Once breakfast was over and everybody was cleaned up and dressed in fresh clothes… which just included a change of maid uniforms for the maids, Kris sat everybody down and looked like he had something to talk about.
“Is something wrong?” Rachel asked as she watched Kris’s facial expressions switch from one to another.
While it was true that Kris’s face kept on switching expressions at a rather rapid rate, indicating just how deep in thought he was, he eventually settled on a serious expression as he started straight into Rachel’s eyes and said, “Alright. You’re first.”
“Fi-first?”
“Bro told me that if you’re going to date multiple women, you need to do things with all of them together, but you also need to spend one-on-one time with them. Spending time with everybody is just as important as having one-on-one time with everybody. Then I was thinking… me and Emily already kind of had a private date by ourselves, and then me and Lucy spent the morning together talking and holding hands while the cornbread cooked and while waiting for the rest of you to wake up, so there are still four of you who I need to spend private time with. But I couldn’t figure out how to choose which was what I was thinking about. So since you’re the first one who spoke up, I took that as a sign and chose you. We’ll have a private date… or something where we spend time together just between the two of us.”
Before anybody else could say anything, it was Emily who spoke up and said, “Makes sense. I felt kind of guilty about spending that time alone with you when the others haven’t had a chance yet, so this will make it fair.”
Lucy ended up agreeing, too. “And I’ve already been alone with you a ton of times over the years, so I don’t mind!”
“Great,” Kris said. “But I’m not sure how to figure out the order for the rest of you once me and Rachel are done.”
Iris shook her head and said, “Please, do not worry yourself over that. We will have determined an optimized order before you return with Rachel. All you need to do is enjoy your time together with Rachel.”
“Wai-wait!” Rachel shouted out. “But—a—private date with Kris? I—I’m not mentally prepared for that!”
“Oh,” Kris said. “Then I can go with somebody else if you’re not ready ye—”
“I’m ready!”
Despite just how nervous Rachel was a few moments before, she… was obviously still nervous, but with eyes full of determination and a lack of patience. Sure, she was nervous… and she didn’t mind if he got to go with the others for private time… but he already chose her, and now that she had the promise of alone time with him, she absolutely did not want to let it slip away.
“Woah, that was fast,” Kris said. “You’re amazing, Rachel.”
Rachel scratched the back of her head and giggled. “Ehehe… what—what can I say? I’m really looking forward to it.” She switched over to mumbled whispering. “Even if I feel like my heart is going to explode at any second.”
“I’m glad. Alright, I think I know where I can take you then.”
“We’re going somewhere?” Rachel blinked a couple of times.
“Well, it’d be hard to have time between the two of us if we’re here. Plus I think I know a place you’d really like.”
“True… alright!”
“As for the rest of you… uh… crap. Wait. Aren’t I being a bad host if I leave you here?”
Abigail shook her head and signed to Kris, “Worry not. We understand the situation, and it will only be rude if you do not give us equal treatment, and we all have faith in you to do as much.”
Kris still looked a bit uneasy about it, but then he had an idea and looked at Lucy. “I’ve got it. You can bond with them while we’re gone. You’re over here enough that you basically live here too half the time, so that means you can be the host while I’m out with Rachel.”
“E-eh?” Lucy asked. “But… I’m not sure what they’d like to do…”
“That’s the point. Spend the time being a host and bonding with them so you can all get to know each other better. And you have copies of all my cards in case you want to go out somewhere or order something for delivery.”
“We just had breakfast. I don’t think we’re going to be ordering anything.”
“What if you order fudge from the—”
“I’m pulling up the menu right now.”
The rest of the women looked a bit confused as for why Lucy suddenly pulled out her phone with such great interest as soon as Kris mentioned fudge.
So, Kris explained to them, “There’s this place a couple blocks over that makes like, the world’s greatest fudge. They’ve won a bunch of awards for it. They’re also super cool and help out the community a bunch, and they’ll deliver whatever fudge you want to your door as long as you live within a few blocks.”
Lucy was already in the process of adding a bunch of different fudges to the order on her phone while Kris talked. “Lemon… turtle… marble… extreme caramel… deluxe mega chocolate… the architect…”
Rachel blinked when she heard that last one. “The architect?”
“Oh, yeah. It’s named after Kris. Each square of fudge has Kris’s face etched onto it, and it’s specially made to be what he thinks is the perfect fudge.”
“I’m curious about the story behind that now…”
“Right, you’re not from here, so you wouldn’t know. It’s like a legend around here now. Back when they first started winning awards, they got a bunch of attention from investors all over the world, and a ton of people tried buying them out and wanting to turn them into like a major brand and all that. They resisted for a while because the owner wanted to stay local, but then an accident happened and she fell into a coma, leaving her son in charge. But her son wasn’t really a good businessman and didn’t know how to run things, and some mistakes were made here and there, and they almost went out of business, and he desperately needed money to keep store running especially after their reputation went downhill… so he was about to accept an offer from one of the few shady investors who were still interested. Kris just so happened to be there to pick up some fudge on the day the son got really drunk and he ended up spilling everything to Kris. It also just so happened to have happened right after Kris won an award for an architecture contest and got a really nice cash reward for it, and he gave the entire reward to the son to help the business stay afloat and independent. Then the owner woke up from her coma a few months later, learned about what happened, and designated Kris as the business’s personal savior, put a picture of her hugging him up on the wall for everybody to see, and made his perfect fudge and named it after him. Ever since then, the mom has taught her son to be a better businessman, they repaired their reputation, and they’re more popular than ever!”
Kris yawned while listening to that story again, but the rest of his girlfriends all looked at him with awe once again.
“They also offered Kris free fudge for life, but of course, he got mad and turned it down and said that he would never accept their products for free. ‘They’re worth the money, so I obviously want to pay for it, and I’ll feel bad if you don’t let me,’ he says, every single time they try to push it off onto him while hoping he’ll forget to pay them.”
Kris shrugged. “It’s only right. And I have the money anyways. I’d rather them give it to like, kids or something if they’re going to give some away for free.”
Rachel giggled some more before clinging to Kris’s arm, looping each of her arms around it. “We’re so lucky. Every single day, we learn more and more about just how right we were to choose you.”
Lucy’s story didn’t make Kris blush at all, but Lucy hugging his arm sure did. And it wasn’t even because of the fact that she was pressing her breasts around his arm, which neither of them really noticed. Instead, he blushed just because one of the women he loved was hugging him so closely. “I think I’m the lucky one,” he said. “Anyways… ready for our one-on-one date?”
“Yep, yep!” Rachel then looked over to the others. “Make sure to leave some fudge for me.” Then she narrowed her eyes at Emily.
Emily immediately took offense to that. “Why do you have to stare at me?!”
Rachel looked down at Emily’s breasts and then back into Emily’s eyes. “We both know why.”
“It’s not my fault all my weight goes to these damn udders, alright?! And it’s not my fault food tastes so good!”
Iris placed a hand on top of Emily’s head to give her a couple of pats, calming her down rather rapidly. “I will make sure to set some aside for you, and I will keep it high enough to be out of Emily’s reach.”
Emily grumbled when she heard the implication about her being short. “I despise you people sometimes. You’re lucky I love you.”
“We love you, too, Emily.”
While Emily grumbled some more, Lucy scrolled through the menu’s fudge options and added anything Abigail pointed out to the order, and Kris finally got around to leaving with Rachel.
As for where Kris decided to take Rachel, walking along the city’s sidewalks with her hugging his arm the entire time…
“Here,” Kris said.
Rachel looked up at the sign hanging over the door in front of them and saw nothing more than a logo featuring a single needle—the sewing kind, on it. “What’s… here? Is it like… a craft store or something?”
Kris finally freed his arm from her grasp and opened the door for her, allowing her to walk in first.
And when Rachel walked in, unsure of what to expect, she froze as soon as she realized where they were.
There was row after row of overly designed, yet beautiful dresses, hats, skirts, and more.
“Oh! Kris!” shouted the young girl behind the counter. She looked like she must have only been around sixteen and was full of smiles as soon as she saw him.
“Yo,” Kris replied. “Wait, shouldn’t you be at school?”
“Shhh, I’m skipping. School sucks anyways. I’d rather stand here to get paid for barely having to do anythi—wait.” The young girl looked at Rachel. “Who’s she?”
“My girlfriend. Well, one of them.”
“Your—your girlfriend? One of them?”
“Yeah. I’ve got six now. This is Rachel.” Kris then looked at Rachel. “Rachel, this is Kiara. She’s the little sister of my friend who runs this place.”
And speaking of his friend, a familiar face walked out from the back as soon as he heard the commotion. “I still can’t believe you were telling the truth, man,” Amir said while his little sister, Kiara, stumbled backwards as if she was just staggered by a critical blow.
“A-ah! It’s—it’s nice to meet you!” Rachel said, following it up with a polite curtsy.
Amir gave a nod to Rachel before doing the usual handshake with Kris.
“Bro, you shouldn’t let your sister skip school to work here,” Kris said.
“I can’t stop her from skipping, so if she’s going to skip anyways, then she might as well deal with the customers for me while I work in the back,” Amir replied. “Anyways, what’s up?”
“I thought Rachel would be interested in the clothes you make.”
Rachel had another reason to curiously blink when she heard that.
When she looked over Kris’s friend, Amir, she saw a rather… gruff looking guy. He had tattoos, a rough exterior, and he just didn’t exactly look anything like the kind of person who was interested in making clothes. Yet, when she looked at the clothes he apparently made… they were all so extravagant, feminine, and beautiful. They looked like clothes for royalty. Yet, they were all made by Amir, and they all sat inside of a small store that wasn’t even named and had no windows to look into from the outside.
“Did… you really make all these yourself?” Rachel asked Amir.
“Yep,” Amir answered. “I know. ‘Wow, did that scary lookin’ brown dude make these pretty clothes?’ Everybody asks that.”
“That—that isn’t what I was thinking!”
Kris flicked Amir’s shoulder before saying, “Don’t mind him. He likes to make jokes like that to make people uncomfortable.”
Amir chuckled a bit to confirm Kris’s statement. “Listen to the white man here saying not to pay attention to the brown guy. Next thing you know, he’ll be asking me to make him curry again. Remember that, bro? ‘But you’re Indian, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you like, be amazing at making curry?’ Maaaannnnn, I’m never going to forget how innocently you asked me that straight to my face. Dude thinking I can make curry because I’m ‘Indian’ when I was born in the same hospital as him.”
“I—I didn’t know any better,” Kris said. “I’m still sorry about that.”
“It’s all good bro. Anybody who has spent more than five minutes around you knows that you’re like a puppy who doesn’t know right from wrong. Or well, you used to be. You meet him before or after he actually tried being socially conscious?” Amir asked Rachel.
“A-after, I think,” Rachel answered. “But I have heard of how he used to be! Part of me wishes I could have seen how he used to behave…”
“You really don’t. Dude was the most accidentally racist and sexist guy I’ve ever known.” Amir then placed a hand on Kris’s shoulder. “But now that he’s had enough people call him out on his ignorance, he’s turned into the most annoyingly respectful guy around. You’ve got a good man here. Just try to cut him some slack if he ever says something stupid without realizing it.”
“Wait,” Kris said. “Am I being too respectful? Is it annoying people? Should I tone it down?”
Amir looked at Rachel. “See what I mean?”
Rachel covered up her mouth and giggled. “I do! Thank you for taking care of him until now.”
“I’d say it’s more like he’s taken care of all of us. He just needed to think more about what he said before speaking. But anyways, if you see anything you like in here, let me know. If there’s anything you want modified in any way, or if you have any special requests in general, just come into the back and shout them at me. I’ve got you. And since you’re Kris’s girl, I’ll make sure to charge him extra.”
“E-extra?”
“He’ll just tip me if I don’t. You see, he’s a weirdo who wants to be charged more by his friends. Instead of asking for a discount, this dude seriously makes me charge him more. Anyways, I’ll leave you two to it.” And with that, Amir gave them a little wave over his shoulder as he returned to the back of the shop.
Kris then looked at Rachel with the eyes of an injured puppy and asked her, “Have—have I been annoying? Should I try to be less respectful? But I thought being respectful was good… am I being too considerate or something? Should I stop caring as much about others’ feelings?”
Yep. Rachel only saw a confused puppy when she looked up at Kris.
That was why she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to hug him against the top of her breasts. “You’re perfect the way you are, Kris. Your friend was just teasing you. Nobody thinks you’re annoying.”
“Oh. Okay.”
While Rachel stroked the back of Kris’s head with one hand, Amir’s little sister was rethinking her life plans and considering ending her spree of skipping class if she couldn’t depend on stealing Kris for herself anymore once she turned eighteen.