SOUL TIES (The Sánchez Brothers Series, Book 1)

CHAPTER 7 : DEBBIE

"Dee, come on."

"Leave me the fuck alone." On second thought, I added "Please."

But being the persistent goat she was, she kept pestering me until I finally gave in. Madison was like a pesky fly that I couldn't quite get rid of, she always found a way to come back. I grumbled as she let out a whoop of victory. If she ever got fired, I surely wouldn't miss her.

"Why are you so difficult? Asking you to come eat at the cafeteria should make you happy, not grumpy." Her tone had a tinge of amusement and I felt my fingers twitch as they tried to lock my office door.

"Eating makes me happy. Eating with you though, makes me grumpy. There's a difference between the two, Madison." I clarified as we walked towards the elevator.

Her huff made my lips widen by half a millimeter. She was such an emotional, little thing. As we continued our transit to the office cafeteria, she narrated the events that took place in the swearing-in ceremony. I didn't get everything she said, her animated gestures kept distracting me.

"Caramelized Brussels sprout kabobs with grated parmesans for me." Madison's orders always made my face scrunch in mild disgust because they reminded me of a garden. Even if I wanted to be vegetarian like her, the names of the dishes wouldn't let me start.

The server looked at me. "Béchamel lasagne, please." She nodded and left. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"That's so much animal products."

I quirked my brows at her accusing tone. "So?"

She frowned upon my response. "Don't you ever feel pity for the animals that get killed to satisfy your epheremal cravings?"

When she put it that way, it did sound quite cruel. "No, not really."

"That's so mean."

I shrugged in nonchalance. Life wasn't kind, so why do I gotta be? "That's how life is, Madison. By the way, this should mark the end of that particular discussion, it's way too early to talk about animal rights and human philosophies."

She waited a few seconds before opening her mouth. "Apart from the sentimental part, vegetarianism is actually healthier. You know, long life and all that."

The persistent chit! "I prefer an early death to a long life with a vegetable diet. Life isn't even worth that much, to be honest. And no, it's not depression. I'm just being realistic and logical. And like I said the previous time, end of discussion."

Chuckling a bit, she decided to comply and finally dropped it. A few minutes later, our foods arrived and she continued with her storytelling.

"It was the most epic part."

I stopped wiping my cutlery to glance at her. "For real?"

She nodded frantically as she munched her roasted leaves. "Yeah, for real. The moment he went up, it was like time stopped for a moment. The whole room was eerily silent, everyone was hooked. Even Amber looked blown away." Her last statement was hard to believe though, might just be Madison and her dramatics.

"So that's it?" I took a spoon of the Italian dish. "I didn't miss so much then." I frowned and looked around the cafeteria. Who made the lasagne? The noodles were overcooked and the white sauce wasn't hitting right, probably because of the amount of salt in it. I ate another spoon and grimaced. Whoever cooked it, used cottage cheese instead of ricotta. Rubbish!

Madison scowled at my implication. "You missed every fucking thing. It is inexplicable, Dee. No explanations would do proper justice to that moment." She glanced around quickly and drew her head closer to whisper. "You know Gregory?"