by C. L. Stone
Kota laughed. “You want to work here?”
“Luke said I could.”
“Come on, Peanut.” Nathan slid off of the stool and hooked an arm around my waist to pull me down to the floor with him. “Let’s check out the kitchen.”
Luke showed us the way around the counter and through the swinging double doors that led to the second hallway. This one was painted the same blue as the outside, with white trim; the old carpet had been replaced with dark tile. There were rolling trays and other supplies on shelving along the way.
Silas was standing in front of the shelves, unloading boxes of supplies. He was grunting, mumbling under his breath. When we got close, he looked up, recognition settling into his face, and he stopped mumbling. When he spotted me behind Nathan, he smiled down at me. “Hi, aggele mou.”
“Hi, Silas.”
“Come to help?”
I nodded.
“We’re showing her the kitchen,” Luke said.
“Probably don’t want to go in there,” he said. “North’s not exactly Prince Charming today.”
Kota curled his fingers over my shoulder, walking with me past Silas. “Sounds like we brought her just in time then.”
Why was he always throwing me at North when he was grumpy?
When we got to the kitchen, the door had been taken out completely, and the remaining archway widened so three people could pass through without trouble. The sounds of pots banging and water running didn’t mask the shouting voices. I couldn’t tell what was being said, because it echoed, but I recognized one of the voices as North.
I fell behind Nathan, Luke and Kota, letting them enter first and nearly hiding behind them. They stopped in the kitchen’s opening, glancing around. I peeked over Luke’s shoulder.
The kitchen had been completely redone. There was a silver door to the left, and shortly after a row of flat grill stoves. A couple stacks of ovens were at the far side of the room. A huge silver table had been positioned in the middle, with overhanging racks of spatulas and spoons. Opposite the stoves against the far walls were two double sinks beside each other, along with piles of dishes. The tile at our feet had been replaced with the same dark tile that was in the entryway and then covered with black rubber mats.
North stood closer to the window, bent over and mixing something in an extra-large bowl with his bare hands. His dark hair was hidden under a black bandana he’d tied around his forehead. He looked up at us, focusing on Luke, Kota and Nathan so he might not have seen me yet. “What do you all want?” he barked. “Luke, get back to work. You can’t leave the dining room.”
“Well, if it isn’t Kota and Nathan,” a voice said from behind the silver table. The boys were in the way and I couldn’t see over them to tell who it was. I caught the outline of a bald head, shaved clean, shining under the lights. “Good. We could use extra hands.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” Kota said, stepping forward. “Where do you want us?”
Kota and Nathan moved further into the room, exposing my position. I cowered a little behind Luke, pushing a finger to my lip.
Behind the counter stood a wiry man who may have only been a couple of inches taller than me. His face was heavily lined with age, with a white goatee, the beard long and pointed. His eyebrows were thick, dark, and his eyes matched Luke’s and North’s dark pools. He held a chopping knife in one hand, hovering over a stack of chicken pieces on a large wood cutting board. One of his eyebrows arched up, and his thin lips lifted in the corners. “And who, might I ask, is this lovely little bird?”
“Uncle,” Luke said, stepping aside to present me. “This is Sang Sorenson.”
“Ah,” he said, his face sparking with recognition. “You’re Sang. Call me Uncle. All the kids call me that.”
I’d been talked about. I blushed, bowing my head slightly in greeting. “It’s nice to meet you.”
He leaned on the silver table, and started waving his big knife to point at North and Luke and back again. “Tell me something. Which one of my unworthy nephews are you going to end up going out with? Because if they don’t make a move, they’re complete idiots. You’re stunning.”
My mouth fell open, and my cheeks felt like they were on fire. Did he expect an answer or was he joking? My eyes swung like Uncle’s knife, between North and Luke, silently pleading for help.
North chuffed. “She’s dating Luke,” he said, rolling his eyes at the bowl in front of him. He glanced up at me, his face like granite.
My eyes flared at him. How could he say that? Was he angry with me about last night? Was he so mad that he would make it sound like he was shoving me off on Luke? Not that I disliked Luke, but it was completely awkward, and I wondered if he meant it.
Luke dropped an arm around my shoulders. “Yeah, she’s with me.”
I took a quick glance at Kota and Nathan, unsure. They seemed to have expected this, standing aside quietly and curious, but not intervening.
The uncle lifted a brow at me expectantly, awaiting confirmation.
Another quick glance at Kota, and he gave an inkling of a nod.
“Yes,” I said, turning back fully to face Uncle. With a shaking hand, I wrapped an arm around Luke’s side. “With Luke.” Internally, I groaned. This was expected, preplanned. So it might not have been North being mad, but something he was forced to say. How could they do this without asking me? So I was supposed to pretend to be Luke’s girlfriend around his uncle?
Uncle nodded his head, grinning. He pointed the tip of the knife toward Luke’s face. “You treat her right, Luke. You let this one slip away, you’ll hear it from me.”
Luke tugged me close, pressing a cheek to my forehead. “She’s not going anywhere,” he said.
I clutched at Luke’s side, still blushing from the attention.
“She wants to get started working here,” Luke said. “Where do we want her?”
Uncle beamed. “What can she do?”
“She can cook,” Luke said.
“She’s not cooking,” North said, snatching up a container and shaking out salt into his mixture.
“We could let her run the counter,” Uncle said. “Or serve tables. She’ll rake in the tips.”
“I think she’d rather work back here,” Luke said in a quiet voice.
My nerves rattled. Luke didn’t want me meeting other Academy members, so he wanted me in the back where I’d avoid meeting people. I didn’t want him to feel like he had to hide me, but I thought maybe I could satisfy him by working in the back for now and build up to working in the front. Besides, I was nervous around new people, and wasn’t sure I could handle serving tables. “I could wash dishes,” I offered. That seemed safe enough.
Uncle shook his head. “Maybe a little bit, but I wouldn’t want to ruin those fingers, and you will if you start washing dishes all the time.” He picked up a piece of chicken, and started chopping it into pieces. “You can be my prep cook. We need to get started on piecing desserts together. Banana strawberry pie, apple cobbler and chocolate cake. Plain and simple. Luke, set her up with chopping fruit and then start working on crusts and fillings. Kota, run the counter for now. Nathan, find some tables to clear and do the dishes.”
The way Uncle relayed orders reminded me a lot of Mr. Blackbourne and Kota. Luke had mentioned other Academy folks might show up. Did that mean Mr. Taylor was part of the Academy? It hadn’t occurred to me before, but now that I was here, it really did make sense. If he was the owner, and he was in the Academy, he’d completely understand if North or the others had to disappear. He’d hire Academy members without question.
Luke had said he wanted to keep me a secret from the Academy. Was Mr. Taylor not a problem?
Nathan and Kota didn’t miss a beat. They were off back the way we had come from. Luke nudged me toward the big silver door. He opened it to reveal the walk-in freezer. “Let’s get what we need.”
The front of the freezer wasn’t as cold as I thought. There were collections of fruit and mil
k and other supplies chilling on a shelf. Further in the back and around the side, there were cardboard boxes, but I couldn’t tell what was inside. Frost coated the labels.
Luke found a box of strawberries, bananas and apples. He handed me a few of the boxes and collected some other supplies. When he was done, he nudged me out, kicking the door to the freezer shut behind us.
We put the boxes of fruit down on the silver table. Luke found a knife and a chopping board. He placed them on the silver table. He placed me opposite of where North was stuffing his mixture into a several baking dishes. I finally recognized it as some type of meatloaf.
Luke picked up a strawberry, and chopped off the green bit. “We need them this thin, Sang,” he said, slicing the strawberry. “Bananas, too. The apples, do, like, half this thin and the other half into chunks. Do the apples last, though. Start with strawberries.”
I nodded and Luke stepped out of the way. He hovered over me, making me nervous as I picked up a strawberry, cut off the green and started slicing.
When he was satisfied I was doing it right, he clutched my hip, bringing his lips to my ear. “Perfect,” he whispered. He backed off, winking at me and started sorting the other ingredients on the table next to me.
Uncle caught my eye, letting me know he’d seen Luke getting close. He winked at me, grinning suggestively. He approved, and slightly encouraged this relationship. I felt he hardly knew me, but I remembered he’d also heard of me before he met me. I wondered how much the guys had told him. Did he know my parents were gone?
I was doing fine with the strawberries, grateful for something to do and excited at the same time. I was working with them! Would I do this all the time? I thought it would be incredible. Luke was there. North, as grumpy as he was, was in front of me and focused. I was thinking once he wasn’t so tired and maybe calmed a little, this would be the best job ever.
And there were Silas, Nathan and Kota lurking around close by, too. Maybe it wasn’t as fun as hanging out at the pool or playing video games together, but if we had to work and do a job, this seemed like a great thing to do. Was this what their life was like when they were at the Academy, too?
North had put his meatloaf into one of the ovens and washed his hands. When he finished, he was toweling off and watching me. I sensed his dark eyes on me and it had my insides rattling. I knew my fingers were shaking. I kept slicing, trying to focus.
North grunted. He slapped the hand towel onto the counter by the sink. “Sang, scoot over,” he said, holding his hand out for the knife.
I blinked at him, my mouth open as he took the knife from me. “Why? I was doing fine.”
“You’re making me nervous. You’re about to chop a finger off,” he said.
Who was making who nervous? “I can do it.”
“Just open the bananas or something,” he said, picking up a strawberry and taking over my job.
I sucked in a breath, feeling humiliated. He wouldn’t even let me cut strawberries. I shot a look at Luke, who met my eyes but shrugged, trying to offer a reassuring smile. He wasn’t going to intervene. Maybe he was afraid of angering North when he seemed grumpier than normal. Uncle had his back turned, focusing on doing something over the stove. I didn’t think he’d heard.
I sighed, making a grab for the bundle of bananas. I broke one off of the bunch.
Luke knelt by the silver table and fished out a dish from the shelves underneath. “Put the clean bananas here.” He put another dish beside it. “Put the peels here. It'll make cleanup easier.”
I nodded, turned the banana over in my hands and holding the bottom.
North’s dark eyes narrowed on me. “Are you paying attention?” he asked.
What now? “Yes.”
“You’ve got it upside down.”
I checked it. I was holding the banana stem side down. “Yes,” I confirmed.
His eyes flared. “What are you doing?”
“Opening it,” I said, tilting my head and moving my hands to the banana’s bottom, pushing my fingers around the black nub end.
“Do you not eat bananas?” he asked. “You split it from the stem.”
“No, you don’t,” I replied, pausing in what I was doing. My heart raced. Was this the aftermath from the drugs like he’d warned me about?
“Sang,” he barked at me, dropping the knife hard on the table and snatching the banana from me. “You open a banana like this.”
“I know how to open one, North,” I barked back.
He flinched, but narrowed his eyes at me as he tried bending the stem. The banana bent, but the skin didn’t split open. He grunted, tracing the edge of his fingernail along the rim and splitting the skin that way.
I smirked after him. “You’ve bruised your banana.”
“You can cut that part off.”
“But you took my knife,” I said. “Will you please let me do my job? I can open a stupid banana.”
“You were fucking around.”
“I didn’t even do it yet!” I flared my eyes at him and my voice waivered to a squeak at the higher pitch. “You took it from me before I could open it.”
“What are you squealing about?” Nathan asked, wandering in with a tray full of dishes. He placed it by one of the sinks, wiping his brow and turning to us. “What’s wrong?”
“North won’t let me open a banana.”
Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Dude. Seriously?”
“She’s doing it wrong,” North, said. “She’s getting back at me for last night or something.”
“Good,” Nathan said, grinning and turning to start up the hot water.
“What? No!” I said. “I was opening bananas. I’m not getting back at anyone.”
“Then do it right,” North said. He put down the banana he was holding and folded his arms over his chest. “Do it.”
Nathan smirked at us, leaning against the sink with his hands behind his back. He was enjoying this! When I glanced over at Luke, he was doing the same thing, quietly enjoying the show. Uncle, too, was behind the counter, observing, his lips tilting in a smile.
I twisted my lips at North, embarrassed that he was making me feel like an idiot for something so small. Why was he being so mean? I snapped another banana from the bundle, held it stem side down, putting my fingers to the bottom black nub.
“I said do it right,” North barked, holding out his hand and reaching to take the banana from me.
I took a step back out of his reach. I glared at him, pinched the black end of the banana, and the peel split easily under my fingers. I pulled the peel away, revealing a clean banana without bending the stem or bruising it. “I can open a stupid banana, North.” I held it out to him, showing what I’d done.
He paused, his mouth falling open. He zeroed in on the banana and then at my face. “Do it again.”
I stepped forward slowly, wondering if he was tricking me or was going to pop me on the thigh or somewhere else like the others seemed to do when I wasn’t doing something right. I snapped another banana from the bundle, held it stem side down, pinched the bottom and split the peel easily. I pulled the skin clean from the banana.
His eyes followed what I was doing, the glare suddenly gone and in its place genuine curiosity. “Where did you learn that?”
“Monkeys.”
His eyes widened. “What the hell do you mean?”
“It’s how monkeys open bananas.”
Nathan and Luke busted out laughing together, hands on their stomachs.
“Oh my fucking god,” Nathan said, wiping his eye. “Peanut, that’s awesome.”
“She just told you, North,” Luke said, beaming.
Uncle’s shoulders shook like he was laughing. He seemed pleased again. There was something else hidden under his quiet smile. It seemed like approval, like he expected the boys to be friends with someone like me.
North chuffed, shaking his head and moving back to cutting the strawberries.
I sighed. Was he done picking on me? I didn’t m
ean to be so smart aleck about it, but he didn’t even give me a chance. I calmed the fire in my heart, setting myself up to split bananas, cleaning the fruit and dropping the peels onto the plate.
When the others got back to work and I was starting on another round of splitting open a second bunch of bananas, North elbowed me in the arm.
“Yes?” I asked, trying not to sound peeved. I was tired of fighting.
North turned to me, holding up a thinly sliced piece of strawberry. He held it out toward my lips. His eyes met mine, softer now. His thin frown asking me if I was still mad without saying anything out loud.
I picked up on what he wanted. I opened my mouth. He pushed the strawberry toward my lips, popping the berry into my mouth. The tip of his finger brushed at my lips before he pulled away.
I chewed the strawberry, sharing a soft smile. I wasn’t angry. I only wished he trusted me like he often asked me to trust him.
Something caught my attention, and my eyes found Uncle’s.
My heart thundered at his expression.
He was frowning after North. He’d witnessed the intimate moment I’d shared with North and disapproved.
I focused on my job, confused, unable to ask anyone the questions formulating inside me.
THE LIMIT
OF JEALOUSY
We spent a couple of hours prepping desserts, dinner rolls, cutting up vegetables and more. When it was getting close to dinner, though, Uncle shooed me, Nathan and Kota out. We’d helped enough and he had other people he wanted to train.
That evening, I fell into bed at Nathan’s house. After trading punches with him and Kota and working at the diner after being up late the night before, I was spent.
I woke up in Nathan’s bed, wrapped up in blankets. I blinked, stretched and yawned before sitting up, finding myself alone. Did they ever sleep?
I smelled Kota’s spice scent, and Nathan’s leather and Cypress. There were pillows on either side of me that looked used, so I thought perhaps they did sleep next to me, but maybe got up before I did. The clock glared ten a.m. at me. That surprised me. They were letting me sleep in? They never did that.
