The Indentured Mistress of a 'Human'

Nathan is...!!!

            “AND I’M TELLING YOU TO SIGN THE CONTRACT AFTER RE-WRITING SUBSECTION B!” Nathan, still in his business attire, shouted into his phone. He tapped the desk with mounting irritation as a frantic explanation came pouring into the receiver.

            After a few minutes of silence on his part, Nathan threw the phone back onto its holder and resorted to typing at break speed on his laptop, muttering to himself about the stupidity of nobles.

            “Um, Nathan…” Brook called, poking her head into the doorway. She winced when her cheek poked the green bristly circle the humans called a “wreath”. This Christmas business was more important than Thanksgiving! “Should I go get your lunch for you?”

            No response. Brook silently went over to his desk and stood behind his chair, unobtrusively observing the long documents Nathan seemed to be reading and editing at an impossible speed.

            She also took the chance to absorb her surroundings. The room was a mahogany and velvet red, with a row of lights along the beige ceiling shining down on the heavily stocked bookshelves unlike the ones in Mr. Walker’s study.

            Before Nathan’s desk were two long sofas facing towards each other with an empty glass table in the middle. In the far corner of the office was a small, plain window overlooking the stables and glade below and the woods in the distance.

            “Mrs. Brook!” Julia, holding a plate of cold cut sandwiches, hissed at the very edge of the door frame. Brook followed her out of the room and into the hall, several meters away from Nathan’s office. The maid immediately started lamenting about the young master’s deteriorating health and lack of nutrition.

            “It’s already half past one! If Mr. Nathan doesn’t eat soon, he might collapse!” she finally concluded after several minutes of panic and leaning from one foot to another.

            “I’ve got it,” Brook assured, taking the plate off her hands and marching into the war zone. “Nathan! Come eat your food right now!”

            “I refuse,” came the cool reply. Nathan reached for his cold coffee without ungluing his eyes from the screen. “Sorry, but I’m busy. Go study or something.”

            Brook gritted her teeth and growled in exasperation. “Geez, what do you want me to do, feed it to you by mouth so you won’t have to waste the energy chewing?!”

            Nathan choked and hurriedly set the mug down. For a few brief moments, Brook couldn’t see his expression. When he finally turned around, she found herself being blasted with a dazzling smile worthy of the cover of Celebrity Snap magazine.

            “If you insist, honey,” he said gently with a hint of innocence. “Oh, and don’t forget to use your tongue.”

***

            “Are you an idiot or something?” Eva sighed. Nathan ignored her and continued typing away at the business proposal.

            “Girls are pickier than you think,” Eva scolded. She uncrossed her legs and kicked them back and forth while gripping the edge of his desk like a child. “It’s why we’re all obsessed with romance novels! If you keep on saying rude things that imply she’s nothing more than a pet goldfish to you, she’ll come to hate you. If you don’t want to keep on getting slapped in the face-”

            “I don’t care anymore,” Nathan muttered to his computer, trying not to feel the sting of his right cheek. “And stop kicking the desk. You’re shaking the documents.”