The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE (FLASHBACK CONT.)

Between training constantly with Karlos and having to attend school, Jared had little to no time for himself. Fortunately for Jared, Karlos was going all the way across the globe to Europe to oversee preparations for the first-ever Tier Battle. While he was busy with that, Jared planned on binge-watching the latest episode of Sweeter Than Pie. He was already settled into one of the many recliners in the mini-theater in the palace. At his side were a big bowl of cheddar popcorn and a bottle of soda, both of which Karlos refused to let him have. A content sigh escaped his mouth as he took a breather from drinking the soda to shove popcorn in his mouth. I hope Karlos stays in Europe for a whole week. The upbeat opening to Sweeter Than Pie  filled the theater. Humming along quietly, he reclined the seat a little further to see two glowing eyes peering down at him.

"Holy crap!" Jared yelped, jolting upright, almost smacking his head against Karlos's.

The popcorn sitting in Jared's lap sprayed all over the place. A few pieces sprinkled into Karlos's hair. Upon seeing the sight of him doused in cheddar popcorn, Jared pursed his lips together to stop himself from laughing, but he could not help himself. Laughter sounded from him as he threw back his head, slamming his fist against the arm of the recliner.

"Shouldn't you be in the gym?" Karlos questioned Jared who was still laughing his heart out.

Once Jared settled down, he fired back, "Shouldn't you be in Europe?"

"My flight was delayed by two hours," He told Jared, settling himself down in the recliner beside him.

Jared was too focused on the lack of popcorn in his bowl to pick up on the spike in Karlos's heartbeat when he said his flight was delayed. That was a blatant lie. The truth was Karlos bought a whole new plane ticket, all because he couldn't bring himself to board the plane. He was worried, worried about leaving Jared. This foreign feeling of love was one he had gradually grown accustomed to. Though, in the beginning, it only scared the Elder. He had consulted his most trusted servant about this, as he had grown concerned for himself. It was about a month or so ago when he asked, but he still remembered the exact words his servant said to him. 'You love him, much like how a parent would love their own child'. Those words danced around in his head as he stole a sideways glance at Jared. His heart which was once only beating for him was now beating for another.

"I'll go to the gym, so don't start lecturing me," Jared huffed, reluctantly pushing himself upwards, grabbing the remote to the projector as he did so.

Just as his thumb was about to press down on the button labeled 'OFF', Karlos stretched his arm over to him, quickly snatching the remote right from his hand. Jared's brows furrowed together, a puzzled expression overcame his face. The last thing he expected was for Karlos to stop him from shutting off his show. After all, he wasn't anyone special. He was just another High-tier that the Elder had to deal with.

"Sit back down." Since Karlos wasn't sure of how to work the remote, he gave it back to Jared. "Put your show back on," Karlos continued ordering Jared around, unaware of the internal dilemma going on inside of Jared.

Hesitantly, Jared sat back down in the recliner, then unpaused his show. It would be better for him not to bother with trying to figure out Karlos' odd behavior. He'd much rather watch his show anyway, but, unfortunately, he couldn't even focus due to the motor mouth next to him.

"I don't understand. Why would the baker put poison in the lady's cupcakes? Isn't that illegal?"

With a groan of annoyance, Jared answered the tenth question Karlos asked him in under six minutes of the show, "The baker is the ex of the lady's boyfriend. She's trying to kill the lady so she can get back with her ex-boyfriend. And, yes, it's illegal, but there really isn't any legal way to kill someone."