Nothing Without You

IV: Business Proposal

Now | Christian

There was nothing better than unwinding in the kitchen. Eomma taught me everything I knew and the best part about all of it was she taught me numerous kinds of dishes. From Korean to Pakistani to Mexican to Italian. Those were the perks of a chef like my mother. The smell of ginger-garlic paste and coriander seeds overpowered the smell of a freshly sanitized kitchen. I loved it.

I kneaded the ground beef with the spices and added delicious additions of onion, cilantro, mint, and tomato. If I was making this for myself, I'd trash the plastic gloves and use my bare hands, there was definitely a difference in taste, but I was making this for the restaurant.

"What the hell are you doing?"

I grabbed a small portion of the meat and flattened it against my palms. Osama walked into my space with the top of his shirt unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His hair needed a good ass haircut and his beard needed a trim. This either meant I've overworked him or he heard the news which made him age fifteen years within the past 24 hours. I bet on the latter.

"Making Chapli Kababs." I felt his gaze burn into my skin. I ignored it and continued with making the circular shaped kabobs. Osama didn't look away. Instead, he started tapping his finger on the counter. I hated when he did that. I put down the unfinished pattie and with a sigh, I placed my elbows on the counter bent down by the waist to glare at him effectively. "What?"

"Have you looked at your phone?" Osama raised his voice and turned his phone around so I could see the screen. There it was. The news of the hour. Todd Dufferman sexually assaulted a minor interning at Starlight.

"I don't know where it is, why?" I answered while staying aloof at the news. Thinking back to my phone, I don't know where I put it. But I know It would be packed with messages from people wondering if the tip off had something to do with the rivalry between both companies.

"You're fucked." Osama ran his hand through his hair. He was starting to look really unattractive with his shoulder-length hair. His nostrils flared in anger. If I put my finger up to his nose, would the length of his nostrils be longer than the first crease?
I pursed my lips to stop the laughter from erupting out of my throat. I straightened my back and returned to making the food. "It would help if you didn't swear so much."

"Help who?" He sarcastically asked. "Your dumb ass?" Osama shook his head with a slight sneer. "You didn't have to tip off the reporters about what that girl told you."

Hanan Sultan emailed me a week ago about the assault and she wasn't the first woman from Starlight to do so. Anonymously tipping off the reporters wasn't in the best interest of my heart and it definitely wasn't done from the goodness of it but everyone has their reasons. I had mine. "I thought you'd like that I did that since you're all about doing what's right and justice must be served kind of guy."

He narrowed his eyes. "That's not the point."

"There is no point, Osama." I took a deep breath. I couldn't focus on making the kabobs if he was talking to me. So instead, I stopped working and turned my body to pay full attention to him. "The dude fucked up and it disgusts me."

"I agree with you, Christian. But Starlight is just as well known as us. What you did is deliberately provoking Addie."

I almost scoffed. Adelaide Mikael was scared of everything and she was very good at hiding it. "She doesn't know it was me."

"She will eventually and when she does," he shut his eyes. "It won't be good for any of us."

"I sent in an anonymous tip to the reporters. She doesn't know I'm the one who let this news out. She won't suspect me either because it's been nine fucking years since I last saw her." I aggressively pulled the latex gloves off and took a step towards him. Osama was a composed man but there were moments like now, when he'd fidget with his fingers, that proved otherwise.