Chapter 10 | Zoe

Chapter 10

Zoe

Hm... It's always a good day when I can hug Stodax and fall asleep that way. It would be even better if we could do that every day, not just when his silly ass left us locked up inside the bakery. When we fucked around, it was within the bakery, then we went on our own way home. But...

Maybe we've been working so well together that it feels natural for us to cuddle.

I open my eyes to... I thought I fell asleep staring at the Christmas tree and with Stodax, but I'm staring at the ceiling of the bakery.

I sit up, finding myself on the couch where I fell asleep earlier again. The mugs for our drinks are gone from the table.

Where's Stodax?

He didn't get out of the bakery into the storm to do dumb stuff, right? No other shops are open under this kind of weather, so I hope he didn't run out trying to buy food or something.

I sniff the air. My stomach rumbles from the tasty smell of bread. Maybe he put me here so that he could mend the oven. It would suck if the bread he put in earlier burned.

This may be the first time we made bread, no, he made bread for us instead of for customers.

Maybe it is strange to think about it like this, but if he was there making breakfast for me all the time... or I was the one cooking for us... It sounds great.

But he doesn't seem interested. All he cares about is work and showing up for work. He surely lives a boring life from what he told me. Worse, he doesn't even find that a problem. I should fix him, but I know that I shouldn't attempt that. It's usually pointless to try to change someone. Maybe he enjoys his current life. Yuck.

Although I'd like food when I've not eaten anything for the day, I want him to be here with me instead of inside the kitchen.

Speaking of which, he peeks out of the kitchen at just the right time. He has a faint smile on his handsome face with the horns that I want to stroke. "You wake up, huh?"

I nod. "I think I'm up, unless this is a dream."

"Is this a dream you want to wake up from?"

"The snowstorm outside, yes. I want it gone already. The bakery, kind of. I'd prefer my comfortable bed at home to the couches. But with you in the kitchen making me something, maybe not."

He tilts his head to the side. "I see."

"How about you? Do you go to sleep dreaming about working?"

He looks into the kitchen. Is the bread ready? I have no idea how long it has been since I fell asleep. But even then, the storm is still raging outside. It looks to be a bit better than it was, but who knows? It could worsen in no time, and I don't want to get caught up when I'm flying home.

Maybe I should check the weather alert, but what am I expecting to find anyway? That the warning is gone, and it's time to head home? That it's time to reopen the bakery to customers, who probably won't be outside their homes, even though the warning is gone?

I'm not opening the doors just because Stodax likes to work.

He turns from the inside of the kitchen to me. "Come here." He gestures for me to go to the kitchen, which raises my eyebrows. He didn't make a mess out of the place, right? I don't think he'll fall asleep like me.

"What's up?" I yank myself off the couch. My limbs are still sore and my back hurts. Either I'm getting old, or I need a better bed, or both. "It better be something important, otherwise..."

Oh... There's a cake sitting on the kitchen island with pink icing. That's not in the recipes I gave him, so... It doesn't look like breakfast food either.

I ask, "Is this..."

He rubs his horns. "I... I hope you don't mind."

I'm not going to mind a cake, but... "What does this mean?"

He swallows and looks away from me as if he's hiding something. I wait for him, even though the cake looks great. He can make a great cake, I've tried some, and I'm not surprised, but this cake...

He remains quiet for another while, so the cake feels even more important now. I don't mean to rush him, but I've never been a patient being, so... I'm going to ask him about it, but he comes over and hugs me, almost squeezing me flat.

What's on his mind? He surely is the most unpredictable one, other than for showing up to work.

He asks, "So... I have a dumb question for you."

"If it's dumb, why ask?"

He flinches.

I laugh and pat his arms. "Yes, just ask already."

"So... We've known each other for a while. I mean, we worked with each other. No, I..." He takes a breath. "I'm trying to say..."

"It's okay. Take your time." Is he going to ask what I think he's going to ask? My heartbeat spikes and the warmth in me grows. But will I be embarrassing myself to think that? Who am I, after all?

He takes another breath and holds my cheeks. "I... I mean, will you be my mate? I know I don't have much, if anything to offer you, but..." He swallows with the tension in him spiking. "I... I sure wish I had more to provide you, but..."

"Aw..." I hug him and bury my face in his chest. Maybe he feels the same way about me, too.

He pats my back, letting out a breath. "I'm such a failure as a male, huh? Even the cake is made from the ingredients in the bakery, which you own."

I snicker. He's silly. Maybe I didn't think about him that way for most of the time he works here, but he has potential.

He gasps. "Did I say the wrong thing again? Is this not how it's supposed to be? I don't know. I've never seen something like this. I know it's probably dumb, but..."

I press a finger on his lips. "Hush. Don't talk down on yourself, okay? I think you're pretty awesome."

He watches me, waiting for my answer.

I want him, but for now, there's still too much about him that remains a mystery to me. "You have to tell me more about you. You showed up as a mystery and remain so."

"What do you want to know?" His frown grows, even worse than when he tried a lemon. "There's nothing interesting about me."

"Something along the lines of why you seem to own nothing. I don't mean to ask why you aren't rich or something. I don't care about monetary things, but you have to admit that it is not normal for an adult to have almost absolutely nothing. It looks like something really bad happened and you're working hard to crawl out of that mess."

He stares at me, seemingly dejected with his slumped shoulders. "So... Is that really important?"

"What you own isn't that important, but why you end up in that situation is pretty important to me. What if you're here because you've gone through a few mates already and you tossed them to the side? Then I don't want to become your next mate."

"Oh, that didn't happen. I've never wanted someone to be my mate before I met you."

I fold my arms. I'm expecting something more. "And what if you're some criminal from another planet and I'd get into trouble if I become your mate?"

He sucks in a breath, and his gaze starts drifting.

I wait for him. I'll be patient. If he really wants me as his mate, he should know better than trying to hide things from me.

He heads out of the kitchen, which...

So, is he giving up? I like him, though...

I head out of the kitchen, following his steps. Even if he doesn't want to talk to me, I have to make sure he doesn't expect to get fired and run out into the storm. Even though we may not end up mates, I don't want him hurt.

He sits on a chair, staring at the floor. I lean against the kitchen door frame, waiting for him. I'd like a taste of the cake, but that has to wait. What happened to him, anyway? It can't be that bad, right?

The Christmas music is still humming along in the bakery, the tree is still blinking. Well, the storm is still raging and the windows rattle at times. Maybe the gears in his head are also churning.

I clear my throat, and he looks over. I say, "There's no need to make things up to look normal or try to blend in. Just be honest with me. Or if you really don't want to talk about it, just tell me that instead of trying to make things up."

"I'm not trying to make things up. It's just... not that easy to bring it up. I don't even know where to start."

"Okay? You can start with what brings you to this city."

"Um... A spaceship."

I suck in a breath. I almost forgot how he has a way of answering questions that drives me crazy. "So, who drove the spaceship? You?"

"No, I don't know how to drive one."

"So... Who drove you?"

"Merchants."

I'm not surprised when those travel from planet to planet to do deals. "Why? Were you a merchant?"

"No."

"Then why were you on their spaceship? Come on... Make your sentences longer and tell me what happened."

"I asked them to get me somewhere with a lot of beings."

That sounds like a city to me. "Just somewhere? Wherever?"

"Yes. They said they were heading someplace I'd never heard of, so I begged them to bring me."

Begged? That's strange.

"What were you doing before that?"

"Cleaning the floor on a space station."

"So, you used to have a job."

"Yeah."

"But you have no money or anything."

"I ran away."

"From the space station? Before that?" That's a weird way to talk about getting fired.

"A factory."

"And even more merchants helped you."

He nods. "Yes."

This has to be a joke... "And why did they drive you back then? Because you begged them to?"

"Yes."

"This has to be a fucking joke."

"No!" He stands and spreads his hands to the side. "I'm not wasting your time and I'm not making it up."

He has been honest, so... "And you ran away too, right?"

"Yes. How do you know?"

Give me a break...

He lifts his fingers. "Um... Maybe I ran away one time... If you don't tell others you're leaving, does that count as running away?"

"If you wronged them and left without resolving it, then yes, it counts."

"Okay, two times."

"Why did you run away the first time? What were you doing? Mopping floors again?"

He shakes his head. "No. In a factory."

"Okay, what kind of factory?"

"Make military stuff. But I used to cook there."

Huh? "Why did you run away then? That sounds like a normal job."

"Because they whip you if you do the wrong thing."

I shiver. He better not be lying about that. "Geez... What kind of factory is that?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? You applied for the job, no?"

He shakes his head. "I was sent there."

"Who sent you?"

"Guards."

Was he in a prison or something? Guards? But even if he worked when he was in prison, they don't whip them. "Why guards?"

"I don't know."

"Talking to you is frustrating."

"I'm trying!"

"I know." I go to him and squeeze his hands. It doesn't feel like he's lying from the intensity in his eyes, but... His hands are shaking. I just want to know what happened already instead of having to squeeze for the answers. "We can take our time."

"Do you hate me?"

"If I don't end up knowing everything, yes."

He takes a breath. "Okay. I'm trying. I grew up in that place. I don't know why there were guards, they just were there."

"What is that place? Where is that?"

"I... I don't know. I was there for longer than I know, and I don't know why I was there."

Is that part of the reason he didn't want to talk about his family when we were setting up the tree?

I ask. "Let's make it a bit more general. Do you know the name of the planet?"

He shakes his head. "No. They never told me."

"The name of the galaxy?"

"What's galaxy?"

"Um... Where the planet is located."

He shakes his head. "No. But the merchants who drove me mentioned the Empire, so I guess that's the name."

Oh, shit... Now that makes a lot more sense. "You should have started with that. You used to work in the Empire's factory."

He nods. "I think so. The merchants said that too."

"But... So, the Empire's guards forced you to work for them."

"They beat up beings they didn't like. I worked all the time. Eat, sleep, and work."

Maybe this is the reason he insisted on coming to the bakery, even though the storm was raging. I don't think the Empire cares about their slaves. Stodax was probably taken from his family when he was a kid and made a slave to work for the Empire.

He looks away again. "Is that bad?"

"You must have suffered."

"I was good at laying low."

"But you managed to flee."

"The factory was attacked. I ran and boarded a spaceship. The merchants let me stay and put me on a space station."

"Were they the ones attacking the factory?"

He shakes his head. "No. I ran for a week, then found them."

Oh... I hug him. "And when you were in the space station, you worked until you found another group and asked them to bring you somewhere?"

"The Empire could be chasing me."

Yes, now everything makes sense. "You should have told me when you showed up at my door."

"I didn't know." He hugs me. "I... I was such a failure."

"You're the bravest being I've ever met."

"I'm lucky."

I pat his chest and his abs, almost as if I'm trying to make sure he's intact. I've seen him naked, so I shouldn't have to try again, but... "Regardless, it has to be scary."

"Maybe."

"Huh?"

"I was there for so long that I didn't know whether I should be worried or not."

"I wonder how you managed to survive. The world is dangerous out there. For everything you've gone through, a single misstep and you'd be dead."

He smiles. "But I'm not dead and I'm here with you. I hope you don't mind my past and... well... my present when I have nothing worthwhile to contribute."

"Don't say that." Sometimes, I hate how much taller he is and that I'd have to stand on my tip toes to tap his lips. "I don't like it when you talk down on yourself. Makes it feel like I have a bad taste in beings."

"I didn't think about it that way."

"Now you can."

I hug him even tighter. I can't imagine living in a factory where the guards and others wouldn't even care about them. There have been rumors from the Empire, which a regular being like me living in the Alliance's territory could never verify. Or frankly, that's not something I'd think about much.

I pat his back with a surge of tears threatening to spill out of me. It makes no sense when I'm not the one hurt, but... fuck... This is wild...