Chapter 21: Chapter Sixteen—Beatrice: Part II

“I don’t think so,” I answered, not understanding what Beatrice was asking, and she slipped my hand into the slit of her dress, resting my palm on her breast as her finger nudged me to grab. My brain couldn’t seem to process where my hand was led, and I most definitely gave a dumbfounded expression, which was less about me grabbing a tit for the first time in my adult life and more related to me wondering how I got to this point.

“I saw you looking a lot today. Truthfully, I wear things like this, so you do stare,” Beatrice said as I brought my embarrassment to a new level by launching up from the chair and jerking my hand away before tripping backwards over it. She stood up, rushing over to me with her mask in her hand, “Cyrus, I am so sorry… I thought you’d—”

“It’s fine. I don’t know why I overreacted like that,” I responded, getting up and rubbing the back of my head.

Edwin opened the door, and Beatrice quickly fastened her mask back to her face. “Are you okay?” he asked, probably noticing my pained expression.

Beatrice stepped in front of me. “He got dizzy. Are you overworking him?” she questioned irritably at Edwin. “He’s got many things on his plate right now.”

“No,” Edwin answered, staring me up and down. “Go see Doctor Federine. You need your shot anyway.”

“I just got up too fast. I’ll see him later—didn’t you say we were stopping those?”

“Come visit after you’re done. We need to discuss something,” Edwin said, completely blowing off my question.

Beatrice smiled. “He’s done. You may have him back,” she said, doing a little curtsy before walking towards the door.

“See you next week?” I asked, and she glanced back with a smile.

“Of course,” Beatrice said, giving me a quick wave.

Beatrice left the office room, and as the door closed, my head swivelled to Edwin abruptly. “I think she is into me.”

“What?” Edwin said with confusion.

I let out a sigh. “I think Beatrice likes me.”

“She’s a little old for you.”

I tsked. “Like you're one to talk.”

“Cyrus, do not do something that would make the Empire want you executed.” Edwin stared at me seriously.

“Why would I be executed?” I answered in a monotone voice.

“Because you made an unwanted advancement on the princess.”

My eyes squinted. “But… it isn’t unwanted. She wants it.”

“Cyrus…”

“Beatrice, put my hand on her tit,” I said raising my eyebrow.

“I don’t believe you.”

I huffed. “Fine,” I said, crossing my arms and looked away. “Why would I lie? You're just jealous,” I said slightly glancing back to see his reaction.

Edwin pushed his glasses up. “I assure you; I am not jealous of your fallacies.”

“Mhm, what did you want to discuss?”

“Chloe,” he said, sighing.

My head tilted. “What’s wrong?” I asked as he turned for the door, and I followed. We walked down the hall as the suspense of what he wanted to talk about had built too much for me. “Edwin?” I crowed at him.

“She is a fantastic secretary, and I want to deter you from making things weird,” Edwin said as we came to the elevator, and he tapped the call button. “I do appreciate you introducing her. I was initially suspicious, but she was just a good person in an unfortunate circumstance.”

“Yeah. No,” I said as the elevator opened, and I stepped in, trying to hit the close button as fast as possible, but Edwin stopped the door from shutting with his arm.

You are reading story Shattered Darkness at novel35.com

Edwin shook his head at me, entering. “You are so immature at times.”

“I can’t help annoying you, sorry.”

“You need to either talk to her or tell her you are no longer interested,” Edwin lectured, glancing over at me. “She has been asking about you a lot.”

I let out an exasperated sigh. “I am interested, but I let things go so long that it feels embarrassing at this point. It seemed like she was lost interest.”

“I’ve been telling her it’s my fault for giving you so much to do, so she probably back off, but you need to talk to her soon,” Edwin said as the elevator came to my floor.

I stepped out, glancing back. “I will try to talk to her soonish. Tell her I am just busy, and I will get to her.”

The doors closed, and I made my way to the apartment, scanning my card on the handle before arriving inside to Rachel in the kitchen cooking in a pink sundress and white apron.

I stand over her, putting my chin on her head. “Whacha doing?”

“Making you some food. You’ve been worn out lately”—Rachel mixed a white sauce around in the pan with a wooden spoon—“You take care of me. Let me care of you.” As Rachel reached into the beeping oven with red mittens, I walked over, sitting on the other side of the grey marble counter. She pulled out a steak and set it on the counter before tossing her hands up. “Tada.”

“Great, more meat.”

Rachel frowned. “When was the last time you didn’t make something with beef?”

“I’m kidding, Rae.”

Rachel tilted her head at me. “Rae?”

I shrugged. “Your name is too serious. I needed to lighten it up.”

“How is a name… serious?”

“It’s an old lady’s name.”

Rachel pouted. “It’s not an old lady’s name.”

“Well, you talk like one—” A bag of flour slammed into my face, tossing a snowing flutter of white everywhere. My eyes blinked open, surprised that she threw it. I grabbed the half-empty bag, throwing it back at Rachel as she put her hands up to block it, but it collided with her forehead. she stood in shock, covered in white powder.

The kitchen was a disaster.

Rachel tossed her arms down with clenched fists. “Why did you throw that at me?” Rachel asked, getting angry.

“You threw it at me first!” I shouted back, walking around the counter to her. She was genuinely upset, and I wanted to calm this storm before it got out of control. But instead, I slipped on flour and crashed into the wood floor.

Rachel busted out laughing, pointing at me. “Idiot,” she smirked, and I yanked her ankle, making her fall. She kicked at me in an angry fit. The tantrum subsided as my arm hurt from the slip-on shoes assaulting me. “I hate you.”

“Ouch.”

“I don’t hate you,” Rachel sighed, putting her chin on her knees. “I just like being mean to you.”

“Brat.”

“Shut up.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “That food is definitely covered in flour.”

“I like this thing going on here. It feels like… family, not that I am even sure what that is,” Rachel said, staring at me with her bright emerald eyes. “I hope you feel the same.”

“We are family,” I said, carefully returning to my feet before offering her my hand. “Let’s eat, Rae.”

You can find story with these keywords: Shattered Darkness, Read Shattered Darkness, Shattered Darkness novel, Shattered Darkness book, Shattered Darkness story, Shattered Darkness full, Shattered Darkness Latest Chapter