Beauty and the Pharaoh

Chapter 6 - [Beauty and the Cake Shop]

I had intended on not coming over at all that weekend because of exams. But because of Neferkiti, I was there from sunrise to sunset.

Taking in Neferkiti was an amazing idea... firstly because she was the absolute cutest, most gentle kitten I have ever met.

Secondly... Akhenatem very well liked Neferkiti. Which meant that now he had company when I was gone. It was better than him being lonely, right?

Plus, I was one hundred percent certain that he liked her more than he liked me. One thousand percent certain, actually.

But... that was a good thing. Because that meant he spent a lot of time with her.

And even though I was really jealous at the amount of time the two were spending together... I did have to study for exams, and Neferkiti being clingy with me would only distract me.

So I sat in my brother's living room, my books scattered across the coffee table while Akhenatem played with Neferkiti.

I tried to ignore the two because my jealousy was overwhelming, so I used my book to hide them from my view.

But Neferkiti's meows and Akhenatem's amused huffs were impossible to ignore.

So I looked at them over my book, watching Akhenatem play on the floor with my precious little Neferkiti and suddenly, I realized something.

It blew my mind to think that this man was possibly once cruel.

There was a look on his face that somehow made him look... kinda sad. And maybe even pitiful?

Oh god would he freak if he heard me call him pitiful out loud.

But it made me wonder...

What if he wasn't cruel per say?

What if he was just... confused?

"Why do you study so hard?" He asked, startling me from my deep thinking.

When I looked at him, I saw that he was looking at me.

"Erm..." I hesitated, "cause I have to pass my exams."

"And then what?"

"And then do well in University."

"What's that?"

"A higher education." Right?

"Then what?"

My lip twitched. Here he goes again with the questions. "Then I get a job."

"Why waste your time studying? Why don't you go get a job now?"

"Because that's not how it works here. A lot of the jobs requires that you have an education of some sort past high school."

"It seems like a waste of time to me."

"But... learning isn't a waste of time," I argued. I loved to learn. A lot. It was the exams and tests that annoyed me though.

He shrugged, looking back at Neferkiti now, "what job do you want to have?"

"Not really sure yet." I said, simply, "I plan on deciding that afterwards."

"After your higher education?"

I nodded.

He nodded too, "I see."

When he didn't continue speaking, I went back to reading my textbook.

"What kinds of things do you learn?" He asked, suddenly.