⁀➴ ⋆.˚ C o o k & A r t i s a n [CHAP. 2]
|| 𝐴𝑢𝑔𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑆𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑧𝑎 𝑥 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑓.ᐟ𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 ||
Fake enemies to lovers || chef x artisan || 2k words
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You jolted upwards to find that your room was already flooded with light.
Even though your strong suits were lunch and dinnertime, you still liked taking care of breakfast when you could. The problem was that you had to wake up no later than the crack of dawn if you wished to satisfy everyone—including the early birds.
You slid into your slippers to head for the kitchen. If luck was on your side, the sun had just chosen to rise earlier that day, and you still had enough time to cook something up quickly.
Gris greeted you with his eyes glued on the omelette he was taking care of. Next to him, Tomme was swiftly slicing and grouping a bunch of different fruits.
“Woah, that’s a little bit too quick to replace me, don’t you think?” You said while making your way to one of the stools. “Need any help?”
A part of you was already itching to get to work, but the other only wanted to lie on the cold counter and watch your peers in action. You loved cooking—there was no doubt about that—but always ignoring the fatigue it gave you wasn’t easy.
A few minutes after they assured you that everything was under control, you decided that taking a good shower would be a nice way to start the day. You could always come back later, after all.
However, you were soon intercepted by Semiu.
“First of all, Boss wants to see you. Second of all…”
“Second of all…?” you repeated with a raised brow.
You had to watch as her eyes scanned you up and down for some hot seconds to understand that she was referring to your attire. You were still wearing August’s uniform.
“Let me guess. All of your clothes were musty as hell, so you absolutely had to turn to his clothes.”
You didn’t manage to meet your friend’s eyes as you answered. “Well, I did have some clean ones, just nothing comfortable enough for sleep.”
Since you had no reply to your friend’s comment, you took your frustration out on her magazine, grabbing it from her hands and slamming it on her desk.
Semiu’s indifference was flagrant. She simply took her property back and smirked. “Look, my opinion is that it’s just a matter of time for y’all to start dating. He realises he can’t live without you, then you realise the same and then bam!” she explained while mimicking the process with her hands. “New couple.”
You couldn’t help but wince at the thought. Everything sounded ridiculous, but Semiu still seemed to be having fun since she kept snickering. “Yeah, I’ll leave you and your madness alone. Did he tell you why he wants to see me?”
She shrugged. “Probably the same thing as usual.”
After a defeated sigh, you still thanked her for the message and headed for your room. Three people had already seen you in that outfit, so you needed to change before heading to the office. Additionally, you still had your towel in hand, since your prior desire was to hit the shower.
Your face immediately went flat as you heard Enjin’s voice.
Seeing that you were going to resume walking, the man grabbed the back of your jacket.
“Enjin, not the time.” you said through gritted teeth, only with the thought of someone else popping out of thin air.
You attempts to release yourself by slapping his were futile. Once one got off, another hand grabbed a different spot on your clothes.
“Come on, let me get a good look!” he replied. “Does August know about this? I can let him know, if you want.”
Your bickering lasted for another minute before you went fully still. Just as you’d feared, someone was approaching. After quickly scanning your surroundings, you shoved your towel in Enjin’s hands. If you ducked down the hall, you could directly get to Corvus’s office.
You landed a last jab on your friend’s arm before rushing away.
After catching your breath in front of the doors, you finally stepped in.
“Good morning, boss! Semiu said you wanted to see me, so here I am!”
Despite the exagerrated grin you gave him, you were still getting the chills.
In any other place, you saw your boss as any other cleaner. When you entered his office, however, things changed. There was something with the size of the room, or just his demeanour, that made you feel way smaller than what you were. It was a constant reminder of the difference in rank between you that made your hair stand on end.
“Good morning. Aren’t you going to sit?” he asked since you were still standing close to the door.
“No, no, haha. I left something on the stove, and I don’t want to forget it. I can stand… respectfully.”
You threw away the first lie that came to your mind because you knew his intent. Nine times out of ten, when you were summoned, it was for the same reason: a forced day-off. A few weeks after you began working for him, Corvus dictated that you’d have to take a break every time you went overboard.
You racked your brain for the moment when you’d done too much in the past days and almost cussed when it came.
“Oh, that’s fine with me. It’s not going to last long, so stay assured.”
Your eyebrows not-so-subtly arched. Usually, he’d take a good fifteen minutes before dropping the news. Maybe, just maybe, you didn’t get caught this time and could avoid a forced break.
Corvus noticed your reaction and couldn’t hold back his chuckle.
“The reason why I called was to warn you about the arrival of some important guests. I assumed it would be good to advise you in advance to avoid unnecessary stress. They’ll be here…” You watched as he glanced at the paper between you. “Next weekend. Is that alright with you?”
You happily nodded at all of his words. If there was something you loved, it was definitely showing off your cooking skills to strangers. It did no harm to the cleaners’ reputation and also allowed you to go over-the-top without being told that it was indeed over-the-top.
“Yes sir! Thank you, sir!” you replied before heading for the exit.
“It’s a pleasure. Oh and another thing.”
Directly following your meeting, you gave up on the bathroom and walked to your room. Of course, he had waited for you to be on cloud nine before knocking you to six.
You pulled a notebook out of your desk’s drawer and took a seat. While brainstorming for what you could prepare, your mind kept going back to his words and stupid smile.
Before you could even stand up, your door flew open, and your towel was thrown at your face.
August’s day was following its normal routine until he crossed paths with Enjin, who apparently had urgent matters to deal with and needed a little service: taking your towel to your room.
The artisan’s initial plan had been to simply drop it in the laundry room to complicate things for you, but Eisha opposed herself to the idea. So that’s how the siblings accepted the side quest.
Following the towel tossing, he was ready to leave immediately, but his sister stopped him once again.
“What againnn?” He grumbled, throwing his head back.
“Didn’t you hear something? I think I did.”
“Eishey, come on! Enjin just said she's at a meeting with Boss, and his meetings always last years. Check!”
Confidently, he walked to your door and tried to open it once again but couldn't. A weight on the other side was keeping him out, although the handle was freely moving.
“(Y/n)?” Eisha called, but without an answer in return. “Sorry if we’re—Auggie?!”
On his side, August was still fighting. “If she isn’t going to answer, I’ll force my way in!”
The thing was that August strongly believed he saw you the first time he opened the door. Two minutes ago, he had no interest in having a conversation with you. However, now that he was at the door, an important detail was saturating his mind.
What you were wearing seemed awfully familiar to him.
Everyone's eyes grew wide.
Eisha took advantage of her brother’s bewilderment to drag him away. “Come on, let’s go!” she whispered. “Sorry for bothering, (y/n)!”
Despite her brother's complaints, the little sibling refused to have any of it. “Now that this is done, we should go back.”
August rolled his eyes. “We could've seen her in my clothes.”
August stepped in the office with enough volume for himself and his sister. Corvus, who was already used to so much noise at early hours, simply smiled. “The Stilza siblings! To what do I owe this visit?”
“She has a request!” August answered with finger guns in his sister's direction.
Visibly, Eisha herself wasn’t aware of that since she stood there, unblinking and at a loss for words. Fortunately, a simple ahem from the man opposite them was enough to bring her back. “Uhm, we wanted to know if we could take a day off today. We know that—”
The little nurse barely had time to take the answer in before August stood up immediately. “Alright, thank you, boss! Have a very very awesome day!” he dropped as he left the room.
With August gone, Eisha assumed the conversation was over, but her boss chose otherwise. “Let August know that before heading out—because I assume that’s your motive—you’ll have to drag the other person on a break today with you. That's my only condition.”
You were about to shut the door in August’s face, but his foot was quicker than you.
“Seriously? You’d do that to this poor, innocent, and adorable little girl?” he asked while pulling on Eisha’s cheeks.
“Are you really using Eisha to blackmail me?”
You tried to slump back into your chair, but he pulled it away, sending you crashing to the floor.
For the second time that day, August allowed himself to leave the room without warning. There was no one else better at convincing you than his sister. Even the other cleaners had noted that you two could act more like siblings than the actual biological brothers and sisters did.
When he thought about it, you did have a knack for easily bonding with others, and not just with Eisha. From the oldest to the youngest—all of them shared a decent relationship with you. One could think that was only natural, since you were co-workers. But with missions left and right, getting closer to others, especially when you weren't an attacker yourself, wasn't the easiest thing.
Your weekly manhunt absolutely played a role in that, even if everyone complained about it.
Whether it was part of your plan or not, it remained a good way to grow closer. Yes, you exhausted a cleaner per week, but that also gave you time to learn more about each other: their habits, what they like, what makes them laugh, and more.
That was definitely something he couldn't do.
While heading to his motorcycle, August wondered—and not for the first time—what those moments would look like if you took him someday.
Scenarios drew themselves in his mind one after the other. You’d probably fight. He’d probably make a mess. You’d probably show him the ropes while insulting him. You'd probably both end in the boss’s office once again.
You’d also probably not take him.
Eisha was the first to step out, and you followed in her footsteps.
“No one is immune to mini-August’s charm!” he shouted with a smug grin.
Your mouth twisted in a grimace. “Don’t insult her name like that.”
You walked around the motorcycle, surely to get a look at the sidecar.
"Oh, I really don’t mind going in, if that's what you want,” Eisha stated.
By the time both you and August opened your mouth, she was already inside, helmet on.
So you two were left on the moto.
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