O P H E L I A ' S P O V
Levi said that he was going to call Kace but that he was at work right now.
He informed me that until then, I should make myself comfortable, which led us to where we currently are right now.
"Get me Trinity, please." Levi spoke into this speaker thingy that was connected to the wall in the kitchen.
The kitchen was absolutely divine. There was a large marble countertop in the middle of it where the sink was connected to. The stove was on the other side of the room and it looked futuristic. It was either that or I just haven't been out enough. The room was painted in a nice off-white colour and next to the stove, situated a large grey fridge. There were multiple cabinets hung on the wall that contained canned items, along with spices and sauces. It was a very modern kitchen and it was simply beautiful.
"This is the main kitchen. We're just waiting for my cook to arrive." He explained as I averted my eyes to him, not wanting to seem rude because I was gawking at his kitchen.
Main? Does that mean there was more than one kitchen?
I nodded my head as I pulled down my dress, starting to feel uncomfortable from being in it for so long.
"You can have a seat if you'd like." He motioned to one of the stools.
Just as I took a seat, a petite blonde walked in. She wore a maid's outfit similar to the lady that showed me to Levi's office except that hers was longer, much longer, and instead of wearing long heels, she wore flats and had her hair in a tight ponytail.
"Ah, Trinity," Levi greeted as Trinity slightly bowed her head, her eyes landing on me for a split second.
"You called for me, sir?" Her voice was soft, shy even.
"Yes, yes. This is Ophelia." He walked to my side as he looked down at me. I quickly looked away.
I stood up and rubbed my sweaty hands in my outfit, "It's nice to meet you." I stuck out my hand for her to take.
I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do because I've never had much interaction with people.
Was I supposed to wave or give her a handshake?
Trinity glanced at Levi for a short while before grasping my hand in hers and slowly shaking it with a smile on her face.
"Okay so," Levi stood in the middle of us and turned to me. He placed his hand gently on the small of my back, if I didn't know any better, I would even say hesitantly. "Trinity here will give you a tour of the house and show you where you can get comfortable. Trinity, Ophelia will be here a while so please prepare meals for two now. Ophelia, is there anything that you wouldn't like?" He asked me.
I looked at him and murmured a quiet 'no please'.
I didn't understand why he was doing all of this, I wasn't going to stay long, only until Kace was through with work.
For the remainder of that time though, I supposed this is the closest my life would become to normal.
He gave a nod of understanding, along with asking Trinity if she understood all of his orders.
She just gave a short nod and a slight bow of the head.
"Excellent." Levi spoke. "Show her again to my office when you're through." He passed her and gave her shoulder a quick squeeze of appreciation before he walked off.
She looked flustered from the contact and shyly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I'm sorry to bother you," I said sincerely, referring to the fact that she had to take time from her day to help me.
"It's completely fine." She reassured me with a small smile. "Let's just get started." She told me and I followed behind her as she walked ahead of me.
Trinity showed me around the house. She informed me that it was three stories tall and she also told me that there were three kitchens, a master bedroom for Mr. Morterez, nine guest rooms with a bathroom connected to six of them, a library, a game room, and a gym.
She said that the other rooms didn't concern me, along with it being quite a mouthful to say.
The tour took us about forty-five minutes, and yet she didn't even get to show me everywhere because she had to start breakfast.
"Now," She stopped in front of a plain white door, "You'll be staying here. This is the second largest room available, the largest one of course being Mr. Morterez's. If you need help with anything, I'll be in the kitchen." She told me as she sent me a genuine smile.
"Thank you for everything." I said which resulted in her giving me a nod of her head before walking off.
I opened the door and was instantly met with an even larger bedroom than before, sporting a roomier look than the first one that I was in.
The bed was bigger, the curtains were even more beautiful, and the sheets weren't plain. Instead, they had different flowery designs on them with the main colour being cream.
I walked further in, my eyes wandering in awe. As I reached the bed, a smile took over my features when I raked my hand softly over the silky sheets before plopping down on the bed with a sigh, my eyes focused on the ceiling.
If only I could stay here forever.
After a while, I got up and headed to a door on the far right of the room.
Giving the knob a twist, I pushed open the door to be met with a shiny, spic and span bathroom.
It was unlike anything I've ever seen before. It looked like it came straight out a commercial advertisement. There was a glass shower with no curtain meaning that anyone would be able to see inside. On the other side was a beautiful bathtub with different soaps and lotions on either side of it. I've never been in a bathtub before, nor do I think I've ever seen one in real life.
I left after closing the door.
There was nothing much for me to do up here because I didn't want to mess up anything too much, no matter how my hands itched to touch the books in the corner.
I was a bit accident prone.
Closing the door softly, it shut with a soft click.
I decided that I would spend some time in the kitchen until Levi got through with Kace.
I just hoped that I could find my way back down.
After a while, I found the main kitchen, not because I got lost, but because it took me a while to walk to the other side of the house.
I saw Trinity in the kitchen now tying her apron around her small waist.
She saw me and smiled, "I just finished making Mr. Morterez's coffee, he likes it in a very specific way — not a lot to know." She smiled as she turned off the coffee maker.
I stood next to her as she went to the stove, distancing myself a little, not wanting to be too close.
"You mean two sugars, plenty of milk, little cream and just a pinch of spice?" I asked as I looked at her sheepishly.
She paused for a while, "Oh, how'd you know?" There was something different about her voice as she continued what she was doing.
"I had to take his order for coffee once at the diner where I work." I mumbled.
I wasn't good with human interaction.
"Mr. Morterez told me to carry you to his office." She brushed off the topic as she wiped her hands.
"That won't be necessary, I don't think." I mumbled. "I can go when I'm finished helping you here." I smiled widely as I tucked my hair in an easy bun with the band around my wrist.
"Oh no. It's fine." She quickly reassured me with a nervous laugh.
"Please, you've helped me a lot since I got here." I played with my fingers nervously.
I didn't want her to think that I was too pushy and invading her personal space too much.
With a lot of hesitation, she agreed.
She handed me an apron and told me that she was making eggs and sausages for Mr. Morterez.
While she took the sausages from the freezer, I washed my hands and then looked for a couple of eggs in the fridge. I cracked them into a bowl and began to whisk them.
A while later, we were finished just as Levi emerged from around a corner. I took off my apron quickly and Trinity set the plate in front of him.
"Your breakfast, sir." Trinity smiled at him as she set his plate in front of him.
Levi was now wearing a three-piece suit and I had to fight the urge to gawk at his masculinity. He was truly handsome.
As if he didn't hear her, he looked around until his eyes landed on me in the corner of the room.
He looked at the table with his plate before looking back at me.
"Where's your plate, Ophelia?" He looked confused. "Trinity, didn't I tell you to set two plates?" He looks at her.
"Y-Yes —" She began but I cut her off.
"I-I ate already." I lied not so smoothly.
He didn't say anything although I'm certain that he caught onto my lie.
Turning back to his breakfast, he spoke, "Hmm, this smells delicious. Is this a new omelette recipe that you're trying out?" He puts a piece in his mouth.
"Thank you," Trinity and I both say at the same time.
We both looked at each other and I snapped my mouth shut. I didn't want to seem boastful at all but I was used to getting compliments at the diner about the food I cooked even though I wasn't the chef, and so on instinct, I would always thank them.
Levi looked between both of us, "Did you make the omelet, Ophelia?" He seemed to be slightly shocked.
"Um, y-yes. B-But Trinity made the sausages." I said in which she nodded eagerly.
I mean, they were already made, she just had to fry them but that was beside the point.
He nodded his head in approval before taking another bite, "This is delicious, what did you put in it?" I internally groaned at the attention being on me once again.
"Just some stuff," I mumbled as I played with my dress.
I remember that as a child, I never liked egg. To me it was just too bland.
Since the cook at work was always late, I would have to do some orders and decided that I would spice it up a bit. I added some sweet peppers, onions, some thyme and even added spices like white pepper, paprika, black pepper, cayenne pepper and a pinch of salt.
As mentioned before, I got a lot of compliments on it, even though I've never had the chance to taste it myself — except for when tasting a small portion after making it. Rachel decided to fully add it on the menu and the cook got all the credit even though the customers knew that it was me.
"Trinity, could you let Gerald bring around the car?" He gave her a smile.
"Yes, sir. Anything." She said before walking off.
I awkwardly stood there while he chowed down his breakfast, "Sorry to keep a-asking but, did you get through with Kace?" I mumbled.
He paused for a moment before sighing, "Yes, I did. We should talk." He said.
L E V I ' S P O V
I did talk to Kace and I was elated that we could come to an agreement.
"Ophelia's here." I said once Kace had answered his phone. I sat back tiredly in my chair.
He paused for a moment before replying, "What? Ophelia — my Ophelia?" He questioned.
"No, Ophelia Collins." I sneered. There wasn't any 'my'.
"Right," He cleared his throat. "Ophelia Collins." He murmured. "Anyways, what is she doing there?" He questioned.
"It's a long story, man. Summary of it is that she lost her home and judging by how fast it was noted in the system, the government took it." I sighed as I rubbed my forehead tiredly.
I told him about where she used to live and he couldn't believe it. Just like me, he was just elated that she wasn't situated there anymore.
"She thinks that she's going to be living with you." I told him.
"That's not a good idea. She'll be doing it because she has no choice, we still haven't spoken out things yet." He reminded me.
"Yeah, I know. That's why she's staying here. She'll get some clothes, food's always available and she'll stay here as long as she needs." I told him.
"If you don't mind." He quickly said.
"Of course I don't mind." I stated slightly offended that he would even ask.
"Just — just please take care of her. Please." He begged.
"I know man, I promise." I said softly.
He didn't say anything else and I took that as a sign to end the call.
And that was a promise I would keep.
Ophelia sat in front of me as I stared at her. I didn't have much time because I had to get to work soon.
"I — talked to Kace and..." She looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to continue.
I sighed softly.
"H-He doesn't want me to stay, does he?" Her voice trembled as she looks down.
"Oh no, no!" I said quickly as I looked at her. "We just thought it would be better if you — stayed here." I quickly added on hesitantly.
She paused, "Here?" She asked. She then abruptly stood up. "Oh no. I-I couldn't. Thank you for the offer though." She pulled down her dress.
"What? Why not?" I asked incredulously.
"B-Because," She trailed off uncertainly without an answer.
"Look," I took a step closer to her, doing a little happy dance when she didn't take one step back — although she does look uncomfortable. "Please, stay." I gently grabbed her hand as I looked into her eyes, her eyes travelling anywhere but me.
She looked at our contact before replying, "I-I suppose." She said hesitantly. "B-But not for long, and I-I have to pay half the bills." She mumbled as slowly pulled her hand from my grasp, a slight blush coating her cheeks.
"No," I said with finality in my tone, folding my arms across my chest.
"N-No?" She repeated.
"Yes, you're a guest here." I said. "I have to go now but we'll talk about this tonight when I come home. I'll let Trinity help you throughout the day but tonight she's off." I informed her.
I grabbed my briefcase as she nodded and looked away. With a soft sigh, I turned away and headed for the door, letting out a frustrated grunt when I shut it behind me.
I didn't want it to seem like I was coming on too strong on Ophelia because I knew how she was, but at this pace, I was getting absolutely nowhere at all.
I could always take her out but how do I ask her without scaring her off? It was bad enough that I ruined the first alone time we had with each other when I mentioned Amanda's name.
Any other woman would see the advances that I was constantly throwing at her but this was Ophelia. I'll have to move slow and smart.
I nodded my head at my own thoughts just as I spotted Trinity walking back to the house.
She stopped right in front of me and waited for me to speak. I opened my briefcase and handed her my black tablet which she took. After explaining what to do with it, Gerald opened the door for me and I headed off to work.