Chapter 7 | Zoe

Chapter 7

Zoe

I glance at Stodax. The branches and leaves of the Christmas tree block part of my view, but it means that he won't find out that I'm peeking easily too.

He's putting up the ornaments how I told him. But he's also measuring the distance between every stocking and snowflake with his hand. While I did tell him to make everything even, I don't mean mechanically even in distance and angle between every ornament. He's taking things a bit too literally.

Maybe it's not right to think this way, but he feels like an alien to this planet, or to these planets nearby, or to other beings as a whole.

I'd be mad if he really had no idea what I was trying to tell him. But he was so truly confused that he was either a master at putting up an innocent face or he was clueless.

What happened in his past that he didn't even understand friends until I spelled it out for him?

I know he came from another planet when I ran into him, but like that? It's almost like he's trained to be a working machine and that's all about it. Is he... Is that a ricod thing?

It can't be, right? Ricods ought to be able to make friends, fall in love with their mates, and do something more, right? They don't get together, be a reproduction machine, and work some more until they die. Where's the fun in that?

I was about to hang up another snowflake, but my hand pauses on its own and I take it back to the side.

Was he fleeing from somewhere, therefore he has been tense a lot of the time because he worried that someone would catch him?

Was he a criminal or something?

I peek at him again, but he's nowhere to be seen. There are still ruffling noises from the leaves of the tree, so he's probably right behind the tree, where I can't spot him.

But even criminals should be able to understand what I meant. At least I hope he does understand me. I just want to make sure everyone's fine and happy, including him.

Now that I think about it, when he first showed up and I decided to hire him, he couldn't give me his phone number or his address. I was confused, but didn't see that as such a big red flag that I should send him off to look for another job. Was it possible that he didn't have a phone and didn't have a place to live back then?

Hm... Does he still need help? It has been a few months since I hired him, but...

"Boss..."

"Oh!" I shudder and he holds me from behind.

"Be careful, don't fall."

I let out a breath. "You pop up from behind without a hint, come on!"

"I've been calling you a few times already, but you didn't hear me."

I smack his shoulder regardless. "Geez, you walk without making a noise, like a ghost."

There's a faint smile on his face, which's rare to see. "Really? Anyway, I put up everything at the back."

I pat his hand on my waist, and he lets go of me. I climb down the ladder and head to where he was decorating.

Every ornament is put evenly on the tree, literally. If that side of the tree is divided into zones of equal surface area, then each zone has the same number of every kind of ornament, and everything is a very similar distance from one another.

He says, "This is how you decorate it, right?"

"I'm impressed with how it's decorated evenly."

"Yes?"

"Come here." I take his wrist and nudge him with me to my side. "It's decorating, everything just has to look nice. There should be some of everything, but they don't have to be strictly even."

"Oh..."

"Here, I pick up a few spare ornaments. "Let's interrupt the pattern for a bit. It's supposed to be fun. If it's too formulaic, it's not fun. It'll be like work."

"Okay." He stares at the small reindeer figure in his hand as he walks over there.

I push the ladder to the side, putting decorations on where the ladder used to block off. Other than the star, everything's set.

"Boss, do you like it this way?"

I go over, and the tree finally looks organic enough. "Good, nice job."

"Thank you."

"Now's the most important part of the tree."

He blinks with a faint smile falling off his face. I pat his shoulder. "Come on, don't be that tense. We're putting up the star."

"Oh..."

I go to the ladder again, putting it in the right spot. "Here, give me the star."

He hurries to go over. I think he's playing along with me when he doesn't care about decorating at all. But when we light the tree, he will understand.

I take the gold star from him. "Here we go!"

He stares with intense eyes, at me, not at the tree. Apparently, he thinks that he should be mindful of me falling off the ladder instead of how beautiful the tree's going to be. How rude.

I put up the star. It shimmers under the lights of the bakery, even before we light up the tree. While the lights aren't going to be very obvious when the bakery's open to customers, it's the tradition, and it's still going to look great.

"There, turn off the bakery's light."

"Sure, boss." He heads to the switches. He has longer legs, so it's going to be quicker. He taps the switch and the lights go out. There are the blinking lights from the ones we put onto the wall, but dark enough for... I pick up the switch for the tree, which is on the cable.

"Here we go."

I tap the button and the tree lights up. This is so beautiful. I pull out my phone to record it. Stodax remains at the light switch. He's watching, but it is too dark for me to see his face. "Stodax, do you like this?"

"Yes, it looks amazing."

Well, he doesn't sound too amazed. But at least he tried.

"Good. Now we can. Oh!" I lean over to get the cables off me. It's no time for me to trip and destroy everything.

"Are you fine?"

I blink and Stodax is in front of me. "Um... Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay... Maybe I should have turned on the lights first."

I roll my eyes at that. "There'll be time for when the lights are on. We should be enjoying the tree for a bit longer."

"Okay..." He eyes me up and down again, still trying to make sure I'm fine.

I pat his chest. "Geez, I'm not fragile. I've been decorating the bakery before you're ever here." I tap on my phone to show him photos from previous years. "Look, perfect trees and decorations."

He checks out the photos but still doesn't seem convinced. "You like it risky."

"There's nothing risky about that. I barely slipped, and you won't stop talking about it."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to make you feel bad. I'm just trying to make sure you stay safe. I... Like... if you..."

"Chill... I'm just saying, okay?"

He remains quiet, apparently not very okay with it. He is a big guy, but at times, he acts like a kid who got caught doing the wrong thing.

I shrug. I don't care about his teases. I can't be there to convince him that I don't hate him, and I'm not mad all the time anyway. "It's getting late, so let's finish preparing for tomorrow and call it a day."

"Sure."

At least there's not much left to be done. We take stock and get the orders to my suppliers in, then it's just returning utensils to the correct places so that we won't have to mess around tomorrow.

The kitchen is a lot better looking when no loose spoons or plates are sitting around. I like it when things are organized. Even though I don't need that to remind myself that I'm a professional chef, it never hurts to feel extra slick.

Since Stodax started working for me, it has been a lot easier. In the past, I couldn't keep the bakery open long enough. I'd be preparing everything on my own, then sell them. When the bakery was open, it wasn't easy to find the time to be baking and preparing new things. Usually, I have to close or move on to only selling coffee later in the day, which doesn't make a lot of sense.

"Boss, did I do something wrong?"

"No? Why the question?"

He scratches his head. "You keep staring at me."

I go up to him and wrap my arms around him. He's a tall one, I can barely reach his shoulders. He flinches when I pat his back. "Yeah, I stare at you when you stand around looking tasty."

"Tasty?"

I rub myself against him. Maybe I shouldn't but it feels like he needs some encouragement. "Look, Stodax, thanks for staying late to decorate the tree with me. I think that you may need a prize or something."

His eyes darken on me. "Are you sure about that?" His cock twitches. He may be asking and uncertain, but his cock is surely certain about what he actually thinks.

I peck a kiss on his chest, over his t-shirt. "I've been leaving you hanging around for a bit too long."

He grunts. "Yeah, right."

Maybe I shouldn't mix work with pleasure, but who cares?