Where does the good go?

Chapter 5

"I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE WHEN YOU WALKED IN SO SHAME..", I PICK UP MY RINGING PHONE.

Knowing it's Jason without a second thought (only he would have the place for such a dramatic ringtone on my phone) I say, "I'll call you back Jason, I'm still meeting with Moretti." and hang up.

"You know you can call me Andrew right?" he says and gives me a sweet smile. He turns to the idiot who's now shooting daggers at me and adds, "She's our new sous. I showed you her resume remember? This is Adrian, Bella. He is Paul's nephew."

So Adrian is his name. I glare back at him and I open my mouth to say I know him when Adrian narrows his eyes at me and shakes his head in a way that's says, 'If you tell him, I will kill you in the most sadistic way possible.'

I gulp down my fear and squeak, "Hi!" He snorts and goes to the office that I didn't get to explore at the end of the kitchen.

Why is the Universe messing with me? Why? I didn't have a father, growing up. I was raised single handedly by mum who had to work so many jobs before she settled on one with good pay and something to her liking. I never had any friends, except for Jason, of course. I went through college almost bankrupting mum. Then I get placed under the best chef in the world and I had to sacrifice everything I had left to come here. But this man- Adrian Thompson here seems to be ruining everything for me! I will not let this continue! He can stay in the house, because it is his but I will not let him crash my work and my passion.

I square my shoulders and turn to see Moretti staring at me, "Are you okay? You seemed to be having a mini heart attack,"

Crap.

"Yeah I'm fine", I try to say as brightly as possible. He looks at me funnily when Adrian comes back and sees our pasta on the table, "You made her your cacio e pepe?" and glares at me. Why does he always look at me like that? Or maybe he is just grumpy all the time. It's not my fault we ate pasta without him.

"Why Adrian? Jealous I shared our meal with her?" asks Andrew smirking. He just scoffs and turns to his bag and brings some papers.

He hands them to me and says, "Sign here. These are the employee contract and insurance papers. If you have a problem feel free to leave." Well grumpy pants it is.

Andrew just chuckles and says, "Don't mind him, he's always like that." I just accept the papers and give it a glance. I remember seeing the soft copies of the same that Paul had mailed me earlier. I anyways decide to read through it properly not wanting to risk anything in this foreign country. I've already had enough with the appartment situation.

Adrian clears his throat, and asks,"Can I see you in your office Andrew?" and walks away without waiting for a reply.

"I'll be right back Bella." Andrew says cheerfully and leaves. I sigh. At least I get to work with Andrew, it's surely worth it to put up with this nonsense.

Suddenly I hear some shouting from the office and I see both of them having a heated argument through the glass window. It looks like Andrew was denying but Adrian was adamantly making a point. This goes on for a few more minutes and I am about to go inside when suddenly someone pulls my hand. I almost scream before I notice a very bubbly, curly haired and sweet smiling woman. "That's not a good idea", she says in a slight dutch accent. I look at her clue less but mostly shocked.

"What?", I ask. They look this they're about to rip each other's heads. Adrian suddenly turns and stares at me for a second and then continues arguing with Andrew again.

"Let them be. They can't be best friends if they don't fight once every month", she says and chuckles. She looks at me too intensely suddenly and says, "He was right. Your eyes are the most beautiful chocolate brown, Isabella."

"I'm sorry, but who are you?", I ask thinking suddenly about Hagrid and Harry but most importantly about who described me like that?

"Oh! How stupid of me! I'm Nikki Reijn. I'm on of your chef de parties and I handle the bakery station.", she says and smiles, making her freckles prominent. Though she's definitely older than me, she's very cute.

"Nice to meet you!", I say and put out my hand, "I hope I am not stealing your job", I joke but curious. She puts her warm hand in mine and holds it with her other hand, "Of course not! I specify in baking and I can not imagine myself anywhere else. More over this particular person won't let me, even if I want to.", she says and pats her abdomen and only then I notice the small bump. "Oh, you're carrying?", I ask stupidly. She laughs loud and proudly says, "Yep, four months."

"But she's always glowing no matter what," says Andrew and walks towards us and puts an arm around her and smiles fondly. I immediately feel a pang of jealousy and I had no idea where it came from. She elbows him playfully and looks at him with, love? Surely they aren't together? He is definitely single the last time I checked the tabloids. Urgh why do I care? But I do! What's wrong with me?

Suddenly Adrian stands next to me and says in a straight voice, "No one will believe you two are just friends Nikki." So, the argument they were having is finally over.

"Oh come on! Do I have to call Mike now?", she groans and shrugs out of Andrew's hold. Andrew laughs loudly and looks at me, "Adrian likes to tease Nikki that she has a crush on me. How I wish that was true, Mike doesn't deserve her", he says jokingly and patts her head. "Neither do you", she scoffs but smiles. He chuckles, "No one deserves you, schatje" Beside me, Adrian just rolls his eyes and walks away into the diner. 

Phew, Mike must be her boyfriend. She isn't wearing a ring after all.

"So why were you making Bella here blush?", Andrew asks Nikki.

"I was just saying he was right. She has beautiful eyes", and looks at me warmly. "Who?", I ask more confused than ever.

"Paul", answered Andrew smoothly. "He was so excited about you. He only met you when you were a kid and kept saying you had the most beautiful eyes ever, just like your mother."

Nikki suddenly nudged Andrew and before I could say anything. She turns to me expectantly and asks, "Can we watch you cook now? Your videos were amazing Bella, but I really want to taste your food", she says excitedly and smiles. Her smile is infectious and I immediately get ready to impress my colleagues and my role model.