- Serena -
JUST THIS ONCE.
How smart of me oh my goodness.
I HAD to let him help me that one fucking time.
There. THERE.
He kissed my fucking nose, what do I do now?
I googled what a nose kiss meant and got this.
'The Nose Kiss means that you're the object of committed affection. A kiss on the nose is extremely sweet and can be a key trigger in sparking instant romance or fanning the flames of love.'
Credits to Google.
OH HELL NO.
I wasn't going to be some object of affection.
I went to wash up and stared at myself in the mirror, sighing away.
I'm stubborn as hell but honestly, that kiss was the best feeling I've ever felt in my whole life.
I hate to admit it but it was thanks to Ben that I managed to have such a good sleep last night.
Not because of the kiss but because I managed to sleep on my bed.
Yeah, not because of the kiss.
I got dressed in a sun dress just because I felt like it. The weather today seemed rather pleasant as well. My mood was relatively good so looking nice would only make me feel better.
I went into my open-planned kitchen and felt my ice chandelier in the living room emitting cool air through the whole house. Roxanne called me crazy when I decided to take on the project of making my own chandelier.
But when I could use my powers to come up with the actual design I wanted, it wasn't difficult.
And I wasn't going to spend hundreds of dollars to pay for leaving my air conditioner on all the time.
Besides, nothing could melt my ice.
I switched my television on while I applied my makeup and the news announced that another warehouse caught fire last night. This warehouse was closer to our town now; coincidentally, it was the same gang that was arrested for the other fire incident.
Seems like someone is being Robin Hood, or whatever. Taking justice into their own hands. How can it be till now that no one knows who is blowing up the gang's warehouses?
After caking on the makeup, I turned my TV off, grabbed my bag and strode downstairs. The security guard greeted me and lightly mentioned how he's not seen me in a while which I responded by smiling and brushing it off quickly.
The sun shown down brightly but there was a nice amount of wind which I was grateful for. I stopped walking and nearly tripped over my short wedge sandals.
I stared in front of me, a bright red Ferrari sitting by the roadside. Its owner leaning against the door in a fitting white long-sleeved shirt that's been rolled up his firm, toned and muscular arms.
I've never seen him in anything other than a leather jacket. He looked so good in white though.
Ben looked up at me and a charming smile graced his manly features, "Good morning Miss Snow."
I raised an eyebrow, "How did you know my last name?"
"The security guard let it slip when I told him I was looking for you."
Right, the security guard was a chatty man. Anything can slip from him.
"I'm not going to sit in your car," I pointed at his pretty red babe of a car.
"Of course not, it breaks the two-metre rule. But you can sit behind, I'll be your chauffeur. I measured and there's exactly two metres of distance as long as you don't lean over to talk to me," he mentioned matter-of-factly.
Which made me realise how stupid and childish I sounded.
"That's not what I meant. I don't mind being in close proximity to you but I don't-"
He skipped up the short flight of steps to me, his face inches from mine, "That's all I need to hear."
He took my hand and opened the front door to his car for me. His hand was so warm, the comfortable kind, not the excruciating kind.
He gestured for me to get in and I eyed him, my mind trying to come up with a decision. I sighed and got in, what's the worst that can happen anyway?
He drove off and I watched the buildings zip by. My mind wandered as we went onto the highway, it's been a while since I could relax on a drive like this. Running away from the gangsters didn't count, relaxing would've been the last thing on our minds.
Plus my cafe, I've never let it out of my sight even for a day-
Wait, MY CAFE.
"BEN!"
He jumped and pressed the horn by accident, "What? What is it?"
"My cafe!"
He chuckled and shook his head, "Goodness Serena chill, I managed to convince Roxanne to give you some time off. I got a helper to help her out too."
I stared at him, was he serious?
"Ben the cafe is my life!"
"I know, that's why I'm taking you out for a little while. Don't worry I'll fetch you back by lunchtime."
Was I supposed to be happy? I don't know. Anyway, taking a break would be nice, and there aren't many customers in the morning.
I leaned back in the cushy seat and glanced at Ben, he was handsome as usual. His one hand on the wheel and the other resting on his lap.
Normally on corny TV shows will they show the guy holding the girl's hand as they drove somewhere. It seemed really romantic but as I stared at his hand, I felt weird. A really good-looking man caring for me and even taking me out, what was going on?
"You can hold my hand if you want, if it makes you feel safer," Ben mumbled and my face went cold.
"No, I'm fine. I'm just wondering where we're going."
He nodded, "There's this place with really good breakfast and I thought you'd like it."
"And where is that place?"
"It's in the next town."
"Ben."
"Yes?"
"Do you like me?"
He chuckled and glanced at me, a playful look in his eyes, "Well that's for me to know and for you to find out."
"So that's a yes?"
"We're here," he ignored me and turned into a parking space outside a modern and chic-looking restaurant.
Ben came round to open the door for me like the gentleman that he was. The place was called 'Hottie' and I could already smell the bacon and eggs from where we were standing.
Why was the place called 'Hottie'? I have no idea, oh maybe it's the muscular male chefs who you could admire through the glass windows of the observation kitchen. Or maybe the sexy classy female waitresses who strode around in their crazy heels.
OR MAYBE, it was the hunky angelic man standing next to me who was just greeted as the boss. Ben was the fucking boss of this place.
Oh right, his restaurant across from our cafe was called 'Hot Indulgences'. He has this thing about hot stuff huh?
We were seated by then and I had no idea how long Ben had been talking, I couldn't focus.
"Serena?"
I looked at him, "What is it?"
"What do you want to eat?"
I glanced at the kitchen and saw all the toned men cooking up a storm and felt my cheeks chill up, was it really that hot in here?"
"Um the breakfast special will be nice."
He cleared his throat, "Eyes on me Serena."
I continued staring at the gorgeous men in the kitchen, they wore simple black shirts with an apron and their toned arms were exposed. Sweat glistened off their skin and I felt someone hold my chin and turn me to face him.
Ben's eyes were dark, "I'll fire them if you keep this up."
I scoffed, "Oh no you won't, you're too nice to do that."
He stared at me, "You still don't know me that well, do you?"
His eyes scared me, deep, dark, dangerous, he didn't play games. And yet I feel like he's playing one with me.
He snapped his finger and a beautiful waitress attended to us, she wore a black dress with three-inch stilettos. I would probably die if I had to wear those for five minutes.
After taking our orders, she left us and I realised we were in the VIP section. It was really quiet and obviously, the view to the kitchen was much better than when we were walking by the normal seats.
The whole place was relatively dark, the interior design was basically a mish-mash of minimalistic and modern designs. Red and maroon colours cladded the dark spaces and high ceilings, it was so intricate and beautiful.
My eyes wandered off to the muscular creatures in the kitchen again and Ben slammed his fist on the table. I jumped slightly, I swear I heard the table crack.
"What is it?"
He took a deep breath, "Last warning Serena, stop looking at them."
I raised an eyebrow, yeah he sounded scary but I wasn't normally scared by anything.
I decided to change the topic, "So, is 'Hot Indulgences' your second restaurant?"
He seemed pleased that I was now focusing on him, "Yes it is."
"Okay then."
Awkward silence counting once. Counting twice. And...
"Austin and I used to live in this town. But um, business got a little good and we decided to try it out somewhere else."
"Well business seems good over at our area too. I don't see you running to and fro each restaurant to check how things are," I stated and he looked away.
"Yeah, we have some problems here. Community problems, Austin and I had to move."
Now we're getting somewhere, "What kind of problems? The town can't just chase you out, right?"
He went quiet, must've hit the jackpot. What he said earlier hit me, I still don't know him that well.
"Well, you guys are blending in with our town, you'll be fine. If anyone petitions to get rid of you and Austin, Roxy and I will be on your side. Promise."
He smiled at that, but shook his head, "You might be the one to get rid of me Serena. You never know."
How bad could he be? I mean yeah he was quite good at beating people up and a gang kind of knows his name, and that gang could have attacked me because they thought they could find him through me-
Okay it's quite bad, but not that bad that a whole community will want him out of there. Besides, I'm here with him in his restaurant now and no one is kicking up a big fuss.
"The mayor only allowed me to enter this side of the town because my restaurant is here, I'm not allowed to roam anywhere else."
My eyes widened, how bad must his situation be that he has to get ousted like that?
Before I could pry any further, our orders came and Ben's focus was on the food.
It was really good, bacon, scrambled eggs, buttered toast and avocado spread on the side. It didn't seem like much but I was filled by the time I was done. Ben even ordered some tea to wash down our meal and I've never felt more satisfied in my whole life.
I wiped my mouth and saw Ben staring at me, it was normal of course but why did he have to do that? Was I that disgusting when I ate?
"Do you like it?" He asked me, his eyes wide as he waited for my answer.
"Yeah I do, it's great. You and Austin own this place together too?"
He shook his head, "No, this place is mine. In fact 'Hot Indulgences' belongs to me too. Austin doesn't want a hand in being the owner."
"Oh okay, who teaches the chefs then? Do you hire a professional?"
He smiles and nods, "Yeah we do, Austin learns from him too."
I leaned across the table, hand on my chin. How good must that chef be to teach this level of cooking? It's simple of course but it's crazy delicious.
"Who did you hire?"
"Gordon Ramsay?"
I gasped, "Seriously?"
He laughed and shook his head, "You can't be that gullible."
I groaned and leaned back in my seat, "You know what, forget it. I'm not interested."
I looked back towards the kitchen and one of the handsome chefs turned and caught my eye at that exact moment. He smiled and winked at me before turning away.
What the hell. I couldn't breathe.
"Serena."
I blinked a few times and looked at Ben, "What?"
He sighed and stood up, "Okay that's enough, we're leaving. Wait outside for me."
He walked towards the kitchen and I watched as he gave all the chefs a piece of his mind. He's overreacting to the situation. But it's really hard to gauge his mood at this point so I tried to pay for the meal even though the waitress profusely refused because I came with her boss.
I ended up giving her a huge tip and asked her to share it with her colleagues. She thanked me and I strode to Ben's car to wait for him.
The bright sun and cool wind wrapped me gently and I looked at my surroundings. The street was quite busy, with people getting to work. I see a dessert place and watch as customers come out with really pretty cups of ice cream.
I had to get one.
I walked down to the ice cream shop and ordered a crazy creation called 'Unicorn'.
It had a freshly made waffle cone with scoops of rainbow ice cream piled in, topped with rainbow cotton candy and white chocolate pieces drawn with rainbow icing, decorated as the unicorn's eyes and horns.
I took a photo of it and sent it to Roxy. She will be dying to try this thing out.
Then I turned back towards Ben's car, catching a glimpse of a tall figure across the road. I paused, I recognised that set of platinum blonde hair anywhere. It was the same shade as mine.
I looked back at the figure striding away, his slightly broad shoulders and really long legs.
"Shawn?" I mumbled, my mind suddenly wide awake at this point.
I dropped my ice cream and scrambled across the road, "Shawn!"
The cars honked and zipped passed me. I had to get to him, "Shawn!"
I felt a firm tug from behind me and I struggled, "SHAWN SNOW!"
Ben pulled me to him in a tight hug and I watched as my brother's figure disappeared down the street in a sea of people.
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