The Ninth Hour
Author:© WebNovel
Chapter 1: Chapter 1
1
The First Hour
Ivan Hart thanked the chauffeur before getting down from the luxurious car and gazing at the bakery in front of him with a huge smile on his face. It was nine o’clock in the morning, so he wasn’t surprised to notice there were still quite a number of people waiting in line inside the bakery. He shook his head in amusement as he folded his arms across his chest. He didn’t make it a habit to talk to himself, but he couldn’t help it this time around.
“Darren Larson, you’re a sentimental big old sap.”
Darren was his boyfriend. The two of them had been together for exactly nine years that day. Unfortunately, Darren had two important meetings to attend later in the morning and another three in the afternoon, so Ivan knew the two of them wouldn’t be able to celebrate their ninth anniversary until dinner time. He wasn’t angry at Darren for being so busy on such an important day, though. He understood Darren’s situation. His boyfriend was the sole heir of Larson, Incorporated, which was the parent company that owned either a large chunk or a tiny bit of everything from every industry in existence all around the world.
“Mr. Hart.”
Ivan turned to face George, his chauffeur for the day, who was waiting for him inside the car. “Yes, George?”
“There’s no parking spot available anywhere nearby. I’ll probably end up quite a distance away,” George replied. “Please call me when you’re done.”
Ivan nodded. “Of course. Thanks again, George.”
“You’re welcome. It’s my pleasure, sir.”
After that, George drove the car away, leaving Ivan all by himself next to the curb. He breathed in the crisp and cool spring air for several seconds before making his way into the bakery. The decorations and colors inside the bakery weren’t any different from the thousands of others in the city. However, this particular bakery held a special meaning to him and Darren. The enticing and delicious scents of various pastries assaulted his sense of smell all at once. There was also the tantalizing aroma of freshly brewed coffee permeating the air inside the bakery. He inhaled deeply, taking in everything and feeling rather nostalgic all at once.
He and Darren hadn’t been back to the bakery in a while now. It must have been at least nine months since the last time the two of them were able to make it to the bakery together. Most of the time, they would go there separately. It was located rather far away from the private estate they resided at. The traffic wasn’t that horrible earlier that morning, and it still required almost forty-five minutes for him to reach this bakery from home. Another reason why the two of them hadn’t been able to pay the bakery a visit was their respective schedules.
Darren had a business empire to run, so it was understandable he would have very little free time. Not that Ivan had plenty of spare time himself. He was a successful author of multiple books. The genre he dabbled in was a mixture of mystery and supernatural with a little bit of romance thrown in. At twenty-nine years old, he was lucky enough to have three of his books being adapted into movies. In addition, his most recent trilogy would soon be made into a television series. As a result, he had been kept rather preoccupied over the past few months, getting stuck in a ton of meetings with people from the production company and the investors who were interested in the project.
“Good morning. My name is…holy shit! You’re…you’re Mr. Ivan—”
“Shh,” Ivan interrupted the employee behind the counter in a hurry while doing his best to conceal his grimace and discomfort before lowering the volume of his voice. “And yes, I’m Ivan Hart. Please pretend you don’t know who I am and what I do for a living. Or at least lower the volume of your voice. I really want to spend my time here in relative silence and anonymity.”
The employee nodded quickly. “Of…of course, Mr. Ivan Hart, sir.”
Ivan winced a little at the employee’s stiffness and formal way of addressing him. “Right. Thank you. May I get a vanilla cupcake with mango cream frosting, a red velvet cupcake with lavender and cream cheese frosting, a sandwich with beef-and-scrambled-egg filling, and a large cup of hot coffee with two spoonfuls of sugar, please?”
The employee gaped at Ivan for a second or two before keying in the order into the system. “Certainly, sir.”
Ivan noticed the employee’s cheeks and ears were flushing red. However, he was thankful the employee didn’t attempt to engage him in a further conversation. He peeked at the name tag that was pinned onto the right-hand side of the employee’s uniform. Then he beamed widely, hoping to put the employee at ease.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone