CEO's Precious Assistant

Pearl's POV:

It was New Year's Eve. I was thrilled because it aligned with my birthday. In addition, with the new year beginning, I will be the sole owner of the bakery. The problem is, the future is inevitable, and no one has a clear picture of what will happen in the next minute, or second, or hour. If only I knew what the future had in store for me, I would have stuffed my face with sweets.

Anyway, the meal preparation was going well as my mother had invited everyone around our hometown to celebrate with us. Unwelcoming wouldn't describe my personality, but I wished mama didn't invite them. I was unsure if she liked them here or if she was trying to show everyone she had everything under control. I just didn't know.

The kitchen was buzzing, I stood at a safe distance, watching everyone working. I was the lead chef and I loved it. with everyone busy doing their work. I was the lead chef, and I loved it. Yes, at least something came out of the situation.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of mama. When I turned and wished immediately I hadn't. Mama was glaring at me as if I killed her bee, I had gotten used to it so I waved at her, the smile on my face widening. She smiled back but it wasn't the same smile I knew. It was dangerous, dirty, and forced. I took longer stretches to her and asked mom, you are creeping me out."

Huffing, she waved her arms around. "Hurry up. We don't have much time."

"Of course, mom," I answered and practically ran away from her, her look gave me chills.

I took it all in, never caring why she did that. I felt for her, I surely did. My mom's life had taken a toll after she got pregnant with me, well, at least that was what she told me. She settled in this hometown and started her bakery.

Five years ago, karma slapped her so hard I never thought I would watch her even eating. She lost her taste bud. I was around sixteen then, and I watched my mother turning from full of life to an empty shell, and with no father, I had no other choice but to drop out of school.

When it came to baking, I was excellent, I provided the best services and even weddings from the next town came to make their orders. I had been happy, happier that I didn't have to do homework, study up late, and all that.

An empty shell turned into something intolerable, and I became a mother to my mother. An ear she yaps to. Instead of crying out, I got used to it because in this town it was normal for a child to be a parent and vice versa. In this town, you...

"Pearl, why are you so gloomy?" Catriona, my girlfriend, cut me off from my trail of thought. A smile appeared on my face so easily, she looked around the kitchen. With a proud look, she pecked me on the cheek and then whispered, "I am leaving you to it."

We finished cooking and we began the next part. Baking.

Yay me!

I had already made enough dough for cookies, cakes, and queen cakes, the only thing remaining was to put them in the oven. As I waited for them to get ready, everyone slid out of the kitchen, leaving me alone to stare at the three ovens my mama worshipped.

Around five beautiful hours later of me happily in my head, my mother and Catriona streamed into the kitchen. They took the meals to the sitting room and left me to arrange the cookies in the tray. The aroma filling in the kitchen was the reason I woke up in the morning, the reason I believed a new dawn meant good and new things.

I did a beautiful job arranging it, it looked amazing. I took a bite of one cookie and grinned as I chewed it. The smile disappeared from my face when I couldn't taste anything. Impossible!

I could never forget the measurement, I could do it in the middle of the night, hell, even in an ongoing attack. I was a baker born to bake. I designed new cake menus in my dreams. I took a different cookie and munched on it, but still, nothing. "Pearl, relax, brush your teeth, take a drink. Okay?" I advised myself.

Finishing, I carried the cakes, cookies, and queen cake to the sitting room. No one glanced at me and I didn't blame them. They were savoring the delicious heap of food as if their lives depended on it. Fearing they would hear how hard my heart was beating against my chest, I went hurriedly into my bedroom.

My walls were clear, with no paintings, no photos, no nothing. My mother had said no when I asked if I could decorate it. There was only a mirror, I looked at myself and slowly pulled my tongue out. It was unimaginable. I didn't want to think about what was happening.

I didn't want to think I was about to meet mama's fate. A woman with no dreams because she lost her only getaway. Her loyal taste bud has gone rogue! The idea of me ending up like my mother sent shivers all over my body.

The sudden scream from the sitting room made me jump, I went to see what was happening, and I found everyone looking at their watches. My mother screamed, "let us go outside."

"Countdown!" They shouted.

Someone stepped on my feet, and it hurt like hell but I said nothing, I rushed into the kitchen and took out my mother's favorite cake I made only for her. With adrenaline rushing through me, I didn't need a fork, I scooped some cake and ate it faster.

"Can it be I have lost my taste bud?" I wondered as I went from sugar to salt, to water, to juice, and to other food I knew I knew my body was finding it hard to accept what I was doing to it.

They were at number 3, and they were screaming at the top of their lungs. Life was cruel and I cursed for being bad to me. I got a pineapple from the fridge, I was sure I could feel its taste, and still nothing. By now my heart had left my body.

"One!" They yelled.

"No! Please, no!" I said breathlessly and stuffed a banana into my mouth.

"Happy New Year." "No!"

Heat rushed over my body, I knew my taste bud was gone, I knew because I saw what happened with mama. Suffocated, I rushed to my bedroom and stared at the mirror, the tongue was there, of course, it was, silly me.

"Here." Catriona said.

I grabbed the oreo from her hands and stuffed it into my mouth. The crunching sound was so annoying but I didn't care, I took another one and passed it around my mouth, was I too crazy to conclude this? Was my taste bud asleep or was it official that I lost my only ticket?

I am so dead!

Pearl's POV:

Catriona was out of it as soon as that chocolate hit my lips. It was so unlike her. I covered her legs and headed to find my mama. Two hours later listening to people wishing me happy birthday and happy new year, I found her curled up in a corner with the bottle of juice in her hands. I asked her if we could talk and she rudely told me no.

Heartbroken and in a catch-22 situation, I went inside and started cleaning. Some girls joined me and helped, I tried my best not to tell everyone what was happening to me, but I couldn't. The signs lingered; however, I couldn't succumb to them.

I wanted to scream at top of my lungs and asked them if the food had spoilt and asked them to pardon me. The need to repeat the same process as I did so strongly. There was a risk at that though, I couldn't stuff myself with that lot of sugar in a short span. Yes, I was a baker but that didn't mean my body wouldn't betray me if I did something to it.

Happily, everyone wished me again best wishes and left, I closed our gate and walked to mama, I found her in the same position she was in, only this time around, she was with a man I saw earlier in the closet, I asked the man to leave, one look at me and he knew I didn't have the time to wish him a good new year.

Nose flaring as an angry bull, mama pushed me aside and walked away. What has suddenly gotten into her? I grabbed her hand and pulled her into her bedroom, I looked around and when I saw no one lingering around, I told her, mama, it has happened."

"Pearl, not now. Go sleep, yes, I know you aren't getting any younger."

"Mama, I can't taste a thing!" I yelled.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't taste a thing."

"Have you tried urine?"

"Ew! This isn't a prank; I am a serious mother. For once in your life, take me seriously."

That brought her to reality. Her knees gave up, and I felt the urge to slap her, I didn't need her to faint on me. Not now, I needed her to ask me if I was sure that happened or if it was paranoia. I needed her to rush to the kitchen and bring some salt mixed with sugar, or Colgate.

My nails dug into her arms, and she asked me to show her my tongue, I did, and she pushed it up, then down, she even pulled it making me wince. "You are reacting."

"Yes, I didn't say it wasn't moving. I said I can't taste a thing. Are you listening to me? Jeez! Go rest, I will handle this myself."

I left her there, my dramatic exit embarrassing me since I thought she would rush after me. How stupid of me to wish for something I knew she would never do. I went to the kitchen, threw out every worry I had in mind about eating things in a short span, and tried everything in the kitchen. By the time the cock crows, I had gone through every food in the house and was sure I was about to faint.

I wasn't there, my body alone was, my mind had left me after I waited for mama to come search for me and she didn't. To function, I get my running shoes from my bedroom and run out of the house. This wasn't how I saw myself on date one but what else would be done? Mama was in her bed snoring out loud like some woman who suffered from breathing problems.

Catriona was on the bed sleeping peacefully, moreover, I wouldn't impose on her that burden early in the morning.

I was the kind of person who knew the difference between morning, lunch, and evening. The morning was for happiness, the day was for normal stuff, and the evening was for resting. Since it was the first day of the new year, no one was on the road. The hometown was quite unlike any other day. It was peaceful, peaceful that it got me soundcheck again.

The endorphins were kicking pretty well, and I ran and ran. Never looking back, or sideways. Focused only ahead, I didn't know where I was heading but I had to keep running or else the stamina in me would reduce and I would crumble. I didn't want to include anyone in my drama, not now and not ever.

School of Cacti, I read the name at the gate. It was my primary school, a weird name for weird hometown. By the time I stood, I was in the school's kitchen, the cook was there, not shocked by her presence in the kitchen, I pointed at the small cookies arranged on the board on top of the large pan.

Placing my hand above my chest, I took a bite, and chewed it slowly, nothing! No taste! She had a sweet tooth, so there was no way she could prepare some tasteless cookies, to confirm my doubt, she laughed, "I am sorry, I went overboard with the sugar."

Swallowing, "thanks, and happy new year."

Sprinting back home, I found my mother tapping her feet on the floor, a grim look on, "come here sweetheart, I am sorry about yesterday, how is it?"

I shook my head and ran to the bedroom, Catriona wasn't there. "She left. Come. Tell me, did you have any signs?"

"No mama. Everything was fine yesterday morning; all day I cooked the meal with perfect taste buds. It happened all of a sudden in the middle of the night, mama, I am afraid, it is gone. My only ticket is gone." I explained, my voice almost a whisper.

For the first time, my mother hugged me. "I am sorry sweety, I am so sorry."

Some people took after their parent's beauty. The blessed ones took their riches. Some of their cleverness.

Among the people there was me, I took after my mother's curse. Losing my taste bud! But at least for her, she lost it after she accomplished most of what she wanted. I thought by now tears would fall, but no, I felt nothing.

Sinclair's POV:

This is more than the worst day of my life, and trust me when I say that, I mean it is. Remember every step of my life and every minute of my breath is the worst. No word can describe how I feel, it even lacks in the dictionary.

*

A few hours from now, I would be someone's wife, someone's possession. Technically, he would be mine, but whatever! The date wasn't my first pick, who got married on the date first when the year began? And then what? We would be celebrating the new year and our wedding anniversary on the same day. The so-to-be-called husband thought it was beautiful, for me, it was cliché and boring.

Maybe he would have gone ahead and picked valentine's day for all I cared.

The eerie silence in the room could kill anyone if they came, but not me and the boy sitting at the corner of the room with his eyes drilling holes in my back. I feared talking to him, I knew what he would do, he would point at the window and dramatically open his hands in a motion for me to fly free.

I didn't choose this, apparently, before my lunatic mother died, she rewrote her will and stated she would rest in peace if I get married on this day. The so-called husband worshipped the ground she walked in and followed some stupid beliefs that the dead should be honored. As if I cared! But what choice did I have? The two of them knew what was at stake if we didn't marry soon, it was more of an attack.

I wondered; did he expect me to have a vow to say?

Sparing a menacing glance at the bottle of serotine on the floor, I cussed at it more than it should take. Wasn't that thing supposed to be a mood supporter or something? So, why was I still feeling as though my skin wanted out?

Oh, right! I puked them all out a few minutes ago when your body sends a message to itself, they teamed up and made sure to make your life a living hell.

I was waiting patiently for someone to enter the room and announced the groom was already at the altar waiting for me, I couldn't take it any longer. The makeup I applied for myself wouldn't stay much longer. I wasn't thrilled with the day to allow any wannabe to touch my face. No! I stared out the window and saw people walking into where the wedding venue, they were his. I had no one to attend. Neither did he listen to my head that I needed no one at the wedding.

If I had powers, court marriage would have called it.

"Sinclair, it is time."

Irritated, I turned, "let's get over with this."

"Sit, let me check this dress out.

"Don't you dare?" I warned.

"Sinclair, smile a little bit!"

"Gillian, I swear if you touch even a hem of this dress."I left it there for her to fill it with her imagination, she was good at that anyway. The boy snickered and before Gillian made any snarky comment, I asked her to leave us alone. I went to the boy with my shoes in my hand, wore them, and straightened.

Without looking, I gave him my hand. I felt her small hands on mine, he tugged twice making me look at him, his lips curled, showing his dimples, in return, I smiled too as I leaned down. He dipped into my dimples and slowly brushed my hair down.

"How do I look?" I asked, genuinely needing his approval. He pointed at the mirror. I rolled my eyes.

*

As if the wedding couldn't get any more depressing, my brother was walking me down the aisle. It wasn't like I would call my papa to do so. I bet on my brother's life he was somewhere crying his eyes out. He had been that way since his mother's passing away.

Gillian, who I should call mother-in-law smiled at me as she opened the door to the altar, I hated the moment. I wanted to pick my brother and run off with him. To forget the shitty life, I was about to add on top of my shitty life. Just as though he knew my thought, the boy stepped on my feet. "Ow Tyran! Treat me better even for a day!"

He giggled softly, and a genuine smile appeared on my face. That little rascal!

The usual boring song reminded me it was time to get in and tie a knot, my brother clutched my palm tighter, and the people inside stood, I saw the judgment in their eyes, they didn't approve of it at all, I didn't either. For a moment, I thought one of their faces would fall off, their smiles were as fake as plastic made in a bad industry.

I didn't believe we were at the end of the altar, my brother final push reminded me of that. I looked at him, he was looking at the groom with eyes that would kill. He loathed the man with passion, as I did to the brother but today, I had to wear the lovey-dovey face and appear in love before the minister chased us out of there.

Smiling at my brother, I waited for him to take a seat. Surprised, he took a step backward, his eyes never leaving the groom, and small whispers began, I wanted to turn and asked my brother what he thought he was doing, but hearing the groom's voice reminded me I didn't have time to start talking to my brother.

My brother was something for sure, I am happy though he decided to go against my teachings and stood behind me.

After the groom linked his hand with mine, I lost focus and zoned out the minister's words. Only snapped out of it when I heard his voice asking. "Sinclair, do you Dorsey to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Of course not!

Well, in this case, I said, "I do."

He went ahead and answered the same thing, we exchanged rings, and he said his vow, of course, I heard nothing, and even when I said mine, I wasn't there. My head was far away.

The small push on my knees again snapped me back, thank you, brother! We walked out of the building with people throwing flowers at me. It was the moment for my brother to leave, but again! No! He grabbed my right hand and we walked to the car together.

Mr. and Mrs. Harewood with little Harewood.

Oh, how sweet!