𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚂𝚊𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜

Chapter-9

I was back in Monaco, with the possibilities of a movie under my name and the show's popularity just starting to take off. Katsumi was over the moon, all the hard work she had put into getting this meeting off paper and in action was finally paying off.

I came back to Monaco with a better mindset, ready to get writing and be done with the conclusion. I sat in the shop, behind the counter watching people browse but not buy anything. It didn't annoy me, it gave me time to people watch, which helps me write characters with more depth.

I watched an old woman in the corner of the shop, looking at the antique lamps. She looked very well dressed, what further established her wealth is when I noticed she had someone, an assistant but more like a handmaid following her around. The young woman following her, was holding her dog, it was a weird rat-dog sort of creature but she clearly liked him a lot.

I got to jotting down her mannerisms, coming up with a backstory for her. If I had the courage to talk to her, maybe I could hear what her story really was. But I didn't, so that was for me to decide and her to never know. My attention was diverted back to the counter, a tall figure was hovering impatiently.

I looked up from my notebook to be greeted with the very face I didn't want to see, as beautiful as it was. He was smiling at me, almost in a way to tell me that he knew what I was up to. I must have been visibly flustered because his smile grew even broader, I got up to face him.

"What brings you here today?" I asked him uninterested, dusting things that were already clean.

"I'm not here for you, don't flatter yourself." He leaned against the countertop. "I'm here to meet Baba."

I was still trying to come up with a smart mouth response when I heard someone call for me, I looked to see the handmaid asking for me to attend them. It's almost as if he was trying to block my path, I bumped shoulders with him to get to her.

"What can I do for you?" I asked her.

"Madame liked these two lamps," she gestured to the lamps in front of her, "and the small chest of drawers there. Can we have them packed and delivered?"

It took me a second, I was trying to figure out how I'd have them delivered. Kenji would handle deliveries, I didn't like driving in these cramped streets, they scared me. And today out of all days had to be when our delivery boy was off for the day.

"Yes of course, please let me know the address." I led her to back to the payment counter. Much to my annoyance, he was still here, watching me do my work. I noted down the address and rung their purchase up.

They were out of the shop, I sat back down. What else could I do? The one interesting person I had found had left store now, I couldn't even come up with a good character sketch. And it was all this man's fault.

He stood there with a slight smile on his face, combing his hair with his fingers, looking around, very aware that all the pair of eyes in the shop were on him.

"What are you working on?" He leaned over the desk.

I moved my little notebook away, it was personal to me. These were my thoughts, no one was really allowed to see them until I put them together and they made sense. "Why are you so nosy?"

"You were writing about that old woman weren't you?"

"Maybe, maybe not." I shut the book.

"Charles!" I heard Baba gleefully call, she waddled up to him, giving him a big hug and holding him with so much love in her eyes.

"How have you been while I was away?" He gave her a big smile, a genuine one. For someone who smiled a lot I noticed he rarely ever smiled with his eyes. Like right now, it was one of those dimples run deeper, eyes are all glittery and soft chuckle kind of smile.

They're talking and have walked away from the store, once again leaving me in charge. Arms linked together, they're off home. Baba's probably going to serve him with baked goods that were supposed to be my reward for today. Leaving all of that aside I get back to scribbling away in my notebook.

As expected, sales are slow. Just a couple of cool kids stop by to buy some old jewellery or a vinyl or two. I start wrapping up, and that's when Baba is back with Charles. I tell her about the delivery, how there's no way on earth I was driving a van on these streets. I would use the Vespa but it would be impossible to get all the stuff to reach intact.

"Is it for Larvotto address you jotted down?" He asked.

"Yeah." I answered.

"I'm headed there, I don't mind helping you out." He smiled again, not the genuine kind. This was the-I'll help you out because I want Baba to love me.

"You would do that?" She looked at him, with so much admiration.

"Yes! I will!"

"Thank you." I said, carrying the boxes out of the shop.

He helped me load them into the boot, I'm not trying to praise him for the bare minimum. But he literally dashed to the other side to hold the car door open for me. The interiors were so luxurious, I'm sure I looked like a little child in amazement.

I was in so much confusion when we waited at a red light, someone was literally recording a 360 degree view of the car, occasionally zooming into the driver's seat. The vein on his neck bulged out, he was tense and annoyed, he clearly didn't enjoy this.

I thanked him for the ride and unloaded the boxes, yet again he dashed out to help me with them. "You don't have to! You must be getting late."

"They can wait a few more minutes." He said, grabbing a box from my arm.

After the deliveries done, we headed out of the building, yet again greeted by a crowd around his car. He looked proud but slightly annoyed, I wouldn't blame him. I would hate it if people were literally surrounding my things like flies.

"You don't like this very much do you?" I asked him.

"I don't hate it, but I feel like I didn't sign up for being treated like a display at a science fair." He sighed.