He Waited She Wilted (Ottilie and Yorath) novel Chapter 105

In the blink of an eye, Yorath was standing right in front of her. "You're off work."

"Yeah. What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you to get off work."

"Is there something you need?"

"My place is being renovated. I'm staying here for a few days."

Ottilie furrowed her brow.

"You smashed my dining set," Yorath continued smoothly. "That was twenty-thousand dollar wedding china handed down from my mother. Consider this deducting it from your rent."

Ottilie desperately wanted to refuse. She wanted nothing more than to just hand him the twenty grand and be done with it.

Unfortunately, her pockets were completely empty.

"Fine."

She led the way upstairs.

After walking in and kicking off her shoes, she watched Yorath step onto the yellowing, scuffed linoleum. His pristine, aristocratic hands immediately pulled open her fridge.

"I'll cook."

"I only have one pack of instant ramen," Ottilie pointed out. "It's not enough for two."

"You have pasta."

Yorath pulled out the box of spaghetti and looked back at her. "This won't take long."

Ottilie stood awkwardly to the side, ready to help.

But making pasta was simple enough that he didn't need her.

So, she just watched.

Yorath fried four eggs.

He chopped some green onions and mixed a quick sauce of oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar in the bowls.

He boiled the water and cooked the pasta.

A few minutes later, they each had a steaming bowl of garlic and oil pasta topped with fried eggs.

It smelled amazing, and it tasted even better.

They sat across from each other at her tiny, flimsy, transparent glass table.

Yorath's long legs had nowhere to go, forcing him to keep them uncomfortably bent.

"How long are you planning to stay?" Ottilie asked.

"How much is your rent?"

"A thousand a month."

"Four years."

Twenty thousand dollars divided by half the rent was exactly four years.

The next morning, she was startled awake by a loud knock on the door.

Sitting up from the floor, she noticed Yorath was still asleep in the bed.

She walked out to the living room and opened the front door to find Jevon Crawford and Soren standing outside.

"Are you looking for Yorath? He's still asleep."

"Aren't you going to invite us in to sit down?" Jevon clearly had no patience for her today; there wasn't even a trace of his usual fake smile.

"The apartment is too small," Ottilie replied flatly. "It won't fit all of us."

Jevon and Soren stared at her in dead silence.

"Come in," Yorath's voice called out from the bedroom.

He had half-ownership of the apartment's use right now, so Ottilie had no way to stop him.

Soren hauled a massive box of Yorath's belongings straight into the bedroom. He immediately started unpacking toiletries, arranging them neatly, and hanging clothes in the closet.

Jevon walked into the living room and immediately bumped into a chair, then tripped over a box.

He was a big guy; if he stretched his arms, he could practically touch both walls of the living room at once.

He squeezed himself onto the tiny sofa, staring around the cramped, run-down apartment for a long time, completely lost for words.

Finally, he slammed his briefcase down on the flimsy table and glared at Ottilie. "I came here to sign the new contract with you today. Yes, we breached the previous one, but don't forget the original terms required you to complete a remaining two-year period. If you refuse to sign this new contract, the one in breach will be *you*."

He leaned forward. "Ottilie, no one has ever tried to pull an extortion game on Yorath and walked away clean."