Anonymous and Incognito

Chapter 5

Anna

After five days of being stuck in hospital and doing nothing, I finally get discharged after the nurse and doctor ran several tests on me.

Luckily for me Adrien was there when I was getting discharged so he offered to give me a ride home.

When we got to the parking lot he opened the door for me like the gentlemen he is and I just gave him a small smile and thanked him. It is really refreshing to see people show some human decency.

This time, Adrien was the one driving so that meant he could focus on the road and I would be left alone with my thoughts.

I was thinking about the tests that were conducted and I was worried for my health. I looked outside the window as memories of my mother and I suddenly came and invaded my thoughts. My mom always told me about the history of cancer on her maternal side of the family, she never told me if she has cancer but I did always suspect. I never really raised my concerns nor my suspicions because I believed if my mom wanted to share her life with me then she would have done so, and if she doesn't then I have no place whatsoever to meddle myself in her business. And besides, my dad always made sure to keep things private and secret from me, whatever involved my parents and adults in general was always kept in the dark from me or maybe I was the one kept in the dark.

I was scheduled to come back to the hospital after two weeks to get my results from the tests that had been conducted.

The nurse told me that they suspected I had cancer although hey weren't sure what type of cancer it was and at what stage it was at.

"What are you thinking about?" Adrien speaks for the first time since we got out of the hospital. Today he seems a bit tired and looks like he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

"Uhm nothing, I just want to get home and catch up on all the work I missed in the past week." What a lie. I was caught off guard but I didn't want to share about the nurse's and doctor's suspicions, it's a sensitive and private topic.

He shoots up an eyebrow and looks at me with an expression I can't quite put my finger on through the rear view mirror.

"Anna don't lie, I don't handle that very well so I suggest you start rephrasing that."

I look outside the window before turning to face him again.

"I just don't want to talk about it at the moment. I'd like to keep it private."

He sighs before his facial expression turns to a rather softer one.

"That is okay." He says to me before mumbling to himself but loud enough for me to hear. "You could have just said so in the first place."

I chuckle to myself before getting this sudden braveness. I lean forward and place the back of my palm on his forehead as if checking for his temperature.

He looks at me with an expression that's amused but also hella confused.

"Uh Anna what are you doing?" He tilts his head to the side and lifts up an eyebrow before looking at me with the corner of his eye.

I fight all the demons inside me from laughing and I just smile and look at him straight in the eyes. I ignore his question for a few seconds before breaking eye contact.

"I don't know you just look tired and sound so grumpy today so I thought maybe you have a fever or something like that." I reply honestly and start fiddling with my fingers.

He looks a bit more shocked this time and he just smiles at me and thanks me.

"Do you want to get some ice cream on the way? I know a really good spot..." He says the last part as if using it to convince me and lowkey begging me to agree.

"You don't got to ask me twice mister, lead the way." I shoot my arm up and my voice changes to a much happier tone.

"Girls and food..." He laughs as he looks at me and I look back trying to read and study his facial expression.

"Food is bae. Food is life and Food is always there when you need it and never lets you down. You can always confide into food and it'll comfort you with warmth and bless your taste buds and it will never stab you in the back and spill your secrets to other people."

"I mean yeah but food is toxic- Only if you have no self discipline. There is literally only so much food can do, you still human and still need to take care of yourself. Food is just a temporary fix and that's something a lot of people don't either realise it or are just in denial and one ends up over indulging and forgets that there is a thing called life after food, but I think that's a conversation many people are not ready for. Sorry for putting words in your mouth." I look down at my hands feeling bad for interrupting him while he was talking, I mean it is rude to do so and I know I wouldn't feel so great if someone did the same to me.

He chuckles before parking at a really nice looking coffee shop.

"Thanks. I was about to go nuts before you apologised so thank your gods."

He gets up and out of the car. He opens the door for me and extends out his hand to me. I give him and a smile and thank him for his gesture. He locks the car using the key and we start walking towards the entrance of the coffee shop.

He opened the door leading into a nicely decorated entrance, almost grand but somehow still modest and minimalist. The entrance has a nice marble floors and a nice industrial chandelier hanging directly in the centre of the marble floored entrance. The rest of the shop has light hardwood floors. It has black epoxy resin tables with minimal white veining and dark wood legs in the middle, the tables have modern wingback chairs that have been made with a nice pearl coloured suede material. Next to the windows there are half circle booths made with a nice brown leather and they have the same black epoxy resin table with white minimal veining.

This place looked way too fancy to be just a coffee shop, unless they have a really good eye for interior design.

Adrien leads me to one of the booths in the far back corner of the establishment. He hands me the menue and he looks so deep in the thought while looking at the menue as if debating on what to order.

I smile to myself before speaking up and breaking the silence.

"So do you come here often?" I ask trying to get a sense of his life.

"I used to come here with my mom when I was younger. We would spend a lot of our weekends here and just talk about things that happen to us on a daily. My mom was my best friend, being here brings a lot of memories." He speaks in a soft tone but not daring to move his gaze from the menue.

"At first it used to be just a simple coffee shop until the grandchildren converted the upstairs into a casino." He then looks up and turns his head to a door, or well it looks like one until it automatically opens itself and a formal dressed couple walks out. They do look gorgeous I must admit. The lady is wearing a bloody red bodycon one shoulder dress. She has her hair tied up in a french twist with a pearl and crystal hair pin. The man is wearing a maroon modern type suit with a black waistcoat. 

"By invitation only. The richest of the richest gather here weekly to gamble and have a few drinks. Everyone there is chilled they don't really care what you do or what you don't do. Whoever came up with this idea of opening up an exclusive invitation only casino is one hell of a genius." He turns to look at me, he looks passionate about this whole business.

"But why would you want to come to a casino if you already have all the money you could ever dream of?" I shoot up a curious gaze before he chuckles and takes a deep breath.

"I mean why not? The thought that you could possibly get ten times of the money you walked in with thrills you especially when you don't have to pay tax. And besides even if you walk out of a casino empty handed its not like you won't be able to recover the money you lost in a single business day. And I mean you get to dress up and look formal without having the constant reminder that you have a meeting to attend in a few. Such a lifestyle is not for everyone especially if you overthink your every move, sometimes you just need to let loose a bit and enjoy your hard earned money you worked so hard for."

I take a moment to think about his words. Sounds like something my dad would say

"That actually makes sense. So why the coffee shop?"

"Simply because the business is doing well and because it is like a family heirloom."

"And how do you know all this?" 

He clears his throat before speaking.

"Story for another day. Have you found anything you want to order yet?"

I subconsciously pout and lift my glasses up my nose and I start pointing out the things or well sugar goodies I want to order.

"Uhm yeah sure, I'll have two brownies, two scoops of caramel ice cream and a slice of cheesecake."

He has a look of pure horror on his face before it turns into pure shock and he starts laughing.

"I'm not even going to ask or even begin asking myself questions, instead I will just let it be."

His laughter is so unique. It sounds like a chuckle but it's not, if I am even making sense. It fills up the entire room and it is one of the most contagious laughs I've ever heard. It's not like it carries the deep husky voice he carries but it is also not squeaky or sweet. It is just gentle, if you get what I'm saying. I try holding back my laugh although his laugh is quite contagious, like I have said before. But to my dismay I fail miserably and I find myself laughing alongside him.

I manage to catch my breath and attempt to defend my honour.

"Look I know myself and I know very well that I have one hell of a sweet tooth okay, that I will admit. But, I eat really healthy and I workout a lot and it is not like I indulge in sugar goodies every single day, although I would love to but I don't want to gain weight and work extra hard to maintain my body."

He shoots his hands up in as if surrendering.

"Okay okay we will just go with whatever makes you sleep better at night ma'am."

After a few minutes of chattering and laughter our order arrived. The brownies looked so good and I was s inpatient to dig in and when I did... oh god!!

The desert is amazing and the ice cream is one of the best I have ever had, if not the best. I can see why Adrien and his mom made it a tradition to come here often. I mean there is hella good food and the vibe here is so chilled and this place looks amazing.

"Okay but like, this is so goof. I can see why you made it a tradition to come here with your mom often. I don't think I'll go anywhere else for desert and I know we were supposed to only get ice cream but now I know why you allowed me to get ahead of myself." I giggle without even realising which earns me a genuine smile from Adrien.

His expression then suddenly changes to a more softer and concerned facial expression.

"I'm glad you like it. So are you feeling any better after what happened at the park and are you feeling okay in general?"

"I'm okay to be honest. Thank you for asking, how are you?"

He looks at me as if contemplating to be honest with me or not.

"To be honest, I am so bloody tired. I have so many things I have to do and I wish I could just sleep or at least go on a vacation and run away from my life." He sighs and takes a deep breath before continuing. "That felt good. Thanks for asking." 

"So where would you like to go on vacation?" I ask out of pure curiosity hoping to see the kind of person he is with this little piece of information.

"I have always thought about this and it most likely has to be the French Riviera or Greece. And is there a certain place you would like to just vacay sometime?"

"Easy peasy mac n' cheesy. That would have to be South Korea and probably Thailand and Egypt." I take a bite of my cheesecake trying to study his face and his reaction before he suddenly starts laughing.

"South Korea... interesting choice."

I give him a small smile and place my spoon on the plate before I say anything further.

"Okay look, at first it was the eye candy okay and a girl has needs that need to be met but overtime I was fascinated by the lifestyle and the culture. I know I am one hell of an indecisive individual. At first I was fascinated by the mafia lifestyle in Italy and now the modern lifestyle in Seoul, trust me by next week I'll be fascinated by another country." I wave my hands around as I speak and my eyes wonder from one spot to another.

He gives me a mischievous grin before he erupts into laughter, again.

"Eye candy? And here was I thinking I have heard it all but nope Anna has showed me otherwise."

I feel my cheeks burn up red and I smile awkwardly.

"Hey!! No need to be dramatic okay it was a fangirl moment let me be." 

His expression changes to a rather softer more apologetic one.

"If it makes you feel better, I am addicted to K-dramas. In high school I was addicted to anime."

I look up to him smiling at me and I instinctively return the smile.

We spend a few hours at the cafe just chatting and getting to know each other.

I realised that Adrien is lowkey one hell of an intellectual individual. He is a man of very little words and likes to keep to himself. He has a kind and caring nature but his eyes suggest a broken soul who has never come across a lot of people who genuinely care for him. He seems very respectful, chivalrous and humble. I also noticed that he likes to laugh a lot and he has this calm aura around him when he isn't at my coffee shop, not that he knows it is owned by me. Okay now I'm just baffled as to how he comes to my coffee shop almost everyday if not everyday but he brought me here, meh maybe I am just overthinking things so I'll let it go. But then I remember I specialise in coffee, sandwiches and healthy non sugar goodies so I really have nothing to overthink about, which makes sense why he brought me here cause there's more variety.

Now, back to observing.

He usually looks so tense and so serious all the time like sheesh come down papa bear.

Papa bear??

Seriously....

I can do better and we all know it.

Back to the point. He seems so carefree and chilled when he's not rushing off to work.

He does not seem to mind my weird nature which is good and comforting.

After we spent good thirty minutes of us having a mini argument about splitting the bill. He finally gives in and agrees to us splitting the bill fifty fifty even though he had insisted he does not mind paying multiple times and that he is the one who brought me here after all but I felt bad especially since I ordered a lot of things and I just kept on filling up the table with sugar goodies.

We finally pay for the bill and he drives me to my place.

He suddenly breaks the comfortable silence and speaks up.

"Thank you for agreeing to get ice cream with me today even though we got other things but ice cream. I really enjoy your company." 

I smile at his words feeling really good about myself. It has been years since I spent time with someone my age, or well someone whom I assume to be in my age group.

"The feeling is mutual. And thank you for making us take a tiny detour from the hospital."

He smiles and seems pleased with what I have just said.

"Hey Anna..."

"Yes?"

"Uhm so I have been meaning to ask you and please don't laugh at my choice of words. Do you mind if we exchanged numbers?" He seemed a bit nervous when asking me but I brushed it off to the side and not really thinking much of it even though it did come to my attention that there is a huge possibility he thought about this, a lot even!!

I smile at the thought hoping he doesn't catch me smile.

"Yeah sure, why not..."

He hands me his phone so he can focus his eyes on the road. I enter my number on the keypad and save myself as  Indecisive Little One.

I giggle at the contact name I have saved myself as and I almost feel bad but a little fun wouldn't hurt right?

He notices my giggling and asks me what's so funny but I just shrug it off earning myself a look of suspicion from Adrien. He gives me his number and I save it just in time as we arrive at my apartment complex.

He parks the car, gets out of the car and opens the door for me like the gentlemen he is.