Chapter 233: A Box Of Chocolates
"That’s strange," Lola mumbled, her brows knitting deeply as she remembered the look on Allen’s face earlier. After a second, she covered her mouth. "Am I not supposed to mention it to him?"
But Allen was Atlas’s most trusted person, right?
Lola shook her head, settling onto the long couch inside Atlas’s office. Raising her brows, she looked around. The office was just as neat as she had expected. Her eyes shifted to the transparent wall separating this office from the other, and she noticed a large shredder machine in there.
"Is that the legendary shredder?" She blurted out, then caught sight of another machine in the corner. "Hmm?"
She studied it for a second. "Is that an oven?" she cocked her head. "An oven... in the office?"
It wasn’t a small oven, but one of those industrial ovens used in bakeries. She had simply been too distracted to notice it until now.
"Do the twins bake here when they’re on duty?" she murmured, shaking her head as if it were perfectly natural to ask something so ridiculous. "Or... does he bake people alive?"
Her expression changed instantly, fear replacing her curiosity. She looked up slowly, imagining Atlas tossing people into the oven and cremating them.
"No, that’s impossible. I don’t think he could be that bold," she laughed nervously, waving her hand. Then she paused. "Was it really that impossible, though? He’s bold enough to claim the entire Novera as his territory."
Her mind was racing when a sudden ring from her phone interrupted her thoughts. Checking the screen, everything she had imagined earlier vanished.
Her mouth curved into a smile as she answered. "Amala, you’ve arrived in Novera?"
"Mhm," Amala hummed. "Haji picked me up."
"Haji?"
"You didn’t know?" Amala, seated in the passenger seat of a car, turned toward the driver.
"Well, she didn’t exactly tell me to pick you up," Haji explained, eyes on the road. "But I was bored."
Lola listened to Haji’s faint voice in the background, a little suspicious. Haji was like a sloth at everything except fighting, but his mind was as sly as a fox.
"Amala, whatever that guy is up to, just shut him up if he’s being too much."
Amala chuckled. "Don’t worry about the boy. He probably just missed his mother."
"Mother?!" Haji scoffed. "Amala, didn’t you sleep on the plane? I think you’re confused."
"Anyway, I still have horrible jet lag," Amala said, ignoring him. "I’ll visit you tomorrow."
"Mhm." Lola smiled. "I’ll meet you at the office. It should be done soon, so it’s better to check your office."
"I don’t care about my office since I barely stay in there, but I need to discuss something with you."
"Hmm?" Lola’s brows rose. "About?"
Amala smiled. "It’s better if we talk about it in person."
"..." Lola tilted her head, knowing that whatever Amala wanted to discuss must be important. "Okay, then."
"So, are you with Silo right now?"
"No, I have an appointment later, so I’m just waiting," Lola said, smacking her lips. "I’ll call you later. Tell Haji to drive slowly."
"Haha. Alright."
"I’ll see you, Amala."
"See you, Lola."
The call ended quickly. Lola stared at her phone, forcing a smile before huffing. She tilted her head back, still smiling.
"Amala finally joined us," she murmured. "It’ll be more fun."
After a moment of silence, her eyes drifted to the industrial oven in the other room. Instead of letting her imagination run wild, she decided to check. Pushing herself up, she carefully made her way to the other room.
When Lola opened the oven, the first thing that assaulted her nostrils wasn’t the pungent scent of human flesh. Instead, it was...
"Chocolates?" she blurted out, sniffing. "It does smell like cacao."
Lola closed the oven, now more confused than before.
"So, the twins are baking chocolates while on duty?" she guessed, shaking her head. "Why an industrial oven, though? This thing is huge. They could’ve just used a normal one."
As she walked away, Lola noticed a small fridge. She went to grab a bottle of water, since she hadn’t had any for the past two hours. But when she opened it, she found something unexpected.
"Huh?" She scrunched up her nose, scanning the fridge. "Is he a sweet tooth? How come this entire fridge is full of chocolates?"
Before she could think further, she glanced back at the oven, then at the fridge, then back at the oven again.
"So, the twins are baking chocolates, huh? That confirms it," She murmured, checking the lower door of the fridge—also full of chocolates. "There’s no way their father would bake this much himself."
Not dwelling on it, Lola spotted another small fridge. Thankfully, it contained water. She quenched her growing thirst and turned to leave, but jolted in surprise.
"Ah!" she jumped, clutching her chest as she noticed a figure leaning against the connecting door. Once her heart settled, she frowned. "Atlas, don’t you know how to knock?"
"Not in my office."
She bit her tongue. "Right. This is your office... your building." She cleared her throat. "Anyway, are you done?"
"No."
"No?" she furrowed her brows. "If you’re not done... then why are you here?"
She pointed at herself. "Don’t tell me... you ditched work for me?"
"Lunch break."
"..." The creeping smile on her face vanished instantly. "Ahh... right. Lunch break."
"Did you eat?"
"Lunch? Well—"
"The chocolates."
Her deadpan expression returned for a second. Couldn’t he just clarify things first? He was confusing her.
"No," she said flatly. "Why? Are they biohazards?"
"They are. The last time Slater and Allen had them, they got diarrhea."
"Ah?"
"I haven’t perfected them, so don’t touch them," he said, peeling away from the door. "Come eat lunch with me."
Lola stared at him in confusion. "You haven’t perfected..." Her face twisted in dismay before she followed him. "You’re baking chocolates in your free time?"
When they reached the office, her eyes drifted to a stand near the desk, where he was changing his blazer.
"Just now," he answered.
"Just now?" she repeated. "Wow. I didn’t think you’d have such a hobby."
"Not a hobby," he corrected, turning to her as he wore the blazer. "I just owed someone a box of chocolates."
Her brows rose slowly, lips parting, but no words came out.
He stopped, facing her squarely. "I believe it’s my turn to give you the box of chocolates, don’t you think?"