Apocalypse Queen: My Space, My Rules Chapter 26: I Was Just Joking

She turned to Chandler and asked, "How are the tactical supplies I told you to prepare coming along?"

Chandler replied, "The deposit's already paid. We should have everything within three days."

Mariella was honestly impressed by how fast he worked. He might have been even more driven than she was.

It had taken her four years in the apocalypse to reach this level of urgency.

He was just a retired soldier from a peaceful world, and yet he still pushed himself this hard.

To her, he was a rare gem. She almost worried he might leave. "Keep it up. I'll make sure you're well taken care of."

Chandler glanced at her but didn't respond.

She asked again, "What's the plan at the club tonight?"

Chandler answered, "Number One is in charge of training and management."

Mariella nodded, then added, making sure to reassure him, "In my eyes, you're the best team leader. No one can compare to you. Not even Number One."

She wanted him to understand that he was the one she trusted most.

Chandler's lips twitched slightly, but he said nothing.

Mariella was used to how little he spoke and didn't take his distant attitude to heart.

When it came to using people, she cared about ability, not sweet talk.

Compared to empty words, she preferred someone like Chandler, who got things done without saying much.

Number One was pretty solid, too. He looked dependable.

"After you finish talking to those nine tomorrow, I want you to take full charge of the evaluation process. Just give me the final results." She had too much on her plate, so she handed the screening over to him.

Chandler pressed his lips together and lowered his gaze. "Got it."

...

Mariella took Chandler shopping and picked out a full set of dinnerware, tea sets, and glassware.

From simple white porcelain to crystal, she bought just about every material available.

After the disaster, even getting enough to eat would be difficult, let alone using things like these. They would practically be luxury items.

Still, she decided to stock some anyway, just to treat herself once in a while.

Chandler carried everything while she shopped like crazy.

The packed porcelain and glass items were loaded into the bed of the pickup truck. Then she drove him to a seed market.

They bought 300 pounds of grain seeds, 100 pounds of vegetable seeds, 50 pounds of flower and herb seeds, and 1,000 fruit and vegetable seedlings. The two of them made several trips, loading everything into the truck.

Chandler never once asked why she was buying all this.

He worked like someone on a mission. He just did the job and didn't ask questions.

After getting back into the car, Mariella looked at him and couldn't help asking, "You're honestly the most reliable bodyguard I've ever seen. Why do you keep getting fired?"

Chandler's expression darkened slightly. It looked like she had hit a nerve.

Mariella immediately realized she had crossed a line.

He had never pried into her business, yet she had asked something personal.

"Uh, I was just asking. You don't have to answer if you don't want to." She started the car to cover up the awkwardness.

The car drove on in silence for a while.

Then his deep voice broke the quiet. "My first employer asked me to kidnap a girl he was interested in. I refused. The second one wanted me to beat up the elderly and weak. I refused that too. My third employer..." he paused briefly, "was the one who just fired me."

Compared to those employers, what Mariella had asked him to do had not crossed any lines.

Mariella smiled. "Good thing you left them. Otherwise, you wouldn't have had the chance to meet such a great boss like me."

Chandler was speechless.

This new boss of his really wasn't bad.

If she weren't a little too full of herself sometimes, she might be even better.

...

They returned to the club, and it wasn't even 9 p.m. yet.

The bodyguards were peeking around, some of them even making exaggerated expressions.

Chandler remained expressionless and casually called out four names, ordering them to help unload the supplies from the pickup truck.

Mariella added, "Take everything to my room."

It was one thing that Chandler had already seen the supplies in her storage room on the first floor. She didn't want every bodyguard knowing about it, too.

Once the four of them had carried all the supplies upstairs to the third floor and moved everything into Mariella's room, she transferred a bonus to each of them for the extra work.

"Thank you, Ms. Townsend!" The four of them grinned when they saw the generous amount hit their accounts.

But as soon as Mariella closed the door, they immediately went back downstairs to join the others.

Number Seven leaned against the stair railing and teased, "Captain Zimmer, we didn't expect you to come back tonight."

Everyone burst out laughing.

They had all assumed Chandler would be staying out with the boss for the night.

Only Number One didn't laugh.

"Number Seven, you're first for the one-on-one discussion tomorrow after breakfast," Chandler said calmly.

Number Seven immediately groaned. "I was just joking! And I already broke up with my ex, I really did!"

He had only been running his mouth out of boredom. It didn't mean anything.

Chandler ignored him. His dark, steady gaze swept across the room, and the entire place instantly fell silent.