Caspian got up as Asher left for the day, tired of staying in bed.
He had long gotten over his cold, but Asher insisted that he keep resting, and with the doctor backing his mate’s words, he had no choice but to accept.
But they could only keep him in bed for so many days, he got dressed up and immediately headed for the kitchen.
It had been a while since he checked up on them, and he was certain that Patty had a long list of reports for him.
He didn’t at all expect to find the kitchen plunged into chaos.
Katya was the only one available, and she managed to quickly fill him in while yelling orders and answering questions.
"Roy and Scott also came down with a cold," She said in a haste.
Caspian’s blue eyes were wide in surprise, "And Patty?"
"And also Patty." She confirmed, her dark hair raggedy from stress. "I made them all stay home today despite their protests but it’s harder than I thought to run things alone."
"I’ll gladly help you out," He was quick to offer.
"Well handling things here isn’t the issue but Patty kept track of the produce we needed and made sure they were all shipped in time."
"Oh," Caspian muttered.
Katya did seem to have everything under control, even if it was a little chaotic.
"What I don’t have under control are the batches of fruit missing for the desserts."
"Is there a list Patty made? I could quickly run out and get what’s missing." Caspian said, already walking to the study.
"If there is, it’ll be in the study!" Katya called after him, making no move to follow him because something else took up her attention.
Caspian didn’t need her help, he basically ran the books with Patty so he knew where everything was supposed to be.
And if he still couldn’t find it, he could always give the accountant a quick call.
There was no need to bother a sick Patty however because he found what he was looking for right on the desk beside his laptop that had been converted to a work device.
Jael offered to set up a proper computer system, but Caspian turned down the offer, the laptop worked fine, and Patty could easily take it home if she needed to.
Now that he knew what was supposed to come in, he just needed to find which of the produce hadn’t showed up.
Then he would keep to his words and go on a quick grocery run.
A kitchen staff was quick to help him take tally of the missing fruits; lemons, strawberries, and way too many apples.
He didn’t question the kitchen’s demands, giving Katya a heads up before leaving the kitchen.
The frazzled chef was genuine with her thanks, but Caspian didn’t mind, he was honestly surprised she even let him do it.
Considering he had also been sick, but Katya looked too stressed out to make a fuss about that.
"Hey," He said into the phone as Peter picked up, "What do you guys think about an early morning grocery run?"
"We’ll head out right away."
Caspian didn’t head for the front door; it would take a short while for Peter and Keith to get here.
And not for the first time, he found himself wondering if his bodyguards shared an apartment.
Because they always seemed to be together whenever he called for them.
He started for the front door after roughly ten minutes had passed, taking his time going down the stairs.
Today was a day for printed shirts and sweatpants, changing his bunny slippers out for outdoor shoes before heading downstairs.
Keith and Peter were pulling in just as he got outside of the mansion, and with the shopping list in hand, he got into the car so that they could drive out.
Lake had slept early the night before, and as someone who was used to late nights and early mornings, he was already up before the crack of dawn.
He spent at least half an hour in bed, shell shocked from the series of unfortunate events he had gotten roped into.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t spend the rest of the day in bed like he would have liked, forcing himself to get to his feet.
Lake took another quick shower, this time he ignored his blurry image in the steamed-up mirror, hurrying to get dressed.
He ran a brush through his hair, the tips nearly brushing the top of his shoulders, right before packing up for a quick impromptu trip.
Lake didn’t have a lot of clothes, there was no need for them, he mostly wore his work uniform and when he didn’t, he was in the comfort of his apartment.
So, it was either the black and white uniform or sleep clothes.
He did have to go out to get groceries and other necessities, so he had a few pairs of clothes, these were what he tossed in the overnight bag.
He opened up the bag he had taken to work, making a face at his ruined uniform that was shoved in there with all he stole.
Looking at the hard evidence made the memories from the night before stand out in stark relief.
He didn’t need the uniform anymore, so he trashed it, hiding the money and gold in between in clothes.
Lake still had no concrete plans, trying to take a flight out would be risky, and taking the train wasn’t a much better option.
Anything that would keep track of his movements was something he wanted to avoid.
But he couldn’t just take a cab out of the city, maybe renting a car might work.
But Lake didn’t want to leave Haines, he wasn’t rich enough to spend years on the run, and he didn’t want to have to work while running.
So, for now, he would just hide out in a motel until enough time had passed and hopefully tabs were no longer being kept on routes in and out of Haines.