14 Casual Conversations

Following Penny, Xavier made his way down to the first floor. The sound of water running and teeth being brushed could be head.

Penny asked Xavier to wait for them to finish as she left to go brush her teeth with the others.

Xavier was standing at the kitchen confused. He pulled out a chair from the cooking table and sat down.

Small giggles to loud laughter could be heard. There was also cursing in between them. It sounded like Gamella was scolding Mineko.

Hearing footsteps coming his way, Xavier turned. There were maids and butlers entering the kitchen.

All of them bowed his way before taking out knives, pots, pans, spices, vegetables, and meat.

They were going to cook.

It was like watching a choreographed show. Each of the maids and butlers cooked together not getting in each other's way.

They all had their own role. One would boil the water while another would cut the vegetables.

The most interesting of them all was an old butler with white hair. He had a beard and glasses that made him look wise.

He had 2 knives in his hands. He flipped the meat onto the counter. Taking the knives and sharpening them with each other, he started to cut the meat.

His first step was to get rid of super thick fat. He left small layers of fat to add juice to the meat.

Cutting straight through one side of the meat to the other side, he turned the block of meat into 2 relatively even pieces.

With both knives, he started cutting them in small pieces. When he finished cutting, he used the knives to flick the meat into a pot.

He grabbed the pot and put in the sink in order to wash the meat.

When he was satisfied with it, he poured the water out of the pot. He carried the pot over to the boiling pot a maid had prepared and poured it in.

Then he moved over to the chopped vegetables and picked them up. He dumped them in the boiling pot as well.

He did the same for the seasoning.

Done with his part of the cooking, he moved on to another dish. He took out a bag of noodles and handed then over to another butler.

While the other butler was making the noodle, he was making the broth. It consisted of simmer chicken broth, soy sauce, cooking wind, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, a touch of sugar, star anise, chili paste, and scallions.

He added chopped up pork and vegetables into the broth. He let the broth cook as he moved on to the next thing.

He took out dried seaweed from the cabinet and passed them to a maid who was making sushi.

Xavier was intrigued. He kept watching the old butler cook.

He was so focused on the old butler that when the girls left the bathroom and joined him at the kitchen, he didn't even notice.

He broke focus only when his shoulder was tapped on. He turned around and saw Hibari smiling as she looked at him.

She gave him a hug and a kiss on the lips. He didn't refuse.

The girls pulled out chairs and sat down as well. Hako pulled out a seat next to him and scooted the chair to be closer to him.

Everyone, confused as to why the 2 was so close, made weird faces.

Xavier didn't feel like answering their curiosity so he turned back around to look at the butler cook.

The dishes that was done was put in plates with the specific purpose to keep them warm.

Most of the maids and butlers were done with their jobs as they moved to the side of the room.

Only the old butler was left finishing off the dishes. The cooking dishes was left alone to finish by themselves.

Hibari and Hako looked at each other asking what happened with their eyes. Both didn't have the answer to the question.

Xavier was no longer interested in watching pots boiling so he turned to look at Hibari who was to his left.

All the girls was looking at him. This was the first time that there was a man who slept and stayed at their home after all.

Penny didn't sit down with them. She had documents in her hands. She read them one by one.

"Who wants to go inform Future Cooperation that we will no longer invest in their company?" she asked.

Jess raised her hand volunteering to do it. Penny wrote it down.

"Who wants to go finish that business meeting we had planned with HTC?" Penny asked looking at the available girls.

Vena replied, "I could do that if someone is willing to deliver my package to my company headquarters."

"I could do that for you," Gamella told Vena.

"That's all for today," Penny threw the documents at a table placed by the window.

Hako took out her phone and clicked on the power button opening it. She tugged on Xavier's shirt. He turned and looked at what she was showing him.

She had set the photo of him kissing her while carrying her like a princess as her wallpaper.

"You like?" Xavier asked.

She nodded. He smiled in response.

Hibari pinched his arm. She was jealous as she caught a glimpse of the picture.

Xavier chuckled softly and said, "We can take one later."

It was like taking care of 2 little girls. They were both older than him and had a lot more responsibility than him but they still acted like he was their older brother or something.

Penny looked at the 3 and asked herself, 'What happened? Did the sunrise from the wrong side of the world today?'

It was the first time she's ever seen the 2 girls like that before. Hibari was always a serious person who rarely made jokes. Hako always despised guys who didn't respect her.

Hako went from whipping him in anger to trying to cuddle up to him.

The girls plus Xavier talked the casual talk. They discussed the weather, what happened in the media, favorite whatever and the sort.

When the last dish was complete, a table was carried over to the kitchen. Then chairs were added to fit how many people were going to eat.

The maids and butlers carried the dishes over to the table. Lifting the top, they revealed the food.

They were eating warm and heavy food despite it being breakfast. Normally breakfast would be light such as cereal, bacon, eggs, and simple foods such as those.

Mineko was ordered by Gamella to say the prayers. They weren't all religious but it was a tradition in the mansion to pray when eating together.

Everyone staring chowing into their food. Xavier ate properly with restraint. Hako and Hibari were trying to feed him themselves.

Penny asked, "What happened between you 2 Hako, Xavier?"