Whisper of the Silencee

8

"Can we enter just like this?" Clover asked, glimpsing back at the never-ending queue. "There are so many people waiting out there."

"Don't bother," he said, reaching for the black mask in her hand, putting it on him, "We are special." Danise lowered his head and dropped his arm in hers, leading her into the shop.

And that's when the magic started. The bright, lightings of the standing lamps flickered in her eyes. Postcards and readable materials arranged artistically onto the shelves nailed to the bricked walls. Close to the ceilings, white strings were connected from one end to the next, with many pieces of photos dangling in between. The tables and chairs were all milky white, each specifically designed correlating to one another. Along the corridor between the payment counter and the main cafe area, there were many other isolated guest rooms situated at the sides. In short, the inside of the shop was nothing like the outside. It was portraying the modern era design.

Making their way in, they were very lucky because the existing customers were too busy digging in their meals to be having any time to look at them. They might regret though, when they realized that a celebrity just passed by.

Enclosed by the semi-opened bifold doors, the same man was cleaning the vacant guest room, preparing to invite the next customer on the list to be served. Danise paused his steps and leaned against the door. Knowing nothing, Clover waited with him patiently and watched the man. He didn't notice them. He put the new sets on the table gently, replacing the used utensils. When they failed to be in the position he wanted them to be, he adjusted them two to three times without any nags. He was very careful and delicate with his tasks.

"Ohisashiburidesu ne`, Raymond-san." Danise's voice sent across the room as he placed a knock, greeting him.

His hands froze at the voice. The silver metallic chopsticks slipped, clinking onto the floor.

"O genki desu ka?" Danise continued, taking a step closer.

He turned to the back slowly, "..Da..Danise?" Brows drew in.

Taking off his disguise."Yeah, it's me," he chuckled, outstretching his arms, "Life's good?"

Instead of offering him a hug, he dashed to him in a flash and whacked him with the napkins. "i***t! Where have you beenn?! I've been looking everywhere for you!!"

"Ouch!" He cried. "Raymond! How could you do this to your long lost brother?"

"Long lost brother?" Raymond twisted Danise's pinna, "Since when we are blood-related? Other than the media, I could barely see your face anywhere else!" He slanted his eyes at him. "You know I don't like to watch them.. So thoughtful of you, long-lost brother."

"Ahh..ahhh..!" He tipped on his toes, hands trying to save his pinna from getting 'detached'. "How could you say that..!"

"Stop acting, dumbass!" He stuck his head under his arm playfully.

"My goodness. Raymond! My hair is ruined!" He grumbled, freeing himself from Raymond. "I'm a public figure too kayy."

At that instance, the naughtiness in his eyes vanished away in a smooth. ".. Public figure?" He snorted.

"....Is.....Ky..Kyle doing good...?" He asked, after a short. His voice was heavy.

Sucking in a deep breath, "He's fine." Danise replied, tapping his hair to make it looked neat, "Perhaps he would be better if she forgives him."

"That's....-" His voice trailed off.

"Duhhh. Forget about it," dragging Clover into the conversation, "Here, she's your brother's new personal assistant," Danise said briefly, "Clover Hon."

"Kyle's new... personal assistant..?" He shifted his gaze to the girl beside his childhood friend.

"Nice to meet you, Raymond." Clover put on a sweet grin and held out her hand for a shake.

He didn't respond to her immediately. Raymond was standing immobile on his feet, eyes studying Clover. Millions of questions displayed on his face but he didn't make any attempts pouring them out. Thin lips parted open, fingers drumming on his maroon pants. Sounds of plates and cups clattering, the screeching noises of the seats being dragged front and back, voices of the customers floated into the room with them in it. Danise was standing swayback, hand rested in the scratched pocket while the other messing with the napkin Raymond had it on him. It was giving off a really lovely and relaxing flowery smell that made him kept sniffing it under his nose.

Raymond's gaze was lost in hers, as though he had traveled to another dimension in her alluring pearl- black eyes. The muscles of her cheeks ached, for smiling too long. Her smile lines were decreasing though she tried to hold them in place. It was until Danise nudged his elbow when he finally snapped back into the world.

"Ohhh..I'm..so...sorry.. Really sorry."" He quickly grabbed Clover's hand with both of his before it dropped fully down ."It's a pleasure to meet you, Clover," he said, shaking it excitedly.

She puffed as she heard Danise tsk-ing at the side.

"Here, have a seat. I'll serve you with some desserts in a very short while," Raymond gestured them to the table with a unique vase placed in the middle while reaching for the door.

As soon as he exited, Clover let out a long breath, falling onto the seat.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought he was going to scream at me somehow," she dropped her face down on the table, rubbing it on her folded arm.

"For what?"

"God knows. Maybe his sixth sense told him that I messed up his brother's event day." Lifting her head and staring right into his eyes, "By the way, I never thought that he's actually Kyle's brother," she said.

"Not like I know how Kyle's brother looks like before this.. but.. but... I can't see any features of Kyle in him, " she continued.

Taking off his striking red tie, Danise shrugged as he came over and sat opposite her, "Genetics."

He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and widened the gap of the collar, showing a little bit of sexiness of his tanned skin hidden beneath the clothes. Swirling the water in the glass, she stared at him thoroughly. She didn't know why was he being so nice to her. Was it really because it was what Kyle asked for? She was clueless. Drops of sweats were sliding down his neck. His jugular veins were very obvious, compared to Kyle's. The skins at his fingertips were tough, covered almost fully with rough line marks. So you must be very good with guitar, her mind said.

Anyhow, a friend of Kyle wouldn't be that much of a trouble.

It's nice to know you, Danise. Clover sipped the glass of lemonade water that Raymond served before he stepped away. Trying to be more comfortable with the space around the 4 person table, she pushed the chair beside her slightly. She was about to break the generating silence when Raymond came back in with a tray full of mouth-watering, elegant pastries and desserts.

"Ta--daaaa~~!"

The aroma was enough to conclude everything. Taste. Smell. Sight. 100%. Cream puffs were done so exquisitely with the spun sugar put messily all over. Hints of strawberry paste could be seen leaking seductively from the openings. The top layers of the green tea tiramisu cakes placed next to the cream puffs looked so crispy and bubbly, playing another big part in draining away their patience.

There was absolutely no way for them to not be delicious.

"These are our special menu for the week," Raymond said, serving the sweet to them.

Eyes opened at the zoomed-up images of the pastries, "Wow! Raymond! .... They..they surpassed my expectations!" Danise said unbelievably, "I have always known that this shop is famous for world-class pastries.. but.. I didn't know that you guys have already come this far."

Gulping down her overflowing drools, "Wow.. Raymond.. You've literally brought me up to heaven." Clover continued, ready with a spoon on her right and a fork on her left.

Raymond laughed at their overreactions. "Hahaha! Oh come on guys! Stop overreacting. Have a taste!" He said, pulling out the seat next to Danise's.

She put down her utensils on a second thought. In order to pay respect to the desserts and the ones who made them, she decided to make use of her hands to savour them to the last bit. She clipped the cream puff with her two bare fingers and swallowed it wholly down her throat. Her eyes widened as the paste oozed out, allowing each section of her taste buds to savour it. The richness, textures, moistures were far beyond its presentation. Clover turned to look at Danise and the exact same expression was featured on his face, misleading her to think that she was seeing the reflection of her own self.

"Clover.." Raymond began with a heavy sigh suddenly out of nowhere, pulling down the cheerful atmosphere in the room. "Life is only a life, if you make it alive."

That automatically stopped the chew in Danise's mouth. He gave a -why-are you-being-so-philosophical- look to him but Raymond chose to ignore.

"Kyle taught me this phrase," he chuckled lightly. "I don't know how you ended up with Kyle. As far as I know, Kyle never had a personal assistant before this. But I really hope that you would enjoy staying like this."

She moved her eyes to Danise and he nodded in acknowledgment.

Raymond stood up from his chair and shifted to the one near Clover's. "Kyle.. he.. he is suffering on the inside." Cupping Clover's hands in his, voice trembling, "Please protect him.. Clover.. He has... lost too much. I couldn't be by him when he needed it the most.. So..Clover please.. help me.."

"What happened?" She was surprised that her voice sounded firm.

"You don't know?"

Clover shook her head.

"Well, I thought it would be better if she hears it from you. That's why I brought her here." Danise said, clearing the questions, while taking a huge bite of the green tea cake.

Raymond relaxed his grip, and let out another sigh. "Ever since young, Kyle has always loved music," he began. "He would play with the notes on the keyboard, making sense of the black and white keys. When he was 8, he began writing lyrics based on the melody that he composed, recording his singing on videos and posting them on several platforms. Everything was so perfect back then. Even our parents were very proud of him."

He gulped down heavy the lump, flashing a painful smile on his face, " However, they never thought that this was his dream. The life he wanted to live. They wanted him to help out in this shop, make it into a world-class ranking like what it is now. Back then, DreamMare was nothing like this. But Kyle was very sure of his passion. He wanted to chase after his real dream. As he grew older, he became rebellious and went against the whole family, and ended up got chased out of the house."

"Where were you at that time?" Clover asked.

"In Japan. Dad sent me there to master my baking skills. I'm elder than Kyle by 7 years. I wasn't here when the chaos happened. I hated myself for not being there for him." Clenching his fists, regretful tears swimming in his eyes. " And I only got to know this when Danise gave me a long-distance call. By the time I came back, everything was too late. Kyle was already gone."

"But isn't Kyle successful now? He's so famous! Everywhere are his posters! Aren't your parents...feeling the same?"

"Parent." He corrected her. "Our dad passed away six years ago."

"Owh.. sorry.."

"It's okay."

"Wait.. six years ago?! If I'm not wrong.. that's when..." Clover's face tensed, "Fame hit Kyle?"

Raymond smirked. "Funny, right?" Reaching for the jug, he poured the water into Clover's empty glass. "He didn't know that our dad had chronic disease by then. Because he was still angry at us for not supporting his dream, for stepping on his love, he couldn't be contacted at all. Dad wanted to meet him, to tell him how sorry he was for forcing him to give up on music. But.. his time was slipping away. And expected...Kyle.... couldn't make it back in time to bid his last goodbye.."

A drop of tear slid from his eyes as he blinked. Clover plucked out few pieces of tissue from the handmade tissue box and handed them to him. "Mom was very angry at Kyle," he sniffled, "Up till now."

"This must be what he meant when he said he sacrificed too much.." Clover mumbled, feeling the ache in her chest.

"Clover," Raymond called out.

"Hmm?" She said, moving her attention back to the guy beside her.

"Help me to look after Kyle. He might look tough and strong on the outside. But inside he's a crybaby."

"Sure."

"Stay with him. Support him."

"Don't worry, Raymond," Clover assured, patting gently on his shrunken shoulder.

"I will try my very best."