"Hi!" The young lady exclaimed, with her caramel hair spraying everywhere.

When Mariana took a good look at her, she recognized that it was the lady who had been coming in recently, only her tan looked a little darker than before.

"Hey, what would you like?" She managed to regain her posture after the sudden alarm.

"Can I have a flat white cappuccino and a vanilla cupcake please?" Her pearly white smile gleamed out, until the edge had a hint of an mischievous  glint.

"Okay, that'll be $2.50 please."

The lady slid her money across the counter and took a seat. Mariana started getting her order ready.

"Hey Mariana, are you doing anything this afternoon?" Elena asked.

"No...why?"

"Would you like to come to my house to play with Timmy?"

"Yeah sure, I would love to," she raised her rosy cheeks.

"Awesome! I brought some new toys for him so we can try out a few tricks."

"What kind?"

"Well, I want to see if I can get to stand on his hind legs."

"Oh, that would be pretty cool!"

"I know! It would be so cute if he manages to do it," she said and walked away in a daze.

When Mariana finished the lady's order, she put it onto a plate and then went to her table.

****

When Micah was busy lightly frying some chicken, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He slipped out the top bit and It was a message from his father.

Dad: Micah, I need to talk to you once you get home.

He sighed and slipped it back. He wasn't looking forward to it as it's probably going to be about working in a restaurant. His father and the owner were best friends which is one of the reasons he got to work there. Although his father disapproved of his career choice which pained him deeply.

Once he finished with the dish, he placed it on a plate along with rice, stewed red beans, and fried sweet plantains, ready for it to be taken out. The heavenly, sweet scent excited his senses. It was so satisfying seeing how his food turned out after preparing it with care.

His boss, Carlos, came over to inspect his food. He smelt the pleasant aroma and was very impressed.

"Well done Micah, this looks very good," he commented.

"Thanks," he smiled over his melancholy tone. It was nice for him to hear the commendation that he longed to have from his father.

When he finished his shift, he went out and got into the car that was waiting for him.

"Hey Micah, had a good day?" His driver, Anthony, asked.

"Yeah, what about you?"

"I'm alright."

Anthony was an ex-agent of Xavier and one of the few that Micah was close with. He eventually left the mafia a few months after Micah came back from Majorca so now he works for his family instead.

"How is it like working for Carlos at that restaurant of his?"

"Good, I'm really enjoying it."

"Is he treating you well?"

"Yeah," he said with a bit of suspicion in his voice. "Did my father tell you to ask me that?"

"Um...well..." he found it hard to form a good response.

Micah sighed and laid back into the seat, burning a glare onto his phone screen. It only took was one bad day for his father to brag about why he was right about him working for Carlos to be a terrible idea.

Anthony noticed the scowl on his face through the rear mirror and tried to comfort him.

"I know you and your father don't quite see eye to eye on what you want to do, but he really does care about you, Micah."

"Hmm yeah I guess," he mumbled with a dulled tone that was saturated with doubt.

"Don't worry Micah, I'm sure he will be happy for you soon."

"Yeah, I hope so."

When he got back home, he and Anthony walked into the mansion together but he went into the living room where Mason was sprawled out on the three-seater, black couch.

"Hey little bro, did you just come back?"

"Yeah, is Dad around?"

"I think he's upstairs somewhere."

"Oh okay," he let out a sigh and then sat down beside him. He was hoping that his father would be out before he had to chat with him.

"Why? Is there something wrong?"

"I don't want him lecturing me about working for Carlos."

"Oh yeah, he was talking about it today while you were still out."

Micah's face became agitated as he roughly creased his temples. He grumbled as he heard heavy booted footsteps thumping down the stairs towards their area.

"Hello Mason, my dear son," Aidan came in and patted Mason on the back.

"Hi Dad," he replied, his smile bathed in the affection he received. Micah just sniffed in his sunken state, wishing he got the same treatment.

He then sat opposite the two brothers. His broad chest slowly heaved upwards with his deep breathing. He had his arms crossed as his frown was directed towards Micah.

"So Micah, I'm glad you were able to get home quickly today," he began.

He just nodded and mirrored his father's position but with a bigger scowl. It was bad enough that his older brother was more favored, but he was the spitting image of his father, and this just made his disappointment hurt even more.

"Do you like working at that restaurant?" He asked, leaning more forward and resting his chin on his palms.

"Yes, dad," he said out of exhaustion. He's heard this question about a million times and was starting to get tired of it.

"Are you sure?" His voice simmered down as his eyes appeared narrower.

"Yes." He was already tired of all this questioning. He wished he would just be left alone to do what he wanted to do.

"Why don't you come work for me with Mason instead?"

"I will if I don't like what I'm currently doing," he replied calmly.

"But Micah, I want you both working together as a family."

"Yes dad, I know, but can you just please let me do my own thing?"

He didn't mind the idea of working at his father's company, but he would rather have his own restaurant instead. Plus, he wasn't all that eager to work along with Mason.

Aidan started to grumble at Micah's stubbornness. "I don't understand why you're like this you know, at least Mason doesn't argue about this." He walked over to stand beside Mason.

"Your brother is very hard-working you know, I don't know why you can't be like him."

That statement made Micah clench his fists and made his insides burn with pain masked in fury. He hated being compared to his brother and always felt second-best no matter how hard he tried his best. All their life his brother just had to do the bare minimum to get noticed.

He had always yearned for his father's approval, but the more he did to earn it, the more disheartened he got as he was always pushed into the shadows. This was another reason why he didn't want to work with Mason and instead wanted to do something else, maybe then he can finally be better at something than his older brother.

"You know what," Aidan said, shaking his head as he took a step back. "I've had enough of this." He started walking out towards the hallway.

"Dad, where are you going?" Mason asked.

"I'm going to take you and your brother to my office one day, he will have to change his mind whether he likes it or not," he finally said before leaving.

A few minutes later, they heard a door slam, leaving Micah dejected and annoyed and a smirk plastered onto Mason's face.

A/N: Hey I hope you enjoyed the first chap posted for the new year!! ❤️❤️❤️

Also thank you for 200 reads!