Page 47 of 10,000 Hours With A Rich Menace

He smiled. “Nah.” I watched as he turned to leave the room, then he paused. “I want to take you out on a date, Wonder.”

“Why?”

“Wear that, too… you look beautiful in it.” He winked, and then continued down the hall, leaving me standing in the middle of this room grinning like a fool.

I spun around in my dress and did a quiet giggle because he wanted to take me on a date. My mother always told me to speak my mind, and it wasn’t something I always did. I liked to remain quiet and just silently stew on my feelings.

Telling him how I felt about the non-communication seemed to have worked. He was nicer to me, and he actually smiled and complimented me. It confused me why he didn’t want to refer to this as a business arrangement. It was as if this meant more to him than us both helping the other out.

“Wonder, we leave in twenty minutes,” I heard the intercom on the wall, and I quickly went into the bathroom to put on my gold accessories and put a little oil behind my ears before snatching my purse and heading downstairs.

Duke was at the kitchen counter eating his usual apple. Everyone had a routine around this house, and it drove me crazy. “He’s in the office down the hall on the left.”

I headed down the hall, my sandals slapping the freshly buffed floors in search for this office of his. When I found it, I pushed one of the heavy doors open, and Menace was sitting on the edge of his desk.

It wasn’t the view of him sitting on the edge of the desk that caught me by surprise. He had a bunch of Lego sets all aligned. Each box was aligned perfectly with the other and laid out on the floor of his office.

“Blue told me that you like Legos, so I went to get you some.”

I looked at the different sets that I dreamed of owning one day, and they were in front of me. “Her name is Greene.”

Don’t ask why that was the one thing I thought to say while taking in all the different sets. “These are expensive, Menace.”

He nodded. “Not for you.”

“Thank you so much… it’s going to take me months to complete these, but I’m so excited.” I placed my purse onto the table and got on my knees as I took in the huge plane that hepurchased. I felt like I was in an expensive Lego store with the way he had each box on display for me to see.

He remained on the edge of the desk and watched me move from box to box. When I got to the last box, I stood up and fixed my dress. “Like them?”

“Like? I love them… I had a few of these on my bucket list of things I want.” I rushed into his arms, and he was stiff as a board as I held him. “Um, you usually put your arms around the other person.” I removed myself and looked up at him.

“Don’t do hugs, Wonder.”

I smiled. “Well, I have another requirement.”

He tilted his head to the side and folded his arms. “Let me guess… you want a hug?”

“Hugs. If this isn’t a business deal, then you have to act like it, too. This is the first step, so thank you for thinking of me. It warms my little heart to know that you cared enough to do this… no one does things like this for me.”

Menace Caselli was different, and I could tell from the quirks that I would watch him do. His day was very scheduled and in order, while mine was scattered. We were two opposites expected to be married and share this home together.

We both had managed to stay on our ends of the house. I tried not to get in his way and chose to come out the room when he wasn’t around. Other than the meal we shared the first night I was here, we didn’t eat together.

His meals were still prepared and sat in the fridge. I think Lupita enjoyed cooking a meal for me that wasn’t the same shit that Menace would eat. She had opened up to me more and had a full menu prepared every morning for me.

She was more excited than me to prepare the food. I loved food, so I never complained about anything. As long as it was good, I was going to finish my plate and want seconds.

“You ready?”

I touched his wrist and looked at the smashed looking watch. “Can I wear your watch today?”

“Fuck no, Wonder.”

“Is it expensive?’

“Not about the price.”

“Then what is it about?”

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