"Uhh... what’s taking her so long?" Slater darted his eyes around, frowning. "Is she alright? Or maybe—"
He gasped and jumped to his feet. "Don’t tell me she got into an acci—"
"Shut up." Before Slater could even say the ominous word, Atlas hissed. His eyes were cold, but his voice was colder. "Slater, learn to choose your words carefully."
"Mark said she’s waiting in line," Zoren chimed in. "Apparently, she had to wait for the restock of this cake, and she’s holding her place... quite fiercely."
How cute.
A smile tugged at Zoren’s lips before he took out his phone. But just as he was about to make one of the most important phone calls of his life, Atlas beat him to it.
"I sent you a location. Find out who the baker is and tell him I invite him to work for me on the side. I don’t care if you have to drag him to me," Atlas ordered over the phone. Everyone could just imagine the kind of face Allen was making on the other end.
"Hey! That’s not fair!" Slater pouted as Atlas put his phone down. "And that’s low! You can’t just abduct a baker because Penny is willing to wait hours for that cake!"
"Says who?"
"Says—" Slater stopped, catching Atlas, Zoren, Hugo, and even Haines looking at him as if he was the one not making any sense. His lips curved downward.
Instead of continuing this losing debate, Slater pulled out his phone and grandly declared, "James, I’m dropping all projects you have lined up for me unless you convince this baker to let me be his model in exchange for a weekly supply of cakes!"
Confused, James scrunched up his nose. "Huh? Slater, haven’t you had dinner yet?"
"Hungry or not, make it happen." With that, Slater hung up. He looked at everyone proudly. "See? That’s how you do it. No threats or underhanded means. Just pure talent."
"I didn’t see any talent in that," Atlas commented coldly, earning an earful of justification from his younger brother.
Haines, watching this unfold, shook his head. "That baker is about to be very popular," he mumbled, raising a brow as he caught sight of Hugo from the corner of his eye.
Slowly, Haines turned, catching Hugo literally melting where he sat.
"Hugo, are you alright?" Haines asked, making the latter peek up at him.
"I’m... hungry," Hugo almost wept, feeling the beast in his stomach start to devour itself. "My last meal was last night at Grace’s birthday celebration."
Everyone turned to Hugo. Though Atlas knew his second brother had been attending Grace’s endless birthday dinners, Slater had no idea. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
"Didn’t she just have her birthday not long ago?" Slater asked. "How come she was still celebrating last night?"
"I don’t think that’s a bad idea," Haines nodded before pushing himself up. "I’ll help if there’s anything you need."
Zoren smiled subtly, then moved his hand before following Haines to the kitchen. As they left, the Bennet brothers looked at each other.
"Hugo, get up and have some soup," Atlas said, standing. "Don’t make her say we’re starving her husband while she’s not around."
With that, Atlas left, following Zoren and Haines. Slater darted his eyes between Atlas and Hugo before abruptly jumping up and leaving his second brother behind.
Hugo peeked up and frowned. "What a heartless little brother," he grumbled, mustering the last bits of his energy to push himself off the couch and drag himself to the kitchen.
***
In the kitchen, the food was ready to eat. It was still warm, a sign that it had been cooked recently. All they had to do was serve it. Since Zoren was the host, he insisted on ladling out the soup.
Standing in front of the pot, he gazed down at the contents.
"What kind of soup is this?" he wondered aloud. It looked a little different in color. But trusting his chef, he shrugged and poured some into small bowls.
And just like that, the Bennet brothers, Haines, and Zoren spent the next few quiet minutes sipping their soup. Not knowing it was about to make their night upside down.
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