I See You[MxB]

Chapter 8 | The one with the child

Preston turned the knob but it refused to budge. Usually the door was unlocked at this time of the day. Knocking, he waited for Alastair to open the door.

When it swung open, he was greeted by semi-wrinked face of Sam. They exchanged pleasantries before moving to his workspace. Making small talk was his forte. Sam was too polite for his liking, he would prefer the company of Alastair over his assistant. Oblivious to his own searching eyes, he continued fiddling with pans and pots until the old man questioned - “Are you alright? Should I call Mr. Cabot for you?”

“Huh?”

“You were looking at stairs every now and then,” Sam explained slowly as if speaking with a child. “Are you waiting for my boss?”

“Oh.” It was then Preston realized that he was in fact eyeing the staircases very frequently and Sam had followed his line of sight. “No, it's fine.”

Sam didn't pry. Silence ensued in the house and neither of the two dared to break it. With nothing to distract him, Preston's thoughts went to a certain man in the house. He had to agree that Alastair was an interesting character. The man was an enigma. He irritated the hell out of Preston but his presence made him feel less lonely.

At the sound of footsteps, his ears perked up and he glanced up just in time to catch the sight of Alastair on the last step.

Mr. Cabot slumped in the chair he always sat on and his assistant shifted to the one right next to him. While Preston cooked quietly, the other two talked about business, meetings and clients. From their conversation, he gathered that Alastair was the COO of an IT firm his friend owned. As the time passed, he zoned out. It was getting too boring for him to listen to.

Remembering the instructions from the day before, he picked up the dishes and went to the dining table. “Mr. Cabot? On the marks, right?”

Alastair gave a positive response but Sam stiffened in his seat and when he noticed the teenager staring at him suspiciously, he forced out a laugh. It sounded fake. “My boss has a bit of an OCD. Please make sure that you don't mess things up. No need to touch anything outside of this kitchen and do not misplace anything while in here too.”

“Sam, enough.” Sam immediately quietened down at his boss' order.

Preston nodded and politely asked whether Sam would join his boss for dinner or not, to which Sam politely declined.

“Sir,” Sam piped up as Alastair took his place at the dining table and got to his feet, “I will be leaving now.”

“Alright, Sam. Thank you very much.”

Replying with “It's my pleasure” the old man waved at Preston and hurried out of the house. Again, Preston and Alastair were alone in the house. A sigh escaped the former, he could be comfortable now.

“You sound happy. What did Sam do?”

Preston was startled at Alastair's voice, his attention was on the feeling of relief running through his body. Angling his body towards Alastair, he gave the man a once over. It was surprising that the man was initiating a conversation. “He-”

“Threw a smile at you and you were unable to bear the humanly gesture?”

Preston's eyes twitched. He hated being cut off in between while talking. And what was Alastair's problem with him anyway? “No, he threw a hissy fit when I informed him that his boss is an ass. He was unable to bear the truth,” He retorted with a sarcastic smile.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Alastair's face before vanishing too quickly. Preston disliked how the older man got a kick out of his reactions.

“Don't murder poor Sam. He was here on child supervision duty as I was busy.”

“You have a child?” Preston's eyes frantically began moving in search of the said child, as if a tiny body of two and a half feet would pop out of nowhere and yell 'Surprise!'

When the blonde replied, Preston stood stunned in his place. He would stay to gather his senses and come up with a witty response but it was getting late, so he left for his home.

Sadly, he was not free of Alastair.

Preston could not stop thinking about Alastair's words when he was in the middle of Culpa Mia. The theatre room in his insanely large house was exquisite.

“You have a child?”

“No but I have you.”

The sentence was oddly romantic in his opinion. Was Alastair gay? Was the blonde making fun of him? Are blondes really dumb? Wait! Was he flirting with me?

Preston pulled at his hair, upset at his stupidity. Alastair was calling him a child and he was realizing it just now. He groaned out loud and took cover under the blankets in embarrassment despite being alone in the house. He did not want the mirror in the room to laugh at him.