Sweeter Than Romance

Chapter 11: Café and Questions

*Lianne*

“ So you mean you just happened to follow him until he spotted you?”

“ Umm.. yeah. You can say it that way.”

“Wow Lianne. That is so awkward and weird.”

I scoffed at my friends’ reaction and resumed my work. Ashley wasn’t kidding when she told me she wanted to know all of the details. The moment we set foot on the café, she literally started asking me tons of questions regarding about me and Nicholas’ relationship. Of course, I left out the details where I got weirdly kidnapped and the thing about Nicholas’ secret.

“So how did you introduce yourself when he caught you? Like were you ‘Hey, sorry if I’m following you’ or you immediately jumped to the main case and said ‘ I knew it was you! “

“ And here you are calling me a creep a while ago.” I said and mocked Jace’s statement.

“I’m just curious how you approached him, you know?” replied Jace in nonchalance. “ So how was it? ”

“ A bit of both.”

I’m not sure how to answer Jace’s question since me and Nicholas haven’t really interacted until I got kidnapped by his friends. So nah. I kinda lied.

“ Oh.”

“ You were able to visit his house, right? OMG is it big? Like bigger than the white house or presidential house?”

“ Ashley, he is insanely rich so how do you expect his house would look like? “

My sarcastic answer didn’t faze her and this time she went on asking about Nicholas’ friends too.

“So did he talked to you about his friends? Like about Xavier, for example?”

“ Ashley.. We’re not even close so why would he tell me about those things?” I said in a confused tone.

“ Well I thought you two were since he brought you to his house.”

“ What? I told you guys that the only time we acknowledged each other’s presence was yesterday. So how would that even count as being close? “

“ Then why would he bring you to his house then? Isn’t it kinda weird?”

I ruffled my hair in frustration and tried being subtle the best way I can. Damn. These nosy friends of mine won’t give me a break in answering their questions.

“Okay. I kinda had a favor with him, alright? So why don’t we just assume that he was being kind, weird, inviting, or whatever and leave it that way?”

“ This won’t do. We need to hear both sides of the story.”

“ Jace, you’re such a pain in the ass. You know that?” I narrowed my eyes at the teen and went on cleaning the tables. Mike called me at the counter and I stopped what I was doing to approach him.

“ Lianne, would you please bring these boxes to the back room? These are the materials we’ll be needing for the next month. And oh, would you kindly check the inventories as well?”

“ Sure thing, boss.” Came my reply as I lifted the boxes on the ground. They aren’t really heavy and just came in 4 pairs.

Once I arrived at the room, I dropped the boxes and placed them in the corner. I made sure they are arranged in a way which they can be easily spotted and identified.

I heard the sound of a bell chime which signalled that there was a new customer or customers who entered the café. I immediately resumed from my work and started checking on the inventories.

“ What is that noise all about?” came my thought as the shout of Ashley reached my ears followed by the sound of what was presumably a tray falling on the floor.

“Clumsy. She needs to be careful next time.”

I continued my work for the next few minutes and after I made sure to re-check and do some review, I listed down the final inventories for the month.

“ Kay. And we’re done.”

“Hey Lianne. You didn’t tell us that you’re boyfriend will be visiting you.” Sarah, our co-worker, said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“ Boyfriend? What are you talking about?” I replied with a dumbfounded look.

“ Well, he’s over there chatting with Jace and Ashley. I must say, you have an excellent choice in men. He’s really handsome and good-looking.” Sarah admired my so-called boyfriend and winked at me.

“ Oh my god. Don’t tell me it’s Nicholas.”

“ No he’s not. I don’t know what you’re talking about and why would you assume?”

“ Cuz he’s looking for you the moment he arrived here.”

I quickly got out of the room to look for the cunning fox. I immediately spotted him on the center most table and he seem to be getting along well with Jace and Ashley based on how casual they would interact with each other.

“ You! What are you doing here?”

“ Oh Lianne. It’s a good thing you’re already here!” said Ashley and motioned to Nicholas with a smile. “ Nicholas was just telling us on how the two of you met and bumped into each other.

I glared at him and he just looked away with a whistle.

“ What are you doing? And why are you talking to my friends?”

“ Well you took so long to arrive and your friends were kind enough to give me company.” Came his reply with a shrug.

“ And what about you two? Why are you talking to him? You’re supposed to be working and not chatting! “ I said and glared slightly at my best friends.

“We wanted to know the truth about what really happened and like I said, hear both sides of the story.”

“And it’s a good thing to have more friends and befriend the friend of each other and be friends!”

Really Ashley? I know her real reason for befriending Nicholas. Lol. It’s probably to get closer to Xavier or something.

“ You.” I said and pointed to Nicholas. “ Outside. Now.”

I walked away hoping that Nicholas would follow. He indeed followed after my footsteps and once we were out of the café, I faced him with a stern look.

“ I’ll repeat. What are you doing here?”

“Your friends are nice. Although Jace seems to be wary at first.”

“ Stop steering away the conversation.” I said in a frustrated tone and tapped my foot impatiently.

“ Am I not allowed to come here just because you found out who I am? May I remind you, I was a regular customer at the café before you identified my identity.”

I observed him and carefully regarded his answer. It was only at that moment where I realized he was wearing a hoodie like he usually does.

“ Regular. And why did you become a regular at our humble café ? “

I can’t help but feel curious on why someone as rich as Nicholas would choose an average café when he could have chosen to go to dozens of high-class ones instead. That’s why, I can’t stop myself from asking that question.

“ I like the cozy atmosphere and It’s not crowded which is away from hassle.” He replied casually. “ And of course since the café was a good choice to hide my identity knowing that a few people, means lesser chances of revealing who I am. But I guess.... it changes now.” Nicholas said and rolled his eyes at me.

“ So that’s the reason behind those big tips, then? Aside from the fact that you made the café a waiting shed before you meet-up with your lover? “

Nicholas just shrugged his shoulders and I took his gesture as an approval to my question.

“ Anyways.” I stepped closer to him until we were only a few meters apart and dabbed a finger at his chest. “ I don’t believe that’s your real reason for coming here.” I looked at him sharply in the eyes before turning my back against him. “ And on top of that, you interacted with my friends and made your presence known. Heck, you made it harder for me to erase you from our lives!”

“I must give your reasoning an applaud since it clearly justified my point.” Nicholas said and I can feel him smirking at me. “Haven’t I told you that I won’t stop pestering you until you’ve come to terms with our agreement?”

I faced him and narrowed my eyes.

“ You won’t ever stop, would you?”

He ran a hand through his shiny hair and maintained the cocky smirk on his stupidly gorgeous face.

“Nope. And it’ll be harder for you to avoid me now so I know you’ll eventually say yes.”

“ Arrogant bastard.” I said and left him standing at his position to return to the café.

“ I’ll see you next week, Lianne.”

I imitated his statement in sarcasm and when I approached nearer at the door, I caught a flash of blonde streaks before it disappeared.

“ So how did it go, Lianne?”

“ Oh shut it, Ash. I know you two were spying.”

“ It was Ashley’s idea and I’m not part of it.” Jace raised his hands in surrender and I just dismissed their defence to go back to cleaning.

“Anyways. He seems pretty nice. I had a quick ‘talk’ with him, you know?”

“ If by talk you mean the ones where you scrutinize him, then I’m telling you Jace, he’s not trying to be my boyfriend. So stop assuming things and get those weird ideas out of your head.”

If only they know what he really is. They’ll be laughing at their weird assumptions cuz it’s definitely far from reality.

“ But you would make a cute couple if eveeer.”

I made some gagging noises at Ashley’s remark and she playfully slapped my arm at my actions.

“That was a good joke, Ash.”

“ Meanie. But going back, it means we are already friends with Nicholas, right? Kyahh! Who knows if we might also befriend Xavier! This so GREAT!” Ashley cheered in delight and clapped her hands excitedly.

“ You know what, Lianne? Your encounter with Nicholas was truly a good stroke of luck! OMG I can’t believe that we’ll be able to encounter them at the least.”

“ Can this really be considered as luck?”

-------------------------------------------

“ I’m home.”

I looked around the house and searched for my mother. She wasn’t in the living room where she usually stays. Guess she is in her room upstairs?

“ Mom? Where are you?”

“ Over here, Lianne!”

I identified the noise to be coming from the kitchen and I dropped my bag to head to her location.

“Hi Dear. How’s your day?”

Mom was sitting on the chair and was enjoying her black coffee. She looked up to me with a smile and motioned at the food on the container.

“ Are you hungry? There’s some extra food here. I can heat it for you if you like.”

“ No thanks, Mom. I’m not really hungry.” I replied with a sheepish smile. “ And I’m sorry if I didn’t inform you beforehand of our sleep-over. It was kinda unplanned and rushed so.. yeah.”

“ Don’t worry. Jace and Ashley informed me about it.” She took a sip of her coffee before speaking. “ And can you please grab the folder on the couch on your way please? I need it for tomorrow’s presentation.”

“ Sure thing, Mom.”

I left the kitchen and searched for the folder. It took me seconds to locate the item since it was obviously the only object above the couch.

“ There it is.”

I noticed a small envelope on the table which appears to be a letter beside the furniture. It seemed unopened and Mom’s name was written on it so I decided to pick it up along with the folder..

“ Shanine Iris Clarkson.. Hmm.. I wonder what this envelope or letter is for. Well. Gotta hand this over to Mom, I guess.”

After scanning the envelope, I returned to the kitchen where my mom was eagerly waiting.

“ Did you find it, Lianne?”

“ Yeah and umm.. I think this letter is for you, Mom. It was unopened so I was thinking you left it and kinda forgot about it.”

Mom’s expression seemed to change for a second. She looked... worried? Annoyed? Distressed? I don’t know. It was gone before I had the chance to analyze what it is.

“ Oh. That’s for.... paper works. Regarding about the office.”

She heaved a sigh and pointed at the table.

“ You can just leave it here. Thanks dear.”

Now I was curious. What could possibly be inside the envelope that caused a change in my Mother’s mood? She said it was about office and work but I wasn’t entirely convinced. Nevertheless, I decided to let it slide and just greeted my Mom ‘Good Night’ before I retire to bed.

On my way, I grabbed an orange juice and I overheard my mother mumble about Derosch before the kitchen went silent.

What was that? Is it the name of the sender or is it an expression or a cuss word in another language? Whatever it is. I have no clue.

“ Wish me luck for my school life.” I said to no one in particular before drifting off to sleep.

- Chapter End -