Nope.

Suddenly I frowned. This guy didn't know Kat at all from how he was talking! I may have been on the fence about whether or not to go through with this, but I knew she's not someone to be afraid of. Despite everything that happened, she took care of me this morning. She didn't have to, and it shows she doesn’t want to hurt me. "She cares about me..." I mumbled, although I didn’t mean to do so out loud. I looked up, seeing his expression unchanged. He must not have heard me.

I decided to play it cool, scratching the back of my head and adding a touch of tremolo to my voice as I said, "Well... um... I guess I'll just head out the building with you, okay? You go ahead to the store by yourself, though." I tried to give him the sense that I was slightly afraid because I got the feeling he wasn't going to let the subject go until he thought I was out of 'danger.' Who did he think he was, anyway? Just because it was a situation he wasn't comfortable didn't mean it was one I couldn't deal with. It did make me wonder, though. What has Kat done in the past to make him suspect her? I wonder if I’m not the firs-... I was snapped out of my thoughts by his hand tugging on my arm.

"Alright, then," he said with sympathy still blatant in his voice. "Come with me." He led me to the exit and I cast a look behind me, hoping Kat wouldn't think I was really going to leave. Once outside, I tried to stealthily put my foot in the way of the closing door while waving goodbye to him.

"Alright, I'll see you later! Drive safely!" I called out after the head chef, watching him until he was out of sight. He cast a few confused looks back at me, probably due to the fact that I was still hanging around the doorway. But apparently my sad act was enough to convince him, and he drove away.

I let out a deep breath that I had evidently been holding, then I sneakily slid my body back through the small space of the cracked door like a ninja. I gently closed the door behind me, letting it lock before I walked back into the kitchen. I looked around, arms behind my back nonchalantly like I wasn't actually looking for her.

I whistled casually, checking through the dish room, dining area, and break room. But I wasn't able to find her anywhere. I eventually found myself just sitting down in the main dining area, kicking my legs back and forth. They didn’t quite reach the ground due to the tall legs of the seat.

Did she leave, thinking I hadn't stayed? Did she decide to punish me because she thought I left? I felt myself losing my cool, panic welling up inside of me. Then suddenly I heard the door open and Kat walked in, looking annoyed. She reached for her purse which was sitting beside the door. I hopped up and squeaked, "Kat!"

She looked up in shock, then smiled devilishly. "Little Adam, I thought you'd been a bad boy and left. Where'd you go off to?"

"Um, well, the guy who's in charge of all the chefs... I don't remember his first name... Mr. James. He wanted me to go with him to the store. I think he was trying to get me away from you. Anyway... I made him think I left, then I came back inside," I relayed.

Her expression went from inquisitive, to surprised, to angry, to admiring. "Awe, you were such a good boy! I'm really proud of you." She said before putting her hands under my arms, lifting me up and hugging me to her chest. I was surprised and made a small nervous chirp before tucking my knees against her sides for greater support.

"O-oh, thank you! I was just trying to do what you'd asked..." I began.

"Oh, baby. You went a bit out of the way to do that, don't you think? You definitely deserve a reward~..." She smirked, laying a soft kiss against my neck before I suddenly felt cold metal under my butt. I looked down and saw that she'd set me down on one of the metal kitchen tables. She cleared off everything that was resting on it. "Lie down, baby..."

I bit my lip lightly, tensed up as I slowly layed back on the cold metal. What was she going to do with me, for a 'reward?'