Faux Possession (ON-HOLD!) ORIGINAL

4

CHAPTER 4

"Are you out of your mind?" Brick exclaimed when he saw Scarlet and Aries in front of him. "No way that Beast will work here." He huffed with his arms firmly folded it on his chest.

"Come on, Brick, she's looking for a job." Aries tried to reason out with his friend.

"So what? why doesn't she just look for another job at another cafe?"

"She did already but..." Aries and Scarlet shared a dejected look together as they remembered what happened yesterday.

Aries woke up from the sound of a series of curses and clanging of utensils downstairs, he immediately went to look for it only to find his kitchen filled with smoke and the fire sprinkler were on, resulting a huge, wet mess.

'What the? Did I forget to turn off the stove?' he thought while he swatted the smoke away from his face while his other hand covered his nose. When he finally arrived at the stove, he saw it was son and the fire was high, above it a frying pan with some sort of dark matter and beside it a bottle of wine. He quickly soaked a towel with water and threw it on the top of the burning dark matter, distinguishing the fire in the process. At last, the smoke subsided and the fire sprinkler finally turned off as well.

Aries sighed and saw the mess it had caused, everything in his kitchen, dining area, and living area were all wet. Some of the appliances were waterproof so it's still working, but most of the furnishings are in need to replace. "What's going on, what just happened- Ahh!"

Out of nowhere a lady spoke, "I'm sorry..." Scarlet apologized with her head hanging low and droplets of water cascading from her hair to the floor. Her shirt was almost a see through since it got wet from the water of the sprinkler but none of that matters to both of them.

"Scarlet?" he asked, "what were you..."

"I was just trying to make breakfast as compensation for all you have done for me." she mumbled, her head still low.

"This is... breakfast?" he trailed, scanning his supposedly breakfast. "What is that breakfast?"

"It's my special fried rice, before it burns."

"Oh, I see." He let out a quivering laugh, "T-Thanks, but you know you don't have to do that for me, I can cook for myself."

Scarlet's face grew red from embarrassment, "I just want..."

"No, no, I mean, thank you. I appreciate that." Aries instantly rebutted, "Now, why don't you go and take a shower."

"But..." before the woman can say something, Aries beats her from doing so.

"It's my day off, so I can take care of this, I can call the utility, and they will take care of everything. Now go and take a bath before you catch a cold. Your clothes should be in the service area, all clean and dry."

While Scarlet is in the shower, her mind is still wondering from the embarrassment she just did earlier, "I have to get a job this time, I can't keep messing things up." She groaned. "Okay, I'll just apply as a part timer for now since all my resumes are all gone."

And just like what she had planned, she set out to find a part time job while Aries was left with the utility service. She went from different shops and stores, literally begging to hire her but none of them was hiring her. Not only because they were not hiring at all, but most of them are looking for a resume and some requirements, so she came back with a gloomy atmosphere.

"You're quite late, how was job hunting?" Aries smiled at her while he sipped his tea on the living area while reading the news on his tablet.

Scarlet could only sigh and went to jump on the couch across from him, face first, "So... it's all good now? That was fast," she asked, referring to the mess she left.

"Thank you... and sorry..." she mumbled.

"Ah no, don't worry about it. That's just small, I was planning on changing the couches as well, I just don't have the time." He reassured her. "Do... you want some cookies? I baked it myself."

"No, thank you, I'm not hungry. Who in the world is having tea just after dinner anyway." but her stomach said the opposite.

Aries could only laugh, "Come on, go and take a bite then rest, tomorrow I will introduce you to my friend, perhaps he may help you."

Back to the fuming friend of Aries, "No, I am not hiring as well. So, now shoo, my customers will eventually come, it's close to rush hour."

"You don't have customers, I know that you know you sucked at making coffee and other beverage here so technically-"

Brick felt his ego shatter when Aries stated the fact, but immediately composed himself and said, "I said no."

"Why?" Aries whined.

"It's because I said so."

"But she can be a help here."

"What can she do? She's a woman."

"She can clean! She's good at it. And your statement is being sexist you know..."

"Aries, this place is not suitable for her, some men are even barging here and there harassing my previous female assistants so it's a no... what the hell are you grinning at?"

"Ah I see." Aries sweetly smiled, "so you're just protecting her. I understand you're just concerned about her."

"What no! I am not! That beast doesn't need any protection-"

"That coffee is totally upside down." Scarlet commented out of nowhere. "And that milk tea I can tell by the picture, it's salty."

"Hey, what are you doing? Are you even listening? I told you I am not hiring so go back to your den." But Bricks's statements were all ignored.

"What do you mean upside down and what's salty?" Aries asked her.

Scarlet then pointed to the menu flashed behind the counter, one by one she told them what would be the taste of their drinks just by the picture. And she's right, she managed to guess the taste of their drinks, "Your desserts are pretty good you know, but the drinks though are quite..."

Aries and Bricks shared a look together before the former asked, "How can you tell?"

"Nah, Ris, she's clearly faking it! she doesn't know this stuff, you said that she almost burned down your condo, that only means she's-"

"Well, of course, it's my job. I'm a mixologist and patissier."