O P H E L I A ' S   P O V

I felt my eyes flutter open due to the light seeping through the tiny holes of the curtain.

Usually, where I used to live, this would annoy me to no end but right now, lying on this huge queen's sized bed in an even larger bedroom, the blaring light was a reminder that I wasn't dreaming.

I stretched my arms in the air, hearing a few joints crack. With a contented sigh leaving my lips, I threw my feet over the side of the bed and checked the time.

It appeared that I woke up earlier than I was supposed to so I figured that I would just head downstairs and make some hot chocolate.

I grabbed a white fluffy robe that was already in the bathroom which reached about 6 inches above my ankles since the previous night was absolutely heated and I only wore shorts with a tank top.

I tied the robe in a knot, rinsed my mouth, then made my way downstairs.

I hummed a little out loud and finally swung the corner to make it into the main kitchen.

My feet came to a halt when I saw a man already in it, wearing a white dress shirt and black slacks.

He had brown hair and from what I could make out, light stubble across his chin, leading into a just as light moustache.

I couldn't see his eyes but from here, it was easy to make out that the female population would consider him attractive.

I cleared my throat as I watched him stand in front of the stove.

He jumped slightly and I then said, "Good morning." Cautiously.

He placed the spatula on a plate and turned to me holding out his hand as I tightened my hand around my robe.

"Garcia." He smiled. "The new chef." I reached out to shake his hand with a similar smile to his own, "Nice to meet you."

We released both of our hands and he went back to the counter where I see him expertly dicing and slicing.

"Isn't it a bit early for you to be here? I was informed that the maids start their work at six." He inquired as he looked at me momentarily.

My eyebrows scrunched, "Oh no, you must be mistaken. I-I'm not one of the maids." I clarified.

He paused his action and looked at me, his eyes swiping over my robe for a quick second, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. How rude of me for assuming. A friend of Mr. Morterez?" He pushed.

I cleared my throat awkwardly, "Sort of." I looked down. "So what are you making?" I changed the subject.

"Well," His light blue eyes watched me as I stood next to him. "I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Morterez personally yet and would like to create a good first impression with a big feast." He informed me.

I puckered my lips, shifting them from side to side, "L— Mr. Morterez is a simple man, you want to impress him? Make a simple meal since he doesn't have time to eat in the morning and he'll see it as you wasting his food." I told him.

He stopped and crossed his arms across his chest, "Are you sure?" I nodded. "Hmm, you must be a closer friend than I thought." He laughed lightly.

"Girlfriend." I corrected shyly, making his eyes evaluate me closely.

"Y-You're Ms. Collins? Ophelia?" He asked weirdly.

My brows furrowed, "Yes, why?"

"N-Nothing." He waved me off. "Just thought you'd be more..." He trailed off as he cleared his throat.

"More?" I pushed offendedly.

I knew that I wasn't usually what Levi had dated in the past but hearing it out loud made me upset.

He shook his head as he swallowed thickly and I forced out a laugh before looking down, "I know, more confident, different, b—" He cut off.

"Ruder, self-centred and arrogant." He corrected me as he stepped away a bit.

I blinked a few times before lowly muttering, "Oh."

It was quiet for a while after that and I could tell that Garcia was purposely avoiding eye contact with me, along with physical contact.

"Just because I'm his girlfriend doesn't mean I'll tell him about you mistaking me for a maid or that I'll bite you," I mumbled as I crossed my hands across my chest defensively.

I heard him take a breath to speak but it was interrupted by a voice.

"Ophelia? Who's this?" I heard Levi's voice. Two pairs of eyes snap towards him, perfectly dressed in a three-piece suit as he motioned me over with two fingers.

I cleared my throat and walked into his outstretched arm, his eyes evaluating Garcia sceptically.

"Who is this? T-This is the new cook that you hired." I frowned up at him, my voice soft enough so that only he could hear.

"New cook? I let Elijah deal with t—" He paused as he thought. "Of fucking course." He said as if he realised something.

Garcia shuffled awkwardly and outstretched his arm, "Garcia, sir. Sam Garcia." He said just as Levi took his hand in a firm handshake.

"Nice meeting you. What's for breakfast?" Levi inquired as his hands tightened around my waist.

"O-Oh um," He wiped his sweaty hands in his apron. "An omelette along with bacon." He said hopefully.

I looked up at Levi and he gave a curt nod, "Excellent." He said and Sam visibly relaxed. "I hope you've prepared for Ms. Collins also." His breath quickened again.

"U-Um, I—"

"I-I told him I wasn't hungry yet, but now I kinda am so can you also make a dish for me?" I saved as I looked at Garcia hoping that he could get the signal.

"Oh! R-Right! Yes, ma'am." He said and got off to work.

Levi looked down at me with squinted eyes, and then back at Sam.

I knew he could tell if I was lying if he just looked at my face long enough. I just didn't want Sam to be fired over nonsense.

I quickly reached him and placed a kiss on his lips. I rest my hands on his chest and after a while, I pulled away and heard him hum in contentment, "Good morning to you too." He mumbled, hopefully forgetting about what just went down.

I smiled shyly, "I'm gonna take a shower." I said as I walked towards the stairs.

---------

"I'll see you tonight, okay?" He stuck his hand inside of his blazer's pocket and pulled out a bill.

He handed it to me and said, "For lunch. Please buy lunch, Ophelia." He pleaded.

I gave him a lopsided grin in response, "I promise," I mumbled.

He smiled in return and snaked his hand to the back of my neck and placed his lips on mine in a sweet, chaste kiss.

He pulled away slowly, then laid two more on my lips and hummed, "I'll never get tired of that." He sighed and pulled back.

"Remember, Gerald'll be here by six." He reminded me.

I nodded as I stepped out of the limousine as I waved at the retreating car.

----------

L E V I ' S   P O V

"A fucking man, Elijah?" I asked and he just chuckled.

"I told you his name, I thought you'd know that he was male." He laughed loudly as he flipped through a magazine.

"You said Sam, thought it would've been short for Samantha or some shit," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"Look, I don't know what the problem is. What? Think Ophelia will take a liking to him?" I saw him wiggle his eyebrows from across the room.

"Yeah, right. The kid looks like a dweeb." I lied as the pen in my hand subconsciously dug down in the contract before me.

"A handsome dweeb. No homo. One that you're intimidated by." He clarified.

I slammed my pen on the desk and rose from my seat, heading over to the window.

"Look, I'm intimidated by no one. Let's make that clear. Yeah, I know your ass couldn't be gay when you're always hot on Shalissa's tail. Now, what game are you playing here?" I questioned as I faced him.

He rubbed the stubble on his chin, "She does have a nice ass, doesn't she?" His lips tugged up at the corner.

I rolled my eyes, "I wouldn't notice."

"Right, you're stuck on Ophelia." He chuckled. "Anyways, wanna know my game? I'm just trying to show you that Ophelia is a beautiful woman and men are going to notice." He shrugged.

"You think I don't know this? So far, I haven't had any problems." I nodded to myself.

I heard a loud laugh across the room, Elijah's eyes watering with tears as he plucked out a handkerchief and dabbed his eyes lightly.

"How could you have problems when you only see her when she's home? 95% of your staff is female." He laughed.

My eyes lowered to the ground, teeth gritting together. "When I use to visit that diner, the catcalling she received was wild man. No fucking around." He tsked. "You could tell she was more than uncomfortable but she didn't want to seem rude to the customers."

"So what the hell do you expect me to do? Follow her every day to work? I got shit to do here and I refuse to be that overbearing boyfriend." I stuck my hands in my pockets. "I trust her."

I trusted Ophelia and I knew that she would never do anything that would cause those sort of problems in our relationship.

"Hey man, I'm not saying that she's unfaithful. She's not that kind of girl, but it's the men up there you shouldn't trust. Especially a guy named Jacob, Jacob Sanders." He stated.

I turned my head to the side to view him from my peripheral vision, "Oh? What about him?"

"He goes to the university nearby. She usually tells off the rest of the guys in a polite manner. But this one, he's a persistent mother fucker. He wants her. That is obvious."

A tick went off in my jaw and I swiped my tongue on my top row of teeth as I turned around to face Elijah, "When's the next day you have off?" 

------

With Kace and I on both ends and Shalissa and Elijah in the middle, we walked into the diner and the bubbly, noisy place immediately quieted down.

I removed my shades from my vision and twisted them around my fingers as my eyes scanned the diner for a certain tanned skin goddess.

I felt Shalissa nudge me before her chin juts out in the direction of behind the cashier's post, where Ophelia stood writing down something in a book in front of her.

"Go and find a seat over there in Ophelia's corner," I said as I kept my eyes focused on my girlfriend. Shalissa nodded and grabbed hold of Elijah's hand and motioned for Kace to follow them in the direction of where I told her to.

I sauntered my way to Ophelia as I saw her turn her back away from me to retrieve something from the counter behind her. Standing directly behind, I waited until she turned around, and then placed a big kiss on her lips, my hands grabbing onto the nape of her neck.

I felt her gasp in the kiss and I knew her eyes had widened. I also knew that she knew it was me from how she relaxed and cooperated for a second longer before pulling away and blushing.

She looked around the diner and saw the prying eyes of people on us and blushed an even deeper colour. "N-Now people are watching." She mumbled. "And what are you doing here?" Her eyebrows shoot up. "Isn't today your day off?" She inquired, shooting question after question at me.

I chuckled at her blubber and shook my head coming up with a quick lie, "I was becoming hungry." I shrugged as I placed one of the handles of my shades between my lips.

She tugged her entire bottom lip between her teeth before cocking her hip to the side and tilting her head in the same direction as an 'I don't believe you' look.

"What?" I acted innocent. In my defence, I thought that'd be a good lie until I remembered the fact that it was indeed not very believable.

My house was practically a restaurant, not to mention I had back a cook, so I really had no excuse.

"Levi, " She sang in a scolding manner.

"Okay, okay." I chuckled, swinging my keys around my finger.

I was thinking about telling the truth for just a quick second before I say, "Shalissa wanted to try out the food, I told her it was good." The lies poured out of my mouth like a waterfall.

She squinted her eyes at me for a moment before looking back down at the cash book in front of her. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Hm? O-Oh, I'm supposed to be calculating the money made this month, along with what needs to be bought." She informed me.

I rolled my eyes, "I'm really confused about what your definite job is around here." She giggled slightly at my response.

"It's okay, I don't mind." She said softly as the pen in her hand scribbled non-stop.

I took the pen from her and placed it in my back pocket, "But I do." I whispered finally.

I leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek, "Now come on, we're at your table." I said.

She picked up her notepad and I handed her the pen I took as we made our way to table nine.

"Hey, Ophelia." Shalissa greeted. "We need to go out soon, by the way. Levi, give me your card." She spoke nonchalantly as she held out a palm.

I looked down at my phone, ensuring that everything was going fine at the office.

"Hmm?" I mumbled distractedly as my fingers moved against my phone. "Oh yeah, sure." I waved off as I pulled out my black card and handed it to her.

I saw her smile triumphantly before putting the card in Ophelia's hand, who had her mouth agape.

I put up my phone once I received a reassuring message from Mrs. Alton.

Ophelia cleared her throat and put it in her pocket hesitantly. "What do you guys want?" She asked softly.

"Croissant for me, sweetheart." Elijah said. "Cup of black coffee, Angel." Kace stated. "Umm, the breakfast special," Shalissa demanded.

I looked at the menu one last time before closing it, "How about to know who Jacob Sanders is?" I asked sweetly.

Kace placed his head in his hands and shook it slowly and painfully. We had actually formulated a "plan" in how we would approach the entire ordeal.

It would obviously start with Elijah since he was the only one out of us who knew how he looked.

"W-What?" Ophelia muttered. "Jacob? The footballer?" She inquired unsurely.

"Mm, a footballer," I said thoughtfully. "Is he here?" I asked.

She hesitated, "W-Well yes, but—" I cut her off lightly.

I stood up from my seat and soon Elijah and Kace followed behind me but I raised a hand, "No, it's okay." And they slowly descended in their seats again.

Ophelia tightened her grip on her notepad, "Levi, w-what's going on?" She trembled slightly.

I made my way to her, resting a hand on her waist, "Hey, it's nothing. Now can you get our orders, please?" I smiled innocently as I moved a strand of hair behind her ear.

She looked down and swayed her body shyly, "Well, " She dragged out. "If you say so." She said and quickly placed a kiss on my cheek.

My lips tugged up in an enormous grin at the action as she walked away.

My lips then slowly formed in a scowl, "Which one is he?" I said with an edginess to my voice.

Elijah pointed to an ugly-looking dude across the room who was on his phone, eyes glued to the screen. His hair was all over the place, his eyes had dark circles and he was completely scrawny and wore glasses.

At least that was how I hoped he looked.

In an unbiased and true opinion, his hair was gelled back perfectly, not a strand out of place, his natural dark blue eyes, as he looked up momentarily, were very evident and the colour of his dirty blonde hair just seemed to make them stand out more. Wearing a college jacket with words which I assumed to be of his college, he overall looked like what the female population would call attractive.

And that thought disturbed me to no end.

I made my way over to him, having absolutely no idea how I was going to bring up the situation. You see, usually, I'd just plain out cause a scene and tell the fucker to stop eye-fucking my woman.

But I knew that I was in Ophelia's workstation and if I caused a ruckus, that would embarrass her to no end and I had way more respect for her than that.

"Hey, mind if I sit here?" I refrained from letting the disgust slip my voice.

He didn't even look up, instead, he continued to type away on his phone as he let out a frustrated sigh and said, "Yes, I do. But you'll do it anyway, so whatever." He rolled his eyes.

I gritted my teeth in anger as I bit down on my tongue. No one ever dared to talk to me that way, but considering that he didn't even look up from his phone, I'd like to think that if he did, he'd know who he was talking to.

But from his entire demeanour, it looked like he only cared about himself.

I slid in the booth, creating a distance between us. He finally decided to put his phone in his pocket and took a quick glance at me. "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" He inquired with squinted eyes.

I shrugged my shoulders in a nonchalant manner. The only place that he would most likely have seen me was in magazines, newspapers or televisions. "Must be someone else." I forced myself to say.

He seemed like he bought it so I spoke up, "You come here often?" He sighed a response. "Hopefully not for much longer."

"Oh yeah? Why do you come here then? You obviously don't seem to like it."

As if rehearsed, his eyes flicked directly to Ophelia who was across the room taking an order from a table of three. One being a mother, and the following her two children who I assumed to be twins.

He looked conflicted for a moment before he motioned me closer with his two fingers, "See that hot chick over there?" He motioned towards Ophelia with his chin.

I could feel my face contorting to disgust at his words but quickly put back on a neutral expression on my face. It was absolutely repulsive to refer to a lady that way. But what made me stuff my hands in my pocket and look away for a quick second, was the fact that it was my Ophelia that he was referring to.

And that thought infuriated me.

"What about her?" I swiped my tongue over my top row of teeth.

He looked at me and scoffed slightly. "What not about her, man?"

"Well, do you like her personality? How kind she is?" I asked.

He laughed for a quick second, "What are you? A poet? Look at that rack, and don't even let me get started on the back." He tsked.

This time, I beckoned him forward a bit, in which he complied. "Here's what I want you to do." He shrugged his shoulders in a sign of understanding.

"I want you to look at her, right? You looking?" From the show of how his tongue raked his bottom lip, I knew he was looking.

"Now, look at her from head to toe. Analyse every curve, bump, and feature. Got that?" He nodded and I saw his eyes trailing. "After that..." I paused and let the suspense build up. "Just keep looking," I said finally.

He seemed taken a bit back by my statement, "Why would I—" He started.

"Nuh-uh uh." I laughed as I waved a finger in front of his face. "Just keep watching, man."

His eyebrows shot up, "But I wanna know why I would just watch. I was thinking that I could finally get her underneath me today." He laughed.

He stood up and my hands latched on to his shoulders and forcefully pushed him back down in his seat, my face contorting to seriousness.

I roughly grabbed his jaw between my hand, "Didn't I make myself clear? Just fucking watch."

I could feel the fear rolling off of him in heat at my actions. He flinched as my nails subconsciously dug down on his shoulders.

"Now watch," I forcefully angled his jaw towards Ophelia once again. He wanted to come here and stalk my woman? Then let him fucking watch what he can't fucking have.

Ophelia swayed her hips through the diner, going from table to table, "Now, honestly, I don't care if you look at her. Hell, look at her all you want. But," I squeezed his jaw harder when he tried to speak. "If you touch her anywhere and I mean even a strand of her hair, that's where I intervene. Frankly, even the thought of her talking to you repulses me. But it's her job, and for some twisted reason she likes working here, so I can't take that away from her."

I could feel him shaking in my hold.

God, the feeling and sudden urge to snap his neck right here and now was stronger than ever.

When I saw Ophelia exit the kitchen and ready herself to turn in our direction, I let go of his face and pulled out my business card, "Levi Morterez, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." I flicked my card on the desk and slid out of the booth, placing my shades back over my eyes as I pushed up my sleeves over my elbows.

----------------

"Oh come on, Ophelia. It wasn't that bad." I tried to reason as I chased after her. It was a week later, and somehow, she had been able to piece the puzzle together after she realised that Jacob was acting strangely around the same day that I came to visit the diner. In fact, he only came back once after that.

She asked me about it and of course, I couldn't lie to her.

"Y-Yes, it is," She tried to sound angry at me.

She folded her arms across her chest childishly as she turned away from me in the living room. I gently grabbed her upper arm and turned her around. "I don't want you mad at me," I mumbled as I caressed her arm in an up-down motion.

She sighed as she absentmindedly traced a finger on my chest. I fought with a smile because I didn't want her to think that I wasn't taking her seriously.

"D-Did you threaten him or something?" She asked.

I quickly shook my head, "No, never." I said that frantically. I technically didn't. Right?

She huffed out a soft, adorable breath and I was pleased that she didn't ask what exactly happened because I wouldn't want to tell her exactly what went down.

"So, am I forgiven for being such a stupid boyfriend?" I smiled.

She bit her lip to bite back a smile which escaped anyways, "You weren't being stupid." She said, "Thanks though." She murmured after a while of staring.

"For what?" I inquired.

"For caring enough," She said shyly.

I was quiet for a while before I leaned down and captured her soft lips between my own for a sweet, short gentle kiss. However, I tightened my hands around Ophelia's waist when I felt her pull me down closer to her when I was about to pull away.

Without hesitation, I moved my lips feverishly against hers as I trailed my hands to every curve of her body, stopping where I deemed past the limits. My hands itched badly to just cup her ass. I had yet to feel those globes in my colossal hands but as of right now, I was more than happy to just be able to hold her in my arms.

Everything about this woman drove me crazy. How she still seemed hesitant to kiss me, to the feeling of her skin on mine and the dip of her body where her ass separated her waist, drove me fucking nuts as she arched into me.

She stood up higher on the tips of her toes which made her body rub against me, or more so, my jeans. Every fibre in my body was telling me to pull away due to the problem that she had absolutely no idea that she caused.

I swiped my tongue on her bottom lip and she complied with a part of her lips, allowing me to devour her entirely.

I knew that she was soon running out of breath, so I took my time and travelled my lips down her jaw and onto her neck. The movement of her fingers playing in my hair only encouraged me further and allowed a guttural noise to escape my throat.

As I travelled my arms painstakingly slowly up to her neck, my hand brushed against her breast for a short moment accidentally. Although an accident, my mind was completely fazed now and I slowly made a move to cup her impressive size.

Uncomfortably, she jumped back slightly and stared up at me with swollen lips.

"S-Sorry for um—" I swallowed the lump in my throat as I fought for the right words to say.

Ophelia just looked at the floor and wrapped her hands around her body self-consciously.

"I-I..." She trailed off unsurely as she shrank away beneath my gaze.

"No, don't apologise, I went too far." There was an incredible strain in my voice from the blood rush that made its way to my groin, and I wanted nothing more desperately than to relieve that tension with my only measure of pleasure these days. "Shalissa will be here in a few hours." I cleared my throat and passed her to hurry my way upstairs.