One of the few things in life that lit up Arianne’s fuse was seeing a man hit a woman. The very act of it stung her eyes and carved a frown on her face. “We’ll pay for your son’s medical bills, and that’s our last word on the matter. Excuse us, we’re not interested in your family’s internal debacle—and really, those things belong to the confines of your house, don’t you think? To bring it out on the streets like that—God, it’s just so embarrassing! Honestly, if we’re being strictly objective here, then everyone’s got fault in this. All of us need to go home and teach our children proper manners.”Unfortunately, Arianne’s plan was thwarted the moment they returned home—Smore had sprinted up the stairs to his room before bolting it shut from the inside. Arianne rapped on the door for a good few minutes, but the brat refused to answer. “Go away, Mom! I know you’re gonna beat me up. I’m not stupid enough to open the door!”Arianne could feel her hair bursting into flames of rage. This li
Arianne nodded. “The menu, please. Pass it to me.”The waitress asked offhandedly, “You’re here alone, hmm?”Arianne paused for a second. Honestly, she had always wanted to bring Mark along, but she never found the chance… And of course, they just had that blasted quarrel that weighed her heart down now that she remembered it. “Yeah… I guess I’ll be dining alone tonight. Simple dishes should suffice for someone who’s eating alone.”After picking her dishes, she asked casually, “So, is your boss around? Ever since the restaurant’s opening, he always seems to be around, huh? But he’s not around right now though… Why is that?”“He’s gone out around this afternoon,” the waitress answered with a smile. “Not sure if he’s gonna return at night, but if you’re looking for him right now, you could probably give him a ring.”Arianne flashed her a smile. “Oh, it’s nothing. I was just asking. Anyway, don’t let me keep you.”Service was fast; her awaited dishes were laid before her very soon.
Arianne sampled every single dish on the table. “No, honestly, I think they are all very good! Really, I’m not the type to lie if I can help it,” she remarked. “Your restaurant’s business is just… booming, man. Which is kinda surprising, don’t you think? Considering your family’s main venture is something else, wouldn’t your family have a bit of an opinion about you directing your focus into your restaurant?”Mateo's eyes cast down to the floor and shook his head. “They’ve always been respectful of my life choices. Anything I want to do doesn’t face opposition from my family—under most circumstances, anyway. Of course, I can’t abandon the family business, either, so I guess after a while I won’t be able to watch my restaurant as often as I’d like.”Arianne nodded. “I agree. I wouldn’t want you to spend too much of your time and focus on a single eatery, too. Your family’s main business should be the right way forward—especially when this restaurant’s significance hardly matches the g
Arianne was having a slight headache. “Stop crying for now and let me take a look at that! So, Chubby Chuck snatched Lil’ P’s toy and even pushed him, did he? You were right to protect your little brother, but you can’t just go up to him and swing a punch at him now, can you? What if you injured his eyes or somewhere important? We must be virtuous first; if we can’t get our logic across to them, then we tell the teachers. The teachers won’t be able to overlook the situation since it happened in school. Of course, I’m not asking you to keep it inside and not retaliate when you’re being bullied. You’re free to let it out if someone hits you first. You’ve got to be tough when you have to, but you have to weigh the severity of the situation first too.”The more Arianne spoke, the more aggrieved Smore became. He cried so much, he had trouble kneeling down. Arianne, no longer able to bear seeing him in this state, hugged him. “All right, stop crying now. It’s shameful for a man to cry so mu
Over the weekend, Melanie and Tiffany invited Arianne to meet up at Mateo’s restaurant, but she refused.Regardless of whether it was the strange feeling Mateo gave her previously or her lie being exposed by Mark, she did not have a reason to go there again. ‘The less trouble the better. I’ve never been able to beat Mark in mental games. I only feel like I’ve managed to tame him when he’s being docile, but the moment he bares his fangs, I won’t be able to control him anymore.’When they arrived at the restaurant, as she was ordering her food, Tiffany complained, “D*mn it, it’s such a rare opportunity for us to be able to come out and have fun over the weekend, yet Ari refuses to join in and leaves both of us to ourselves. Didn’t she say she was in love with the food in Mateo’s restaurant? Has she been secretly coming here behind our backs and is now tired of the food here?”Melanie was a little more meticulous than Tiffany. She had already thought things to a deeper level, but she
Arianne did not know whether she should go since nothing else was stated in the text message.‘Mark is home during the weekends, so I can’t come up with any reasonable excuse to go out tonight.’ At that thought, Arianne considered rejecting Mateo. However, before she could even finish typing a sentence, Mateo sent her another text message. ‘I know my request may be a little hard for you to accept, but this is a long time wish of mine and it took me a lot of courage to be able to ask you out privately. I’ve got so much to say to you; would you be able to complete my wish?’At that moment, Arianne confirmed that Melanie wasn’t the light of Mateo’s life—it was none other than her.‘I can’t for the life of me understand why someone would keep me in their heart for so many years. I’ve had an influence on Mateo for so long, yet I didn’t even know of him before. This has all been unfair for him since the beginning.’Ultimately, Arianne was still silently moved by his gesture and agreed to
Mateo laughed at himself. “You’re right, this might seem silly to you, but I’ve been holding onto this for all these years. Sometimes, I hate myself for my character, how I keep holding onto a person without being able to forget them. I remember the first time I met you; we were at the art studio in school. At the time, everyone was resting while you were the only one sitting there, drawing with a serious expression on your face as you sat in the sun… I tried to get close to you, but you would always reject anyone from approaching you. Apart from Tiffany and Will, you weren’t able to accept anyone else in your circle. Plus, I was going to leave for overseas anyway, so I didn’t intentionally try to get close to you. After that, I kept on thinking, if I had put in a little more effort, would I have been able to be like Tiffany and Will… One of your friends? At least, I wouldn’t feel so regretful.”Being liked by someone wouldn’t make them hateful or antipathic. The same went for Arianne
Arianne regained her senses and hurriedly went forward to pull them apart. “Mark! It’s not what you think! Please let me explain!”Mark instantly pushed her away. “Fuck off!”Arianne wore high heels, so the grassland already made her footing unstable. But after being pushed by Mark, she instantly fell onto the ground and her palm struck a rock, drawing out a heartfelt cry of pain from her.Both Mateo’s nose and mouth were bleeding. He raised his hands to protect his face as he tried to explain. “Mr. Tremont, it’s not what you think. It’s fine if you misunderstand me; I don’t care how you deal with me. But you mustn’t misunderstand Arianne!”When such protective words went into Mark’s ears, he only felt that it was more evident that there was definitely something going on between Mateo and Arianne. Any explanation at that point would only make things look even more grim.Arianne did not know what to do since there wasn’t anyone around. ‘If this keeps up, Mark will beat Mateo to dea