The mansion is a maze. While it was amazing at first, it soon became a dreadful bore traversing its halls. Who the hell needs five dining rooms? Ben asked one of the maids why they have so many dining rooms. She gave him a puzzled look, thinking that master Ben might be playing tricks on her, but still answered him in the end. Each dining room serves a specific purpose. One dining hall is reserved for breakfasts, another for lunch, the one in the next room is for dinner, and the other two are reserved for guests. Weird, but okay.
After walking for about 20 minutes, Ben reached the familiar bathroom where he peed. He retraced his steps back and led him back to his bedroom, which is now cleaned and vacuumed. The shutters spread out but let enough light in to keep the room lit without the need of opening the small chandelier above. The light rays from the window are hitting something on the nightstand. The rays fractured into a million colors. Ben walked over and reached for the object to see that it was the Cabochon gem that made this day possible. Beside it is a note that says,
"Two to go,"
But in a blink, the note disappeared and the gem glimmered as if it blinked at him. He hid the gem inside his school bag, and from there, he picked Cole's phone and opened it with his fingerprints. Technology, amirite? Ben scrolled amongst the contacts and was surprised to see that the list was rather short. There was his dad & mom, his bodyguard and assistant Mr. Oliver, 911, three other names he does not recognize, and Cole's name. Ben recognized the number as his own. It came from a sim bought from half a month's earnings placed inside a phone he nabbed from a drunk person from the street. It wasn't the best phone but it worked enough that Cole could call him.
It's nearly 11 AM, and judging by Ben's prior schedule in the orphanage during holidays, Cole just finished his late breakfast of gruel. It feels kind of guilty knowing that Ben ate a wonderful breakfast earlier. Panhandling work won't start until 6 PM which means he is free for the next 7 hours. Ben called Cole and heard the phone ringing.
Cole picked it up, "Ben, you called."
"I sure did. So, what are you doing?" Ben knows what he is doing but it does not hurt to ask.
Ben heard children laugh on the other side of the phone, with one crying kid trailing behind. He recognized those voices from Puel, Urias, and Mike. "I… uh… just finished handling my uncle's kids. They are a handful. So, how about you? Knowing you, your schedule must be open all day."
Hearing his own voice from the other side of the phone and having him speak like he would is kind of getting on Ben's nerves. This must be the price he paid when he wished for the change. "Yeah, you're right. It's a bore being alone in this house."
"You got your servants, right? And Mr. Oliver is an interesting guy, how about you hang out with him for once?"
Sure, Mr. Oliver is a cool guy. That guy's huge musclehead but his heart is far bigger. In a way, the guy acted like a brother to Cole, and now to Ben. Ben could hang out with the guy but he decided to spend the day with Cole. See how the change has affected them both. "The servants here treat me like their boss and I think mist- I mean, Oliver is busy doing security drills. So, I'm thinking that we should hang out."
"Fine. I have nothing better to do as well anyways. But I need to get back by six because I need to help my stepmom with the dinner. So, have you thought of a place where we could hang out? And if it's your huge house again, I swear to god…"