章 5: Power outage
"That's disappointing…"
Daniel whimpered like a frustrated puppy, crossing his arms.
"No need to be disappointed, kid. We'll be friends soon, so don't rush it."
"Hmph"
Daniel pursed his lips at Dmitri's brilliant response, and turned his head.
"Well, I'll go now. Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Charlotte"
"You don't have to be thankful to me."
Dmitri shrugged, then put Leonid's glasses in his shirt pocket and took his glasses to put on, as he walked towards the door.
From behind, Charlotte followed him with slow steps. She was supposed to accompany him to the door, but suddenly Daniel stepped in the middle.
"Hey ya cool man. Are you going to the party?"
Daniel asked Dmitri as he took out his phone and stared at the clock for a while then said.
"It's almost late, you better hurry if you want to get there early."
"Daniel, stop, it's not what you think…"
Charlotte tried to stop Daniel, but this boy wouldn't stop and continued.
"What? Isn't he a part from the eighth floor, everyone can invite whoever they want, or is he like us who doesn't like this kind of gatherings?"
"Actually, I don't understand what you're saying."
Dmitri paused for a moment and spoke to Daniel, a look of feigned confusion on his face.
"Can you explain, Daniel?"
Hearing his name come out of Dmitri's mouth, Daniel felt the urge to reveal all the details.
"Of course I can."
"Good, thank you."
Daniel nodded, then began to explain further.
"Listen, wonderful gentleman. All the tenants of the eighth floor celebrate every month, or maybe two months… Well, I don't remember well, the important thing is! We celebrate on the roof of a hotel, to get to know each other, in addition to having a good time."
Daniel furrowed his brow under his front hair, then quickly added.
"On reflection, I find this strange. Why weren't you invited? Haven't you met Kaiser? He's always in charge since he's the one who came up with the idea and the financial backer."
Daniel stopped thinking and then said quickly.
"Just so you know, Charlotte and I are always invited. But Charlotte is tired of coming to such gatherings, so I'm doing the same, so she won't be alone here."
Dmitri's lips were smiling gently, but his dark eyes were not.
"Well, I'm just a friend, but my friend probably hasn't met Kaiser yet, because he's busy most of the time. Look at this cute puppy."
Dmitri picked Hunter up by the collar, his lips still smiling.
Hunter, the poor puppy who was just sleeping started to get scared when he was suddenly lifted up by Dmitri.
"Leonid couldn't take care of his puppy on his own, so he placed it in the care of Lady Charlotte."
"Aha, I know him."
Daniel raised his finger and patted Hunter's nose gently.
Daniel's gray eyes were shining with a light of curiosity and surprise, he had definitely just noticed Hunter.
"Then I'll tell Kaiser for you later! You and your friend can come and have fun with us next time, right, Charlotte?"
"Yes. That's true, of course it's true."
Charlotte could not refuse those excited looks that seemed to beg her assent.
However, she would not be able to show her face to Leonid if he was invited to such gatherings that Leonid might consider disingenuous and reckless.
"Okay, thank you. I had a great time, now it's time to go."
"Yes, see you later Mr. Wonderful~"
"Goodbye, Mr. Dmitri."
Dmitri turned to the door and left.
Finally when he left, Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief and felt relief.
"What's the matter, why did you look so uncomfortable?"
"I don't know… Let's go to the couch, I want to relax."
Charlotte slowly walked towards the sofa while Daniel followed behind her.
"Charlotte, are you not feeling well because of the quarrel you had with Kaiser?"
"No~"
Charlotte relaxed on the sofa and lay on her back.
Her short skirt was sliding down her thighs, making Daniel move quickly to get her blanket so he could quickly cover her body.
After successfully covering for Charlotte, Daniel sat under the sofa on the floor and stared at Charlotte. He noticed that her white skin looked a bit pale, and her black eyes looked tired.
"Then why do you look like that, is it because of that wonderful gentleman?"
Charlotte turned her black eyes and stared at Daniel's face near her.
Daniel was sitting on the floor, leaning on his elbow on the couch where Charlotte was lying.
Charlotte knew very well that Daniel was worried about her, but she didn't know what to say to him.
For some unknown reason, she suddenly became uncomfortable.
"You don't have to worry about me."
Charlotte reassured Daniel, patting him gently on the head.
"I'm fine, okay?"
"Hmm…"
Daniel murmured softly and stopped asking. No matter how bad Charlotte's condition was, she wouldn't tell him, so he decided to stop asking and bothering her.
After Dmitri left Charlotte's apartment and headed to Leonid's apartment, he felt his phone vibrating non-stop.
Taking out his phone, he saw many messages sent by Leonid.
Leonid: [From now on you are dead and there is no going back.]
All the messages were with the same threat, as if Leonid was only good at threatening others.
Dmitri had barely sat down on the couch with Hunter on his lap, ignoring Leonid's threatening messages, and finally relaxed until Leonid called him.
Dmitri narrowed his eyes, tossed the puppy Hunter aside onto the sofa cushion, picked up his phone, and answered Leonid's call.
This might be the worst idea, but he wouldn't stand like a fool under the threats of someone like Leonid.
"What's the matter with me, huh?"
Dmitri complained once the call was answered.
"Don't you think you're exaggerating a little, why do you keep threatening me?! Do you think this is fun?"
"Stop yelling, you idiot. You shouldn't have brought my glasses with you, you should have kept them with her."
"Your glasses?"
Dmitri furrowed his eyebrows, checked his shirt pocket and pulled out Leonid's sunglasses.
"Yes, my glasses."
Leonid's voice was as sharp as a knife and as cold as frost, and that tone pierced Dmitri's ear and made him feel uncomfortable.
"Wait a minute, on second thought…why would you keep something like this with Charlotte Smith?"
Dmitri paused for a moment and stared at Leonid's sunglasses. It was very casual and looked luxurious at the same time.
But where had he seen her before, why did he feel like he knew her? Well, apart from his close association with glasses, he was sure that he had seen these sunglasses in the maintenance room of the headquarters.
"Leonid, don't tell me it's an eavesdropping device."
"It is."
Leonid's hand gently stroked his forehead, and he continued to speak to Dmitri in a low voice.
"Can you return it to Charlotte Smith?"
"I'm sorry, I don't think I can do that."
"Well, my plans for tonight are ruined because of you."
Leonid's expression was harsh and dark.
"What can I say?"
Dmitri smiled brightly and threw Leonid's glasses aside on the sofa.
"I'm always good at doing good."
"Are you trying to say I was wrong for what I did?"
"Oh, my dear friend. You are certainly quite wrong."
"Stop teasing me."
"Okay, as you wish, but I still wonder why you chose these glasses. You could have chosen many types of eavesdropping devices, so why the glasses in particular?"
"No reason, it was the first thing I saw in front of me."
Dmitri rolled his eyes in response to Leonid's ambiguous answer.
"Okay forget it, I have something to tell you."
"Are you an idiot or are you just pretending to be an idiot?"
"Okay okay."
Dmitri just remembered that Leonid was eavesdropping on their conversation, so that's why he was wearing his Bluetooth headphones.
"What do you think now about what we heard from that boy?"
Leonid leaned back in his chair and sighed, thinking about what Daniel had said earlier.
"I have a lot to say, but I'll sum it up in a word or two. What's going on between these tenants is certainly complicated."
"Hey, do you think these people know the truth about those heinous crimes?"
"You can say it, you can deny it, it makes no difference."
Leonid quickly got up, put on his coat, and combed his hair with his fingers before leaving the headquarters.
"I'm coming now, my gut is telling me I'll hold the end of the string this time."
The corners of Dmitri's lips rose in response to the confidence in Leonid's tone of voice.
"I'll be waiting for you."
"Hmm. See you soon."
Leonid hung up his phone and refocused on his way.
Inside a closed room, Charlotte stared absently into the mirror in front of her. The dim light and strange pressure surrounded her. Charlotte did not dare take her black eyes away from the entity that resembled them in the mirror.
Without realizing it, Charlotte took a short nap on the couch. She remained asleep for about an hour and a half, and in the meantime, Daniel was quietly playing on his phone next to her and did not notice her white skin, which became pale over time due to her nightmare.
As time passed, she felt her eyelids getting heavy, as if something was forcing her and urging her to close her eyes and surrender until she finally closed her eyes and left her nightmare to wake up.
When she finally woke up, she saw Daniel, busy with his phone, sitting on the floor, leaning on the sofa she was lying on.
Charlotte gently rubbed her eyebrows, then slowly opened her lips.
"Daniel, what time is it?"
Charlotte asked softly as she raised her hand to caress his dark violet hair. Despite the terrible headache she felt, she smiled as she looked at Daniel.
"Are you awake?"
Daniel turned to her and smiled warmly.
"It's five o'clock in the evening."
"Aha."
Charlotte smiled again at Daniel, then said softly.
"Daniel, you're staying with me tonight, right?"
"Of course I will."
Charlotte could not hide the joy in her gentle eyes at Daniel's frank answer. She stroked his hair vigorously, until she could clearly see his blonde roots between her fingers.
"That's enough, Charlotte, you're ruining my hairstyle."
"Really, do I~?"
Charlotte was enjoying seeing Daniel's pouting lips and the way he was complaining.
"So, Daniel, what do you want for dinner? And also tell me if you want to do anything like play games or watch movies."
"I don't need to play games or watch movies, you can easily stay by your side with my phone."
Daniel closed his phone and turned to Charlotte, who was still lying on her back and playing with his hair.
"As for dinner, Charlotte, I'm hungry. In fact, I was hungry for a while while you were sleeping."
"really?"
Charlotte's features were astonished.
"Yes. "
"Why didn't you wake me up then?"
Charlotte spoke softly, finally letting go of Daniel's hair after completely ruining his hairstyle, making him look so cute with his messy hair.
"How can I wake you up, you were deep asleep."
"Even if I was, you should have woken me up, Daniel."
Charlotte gently put her hand on Daniel's cheek and said.
"I'll do anything for you, even if it means giving up my daydreams."
Daniel felt a slight heat on his cheeks and pursed his lips.
Okay, I get it. "
After hearing his obedient answer, Charlotte slowly got up and sat down. The blanket Daniel had brought for her before she slept was covering her legs well so far.
"So tell me what you want to eat?"
"I don't know. All I know is that I can eat anything and everything."
Charlotte's eyes widened and she felt guilty.
"Oh my god, Daniel, are you that hungry?"
"Yes~."
Daniel nodded his head up and down slowly as he answered in a soft voice. After a few moments, he dropped his forehead onto the couch and grumbled.
"I'm really almost dying of hunger."
"Okay, don't worry! I will order the food now, I will order everything for you, so be patient."
"Okay, okay, I'll try to be a little patient."
Daniel slowly raised his head and went back to playing with his phone like an addict.
"By the way, Charlotte, don't forget to order dessert. I want cookies as well as everything sweet on the menu."
"Do you really want me to buy everything?"
Charlotte was already busy on her phone, she had to order several dishes through the app of the restaurant closest to the apartment building, so that Daniel would not die of hunger as he said.
It was a favorite restaurant with most of her neighbors, so she didn't hesitate to order any dish even if she didn't try it for Daniel.
"By the way, order beer and wine too, I feel like drink everything."
"You should stop asking for too many things, because in the end you won't be able to eat them all yourself."
"I know, that's why I'm here. You can finish any dish I can't finish or don't like."
"This is too much."
Finally, Charlotte finished the order, paid the bill, and is now waiting for the delivery service to arrive.
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