Gentleman ( The Boyfriend Shop )
iii. Home Sweet Home

The hardwood door opened, revealing Dennis ’s new home. He gawked around, the smile he hadn’t been able to contain all day, and probably wouldn’t be able to for a long time, was still shining brightly on his thin lips. For how wouldn’t it ? Finally, after so much time of waiting to be adopted, to finally have a family on his own, to have someone to take care of, he was there, in his new and hopefully forever home.

“ I’m sorry it’s not the best, I couldn’t exactly scrap up anything better ~ “ Arin muttered, but the male wasn’t bothered, he couldn’t see anything less than heaven. Like a puppy after years and years in a pound, he just couldn’t hide his excitement. He wanted to explore his new home, get familiar with it and most importantly, make sure he didn’t intrude. Thinking about it, she didn’t seem to be completely familiar with her home either, so his goal was to make that new space as welcoming and warm to both of them as possible.

“ It’s perfect ! “ he exclaimed with a wide, goofy grin.

Arin chuckled. She couldn’t help but perk up too, the optimistic flea jumped off of her newly adopted puppy and onto her, contaminating her with the feelings she didn’t think she’d ever be feeling again.

But, she could tell she’d be feeling restless soon again. She’d need to pay for the flat loan, she’d need money for the food and everything else in between that one meal a day she needed and her wallet was getting thinner and thinner. Everything she’d saved throughout the years, what she’d managed to hide from Daniel who wanted to be in control of everything, would soon be given away, for now there was two of them. She’d need a job.

Dennis cleared his throat upon seeing she’d wandered off with her thoughts, gazing off into the distance mid - sentence.

“ Feel free to look around if you’d like. Would you like anything to eat ? Drink ? “ she continued, as if nothing had happened, “ … What do you guys even consume ? “ she questioned, remembering she didn’t actually know anything about the new puppy in the house. Did he come with the instruction manual ? Mr. White hadn’t explained anything to her. In fact, she couldn’t even remember anything besides signing the papers and walking off with Dennis. And all of it had happened only a couple of hours before !

He chuckled. “ Yes, we eat and drink like human beings. We are just like human beings ~ “ he trailed off. It was obvious from his words and the way he uttered them that he considered himself exactly that - a human being.

Dennis wasn’t like other robots. From the moment he was created, he felt as if he was something more. Or something less.

He could feel the difference between him and others. Their mindsets were different, but whenever he’d tried asking Mr. White about it, he’d just tell him off, explaining the exact thing he’d told Arin : that they were all different in their own way and that was exactly what made him the same as every other robot. He’d just nod at that, but never stopped wondering.

Though, now that he was with Arin, he could stop thinking about any and every ’ problem ’ of his and focus on her instead. What she didn’t know - and would hopefully never know - was that he already knew everything about her. It was necessary for him to be the perfect boyfriend she had adopted and which she, at the end of the day, needed. Thus, Mr. White dissected her life right in front of Dennis just so he could avoid anything that might hurt her.

“ Alright then, I’ll fix us some lunch, “ she offered, but already started making her way to the kitchen. Cooking was already natural to her and she was good at it - for how wouldn’t she be after being a housewife to Daniel throughout their relationship. It wasn’t so in the beginning, though, he was kind and gentle, romantic and careful. But, over time, when she was already so hopelessly in love and completely dependant on him, he started changing.

He managed to isolate her from all of her friends and family ; she still recalled having been attacked by her mother for starting to smoke at the young age of 15, a lie Daniel had told the worried woman, at the very beginning of the hell that had been about to start. She’d told her how disappointed she was and it broke the young and naturally fragile soul.

From then on, she was completely dependant on Daniel. He dictated her every step, he was the one telling her what to do, say or even think and she blindly followed, she trusted his every word without realizing she was ruining her own life like that. Without her knowledge, Daniel stopped her mother from apologizing and instead, told her Arin didn’t want to hear from her ever again. The guilty woman understood and hadn’t tried contacting her ever since.

She was stopped by Dennis ’s gentle hand holding onto her forearm. “ No, how about I cook for you ? “ he suggested. He wanted to be the exact opposite of Daniel ; instead of treating her like a slave, he wanted to make her feel like a queen. It was his job after all, and even if it wasn’t, she deserved it.

She chuckled. “ You don’t have to, it’s really not a problem. Besides, I’d like to impress you with my cooking, “ - she winked - “ and make you feel welcome here. “

He chuckled at her. “ And if I want to impress you with my cooking too ? “ he retorted with a daring smirk on his lips, making her raise her eyebrow in surprise.

“ I didn’t know you could cook ~ “

” There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, “ he mused and excitedly pulled her to the couch, “ Now sit here and relax while I make the most yummy lunch you’ve ever tasted ! “

The goofy grin was still happily dancing on his features, he was confident he could make a fantastic meal following one of the recipes from his data base. Now, he didn’t know how to make everything, but there was just enough recipes there to make it believable he had some knowledge in cooking. Perhaps he’d finished a cooking course, or his mother was an avid cook so he picked up on it, there were many different explanations that didn’t point out he was a robot because of it.

She laughed and playfully whined, following him to the kitchen like a little rebel she was. “ No ! I want to at least watch you cook ! “

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