Chapter 6

Chris’ POV

I had just finished working on an expense sheet with Alvin. I was so exhausted. It was getting late.

Dante had sent in lunch for the both of us. We both had burrito bowls. I don't think any employer cared for their staff the way Dante did for his.

“Well son, I'm off. So you finish everything off” Alvin stood up to leave. He was taking more of a back seat now, training me. He could leave early and I worked on everything else.

“Goodnight Alvin say hi to Betty and send my thanks to her for the cookies”

Yes, his wife's name is Betty. She had sent cookies with him for work this morning. That was nice.

“I'll deliver your message, goodnight son” he closed the door and left.

I sighed and stared at the stack of papers in front of me. I still had a lot of work to do.

I wasn't complaining. This was a hands-on first-hand experience. I appreciated it. I just needed to get it done with. I had classes tomorrow so I needed to get everything done.

Dante had my class schedule so we could work around it. This was my first class since I started the internship.

“Hey Christopher,” a voice cut me from my train of thought.

I looked up to find Dante standing in front of me staring at me.

“Holy fuck, shit” I cursed and scattering a stack of papers.

“Fuck, I didn't hear you enter,” I cursed, gathering the scattered papers.

“I know,d but you were so busy working.g” he bent to help me pick the papers.

How spaced out I was . Christ thank goodness it looked like I was working.

“I'm going shopping for groceries and I want you to come with me to pick out what you eat,” he said, handing Me the last stack of papers.

“Oh no you don't need to get me anything special, I eat almost everything”

I mean,n I couldn't afford to be picked. Ok, well, seeing my new paycheck, I could afford it a little, but whatever he bought would probably be great.

“I want you to come along. When I feed you, you don't just eat anything, you eat what you want. Now come along, you need a break from working”

He said and began to walk to the door. My cue to follow. I thought of a protest but decided to just tag along.

…………

We went to Costco. He looked so lost we walked through the aisle. It had been a while since he was in a store.

Probably. We walked to the produce aisle and he began to meticulously examine all the produce before dropping them in our cart. The confused Dante was gone and the hot guy that looked like he belonged was back in.

He kept picking ingredients for different meals from different aisles as I followed him, dumbstruck.

He was killing it with fresh produce, but I noticed that when he saw an aisle of packed food or something processed, he looked at it with a shocked look.

Was he a health nut or something? But he was getting some butter and different ingredients.

He didn't have a problem with food that was fresh, maybe he didn't eat processed food.

I mean that was impressive as hell. Maybe it was a healthy thing. Should I ask? No, that was none of my business. Was it age-related? Was he though? The internet said thirty.

He looked good for his age. Handsome. He didn't have any wrinkles and his face was perfectly chiseled. He was sporting a light stubble and I just wanted to rub my hand against it.

Get a grip, Chris.

“Pick out what you want,” he said, drawing my attention away. “Wait what?” I asked looking around to see we were on the snack aisle.

“Ohh ok,” realizing what he meant. I began to stock up on chips, and all of my favorite snacks.

“Aren't you getting some?” I asked when I was done. Getting some for myself.

“I don't really know what to get. I'm overwhelmed. I rarely buy groceries so I'm confused”

He looked so honest. I felt bad. I mean he was missing out on a lot of great things.

“Come on” I pulled him to the testers standing with samples of stuff.

“We'll taste everything and you'll pick out what you want and what you don't like, that way you have a general idea of everything”

We began tasting stuff and we bought some really tasty stuff. For someone who didn't eat snacks that much he had good taste. He got everything that tasted great.

We also bought drinks and I picked out ingredients for cocktails.

When we were done, it was already late so he offered to take me home.

………

Next morning

I was so stressed. I had classes until around four in the evening and I had to go work on those files immediately after.

I finished my classes and got a text from Tim saying he was outside my class. I wasn't dressed for work but what I had on had to do.

We drove back to his house and I rushed to get to work so I could go back home on time.

While slaving on the documents, my stomach grumbled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten anything all day.

Dante wasn't around, and he'd permitted me to use the kitchen whenever I was hungry, so I decided to make some dinner for myself.

I could use something to eat. I mean, from the looks of the documents, I'd be here late into the night anyway.

I went through what he had and decided to make a quick milkshake and a burger.

As I began to prep, I realized all his equipment was quite new,or at least they were rarely used. That was quite sad.

Maybe I'd make some for h,im ,t,oo, and leave them in the refrigerator. I didn't know if he'd like it though.

“Hey what're you doing?” a familiar voice called from behind me.

I turned to see Dante leaning against the kitchen door staring at me.

“Oh hi, I'm making some milkshakes and burgers. You said I could use the kitchen if I wanted to”

I was so worried I was doing something wrong or that he'd changed his mind.

“Yeah you can, need some help” he walked into the kitchen and began to remove his cufflinks and roll up his sleeves.

“Um not really, do you want some?” I asked as I scooped kneaded the ground beef with the seasoning.

“I had an early lunch so I'm quite full, but I'd love to help. I had a bad day and this will help me relieve the stress” he explained as he washed his hands in the sink.

I stopped kneading and stared at his hands. They were marked with intricate tattoos that went up his sleeves. He had model hands. The tattoos only made it better. I wanted to see how far they went.

Realizing myself. I coughed and turned to focus on mixing the patty.

He turned off the tap and walked to me, air drying his hands.

“What do I do?” he asked and I pointed to the onions.

“How good is your chopping skills”

“Good enough I think,” said looking at the onions.

“Well can you thinly slice the onions and the pickles”

I handed him a jar of pickles. I began to mould the patties to fry them.

He got on to it quite fast and for someone who said his knife skills were good enough, he was excellent. He was better than me by far.

“Wow that's impressive” I complimented his knife skills while I toasted the buns.

“Thanks, I have some knife experience.” He finished up with the dicing and turned to me.

“Well you can watch the patties and make sure they don't burn while I get started on the milkshake”

As I made the milkshake. I watched him take care of the patties with such religious care and expertise I knew he must have some cooking experience.

“Hey, you're a professional aren't you Dante?” I asked with a raised brow.

“Not necessarily, I learnt to cook a long time ago but I haven't cooked in a long while” he explained from the way he was talking. You'd think he was an old man and not thirty years old.

I mean he was old but not that old. I guess money ages you.

He took over the burger while I focused on my milkshake adding a shit load of icecream and very little actual milk

He raised a brow at me and I just grinned back.

“What, I love food, plus no one actually drinks milkshakes for the milk, we do it for the ice cream.”

I poured the milkshake into the really huge mug I'd found in the cabinet. He plated the three burgers and pushed the plate over to me.

I took a bite into the burger and groaned.

“God I love food, you should try it” I shoved the burger in his face.

He took a bite from it and then I shoved the milkshake in his face and he took a sip.

“What do you think?” I asked and he nodded.

“It's good”

I took a bite again from the burger and a sip from my milkshake and then a thought hit me.

I was drinking from the same straw as him and I'd bitten from the side he'd bitten from too.

I tried to control my emotions but somehow I began to freak out.

Oh come on for Christ sake Chris. You do this all the time. You share food with people. It's not a big deal. Stop acting like a teenager.

It didn't matter at all. I was still freaking out internally. I couldn't figure out why

Maybe it was because I thought he'd think I was weird and unhygienic for not changing the straw.

That was probably it. I looked at his face but couldn't read the expression. He was probably disgusted at my lack of hygiene.

I told myself.