Rylie was coughing furiously and I had no idea what to do.

She rarely catches cold and I'm guessing that this is one of those rare moments. Louisa already came here and gave her a few medicines and soup yet she was coughing and sneezing.

"Rylie..." I sighed and caressed her dirty blonde hair, "Just calm down and try to get some rest."

She motioned to her notepad.

I shook my head. "No, you are not writing anything."

She shot me a glare.

"That look is not going to work on me." I deadpanned.

She sighed and pointed to the thermos which was near her bed. I picked it up and opened the cap only to find that it is empty.

I gave a look to Rylie. "You want more soup? Or more hot water?"

She mouthed, "Soup."

"And where am I supposed to get that?" I asked. "It's almost midnight."

She shook her head and pointed to the wardrobe. I opened it and gave her another look. "What? You have soup in here?"

She shook her head again and motioned me to look at her wardrobe.

What's there to look in it? I see clothes, lots of notebooks and pens, a few empty packets of instant noodles, a packet of instant soup, tampons, a few medical prescriptions, stitching materials, first aid kit-wait a second!

I took out the packet and looked at Rylie who grinning sheepishly.

"I think you need hot water to make some hot soup, right?" I asked in amusement. She sneezed in response.

I checked the date of expiry and threw the packet on her face. She emitted a cute sound from her mouth and shot me another glare.

"It's expired. Now what?" I asked.

She read the packet and frowned.

"Waking Louisa up at this hour is a big no-no. I think we should value her sleep." I said. "In fact waking anybody up at this hour is a big no-no."

Rylie started coughing furiously again and I groaned mentally.

I sighed in exhaustion when she finally stopped coughing.

"Can you wait for morning?" She sneezed in response. "I'll take that as a no." I muttered to myself.

I groaned again and shut her wardrobe with a loud bang.

"That leaves us with only one option." I revealed. "I'm making the soup."

Rylie's eyes widened in shock and she jumped right out of the bed, much to my surprise. She pulled my hand and made me sit on her bed, signalling me not to go out of our room.

"I know, I know! But we have no choice. We ha-Rylie! You are burning with fever!" I exclaimed in shock as I touch her forehead and her neck with the back of my head. "You really need to lie down and get some hot soup along with a damp cloth on your head."

Rylie grabbed my wrist firmly and gave me her puppy dog eyes, mentally begging me not to leave her alone.

I closed my eyes and sighed deeply. "Rylie, you are sick. Try to take care of yourself for an hour. I'm going to the kitchen and I'll make some soup for you." Her grip around my wrist tightened more. "Don't worry, I'll follow the instructions of the cookbook Michael keeps on the shelf and I won't add sugar instead of salt like the last time."

I kissed her forehead and gave her a small smile. "I promise, I'll be back in a hour or less."

I got up from her bed and felt her other hand catching my wrist.

"Ahhmm...Ahmm..."

I turned around and gently held her unevenly warm hands then placed a chaste kiss on it.

"I'll be safe. Don't worry about that." I whispered.

I took the empty thermos flask and the empty bowl for me to clean up in the kitchen, wore a warm jacket then silently walked out of our room.

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

I kept chanting this mantra as I slowly tiptoed my way to the kitchen, mentally thanking all the stars for being with me when none of the guards caught me. Soon, I finally reached the kitchen. The first thing I did was cleaning the soup bowl for Rylie then I searched the shelves for a cookbook.

"Where is it? Where do you keep it, Michael?" I whispered to myself.

"Aha!" I squealed and did a happy dance alone in the kitchen when I found it.

I collected all the ingredients, turned on the gas stove and simply placed the pan on it.

That's when I heard footsteps approaching near me.

My eyes widened in fear and my palms started trembling in fear. The footsteps got nearer and nearer till they stopped by what I assume is right behind me.

My heart was beating frantically and I could hear the breathing of the other person behind me.

Please forgive me Rylie because I won't be able to come back and give you your soup. My plans are now officially ruined and I won't live to see the next day. I love you mom, dad and Freddy.

In a flash, I grabbed the frying pan and a knife then pushed myself back from the person. In a swift motion, I saw the other person taking something out of his pants.

I swear I stopped breathing when I heard a click.

"Tu chi sei?! Cosa stai-"

"English! I speak English!" I squeaked as my trembling hands pointed the knife in his direction while the frying pan covered half of my face.

I heard the man sigh. "Who are you?"

I am a trembling and sobbing mess here.

"I...I-I am...I-" I couldn't speak a proper sentence.

"Wait a minute," The man paused. "Rapunzel, is that you?"

My expression turned to pure confusion. "N-No! I-I am not Ra-Rapunzel!"

"Then what am I supposed to think if you are holding a frying pan?" The man asked casually in a thick Italian accent.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. "I...I-I am...c-cooking."

The man stayed silent for some time then said, "Nice to meet you, Cooking. I am Waxing."

I bit my lip nervously and took a small peek at the man's direction. He is wearing fluffy slippers with cartoon pajamas. I had recognised the cartoon, it was SpongeBob. Bare chested and face covered in a face mask.

He was holding a bucket of ice cream in one hand and a gun, pointed at me, on the other.

"Done checking me out, Rapunzel? I must say, it is rare to find a beauty like this." Then he flexed his arm and kissed his biceps.

I averted my eyes and shook my head. "I-I am so-sorry! I promise I won't be a bother anymore. Please forgive me and let me go."

He scratched his blonde hair and frowned. "You are not from here, are you? Your accent is different. It is more... American."

"I-I am from Am-America, sir." I squeaked.

"Ooh. Have you been to the Big Ben then?" The man asked in amazement.

I frowned. "I a-am very sorry, but Big Ben is in London. I am from California."

"Oh." He muttered. "Then have you been to the Liberty Statue? You know, the one with the lady holding a torch?" He copies the pose of the statue by holding his gun high up in the air.

"Y-Yes, I have been there once. Beautiful statue."

"That's good." He hummed. "Since we have established a comune-common interest on places, why don't you tell me about why are you here at this place, at this hour? It's not safe."

I took another deep breath to calm myself. "M-My roommate, s-she is suffering from cold and fever. We r-ran out of soup so I came here to make some."

"I see. Send her my best wishes and take her to the doctor in the morning."

"T-Thank you, sir. I sure will."

"And Rapunzel?" My breath hitched when I heard the click of a gun. "Put down the frying pan and the knife. I am not going to hurt you."

"I will if...if you put down your gun. Please don't shoot me." I begged.

"I already did."

I peeked and saw the man sitting on counter, cross legged and licking ice cream from the spoon.

"Oh. Thank you, s-sir." I sighed in relief and very carefully, I kept the pan on the gas stove, turned it off and grabbed my coat.

"Hey Rapunzel! Where are you going?"

I halted near the door and bowed in the exact same way I was taught by Louisa. "Back to my room, sir. I-I do not wish to trouble you more."

"Do you always stammer?"

"N-No." I wanted to slap myself for stammering again.

"Well, did you finish making the soup?"

"No, sir."

"Then what are you waiting for? La Quintana? Make your soup."

"A-As you wish, sir."

Seeing the fact that I have broken a few of the rules I was told to follow, I still haven't looked at the man's eye. That's good.

"You are adding too much water, Rapunzel. It will become bland and thin."

I frowned. "I am following the recipe in the book. It says five cups of water."

"You are making for one person, not for the whole Agostini family." He deadpanned as he continued licking the spoon like a cat.

"O-oh. I am very sorry." I apologized. "I'll just throw some."

"You are adding tomato sauce instead of tomato puree."

"Oh Jesus! What have I done?!" I gasped in shock when I finally saw all the ingredients simply floating on the pan.

The man shook his head in amusement. "You don't know how to cook, do you?"

I bowed my head in shame. "N-No sir. But I want to help my roommate."

"It's okay. I'll make it. You can just clean up."

"N-No! No!" I blurted. "She is my roommate, it's my responsibility to take care of her. Please let me do my job."

"Are you going to make her drink this?" He picked up a spoonful of soup and poured it back on the pan, but the spices and cornflour powder was now stuck in the spoon.

How is that even possible?

"B-But sir. You shouldn't! It's my jo-"

"It will be our little secret." He whispered and placed a finger on his lips.

This is not good! Not good at all. I was clearly told to stay away from the men of the house and here I am, alone with one of them in the kitchen. Not to forget in the middle of the night!

I should have listened to Rylie.

"Pass me the oregano." I snapped out of my reverie and quickly passed him what he needed.

"Sir, this is not right. Let me try again. Please step back." I pleaded.

"Your name is not actually Cooking, isn't it?" He asked me as he ignored my request and continued stirring. "It's a very weird name."

"No, it's not. My name is not Cooking or Rapunzel. Sir, please let me do my work."

"You job is to clean the mess you have created, Rapunzel, and comb your waist long hair. I suggest you do that while I do mine."

I sighed in exhaustion. "You won't let me help you, sir?"

"No. Non lo farò."

I understood that whatever he said just now, it meant no.

"Pray tell, what is your name? I am being a knight in a face pack armor for a girl who can't cook. I deserve to know your name." The man asked as he turned off the gas stove and grabbed the thermos flask.

"I-It's Amelia, sir." I mentally prayed a silent prayer that he won't say my name to Louisa or worse, to another man in the house.

"Nice to meet you, Amelia." He grinned as he handed me the thermos flask. "My name is Adrian, but you can call me Daddy."

I frowned. "Why should I call you Daddy if you are not my father?"

Adrian kept staring at me in shock while I still avoided his eyes.

"B-Because you can and I like being called Daddy."

"But you are not somebody's father, are you?" I asked curiously.

"No. I hope not." He muttered.

"Then I am sorry, but I cannot call you Daddy because you are not my father."

He sighed dramatically. "I guess I have to find someone else to call me that."

"Oh." I mumbled. "Good luck with that."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

"Thank you for the soup, Adrian." I gave him a small smile.

"You are welcome. Take care of your roommate and make sure that she gets well in time. We don't want sick staff in the house."

"Of course. I'll make sure of that."

"See you later, Rapunzel. Don't let down your hair for Mama Gothel."

I touched my waist long hair. I knew that I haven't had a hair cut in years, but has my hair grown so long that I look like a movie character?

Or maybe it's the man who is obsessed with it.

Good point.

As safely as I went to the kitchen, I came back from it.

"Rylie!" I shook her slightly to wake her up and checked her temperature.

She is still warm.

Her eyes fluttered open and relief was clearly written on her face.

"Here. I got your soup." I poured it in the bowl and handed over to her. "Be careful with your...um..." She paused and gave me an amused look. "...nevermind. It's hot."

She simply shook her head in amusement, took a sip and moaned.

"It's that good?" I asked. She nodded in agreement and signalled for her notepad and pen.

I gave her a look. "What did I say earlier? No writing and full resting."

She slapped her forehead and pushed me out of her bed to fetch her things.

'How did you make it so good?'

I laughed nervously. "I...I didn't."

She frowned and wrote, 'What? You didn't get into any trouble, right?'

"I didn't get into trouble. I just met a guy in the kitchen who made this soup. He's nice and somehow different from the others."

'He didn't harm you, did he?'

"No." I answered honestly. It's better to skip that part where I was held at gunpoint and he was having a knife pointed at him.

'Did you get his name?' She wrote.

I nodded. "Adrian, but I don't understand why he wanted me to call him daddy."

Rylie's expression became unreadable and her face was getting paler than it already was.

"Rylie? Rylie?" I touched her shoulder which made her jerk in surprise and she gave me a toothy smile.

"What's wrong? Do you know something? Or want to tell me something?" I asked warily.

She shook her head and kept drinking her soup with shaky hands.

After finishing her soup, Rylie yawned while she covered her mouth and rubbed her eyes.

"Go to sleep, Rylie. I'm right here."

She pointed my bed, motioning me to go to sleep.

"I will. I'll finish up cutting one bar of the window then I'll go."

She traced the imaginary dark circles under her eyes and shook her finger.

I laughed. "I promise I won't get them. Now go to sleep. You are sick."

Rylie went to sleep and I crawled up to the window which had its metal bars broken on all three sides. I took out the knife from under my bed and started cutting the remaining bars.

My mind drifted to Adrian.

We were clearly told that the men working here are not good and we had also seen it then why did Adrian helped me?

Isn't he a part of them?

Maybe not all men in this house are as bad as they seem.

Author's note

Meet Adrian aka Daddy😂

I wonder why Rylie behaved like that? 🧐

Vote and comment. 😁