“Sure, I’ll do that. After that, we can discuss how we sort out the other tasks that Celine and her team had been covering behind the scenes,” Reiner suggested.
“Ok, let’s meet up back here when we’re done. Maybe in like 30 minutes? I might take a little more time in the kitchen,” I told Reiner while I tried not to sound too stressed out.
“Don’t stress, Natalia. This isn’t even close to the end of the world,” Reiner said jokingly.
“I know that…” I mumbled in reply.
Reiner smiled at me before he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my forehead as his large hand patted the top of my head lovingly. I looked up at his face when he stood up again as a feeling of pure thankfulness flooded my chest with warmth.
Thank you for being here with me, R…
It was fully because of my own selfishness and stubbornness that Reiner was stuck here running an orphanage for kids with me. When Reiner took me on a holiday to help me on this project, he probably never anticipated that we would end up taking over as the temporary managers of this place. I had to say that that thought never entered my mind either. However, what choice did we really have? If we left, what would happen to this place?
I didn’t even want to think about it. The future just seemed so bleak and insecure. We just had to work together to change that for the sake of the children.
After reuniting in the small office where Celine and her team used to work up until very recently, Reiner and I went through the other tasks that we had to do as the new managers to this place to keep it running smoothly. Some of the basic ways that Celine worked to cut corners to pocket money actually worked in our favor.
For instance, we didn’t have to reach out to any companies to deliver food because the cook and his staff were used to going to the market themselves to stock up on ingredients. After talking to them, they were happy to do the same as long as I gave them some cash for their shopping before they left for the market.
Thankfully, money wasn’t another problem that we had on our hands. Now all that was left were the behind-the-scenes plannings.
“Natalia, look this way…” Reiner instructed softly from where he sat next to me.
I tore my eyes away from the computer screen after hours of going through some files that Celine left behind. Although she was involved in fraudulent activities that did not mean that all her work was worthless or useless. There were many things that we could learn from her files as one of the first steps in taking over her work and cleaning up the mess that she left.
“Hmm?” I turned to face him while making a questioning sound.
Reiner’s blue eyes stared at my face before his fingers approached me. I stayed still while I watched his fingers coming closer to me and then I felt the warmth of the pad of his thumbs caressing under my eyes softly.
“We should head back. The bags under your eyes look horrible…” Reiner muttered with worry.
“But there’s still…” I began to protest.
“We can sort it out tomorrow. Let’s head back and get some rest,” Reiner said sternly.
It seemed like he wouldn’t listen to me or my protests no matter what I said. Seeing that there was no room for me to argue with him, I gave in and nodded my head in agreement.
“Ok, let’s head back…” I murmured in complete defeat.
There wasn’t a mirror around so I couldn’t see the state that my face was in, but I didn’t doubt in Reiner’s words. If he told me that the bags under my eyes looked terrible then that must have been what they must have looked like.
When we arrived back, my mind was restless and filled with worry just like it had been for the past days since we found out that Celine had abandoned the orphanage for good.
“We’re due to send King another report and proposal by tomorrow on how to get this place back into shape. When is help even coming? I mean, is help even coming?” I asked desperately.
I closed my eyes and willed for this all to be just a bad dream. When I reopened my eyes again, Reiner was staring down at me with a frown between his brows. I bet that he was more concerned about me than every single child in the orphanage combined.
“If you can’t manage it, I’ll write it up and send it. Better yet, I’ll just give him a call. Then we can just talk to him directly and save up time on writing it up. How’s that?” Reiner proposed.
“Will he be fine with that?” I asked while not daring to get my hopes up.
“He’ll be fine with it. It’s his fault that he’s not able to send a replacement right away. We’re doing him a big favor as it is. You should ask him for a raise when you get back,” Reiner replied before flashing me a charming smile.
“A raise might be nice…after we make it through this mess…” I murmured dreamily.
Getting a higher salary was the furthest thing from my mind right now, though.
That night I had trouble going to sleep even though we didn’t need to pump out a report for King anymore. I felt so physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted that I felt like if I fell asleep, I might just die in my sleep and never wake up. It was a scary and haunting feeling that wouldn’t go away.
“Go to sleep, Natalia. There’s no need for you to worry about anything else. We can continue working on everything tomorrow,” Reiner whispered comfortingly into my ear as his strong arms held me to him from behind.
I could feel the warmth of his embrace envelop me along with the heat from his naked body against my naked back. A sigh escaped me before I shut my eyes in an attempt to go to sleep. After taking in a few deep breaths, I felt a soft and warm sensation against my bare shoulder and realized that Reiner had started kissing me there. His soft lips against my naked skin felt comforting and my body began relaxing in his arms.
–To be continued…