Soitera

24. Peanut Butter

I get up at 6 the next morning. At least it's not 3. I get ready and sneak out of the room. No reason to get Everett up this early. I haven't seen any of the house, and I'm afraid to open the door. I don't know what time he shuts the alarm off. I sneak around the entrance and there's a big living room off it. The lights are on. He has a big TV and couches. It's all normal stuff for these people. I get back to the hallway and the man that is always lurking around hands me the biggest container of peanut butter I've ever seen.

"Is this the correct item?"

I sit at the bottom of some steps and hug it. Then I start bawling out of nowhere. I can't help it and I can't stop either.

"Was I wrong?"

I shake my head and cry harder.

Armen comes around the corner. "What's the problem?"

"I asked if that is peanut butter."

I hug it tighter and cry into it.

Armen kneels in front of me. "Is this the peanut butter you like?"

I nod and sob harder.

"Good job." He stares at me for a second. Then he looks at the other man. "How much did it cost?"

"$6, sir."

Armen sits beside me on the steps. "Try to relax."

I take a deep breath and the tears fall out again. This is ridiculous.

"Look at that. He found you some peanut butter, baby." Everett takes it. "This is going to last awhile." He hands it to the man. "Put it in the dining room, please."

"Of course."

Everett smirks. "Now, you're going to have to ask for some bread, and we can do this again."

I crack up laughing.

Armen stares at him. "What happened?"

"A lot of things." Everett rubs my hair down. "Do you want peanut butter for breakfast?"

"Yes."

"We can make that happen. Do you want to tell him about peanut butter?"

"My father wouldn't pay for me to have lunch at school. The free lunch was a peanut butter sandwich. I've eaten it for 12 years. Once I got accepted into BlackRock, people gave me food. I missed peanut butter."

Armen stands up. "Every time I think I've heard everything, you say something completely new, and I have to think about how to respond."

"You don't have to respond. I just missed peanut butter. Thank you for getting it."

"You're welcome."

Everett pulls me up. "Also, it's confusing to me. But I don't think her dad gave her food. There was never much food around. She had her garden. I only ever seen her eat out of the garden."

I smile thinking about it. "My secret garden. Nobody knew about it. Then Everett found it."

"She did a science project when she was younger. She took all the seeds she could and planted them. It's a hell of a garden."

"I never had to be hungry after that." I smile and hug him.

"Did your dad buy food, baby?"

"Yes and no. Sometimes. If he wanted hamburgers, he would buy the stuff for them. I would pick through it after they passed out. They wouldn't even remember what they ate, so it didn't matter. Sometimes they would make something for me too. He would also get takeout. I would eat leftovers out of the fridge. The only thing he never ran out of was alcohol. Before the garden, it was bad. Especially when I was really young. I would get sick sometimes. I think I was eating bad food. I didn't have a lot of options though."

"And then you planted your garden." I get a head kiss. "So smart. Are you ready for breakfast?"

"Yes."

We get to the dining room and Cassie joins us. "I'm still here. I do have to go to work though. This is very confusing. Not used to sleepovers on work days."

Everett smiles. "I think we're good. No reason for you to disrupt your life."

"Good to know. I'll get the ok from Dante and go home."

"He might not give it." Armen laughs.

"Well, I can hope."

"Here is the bread. Did you need anything else?"

"Do you have an apple and milk?"

"Yes."

Everett laughs. "That is her exact lunch for all these years. You really must miss it, woman."

I put the sandwich together and cut it in half.

Armen watches me. "Can I have half? I want to try it. I'll buy more peanut butter if you run out."

I laugh and give him half. "That's like a gallon of peanut butter. It'll take forever to eat."

He makes a funny face. "It's very dry."

I take a bite. "It is dry. Was it always dry?"

"Yes. It's because it's the only thing you ever had. You're eating different food now, so you realize it's dry." Everett cuts the apple.

I shrug my shoulders. "Still good though."

"Yea, peanut butter is good." Everett puts a spoon of it on my plate. Then he dips the apple in it and hands it to me. "Try that."

I shove it in my mouth and damn near wiggle out of the chair. "That's amazing." I grab another piece and dip it. Then I shove it at Armen. "Try it like that."

"Ok. That is good. I feel like peanut butter has been missing from my life."

Cassie laughs. "I sometimes forget that you never tried normal people food. Armen was rich his whole life. He gets silly sometimes around normal things. You have to keep an eye on him."

"I remember the swimsuit thing. How did you not have a swimsuit? You have a million pools and live on the beach."

He laughs. "I do have swimsuits. I don't go shopping. The help does the shopping. Mostly, I wear my custom suits. I went over to Dante's that day, and they wanted to tube. He needed new rope, so we flew to the surf shop for it. I figured I would grab a suit while I was there. Same damn thing happened the next morning. But they figured out I couldn't shop." He smiles at me. "Anything else?"

"What's a sexcapades?"

Cassie chokes on coffee.

"f*****g Jack." Armen rubs his face and looks at the ceiling. "That's not a thing. It's a word Jack made up. I will be thanking him for that later."

Cassie starts laughing. "I thought I was missing something. I've never heard of sexcapades. I'm sure I would have heard of that. It sounds entertaining."

"Why is he afraid to leave his wife with you?"

Cassie and Everett lose it.

"He was just being an ass. I would make sure his wife stayed safe if he ever needed me to." Then he looks around. "Does anyone else have any questions for breakfast?"

Cassie shakes her head. "No. I think we're good. If this gets any more entertaining, I may need to switch to wine. I do like the word sexcapades though. I may start using it."

The next few days go exactly the same. Everett and I have a lot of alone time. We walk on the beach and swim. We do some stuff in town and just enjoy each other. Nyx and Cassie come in and out. Armen is gone most days. I don't know what he does for work, but he doesn't work from home. He has breakfast and dinner with us every day though. We talk about all kinds of stuff. He's actually pretty nice. I don't know why anyone was worried about me being here.

Then it comes time for Everett to leave, and the house isn't done. I guess it had some other issues, and they couldn't get it done early.

Everett does ok. I think he likes Armen, but with everyone else having a fit, it makes him nervous. Cassie has to swear to him she'll be here every second she can. Then he finally leaves for the airport. But I can tell he didn't want to go. I should be home in two days. It's not like he's going to have to wait long.

I go to bed by myself after he leaves. That sucks. I miss him.