her that much. Is he regretting hiring her already?
He turned to hand her the glass of orange juice and she carefully took it doing her best to avoid contact with him. Once she got it, he returns to the stove and continues with cooking. Ana returned to her seat and watched his back view. Even from behind it was obvious he was really serious with whatever he was doing. Would she be getting a boring boss?
Just as he had said, in fifteen minutes the food was ready and she had offered to help him dish it but he declined. She watched him arrange it in a trolley and push it out. If he hadn't cleared the kitchen slabs and sink himself she would have done it. He came back a minute after and said.
"The dining is this way."
"Of course." She follows him keeping her distance. Feeling the tension in the air. The awkward atmosphere almost made her feel like she would suffocate and normally Ana wasnt that sort of person to endure tension like this but it is what it is.
He had already set the food and was putting the trolley away when she spoke. "It smells nice. I know it must taste great."
A minute passed and then he took his seat and she did the same but he still didnt reply. Ana fists her hands in her lap. If he were not her boss would she try to kiss up to him? They were sitting opposite eachother but she still felt really distant from him. Deciding to ignore him she dug into her food.
God it was heaven! He knew how to cook and she was just itching to give him another compliment but she stops herself. He didnt even respond to the first one she gave. They had finished the food in awkward silence without her boss even raising his head to glance at her since his whole attention was focused on the food. There were no small talks to lighten the mood and Ana began to wonder if she could work in this kind of environment. He seem entirely different from the version of him she had seen when he was staring at her while scribbling.
Perhaps he had changed his mind about naming the dress after her? But Miss Marcey had said he was rigid in his decisions.
She was thinking of ways to ask him if it was okay for her to do the dishes when he said while packing the plate off the table.
"I liked my grandmother the most."
Blink. Blink. Blink. She was waiting for him to say more. But he didnt. He packed her plate and rolled the trolley to the kitchen, so she followed him. She had left her purse in there anyways.
"Sir...?" She calls and he glanced at her. So swiftly. So swiftly she would think she was Medusa and he was scared of turning to stone.
Maybe he realized he hadn't said something really reasonable so when he opened his mouth to speak again while placing the plates in the sink she knew he had given it a lot of thought. It was obvious from his expression that he had thought whether to reply her or keep quiet.
"She felt it was compulsory to teach both genders how to cook. And I liked her the most so I focused really well."
"Oh...oh...she taught you well." She quickly bit her lip once she said this. Did that sound right? "I mean you are a really great cook. Anyone would be glad to eat food made by you every day."
"Anyone?"he asked as if unsure.
Since he looked willing to talk she walked her way to his side but keeping her distance of more than four feets. "Of course! I would give anything to eat food made by you every day." She says trying to kiss up to him. Afterall he was the one she would be working with. "I really admire your grandmother. She must be living this century really well and has put the laws of now out there and in you."
He had a frown on his face when he turned on the faucet and checked the temperature of the water he would be using to wash the dishes. "That was about seven hundred years ago. My grandmother died three hundred years ago."
Ana felt her hands drop by her side. Does that mean this man standing before her was more than seven hundred years old? Demons have existed for that long? Why did they start to bother humanity now then?
"Oh...I see. I am sorry about that. Please accept my condolences." She damaged to say. He really looked like he loves his grandmotehr. She could feel it.
"She was old enough." Was all he said before starting to do the dishes while Ana just stood there watching him and not able to do a thing. The awkward ten minutes passed she wipes his hand. He walks to the refrigerator, opened it then close it again. He had his back to her for about a minute before returning to face her.
"I will walk you to the gate. Thank you for staying for dinner."
Is he a man of few words? Because she was beginning to suspect he was.
"Oh. Thank you sir." She took her purse and carefully walks behind him.
The journey was quiet and it was more suffocating when they got into the elevator. Reaching the main gate the security guards did a salute and remained in the position.
"Ermm...thank you Miss Brown. I will have the contract sent over."
She bows a little and waves him good bye when he stops her.
"Ermm..Miss Brown?"
"Yes sir..."
"You can come for breakfast tomorrow. And lunch too. And dinner. And the day after. And the day after. And forever." A slight crease forms on her forehead. "as for the reward, I will think of something later." After saying this he turns around his hands in his pocket and walks away.
While Ana just stood there watching him leave and trying to decipher what he had just said. When she felt like she was almost going crazy she turns to the guards. "Do you..do you two understand any of that?"
The security guard who had spoken to her whem she first came cocks his head to the side. "Boss doesn't really speak much. If he has said something that long..." he stares at the other guard who wriggled his brows and they both stare at Ana. "You must have said soemthing."
"Like what? I said lots of things. I speak a lot." She rubs her temples and checks the time. Past six..she really needs to check her clothes for something appropriate for work.
"Maybe you asked the boss to cook for you every day. But then only someone with a death sentence would request that." The second guard said with a chuckle.
"Why would I..." she suddenly stops mid sentence and the guards are eagerly waiting for her to continue. "Oh..God...did he really?"
The first guard tone steps forward. "What? Did you really ask the boss to prepare meals for you every day?"
She shake her head vigorously. "I was just complimenting him. I said I would give anything to eat his food every day. It was a simple compliment. Who would have thought..." she quickly walks out of The Ressurected.
Locking the gate behind her, both guards turn to each other.
"So the boss agreed to cooking for her every day even though she had said it has a compliment?" The first guard questions. Asking no one in particular.
"Which means the boss must have cooked for her."
The stare at each other for some time before the second one says. "We will salute the young Miss everytime she comes here."
The first guard didn't need to be told before he understood what he meant.
Ana slammed the door to her falt and it made a threatening sound as it if wanted to fall. She had expected her neigbor who has a child to complain but there was nothing from the other side.
He wanted to cook for her every day? Is her boss an idiot? Who produced a demon that slow? Who on earth takes a compliment that serious.
"Thank you for the compliment. Thank you. We should thank my grandmother. Where did all that go? Who wants to eat in that kind of environment?"