Insouciant (The Billionaire With A Choice)

Pieces

Pieces

When I wake up Oscar is gone, and I smell perfection.

I hurry up and get dressed.

"You dare not wake me up and make Italian waffles!"

"Sofie, siediti e mangia. Mi sembrava che avessi l'aria stanca. Sono Pizelles. Non Italian waffles." [Sofie, sit down and eat. I thought you looked tired. It's Pizelles. Not Italian waffles.]

"Piss off. Can I live in an English-speaking world for one day!"

"Seems like she's still tired," Cedric says.

"Screw you!"

"I'm pretty sure you almost di-"

Nathaniel wraps his arms around me in an attempt to stop me from whacking his brother with a frying pan.

"You wanna be Rapunzel so bad. Bay, get the green contacts back, and we can continue this conversation."

"Miss Baylor, I'll put you down if you promise-"

"Niel, I'm not in the position to make promises. I am going to injure that-mmmh chocolate." I calm down when Oscar smears his original chocolate sauce on my bottom lip.

"Sofie behave or no pizelles or my spiced chocolate sauce."

I sit quietly.

"There is absolutely no way you got her to be quiet and still!"

"She's a girl. She is an adult toddler. She is obsessed with food. You... especially you." He points at Cedric, "talk a lot about girls. Girls will listen when you promise them food when they are hungry. And you should know. The woman can barely last a day without chocolate."

Niel shrugs, "we've seen her last a month and a half."

"I won't believe it till I see it-"

"Oscar, can we eat before we get into that?"

"Yes." He sets the pizelles in front of me with a small cup of sauce.

"Oscar, how much do you get paid?"

"Uhh, on the clock like $25 an hour. But I only work like 40-50 hours a week."

I feel eyes.

I roll my eyes, "why do you all want to interrupt me eating! I have over 700 employees, who all get paid over $21 an hour. The student wage is $13.50. I have one student. Nova gets paid $22.15."

"Does he get paid the most?" Niel asks.

I start laughing, "you are hilarious. The only thing Oscar does is get me folders, my food, take over when I'm gone and make sure I look good. I also spoil him like he's my child. I bought him his car. His wardrobe. Paid off his school debt. I take him on vacation. You see we are just friends who take care of each other. No one gets paid over $27. Although there's an exception. The person who gets paid the most which is like $31.15 is Winston my head of security- Oscar don't look at me like that. What happened?"

"He might've quit."

"Why." My voice drops.

"He took your disappearance really badly. As you asked of him, he was watching the whole thing from the security cameras. But everything crashed the moment I passed out. And he feels as though he could've done something more and doesn't deserve his title."

I'm no longer hungry.

Winston has been there from the start. He was a large man working several jobs. Sometimes at diners, washing Windows, cars. Walking dogs. He's worked with the police. Firefighters. Hospitals.