Chapter 8: The Start.
2077 Words
Mia stared at him as though he was crazy
"What?"
"I hate repeating myself," Ryan said.
Mia wasn't sure what part of the convo she missed or were they not talking about something else instead of cooking?
"Yes I.."
"You made this pie yourself?" He asked.
Mia nodded still confused
"I'm going to taste this pie. If it's good you're hired if it's not you get out of my house deal?"
Mia chuckled
Ryan must think he owns the entire neighbourhood to go around being so rude.
"I didn't come here for a job interview," she said, defending herself.
"Opportunities like this are rare. It's either you take it or you leave it" Ryan pulled a spoon and helped himself with the pie
"You're hired"
"Excuse me, Ryan. As much as you have a face that is to die for, you can't always get what you want…"
"Five hundred dollars per hour. Deal?"
"Deal" Mia blurts out before she could control her mouth.
She needed the money too…
"s**t" she muttered.
"You start tomorrow morning. And I have a few rules of mine" Ryan said
"I'm sorry, what am I to do again?" Mia asked, her voice a bit lower than it usually was.
"Cook. Someone else will handle the cleaning" Ryan said
"Oh.of course" Mia was unusually polite as her smile was way too natural.
"You are only to stay in the kitchen and that's it. No trespassing or you're fired" Ryan said.
"Yes boss," Mia said smiling.
"You must think money fixes everything, Mister Ryan!" She said with a frown on her face.
"Should I double it then?"
Mia chuckled
"I don't know where you grew up but it must be nice to be rich. Money doesn't solve every one of your problems " Mia said and picked up her basket glaring at Ryan.
"I had it all imagined. Aiyo" Mia took her to leave, Ryan was stunned.
She had put him in his place once again. Mia had been able to successfully make Ryan know that he isn't as big a deal as other people think.
That pie was delicious by the way; he had just lost his chance at hiring a great cook.
********************
Mia stormed into the main house, frustrated and embarrassed at the same time.
Kim shook his head
"Told you she would be disappointed" he muttered as he went on scrubbing the floors.
It felt like Grannie was making him work so hard for feeding him this morning. He should have retired to his coffee and bread instead.
"How did it turn out?" Grannie asked, her eyes fixed on the wool and the knitting pin she had in hand
"A rude and arrogant man! That's one word for him!" Mia grumbled in the complaint as she pulled off her boots.
She had dressed up so nice just to get irritated by that arrogant man next door.
"It couldn't have been that bad" Grannie said.
"You can go say hello to him, Grannie. I bet he would be very nice to you" Kimpab said.
He wanted Grannie out of the house so he could run away. The chores she was making him do seems endless and he couldn't take it anymore.
"I've met the young man before. Very sweet and polite too"
Mia stared at Grannie with her mouth open slightly agape.
"Oh really. Did he greet you without seeming forced to? That's a shocker. Isn't it Kimpab?"
"A shocker"
Grannie was a disciplinarian and wouldn't hesitate to spank anyone into behaviour no matter their status or whose last name they bore.
"Good morning!" Sarah's voice chirped loudly as she walked down the stairs looking as fascinating as ever; she was the neighbour on the same floor as Mia.
"Woah," Kimpab said starting at Sarah with his mouth almost leaking out with saliva.
She was wearing a floral dress that was barely reaching her knees and her hair was curled straight in a bob with minimal makeup. She had a channel bag to match and a lovely pair of heels.
"You look stunning!" Mia said cheerfully.
"Thank you, Mia. Good morning Grannie" she greeted.
"Off to snatch someone else's husband again?" Grannie asked.
"Aiyo. Grannie. I don't do that anymore. I have changed my ways and decided to settle down with a single hot man!" Sarah said cheerfully.
"Where are you headed?" Mia asked.
"To work. You don't work on Saturdays?" She asked.
Mia shook her head with a cheesy smile.
"No" she replied
"You need the break. You're still young and need to look radiant with youth. Look at me, am old already" Sarah complained.
"Not at all. You look so beautiful Sarah." Kimpab complimented with his eyes creepily glued to hers.
"Why does he always stare at me like that?" Sarah asked Mia in a whisper.
"Just ignore him" Mia advised.
"I'm off to work. Goodbye Angel" Sarah air-kissed Mia and took her to leave.
"Beautiful? She would have been a lovely lady if she quits having so many man friends!" Grannie snapped.
"But she's nice Grannie"
Grannie cleared her throat as she sights Kimpab still staring at the door where Sarah had walked out.
"Stop drooling on Grannie's floor. You know she hates that" Mia reminded
"I wasn't drooling" Kim defended
"What were you doing then?" Grannie asked.
"I was drooling!" Kimpab wiped his mouth.
"Aiyo. One glance from Sarah and he's gone" Mia teased.
"That's not the case," he said muttering under his breath.
"Just tell her how you feel already," Mia said
"How am I supposed to tell her when she doesn't even know my name?"
"How would she remember when you always stare at her with those creepy eyes? That would scare any woman away!" Mia snapped
"What am I supposed to do then? Her smile takes away my ability to talk"
"Aiyo. Her smile didn't make you think of ways to improve yourself so you can at least end up with her." Grannie shook her head.
"Grannie has a point"
"How am I going to do that? Uh? I did graduate from University as she did. " Kimpab said
"You didn't give the neighbour the pie?" He asked
Mia frowned in annoyance.
"It's my pie, isn't it? Mind your business!" Mia rushed up to her room, making Grannie laugh till her heart content
"She just yelled at me," Kimpab said pouting.
"Will you get back to work and scrub those floors!" Grannie ordered.
**************
A knock came on Ryan's front door; it was Leo. His old time friend steps into the living area.
"How did you get in?"
Ryan was on his laptop, his reading glasses hung on his nose giving him a look of a young professor.
"Why is your gate open?" Leo asked settling on a sofa.
"That girl…" Ryan muttered gritting his teeth.
Mia must have left the gate open. How could she be so careless?
"Here"
Leo hands Ryan a folder with a gold inking in front of it; Queen Empire.
"That was fast," Ryan said going through the file. The company was his. All rights were written under his name.
"Are you sure you can handle this Ryan? Restarting this company would not only mean getting on Robin's bad side but a rivalry between you and your father" Leo said.
He had known Ryan since the day Tim brought him to the house. He was pretty much the only person close enough to be called Ryan's friend.
"I'm sure about this. I'm not hoping for a rivalry but a chance at a business I know so well. If he takes me as an opponent then I'll be forced to do whatever I can to remain on the ground," Ryan said, his eyes still on the paper.
"You've made up your mind," Leo said.
"If my father wished I never existed I might as well live like I don't have a father", Ryan said.
Leo stared at Ryan in silence; Robin has lost that one person that could have been his right-hand man.
" The investors. They promise to be of help but don't take their word for it. Some of them are very sceptical about the success of the company"
"I'll like to meet them in person. " Ryan said going through the list of investors one after the other.
"I'll make arrangements for that. Would you like to see the company building? It might need a bit of renovation. Tim is quite clear on letting you start this on your own" Leo explained.
Ryan nodded.
"The renovations will start tomorrow. I'm making contact with some of my colleagues back at the college. I know a few that could help"
"And staffs. You'll need them. You might want to start on a minimal scale"
"Total of twenty of them," Ryan said.
"I was thinking Fourty"
Ryan stared at Leo.
"That would work fine too."
"I'll make arrangements for an interview then. Do you have anyone else who could help?" Leo asked
Ryan's phone beeped; it was a call from Maria. Just the person on his mind.
"Hello?".
"Where are you? You can just quit and expect us to stay behind! That douchbag Dan or whatever his name is. I can't work under that weirdo!" Maria said.
Ryan placed his phone on the table and put it on speaker.
"Could you believe that pervert tried to touch me?" She groaned in frustration.
"Hey, Where are you, Ryan?" It was Ken's voice this time.
"We all resigned you know. Me, Maria, Jason, and Lee. That place has been crazy since you left! Can you believe he wanted me to give financial reports or he would fire me? Am I the one in charge of finances?"
"Ryan, let's go start our own company. Let's teach them how it's done uh?"
Ryan exchanged looks with Leo who sighed and turned the phone to face him.
"Good evening everyone"
"Oh. Isn't this Ryan's phone?" Maria asked.
"It is. My name is Leo and I'm Ryan's friend"
Ryan arched an eyebrow.
Such a cheesy intro.
"Woah, deep voice. I bet you're handsome aren't you?" Maria teased
"Meet us at Queen Empire later during the week. I'll text you the address, date, and time of the meeting. We are going to discuss in general Queen's empire. Let's start our own business. And show them how it's done"
The sound of jubilation at the other end was almost deafening.
"Ryan...Leo. sorry. I might have a bit of a problem. I might have lost my accommodation due to my resignation. I don't have anywhere to sleep tonight…" Lee's feeble voice was heard at the other end
"Don't worry Ryan. He'll stay at my place till he finds accommodation. We're starting up didn't you hear that?" Ken assured
"I did. But what about where I would sleep tonight?" Lee asked.
"You'll stay with me" Ken assured.
"Text us the address and we will be right there. We're off to celebrate! Bye!" Maria said and Leo disconnected the call.
"I didn't know you have a lot of allies," Leo said.
Ryan returned to his laptop.
"When are we going to meet?" Ryan asked.
"The sooner the better. Tomorrow? At Queens" Leo offered.
"Alright"
"I should be on my way. Take care"
"Thank you," Ryan said, he was almost inaudible.
Leo smirked.
"Still hard to say it out loud" he mocked.
"Get out"
Leo chuckled and heads out.
Ryan placed his laptop on the table and leaned his head back. He had been on his laptop since Mia left, trying to see the best way to revive the queen's image.
He decided to take a break and headed for the patio on the top floor. Ryan was surprised to later find out that the house was two floors instead.
He found his way up the stairs and pulled open the glass slide door on getting to the master bedroom.
It was empty.
Ryan preferred staying on the ground floor instead, still thinking about what he was going to use the top floor for.
A gym. Maybe
Ryan stood by the patio, hands in his pocket as he stared at the starless sky.
"He wanted to hire me as a cook uh? Who does he think he is? That arrogant man!" Mia said in anger.
Ryan turned to find Mia yelling in frustration. She was on the top floor of the building next to his.
"You're pretty loud you know"
Mia froze.
- Writer
