In the office, a fat man was having a frown on his face.
The poor employee that had come to report their monthly sales, was trembling and waiting in silence.
The fat man was known as Fatty Bill. He was a human beta who was the manager of the Cheshire Pavilion Turtle Town branch office. The man was a complete asshole. He likes to intimidate his employees and give them a huge load of overwork.
Since he was in charge of the branch office, the poor employees had barely any rest or breaks. But Fatty Bill would enjoy the store profits. He was so shameless that he didn't report the correct amount to the main office in the capital, practically stealing the money and using it for his own use. If he was not making trouble in the restaurant, he would be messing around in the red-light district.
And now the same despicable guy was very angry. "Why have our profits gone down so much! Two months ago, it was almost double of this!" Fatty Bill screams as all of his saliva falls on his subordinate face.
"W-well, since the opening of Rose Garden Bakery, our sales of bread and desserts have gone down. Almost all the clients prefer the sweet bread from them." He honestly thought that too, but he would be crazy to say that out loud.
"That damn shop again! Haven't I sent someone to make trouble for them!?"
"We did. But it didn't turn out well. And now, there are some rumors saying that our shop is despicable for doing that type of thing."
Fatty Bill grunted. "Those morons don't know what's good for them. Well, in this case they can't blame me for being rude. We need to teach them a lesson of who is in charge." A cold smile appeared on his greasy face.
....
In the morning, Felix felt good as new after a good night of sleep. His sore legs were all good now. But his appetite was a serious matter to attend to. Since he noticed that he was pregnant, his need for food had dramatically increased. That was one of the main reasons why he wanted to make the wedding so soon.
What could happen if he is too fat on his wedding day?
No way!
Felix was eating his breakfast when Fang Yu came to take him to the store.
Lately, their sales have been increasing, obviously that is a good thing, but Fang Yu, Felix and Henry could barely keep up with the demand. Honesty, the work has been very tiring the last few weeks.
"What about hiring some people?" Fang Yu asked. "The customers keep coming, it would be good to have an extra pair of hands."
With only the three of them in the shop, it was a good idea to get some more help. Since Felix and Henry stayed practically all day in the kitchen, it fell on Fang Yu to attend the front.
"It's been hard on you. Let's ask Aunty Vilma if she knows some honest people that are willing to work."
Fang Yu shooed his head. With gentleness in his eyes. "Not tiring. You shouldn't underestimate alphas' stamina. But you are now pregnant, it is not good to push yourself too hard."
Felix felt warm inside his heart. In his last life, no one cared if he was too tired. So naturally, he keeps working to the point of exhaustion. But the feeling of someone carrying you felt very good.
When they arrived at the store, Felix and Fang Yu found a funny scene.
"Sir, have you decided yet?" Henry said, as he had some impatience on his tone.
"Mmmmmm... what were the options again?" A man in purple clothes said.
"I already told you four times!"
"Hehe, you look cute when you are angry. But you should frown so much it would cause wrinkles."
"You are the cause of my wrinkles!" Henry said angrily.
"Mr. Smiley. Are you causing trouble again?" Felix said with helpless.
"Me? No, no never. I am just talking with little Henry here. He was telling me a few recommendations." Mr. Smiley said as his cat rail moved mischievously.
"What a few recommendations!? I already told you the whole menu four times!" if it could, Henry would have smoke getting out of his ears.
"Really? Can't remember. Mind you telling me again?"
"In your dreams!" Henry snapped, getting inside the kitchen. He didn't want to keep talking nonsense with that cat.
This scene had been repeating all over the week. Since they met in the flower shop, Smiley had been coming to the store to hang out a bit. At the beginning, he was here purely because he enjoyed the taste of the bread. But now, he only came to mess around with Henry. Or, in Henry point of view, pestering him.
Ah... what a shame. I wanted to talk some more." Smiley said sadly as a child that has lost his favorite toy.
"Smiley, don't bully him too much." Fang Yu warned.
"I don't know what you are talking about."
"Since you are here, do you mind if you can stay a little bit more? I will go to town hall to search for some workers. But I don't want to leave Felix or Henry alone."
"Don't worry, big guy. With me here, not even a customer can enter."
"Please let the customers enter."
"You are sure you don't want me to come with you?" Felix asked.
"No need. It will not take too much time. Besides, you have to start baking."
"Fine then. It is okay if you don't find anybody right away, we can always search later."
Fang Yu nodded and left. He was at peace since Smiley was in the store. Even if they haven't known for as long, Fang Yu was able to judge people very well, and he could tell that even if Smiley was a little mischievous, he was not a bad person.
...
After lunch, finally, the range of customers began to decrease. Since Fang Yu was out, Smiley had to help on the front of the shop.
"I have to say that you don't do it badly at all." Henry praised. At first, he was very surprised. Since, he thought that the man wouldn't be able to handle the job.
"Hum, you are lucky to have me. Some people even give me riches only to come to their stores."
"Yeah, yeah." Henry said, totally not believing a thing that the cat said.
Felix, in the other part. Wasn't in three moods to fool around. It was already past noon and Fang Yu hadn't returned yet. The town hall wasn't far from here, so what took Fang Yu so long?
While Felix was in deep thought, Tony suddenly appeared in the store.
"Tony, what's wrong?" Felix was surprised since how abruptly Tony had appeared. Besides, he didn't look so good. As his clothes were misaligned and torn. More than usual.
"Fang Yu is hurt!"
"What!?" Felix was taken back. Henry was also shocked, and even Smiley had some reaction to the news.
"What happened!? Where is Fang Yu?" Felix's heart began to bump rapidly. His arms began to shake a little. Fang Yu was hurt? Why? How? He suddenly felt scared. He couldn't imagine if Fang Yu was in grave danger.
"Come on, I'll explain on the way."
They closed the store and followed Tony out. As they walked, Tony explained how he had met Fang Yu in the town hall, after they left the place, some strong build ruffians appeared out of nowhere and began to fight with them. As they fought, it was obvious that their target was Fang Yu. But, Fang Yu and him had the upper hand, until one of them approached silently behind Fang Yu with a wooden tile and hit him on the head. Instantly he was out of commission.
Before anything else happened. The officials came. But the bandits quickly escaped as he said that they must close their store if they didn't want more trouble.
Felix's face was black as charcoal. It was obvious who was behind the incident. But right now, he doesn't have time to care about that. At this moment, he only wanted to see Fang Yu.
The quickly arrived at Dr. Absolem clinic. The servants guide them inside one of the patient's rooms. Inside, Dr. Absolem was applying some cream of Fang Yu injury. As for the former, he was lying out conscious on the bed. The doctor quickly went to the main topic, avoiding any nose. "There's not much damage. Thankfully, the aggressor didn't hit him with enough force to damage the skull. He should wake up after he gets some rest."
Felix let out a sigh of relief as he approached the bed and sat by the side of his alpha. He had never felt so scared before. Even if it was only a few minutes, the feeling of not knowing the well-being of this man gave him panic. Some tears were coming out of his eyes. Until now, he hadn't realized how important Fang Yu was to him. Now he couldn't imagine a life without him.
"How horrible, this Cheshire Pavilion is too much!" Henry said angrily. He was totally outraged by their shameless actions.
"The Cheshire Pavilion?" Smiley asks, raising an elbow.
"Yeah, It had to be their doing! Tony said that the men threatened that if we don't close our store, they will appear again. It has to be them! Since the beginning, they have been giving us nothing but trouble!"
Smiley didn't say anything. With serious face, nobody knew his thoughts.
"He can stay overnight to check his condition. But I think he should wake up by tomorrow." Dr. Absolem said.
"Thank You, Doctor." Felix thanked sincerely.
He then asks Smiley to send Henry Ben home, and Tony to tell his parents that he would stay here to check on Fang Yu.
He wanted to be by his side when Fang Yu wakes up.
Felix landed a sweet kiss on the man's forehead. "Wake up soon."