Me and you.

21. Manners

"Thank you," said Marshall as I handed him the plate of pancakes. "You're a great cook Hazel," said Nikolai winking at me. "Thank you," I responded. I finished making the last set of pancakes for Ivan and I before sitting down at the kitchen island. The penthouse kitchen was nicely decorated and neat. "So Hazel, what do you work as?" asked Sero out of the blue. I turned to him. "Well, I currently work as a CA at a bank nearby but I'm planning on starting a business soon," I responded. It was true. I've always wanted to start a business and be independent but at the same time I wanted a non-busy life. Although, after some time and thinking, I had decided that once I had made enough money, I would start my own Fashion Company. Not a big flashy one though. Just a minimal one, I did have a talent for designing clothes but I couldn't make time for that once Marshall was born. Not to mention my Mom had always taken me to modeling classes when I was young, although I stopped because we moved to Atlanta.

"So what type of company?" asked Sero. "Fashion," I replied. "Nice, I'm sure you can hook up Ivan with some clothes because the only thing he seems to wear are suits and tuxedos," said Nikolai. I turned to Ivan and he didn't even bother reacting. He just continued eating. "Well, that's enough for us, we have to get going," said Nikolai getting up. Sero then forced his last pancake into his mouth before giving me a thumbs up. He ruffled Marshall's hair before leaving the kitchen with Nikolai. I turned back to my food and continued eating. "Fashion Company?" asked Ivan. "Mafia?" I asked back. Ivan turned to me. I couldn't tell if he wanted to laugh or if he seemed mad at my choice of words. "It wasn't my choice," replied Ivan. "Oh, I'm...sorry," I replied. "Don't bother, everyone says that because that's what they think I do," replied Ivan. I kept quiet and looked back down at ny plate. "Well what do you do?" I asked. "I run my father's companies and businesses. From restaurants to shopping malls and almost everything that you can think of," said Ivan. "People just assume I work in the mafia because of my dad, but I don't," said Ivan.

I didn't know how to respond. "Well where is your dad?" I asked. Really Hazel?! You can't judge me though. If a person starts telling you about their life story what would you do! Tell them you're sorry? For what?! Not to mention this guy kidnapped me!
"He's in a coma. Has been for the past four years. I was told that he was associated with the mafia ever since but that's not true. He was just rich, and a busy man that got what he wanted. Originally, my elder brother was supposed to be in my shoes but since he decided to leave I came along since I was the only son who had not left for Varsity," said Ivan." I couldn't tell if he was speaking about Nikolai or not but it didn't seem like this was about him. "So once my father comes back, that son of a bitch will have hell to pay," gritted Ivan. "Ooo, Uncle Ivan said a bad word," said Marshall beside me with wide eyes.

I didn't know what to say. The fact that Ivan's backstory was...somehow or the fact that I still didn't know where I was. "Ivan," I said. He turned to me. "Look, I'm sorry about your father and all but I really want to go home," I said. "I understand, you'll leave for your home soon but for now, you'll have to stay here with Marshall. It's for your safety.

Trust me