Chapter 6

Elise's pov;

I got disturbed by some noises which woke me up from my sleep. I sat straight as I rubbed my eyes and when I looked Mr Alarcon was fighting with the bird.

I sprang up from the bed and took the bird out of his hands asking, “What do you think you're doing?”

Mr Alarcon, “Since you forgot to close the window, this little devil flew inside the house.”

“Devil?”

“Give it to me!” And he tried to grab the bird from me.

I stopped him by asking, “And what are you going to do if I give it to you?”

“I'll break its neck!” “give it to me!”

“Why do you hate birds that much? I thought it was a mistake when I saw an animal trap in the garden but you intentionally placed them, right?”

I pushed him out of the room and shut the door against him. What do I expect from a murderer like him?

I placed the bird back in the box and checked if he was wounded , but thank heavens, it is in good condition. I caressed its tiny head as I looked at it. I wonder how I am going to take care of you from that murderer? Should I take you to the bakery and keep you by my side? Or should I ask my employees to take care of you? Don't worry, I'll come up with something soon.

When I came out of the room, I saw Mr Alarcon standing before me staring at me. I locked the door and tried to go down stairs. He blocked my way and asked, “Did you bring it here? I don't like pets. I won't allow you to raise it here. Throw it out of the house right now.”

I ignored him and went downstairs for my breakfast. While I was eating my first meal of the day, he came yelling, “Are you dumb? I'm talking to you… “

Elise, don't make him raise the temper. Remember that he murdered someone like nothing.

I said to him, “It's not my pet. I'm just going to keep it until it gets well.”

“This is my house. I'm the one who should say who's allowed to stay here. And I'm ordering you to throw out that little devil out of my house-”

He stopped yelling at me midway so I turned around to see what made him stop and found a little boy came running into the house. Who's this? The little boy stopped running after seeing Mr Alarcon and stood before him like his subordinates. Somehow this scene made me smile.

Mr Alarcon to the boy, “Is this how you enter the house?”

Why is he scolding him? That poor guy's pout looked cute though.

After getting scolding from Mr Alarcon, that little boy tried to climb the stairs so I called out to him, “Hey mister, care to introduce?” and gestured to him to come to me.

And when that boy tried to walk towards me, Mr Alarcon grabbed that boy's hand and said in an orderly tone, “Go to your room and take a bath.” and that boy headed upstairs.

When Mr Alarcon came to eat breakfast, I asked him, “What's his name?”

He ignored me and ate his breakfast . That boy came to the table and greeted Mr Alarcon and took a seat near him.

I asked the boy, “Hey, what's your name?”

When the boy was about to tell his name, Mr Alarcon, “No talking on the dining table.” “There are certain rules to follow if someone's staying in this house.” And called out Steve and told him, “Tell her about the rules to be followed in this house and keep your eyes on her if she's following it...”

Is this really a house or some military grounds?

I ignored it and continued eating my food.

When I tried to talk to that boy after finish eating, Mr Alarcon took him along with him before leaving the house. So I turned to Steve and asked about that boy, and the answer he told me, “He's Mr Alarcon's son, Brian.” and left the house when Mr Alarcon called out for him.

He's already married? And have a son? Then what about his wife? Did they get divorced? So many questions arose inside my mind after hearing such an answer from Steve.

An hour later, at my bakery,

“Boss… boss…”

I snapped out of my thoughts and asked Theo, my manager, “Yeah?”

He pointed out the profit sheet saying, “This is the last week's profit after I subtracted the revenue shares.”

“Oh, yeah. We're talking about the profit, yeah.”

I took a look at the numbers and noticed the profit margin being less so I asked, “Why is it 6%?” and checked the goods. “What happened here? Why didn't you inform me before selling it on discount?”

“The desserts didn't get sold and we sold a lot of stock so we couldn't do anything except put it on discount, boss.”

“Wasn't it the season for apples? It should have been sold out, right?”

“Yeah, but everyone went to the Cats and Dogs store so we couldn't sell like before.”

“They did it again.” “What did they do this time to attract everyone to their store?”

“They invited Jay (idol) to the store and had a little fan meeting with his fans so everyone went over there, boss.”

I let out a sigh and said, “Aren't they already popular? Why are they doing this to us? Do they want us to close our bakery for good?” “Okay, go back to your work.”

After he left, I came to the front of my bakery and looked at the Cats and Dogs bakery which was shining with all those Christmas lights. There's still three weeks left for Christmas but they have already put up the lights. Are they crazy? I looked at my store and thought, ‘Should I decorate the store too? No. We've already facing a low profit margin, so let's put up those lights after two weeks. There's still a lot of time for Christmas though.

I entered the store and looked at the desserts on the display. There's not many attractive desserts on the menu. Should I add some new desserts for the Christmas season?

I came to my cabin and checked the money I had in my account and got disappointed since there's not enough money for the goods. How am I going to decorate the shop and put up an attractive and delicious menu for the Christmas season?

My phone rang. It's an unknown number. I answered it. “Yeah, who is this?”

The person from the other side, “Where are you right now?”

With the voice I recognized it's Mr Alarcon so I answered back, “At my shop.”

“How long will it take?”

Is he asking me to go to his house? If so, why can't he ask me directly?

“I'll be here till 6 pm.”

There was no reply for a moment and he spoke, “Send me the address.” And hung up on me.

Is this how he speaks on a phone? Why is he asking me the address? Is he going to come here? Why does he want to come here?

I saved his number in order to send the location. Is he going to look at how I manage my store? Nah. Probably he asked me for the address because he thought that I ran away again, right? There's a chance. I laughed at it and continued working.

Minutes later, Morgan came to my cabin and informed me, “Boss, there's a boy looking for you.”

“Who?”

“He didn't say his name when we asked him. He's having a piece of paper with your name on it.”

“My name?”

I walked out of my cabin and came to the front of the house to find the same boy I saw at Mr Alarcon house in the morning. He stood still in his place and looked at everyone nervously. What's his name? Something that starts with bread. Br… Brian.

“Brian.” I called out his name and he looked at me. I walked to him and asked, “How did you come here?”

He pointed to the street saying, “Dad dropped me here.”

Dad? Oh, yeah. Mr Alarcon.

I told the employees who were standing around us to leave and took him to my cabin. I made him sit and asked, “Are you hungry? Should I bring something to drink?”

He shook his head and looked around my office like he's remembering every little detail around him.

“Okay.”

I sat before him and said, “I couldn't talk to you in the morning properly so let me introduce myself.” I held out my hand saying, “I'm Emily Carroll. It's nice to meet you.”

He stared at my hand and looked at me.

“Are you going to leave my hand hanging in the air?” I shaked my hand saying, “It needs a shake so badly.”

He shook my hand saying, “My name is Brian.”

“Cool name. So, how old are you, Brian?”

“I'm seven.”

After hearing his age, I wondered at what age Mr Alarcon got married. Mr Alarcon didn't look that old though. Like I know his age. Maybe he's one of a kind where age doesn't reflect on one's face.

“You must be in second grade, right?”

He nodded his head.

“Um, do you know who I am?”

He nodded and answered me, “Dad married you.”

So, he knows about the wedding. At least, Mr Alarcon was open minded with his kid.

“I couldn't see you at the wedding.”

“I went on a school trip with my friends.”

“Oh, you went on a trip? Where did you go?”

He started telling me about the trip he went along with his classmates and things he saw during the trip happily. The awkward and shy boy turned into a talker within a minute.

Morgan came with a glass of smoothie and placed it on my table talking to the boy, “I thought you might need a drink. Enjoy it.” She left after ruffling that boy's hair.

I corrected his hair while saying, “Don't mind her. She gets excited around kids.” I pointed to the smoothie and asked him, “Do you like chocolate?”

After he nodded, I slid it to his side and said, “Then what are you waiting for? Have a sip.” “I hope it's to your liking.”

He took a sip and his eyes widened in a way showing that he liked it.

“It's delicious.”

“I know.” And smiled at him.

I took a look at his school bag and said, “Why don't you take it off? Wasn't it heavy?”

When he looked around the place to place it, I said, “Give it to me, I'll keep it.” And when I received it, it was heavy which made me ask him, “Woah, it's a lot heavier than I thought. Are you a nerd?”

He didn't say anything and continued drinking his smoothie.

“I have work and it'll take time for me to finish it. Are you okay with that?”

He nodded and looked around my working place.

After some time, I noticed him getting bored with only sitting and doing nothing. I asked him, “Why don't you do your homework in the meantime?”

He nodded and started doing his homework .

Theo came to my cabin and said, “Jared is here to see you, boss.”

(Jared Matthew- Cats and Dogs cafe owner)

I told Brian, “Stay here and do your homework. If you need anything, I'll be right outside. Okay?”

He gave me a nod and went back to doing his homework.

When I walked out of the cabin, I saw Jared waiting for me at the bill counter. What is he doing here?

I walked to him and asked, “Did you come to grab a drink, Mr Matthew?”

“Mmm. Nope. I came to-” He flashed a flower bouquet continuing, “Congratulations on your wedding, my fellow rival.”

I took the bouquet from him saying, “Thanks.”

“And I came to invite you and your working friends to my store for the Christmas party I'm throwing this Friday.”

“Who would throw a Christmas party three weeks before Christmas?”

“I do.” “Doing things differently was my specialty. Did you forget?”

Since I don't want to argue with him, I said, “We'll attend the party IF we're available at that time, Mr Matthew. Thank you for coming all the way to our store and inviting us for your party. We're quite busy here so if you leave, we'll be thankful for you.”

He gave me a stare and walked out of my shop. Weirdo.

When I came back to my office, I found Brian sleeping over his notebook. He must be tired though. I covered him up with a blanket and continued working quietly.

Why didn't Mr Alarcon take him to his house? Is this how he takes care of his son? A murderer, weirdo, creepy guy, and an irresponsible father. What kind of man is he?