TICK-TOCK

"Hey Luciana," Angel returned her greeting with a smile on her face.

"Whatcha doing?" She asked, drawing closer to her.

"Sewing? Do you want to see?" She asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"The fabrics look nice. I like that one especially." She pointed at the rain inspired material.

"Hey, take your eyes off it, okay? That's mine," she said, then smiled to show she was just playing.

"Yo, Lucy. Are you going to come help me offload these groceries, or what?" Ivar called from the room that had gotten Angel really curious.

"I've got to go, because he won't stop screaming like a monkey if I don't," Luciana said, before turning to Nadia. "Hey Nads. I made sure I bought what you requested. Are you proud of me?"

Nadia lifted her head, and even gave her a smile.

"That's enough for me," she said, and bent to kiss her cheeks.

"Lucy!"

"I'm coming!" She screamed, and ran into the room.

"What's that room for?" Angel asked, as she continued prepping the fabrics, before she would begin to sew.

"Don't you want to check it out?" Nadia replied.

"I really can?" She asked, dropping the fabric she was prepping.

"Sure, go ahead."

Angel jumped to her feet, and skipped into the room.

The second she stepped in, she let out a huge gasp.

"There's a kitchen too?!"

First, she wasn't expecting for the room to be this big. Secondly, she didn't expect for the room to actually be a kitchen

Both Ivar, and Luciana turned to her at the same time.

"Hey, pretty girl," Ivar called.

"I knew you couldn't resist coming in here," Luciana laughed.

"Wow, I can't remember the last time I went into a kitchen. Probably two to three—"

"Weeks ago?" Ivar helped her complete her statement.

"No," she smiled.

"Months then?" Luciana asked, a little bit of positive envy in her voice.

"No!" She laughed. "Years. Three years ago."

"What?!" Ivar, and Luciana said at the same time.

"Yeah, three years ago was the last time I was in a kitchen. Wait, why does that sound so shocking to the both of you?"

"Wow, you're really rich. I try to forget, but you already have a luxurious appearance that screams rich. Then you say things like this? Why wasn't I born rich, Ivar?" She cried playfully.

"Your mum was a whore, and your father was one of her customers. You were doomed from the start," Ivar replied, causing Angel's mouth to drop wide open, as she was completely stunned.

Luciana breathed in, before drawing closer to him.

"Why would you say something like that? That's so awful," Angel said, still in shock, and disbelief.

"Because it's true," Luciana replied, but kept her strong gaze on Ivar. "But at least it's better than being thrown into a trash bin like a stray dog, and—"

"Stop it," he said, and turned towards the fridge.

"Oh now you don't want to hear it? I thought you were tough? I thought we were talking about people's origin?" She fired back.

Ivar ignored her, and kept on arranging the eggs into the fridge.

"Yeah, I thought so too," she said, and returned to arranging the items that weren't going into the fridge.

Angel was too astounded to move. Her eyes just kept on darting from Ivar, to Luciana.

They both had their backs turned against her, as they worked with their hands.

How they were so comfortable speaking that poorly about each other's backgrounds, remained a mystery to her.

But, it wasn't lost on her how much privilege she had.

What would have happened if her father wasn't a crime boss?

Perhaps, she would have become a stripper too.

"Give me that," she grabbed a cookie box from Luciana's hands, and began to open it before they could stop her.

"What are you doing? That belongs to Nadia!" Ivar screamed.

"Well, I think we need a bit of good fortune, and this cookie box usually contains at least one. The Japanese are so cool, aren't they?"

"But that doesn't belong to you. It belongs to Nadia!" Luciana cried out.

"What's the big deal?" She shrugged. "We're practically best friends now. I think it's safe to say I can have this wi—"

"That's considered stealing."

She froze on hearing Nadia's voice, and her hands instantly stopped trying to open the box.

"Why are you both slower than usual? You should have been done and out of here already," Nadia continued, everyone getting a piece of her reprimanding voice.

"We—"

"That's enough," she interrupted Ivar, before turning again to face Angel. "Give me that," she stretched out her hand.

Slowly, Angel moved her hands holding the box forward.

"I'm sorry," she said, when Nadia grabbed it.

"No need to be. Everyone has a little bit of greed in them."

She was already at the door, when what she had just said registered in Angel's head.

"Greed? I really wasn't going to eat it. I just wanted the fortune—"

"Don't sweat it. She's probably just teasing you," Luciana said.

"You think? Because we just started getting along. I don't want her to think I'd ever steal from her." Worried lines appeared on her forehead, as she stared from the door back to Luciana.

"That's not her character, so you have nothing to worry about. Chill, alright?"

In the middle of nodding her head, Ivar suddenly cursed,"Oh shit!"

"What is it now, attention seeker?!" Luciana scoffed his way.

"Didn't I tell you to remind me to tell the kitchen about the peculiar dishes the Arabian prince prefers?" He threw back at her.

"Oh shit!" She cursed, realizing now that they had bigger problems than their bickering.

"What Arabian prince?" Angel scoffed.

"The prince of Baghdad," Luciana said, as Ivar hurriedly placed the last batch of groceries into the fridge.

"There's no prince of Baghdad. There's only a king," she said.

"No, there's a prince, and he's probably already in a meeting with the boss," Luciana insisted.

"Well, nope. It's not possible. There's no prince of Baghdad. Because I know it's king. Very well might I add."

Ivar paused what he was doing, and slowly turned to her.

"So who the fuck is discussing business with the boss, if it isn't the prince?"

"Well I don't know. I just know there's no prince of—" before she could complete her words, Ivar stormed out of the room.