One of the bodyguards escorted her down the long corridor. He often showed up again after locking her up alone in places she did not want to be. Of all the guards she had met in this mansion so far, he was by far the one she had interacted with the most and the one she had made a point to hate for the rest of her life.
He pushed open a pair of double doors and beyond was massive, about the same size as one would see on a television cooking show for multiple contestants. It was all white walls, white tiles, white drawers and counters. She had no doubt the plates were white also. Then again, something came to mind. Who cleans this place?
The kitchen was spotless. The whole house was, but she had yet to meet a single maid, or perhaps she was the first of his staff that happened to be female?
"Who cleans?" she turned to ask, but as usual, he was at the door about to leave.
The guard paused, like a criminal caught red handed, his hand fixed on the doorknob. "You just cook," he simply replied and left, shutting the door behind him. Jade could only assume one of two things. Either this place functioned like a fortress, with minimal personnel and maximum control, or staff existed but were not allowed near her.
She shrugged and walked further in. The fridge's silent humming was proof that it preserved something, so she opened it and her jaw dropped. "What the hell?" She did not expect a man's refrigerator to be full of all the right stuff, but that was when it came to her. "Oh… yeah, he fired his last chef."
She closed it and turned back to the counter, pulled out numerous drawers and tried to memorize the position of a few things, pots, plates, cutlery, dry ingredients. While she was at it, Jade stumbled upon a slim door that was slightly open, and she peeked in out of curiosity.
"It's an entire supermarket in here!" Her words said it all. Whoever his last chef was must have had everything she needed at her disposal. For a moment, Jade forgot her worries and was lost in a world of culinary perfection, a world that should only exist in movies and storybooks.
With a pang of delight, which was strange considering her predicament, Jade selected something deliberate. Pan seared sea bass, garlic butter asparagus, herbed mashed potatoes and a citrus side salad. "He wants perfection? I will give him that."
She cooked and considered poisoning him a few times by mixing in something dangerous, but refrained, knowing that it would be too predictable and she might get into trouble. The silence was all she had to comfort her, and perhaps the sound of her spoon clashing with pots and knife against chopping boards.
By the time she plated the food, the same guard stepped into the kitchen like he had been watching her the whole time. "What is your name?" she did not hesitate to ask as he drew near, but without answering her question, he grabbed two bottles of wine from the fridge and placed them on the tray she had prepared.
"Bring it," he ordered.
She looked him in the eyes. "Where?"
"The office."
Jade stared down at her dressing. Office sounded like a place outside the mansion, where she would meet multiple people. This dress alone was enough to embarrass her, what would people all dressed elegantly in suit think?
"The office is on the ground floor. Hurry."
Jade grabbed the tray and followed him out, and one thing was on her mind. "Are we not on the ground floor?"
He took a turn, and there was a staircase that led downwards. That was all the answer she needed. At the end of the stairs was a keypad locked steel door that the guard opened releasing cold air rushed accompanied by a soft mechanical hiss.
"He worked underground like a bat. Noted." She whispered it to herself as they stood before another door.
"Wait," the bodyguard ordered her and walked in.
Jade stood there balancing her tray carefully. It gave her a moment to think, to wonder if he would like the meal or throw it in her face. Whatever had caused a man of his caliber to fire his last chef, as far as she knew, could have been a simple forgivable mistake.
Suddenly, a voice came loud and clear from the office before her. "You misunderstood your position!" The tone was thunderous and terrifying, so much that she jerked but managed not to spill a thing.
A second voice came almost immediately, shaky. "Please do not yell, sir. We only needed more time."
"You had time." His voice came back worse than the first time. "I do not negotiate with incompetence." He added, and there was something about the way he sounded. Although it was terrifying, it was absolute. Not the kind of noise made by empty barrels, but the kind exuded by someone with actual power.
The other man spoke up again. "It's being handled, I promise you."
"No," he interjected. "It was mishandled, and I think you forgot who you answer to."
Jade listened closely. She was not sure if this was the bodyguard he was talking to. After all, this whole drama had not started until he had gone into the office. But just when she thought things had died down due to silence, the worst happened.
The sound of a gunshot exploded through the door like a physical force, and Jade jerked. Her heart skipped a beat and then started to race. The tray rattled in her hand, and stabilizing it was slightly difficult while her hands shook with terror. Did he just kill the bodyguard? she wondered. All this while, she feared him because of his wealth and what she had seen so far, but now she truly feared him.
Suddenly, almost immediately after the shot, the door opened and she looked up. The guard was still alive, so it had to be someone else who had been shot.
"Go in," the guard said.
She hesitated. "Are you sure? He seems angry… I…"
"Go inside, drop the food. Leave," the guard uttered and walked back into the room while she remained outside, throat dry, legs shaking. She might just go in there and see a lot of blood.