Novel Palace
Chapter 0016
Chapter 0016
I spend a restless night in my new room. When the clock reads 7:00, a knock comes at my door and it
opens without waiting for a response. I glare and make a mental note to somehow get a lock.
“Ah! You’re awake.” The same woman who dressed me last night bustles into the room. “You’re already
late, my dear.”
“Seven?” I ask, looking at the clock again. “Seven is late?”
“The household starts at five,” she says, coming over and starting to make the bed while I’m still in it.
When I head for the door in my pajamas, she makes a small noise of warning. I look back at her. “You’ll
want to change, my dear,” she says. “This house dresses for its meals.”
No one is downstairs in the hall when, dressed in tight fawn-colored pants and a silky green sweater, I
walk down the stairs. I hear some noise at the end of the hall and push through the little door there.
I blink in surprise as I suddenly find myself in a gigantic kitchen filled with people. There are
mismatched tables scattered all around and, behind a low wall, a restaurant-sized cooking range. From
it wafts the scent of breakfast foods – sharp with onions and rich with butter.
“Fay!” Daniel says, spotting me from across the room. His face lights up. I can’t help returning his
smile, he’s so cute.
“Hi,” I say, my eyes scanning the busy room as I hurry over to him.
“Are you hungry?” he asks, giving me a happy grin and sitting back down in his place at a small table.
“Um,” I say - honestly, when was the last time I ate - but my stomach answers for me, giving a big
growl.
He laughs lightly as I sit. “Good, we’ll get you something.” He raises a hand to signal someone by the
cooking range.
The room is just buzzing with people. Guys in suits drinking tiny cups of espresso, guards pass with
guns – big guns – passing through, housekeeping staff on their way to their jobs.
Everyone is chatting happily, moving along in what is clearly a well-oiled machine.
“Wow, it’s so busy in here,” I say, staring around at everyone.
Daniel looks around and shrugs. “I guess.”
At that moment, I’m shocked, again, to see Kent come around the corner from the cooking area
carrying a big plate of food. I stare at the long white butcher’s apron wrapped around his waist, the taut
strings only serving to emphasize his trim figure, his broad shoulders.
When I realize I’m biting my lower lip while I look at him, I quickly spit it out and close my mouth.
“Good morning, Fay,” Kent says, laying the plate in front of me. Shocked, I look back and forth from him
to the plate, noting that his apron is spotted with grease.
“Did you…did you make this?” I ask. On the plate, scrambled eggs sit next to sausage and peppers,
accompanied by a buttered slice of crusty Italian bread. It looks delicious.
“Surprised?” Kent says. I whip my head up to see that he’s smirking at me.
Truly, I am surprised.
“An Italian can’t call himself a man if he can’t cook his own breakfast,” Kent says, glancing around the
room with a proud smile. “A breakfast he’d feed his mother, at that.”
“Do you want some coffee?” Daniel asks, leaning forward. I nod and he looks up at his dad. “She takes
cappuccino. Is anyone free –“
“I’ll see it’s done,” Kent says and I follow his eyes to a gigantic vintage Gaggia Orione espresso
machine in the corner. My jaw drops – it’s probably the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.
“Eat up, girl,” Kent says, heading back to the kitchen.
I pick up my fork and eagerly start to eat, shaking my head at Daniel who just laughs.
A few minutes later, when my plate is half cleared, Kent comes back with a tiny cappuccino that he
slides next to my plate. I give him a smile in thanks and take a sip.
It’s absolutely delicious. I lean back in my chair, closing my eyes and savoring the taste of the bitter Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
liquid that coats my tongue, balanced by the sweetness of the milk. These flavors are complimented,
somehow, by…
I open my eyes and my mouth to ask what that extra flavor is, but I freeze when I see Kent staring
down at me, his eyes somehow…hungry.