“Knight brought a cake here for us to serve a while ago, but he hasn’t returned to pick up this container. As I said, I couldn’t get in touch with him so if you don’t mind, can you please return this to him?” the cafe owner said with an apologetic smile.
Reiner brought a cake here?
“What cake did he bring?” I asked.
“Oh, it was a blueberry cheesecake,” the owner replied immediately.
I should have known.
“…I see. Sure, I’ll return it to him…” I said as I took the container into my hands.
“Umm…about the cake for your friend…” the first woman asked hesitantly.
Oh right, I have to buy a cake for Kat’s birthday.
“I’ll go with the strawberry shortcake that you recommended. Can you put a message on the cake for me as well?” I inquired.
“Gladly. Please write the message here and I’ll write it on the cake,” the woman said with a kind smile.
I took the pen and small piece of note paper that the woman offered before writing down a simple message on it.
‘Happy Birthday Kat!’
“Thank you very much,” I said as I handed back the paper and pen to the woman.
“Please wait a moment. I’ll get it ready for you soon,” she said as she began taking out the cake from the display.
…
After receiving the cake from the salesclerk at the cafe, I was on my way to the bar. During the ride there, I had some time to think about the surprising fact that I had just discovered. I glanced down at the container that the cafe’s owner had passed on to me to return to Reiner. If I wasn’t wrong, back then Reiner and I argued a lot and we didn’t get along at all. He was so mean to me, and he tried so hard to push me away so that I would go home.
Although I didn’t want to remember them, I could recall the words he said to me all those times when he told me to go back home. Despite all that, he went out of his way to make a cake for me and then invited me out to lunch so that I could eat it. I felt many pairs of eyes on me and realized that I had started laughing to myself. I nodded my head and apologized softly to the other people in the bus before returning to my thoughts. It was just funny how Reiner seemed to express his care for me in his stubborn and roundabout way.
I can’t believe that he made the cake for me. I should have realized it sooner. Even though I thought the cake tasted so similar. I’ll make sure that I thank him properly for it.
Because I had to drop by to get Kat her cake, I arrived at the bar right on time for opening time. I just had enough time to change before the night started for us. It was a Friday and just like all Friday nights, the bar was crazy packed with customers. I wished that Kat and I would have some time to catch up and chat; however, that was not to be. There were too many customers, and we were both so busy that we didn’t even have the time to catch our breath.
I never got a chance to talk to her or wish her a proper ‘happy birthday’ until the night was over. While I sat on a stool to catch my breath along with my colleagues, I honestly thought about telling Jamie to hire more staff even if it was just to help out on Friday nights.
“I hate Friday nights…” Kat muttered darkly.
I knew exactly why that was so.
“It’s tough…but we managed to get through it,” I replied, trying to stay positive about it.
“You’re staying over at my place, right?” she asked with hopeful eyes.
“Yes…oh…Happy birthday,” I said before I would forget.
Kat smiled brightly at me before she started to laugh a little.
“Thanks…” she said with a smile.
“I bought you cake. It’s in the fridge in the kitchen,” I announced proudly.
“Oh really? Wow! Thank you…” Kat said as she clapped her hands together excitedly.
Just like I had promised Reiner earlier, I sent him a text when I was on my way with Kat to her place. After a while of not getting his text reply, I wondered if he saw my text. It wasn’t usual for him to not reply like this. Perhaps, he was enjoying his time having dinner with his parents that he didn’t see the text that I had sent.
“Let’s eat the cake?” Kat suggested when we arrived at her place.
“Sure!” I quickly replied excitedly.
It wasn’t the blueberry cheesecake that I wanted to eat but this would have to do for now. Kat started chatting cheerfully and soon I was so engaged in our conversation that I forgot all about the text reply that I was waiting for.
…
“You wanted to see me?” Reiner asked emotionlessly.
King looked up from the report that he had been reading to see his son standing right in front of his work desk. It had been a while since he’d called his son in for a talk, and he wasn’t exactly impressed with his son’s attitude.
“You haven’t been home for a while…” King said coldly.
“Is that why you’ve called me here?” Reiner asked.
“No…” King replied flatly.
Reiner didn’t seem surprised at his father’s response. After receiving a call from his father requesting to meet with him, Reiner knew that his father had something to say, and as usual, it wasn’t something pleasant. Internally, he wished that it would have nothing to do with his engagement, his marriage, and his responsibility of producing the next heir to take over the family’s business and the management of the island.
Instead of prompting for his father to tell him why he was summoned, Reiner decided to wait silently and patiently for his father to say what he needed to say. King placed the report that he had been holding down on the desk in front of him before motioning with his hand for his son to take a seat opposite him at the table. Reiner sat down opposite his father and their eyes met.
–To be continued…