Vice

15: Family Breakfast

A palm caresses Natara's cheek and warm fingers weave their way between her curls. 

She leans her head back, exposing her neck to the press of soft lips trailing up to her jawline. Her brown eyes flutter open, peeking at the man in front of her, but all she sees is a flicker of a dark suit under the low orange light.

Is the man Jace? He's only worn blue suits.

A gentle rush of warm breath brushes Natara's lips and she raises her hands to feel the man's shoulders. The threads of his suit are slick beneath her fingertips as she travels her way to his soft hair. It isn't a buzz cut like Jace's hair - that much is for certain - it's soft, and long enough for her fingers to slip through and grab on to.

And she does grab on. She pulls the man closer, praying for his soft breath to give way to the gentle lips that pressed against her neck moments ago.

Just a bit closer and-

"WAKE UUUUUPPPPPP!!" A squealing voice interrupts her near-kiss, and Natara's eyes jolt open.

Her eyes widen even more when she realizes what kind of dream she was having. Kissing a man in a suit? That's new.

Macey bobs on the bed beside her, shaking Natara's shoulders and beaming. "You did it!!"

Happy as she is about being congratulated by her little sister, Natara wishes Macey had waited a little bit longer to wake her up from her dream. Or, maybe a lot longer, just in case there was more than just a kiss in store...

"I told you you'd get hired! You're awesome, big sis!" The bed bounces underneath them for a few seconds until Macey finally hops up, spins around the room, and points toward sleepy-eyed and disappointed looking Natara. "Mom made you a celebratory breakfast."

"Cream cheese pancakes?" Natara mumbles, raising an eyebrow. Although her voice is coated with tiredness, Macey hears the hint of excitement in her sleep-speech. Natara always had a weakness for pancakes stuffed with cream cheese and drenched in strawberry syrup.

"You betcha. Come eat some before I eat them all!" Macey teases, sticking her tongue out. The threat works; Natara jerks the blankets off of her, pushes herself out of bed, and zombie walks across the bedroom, eyeing the pretty dress she wore at work yesterday. 

It's hard to believe it wasn't all a dream. It's real life for me now. I have a job. I'm a secretary. And, more than that, I'm an adult. She makes her way out into the kitchen and flops into a chair at the table.

"Morning, sleepyhead. I heard you had a late night." Natara's mother pats her shoulder and plants a kiss on the top of her head. Her mother scoops up two pancakes and slips them onto a plate for Natara. Her curls are pulled into a periwinkle and yellow flower printed satin scarf and a long rose nightgown swishes beside her hips. She grabs a fork and places it on the plate beside the pancakes, looking down with a smile. "Congrats on the new job, honey." 

Natara takes a bite of the pancakes and moans as the familiar strawberry buttery cheesecake-y flavor fills her mouth. It's a breakfast that tastes so much like dessert that she would trade eating a cake for it. It shouldn't just be for special occasions. "Why don't we make these every morning?" 

"I can't afford that much cream cheese! You eat these things like a monster." Her mother laughs and scoops up platefuls for herself, Macey, and Natara's father. She sits at the table beside Natara, covering her mouth as she yawns. "Your father's off work today, so he's being a big sleepyhead. He's missing out on pancakes."

"His loss! I'll happily eat them for him!" Macey scoops a tower of pancakes off her plate and shoves them into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out like a chipmunk. 

"What the-" Their mother gently slaps the table. "Learn to eat like a human being with manners, Macey! Goodness gracious, didn't I raise you to eat normally?"

"...too good...can't eat right..." Macey mumbles between bites. Natara giggles and their mother looks over at her.

"Don't let her ruin you. I don't want two daughters who eat like animals. Your father already does that enough." Their mother takes the first few bites of her pancakes, holding back a smile. "So have you met Mr. Vice yet, hun?"

"No. I work for his son and I haven't seen either of them yet." Natara shakes her head, glancing over as her father stumbles into the room, wearing a pair of blue and white striped pajamas. "I work as the direct secretary for, um, Axius Vice?"

Her mom raises an eyebrow and glances over at Natara's father, who pipes up. "You're the direct secretary to someone you haven't even seen in person? How does that work exactly?" He meanders across the kitchen and stacks a plate of pancakes for himself before settling into the chair beside Natara.

"The son never comes out of his office. I have to deliver everything through a compartment and they gave me a company phone for if he needs me to do something." Natara shrugs, trying to hide the nervousness she feels under her father's suspicious gaze. Her father leans back in his chair, looking only slightly appeased.

"That's probably better than dealing with him directly. I've seen some iffy articles about him in People." Her mother gestures for her father to start eating. "But they never seem to really say much, so I could see how you might not get to work directly with him. He seems like he could be a recluse."

"Well, hopefully you'll meet him soon. That isn't right for a secretary to never meet their boss," Natara's father grumbles. "I'm starting to think it's some kind of a sham of a job-"

"Don't you need to get to work soon? I turned off your alarm, but it was set to go off about now." Macey interjects, shooting a wink at Natara. Natara smiles back. Macey really does always have me covered, she thinks.

"Yeah, sorry! Thanks for breakfast! Love you!" Natara quickly says, running to her bedroom to scoop up her borrowed work clothes. She waves to her parents and Macey before scurrying out the front door. 

Outside, she hops on her bicycle and starts her journey into town, wondering what today's workday has in store.