Niles (ManXMan, Werecat)(Book 7) COMPLETED

Chapter 22

"This is the tech lab," Leandre says as we walk into a large room in the basement. "We are testing a new kind of pen,"

I look at him incredulously. "A pen? Seriously?"

He glances at me and must have realized my utter confusion so he clarifies. "Oh, sorry, it is a 3D pen. One that will allow the person to draw in 3D, much like a 3D printer only it is smaller and you do not need a computer to operate it,"

My mouth drops into an 'O' shape. "Oh," I nod my head. "Yeah, that makes more sense. I was seriously thinking you meant like a writing pen with ink and stuff,"

Leandre chuckles. "My apologies, I should have been more clear,"

There are actually a lot of people down here. A lot of people have clipboards and watch the work of the people in actual white lab coats as they work. It's almost like a shadowing class or something like that. They look like students watching the professionals.

A woman comes up to us and greets Leandre in of course French. I stand back to let them work as they both converse in French. That is until Leandre waves me forward so we could move on. He then inspected the new pen which is still in its design phase. It's big, chunky, and awkward. Right now there is nothing appealing about it, and it would be hard to fit in a hand. Then Leandre went to a room and conversed with a man, who, of course, spoke French.

After about thirty minutes in there, Leandre leads us to another lab in the basement. This one was researching cures for different kinds of ailments plaguing both humans and animals. We spent about an hour in there with me not understanding a single word spoken. Then we heading back up to the main ground floor and he leads me to the restaurant area that also had a coffee shop next to it which I realized was called Cote Caffeine.

Leandre lead me through the dining area and straight into the back kitchen. The staff were bustling around and only stopped for a moment to acknowledge Leandre's presence. Leandre walked around the kitchen, inspecting things inconspicuously, the staff hardly realized he was there. I did notice a few looks, though, which is surprising since no one has properly looked at me yet since arriving in this country.

The head chef, at least I'm assuming it was the head chef since she is the only one with a red top instead of white like everyone else, spoke a few words to Leandre before presenting him with a plate. The plate has five different kinds of food, just enough for a mouthful each. Leandre surprises me, though, when he hands the plate to me instead. The chef's eyes blazing into me with obvious confusion.

"Try each dish and let me know your thoughts on them," He says.

I stare at him with wide eyes and my mouth slack. He wants me to try them? Why isn't he trying them? It's his restaurant, shouldn't he be tasting the food instead? He nods his head encouragingly so I sigh and pick up the fork.

The fork slides right into the piece of meat, which I think is actually fish now that I can look at it closer. As I bring the fork up to my mouth, I get a strong whiff of lemon. My nose tingles from the strong aroma as my mouth starts to salivate.

I pop the fish into my mouth and taste it. I've never been big about seafood but this is actually really good! And who would have thought that fish and lemon would blend so well together?

"How is it?" Leandre asks.

I have to swallow before I give him my answer. "It's really good," I lick my lips to get the last remnants of zesty lemon off them. "I'm not big on seafood, but this is something I'd eat. And I never knew you could pair lemon with fish. The fish has that sea taste to it while the lemon has that earthy taste. They blend well and complement each other,"