Sun Upon Dark Clouds

40: Trust the Blond

The pleasant instrumental music filled the whole room with a lighthearted mood to start the day without any negative energy surrounding the place and people. With the delicious dishes that were cooked with no anger, everyone was glad that they were alive in a world full of yummy food to devour. As the dishes were served on the table, the hot smoke coming from the freshly cooked food warmed up the diners from the coldness that the air-conditioner spread around the room.

Wyatt was not completely unlucky after all. He was able to prove to himself that he would be able to get a chance to be with Ghrae over a meal without anyone interfering. Waking up at seven in the morning to get ready to go the raven’s apartment was worth it after all as she was able to invite the raven out for breakfast without the presence of the brunette around. He thought that maybe he should wake up at that time every day starting tomorrow.

“Enjoy your meal,” the waitress gave them a warm smile after putting their plates on the table.

The blond gave her a smile as he watched her walk away before his gray eyes went back on the raven who was seated across him. Ghrae took her utensils as she prepared to begin eating by wiping the utensils with a tissue paper. She was still the same decent and neat woman who always eats in a classy manner no matter what meal or dish it was. Even though Wyatt knew that Aria Pylee was just the created character of her adoptive parents, he could not help but see her as the same Aria Pylee that he knew. A chuckle left his lips, making the latter lift her eyes to look at him curiously.

“What?” Ghrae asked after swallowing her food.

“I just realized that you’re far from different as Ghrae Kanori to Aria Pylee,” Wyatt answered with a smile on his face before he leaned in to start eating his breakfast as well.

The blond chose to have breakfast with the raven in the three-star hotel where he was currently staying at since he did not really have the chance to explore around the town to look for an expensive nice restaurant. The food in the hotel was delicious anyway as they both had the same dish, which was a breakfast combo; there was two sunny side up eggs, two beef sausages, two pieces of toast, six pieces of bacon, baked beans, and sweet corn kernels. The side dish that they had was waffles with butter. For the beverage, they had fresh orange juice.

“How so?” Ghrae asked.

“Your expressions, your habits, your personality—everything isn’t that different when you were Aria Pylee. The only different part is that Aria Pylee was my wife, I guess,” Wyatt chuckled as he spoke. “Is Coley usually asleep at this time?”

“Yeah, sleep is her favorite,” the raven deadpanned as she took a bite on her sausage.

The blond let out a chuckle in response as they both did not speak after and just continued to eat their breakfast. Even though there was a possibility for Wyatt to have change of plans and decide to report her whereabouts, Ghrae did not feel uneasy or nervous about it as she just remained calm like she trusted the blond-haired man that she could never know what was running in his head.

As they ate, Wyatt took a glance on the raven across him as he constructed the words in his head to ask her the question that he had always wanted to ask. After swallowing the food that he was chewing, he slowly rested his hands down on the table and looked at her with a serious face.

“Ghrae,” the blond called, which made her lift her head immediately.

“What?” Ghrae put her utensils down as she noticed that he was looking at her with seriousness behind those gray eyes.

“Answer me honestly,” the blond started as he pressed his lips into a thin line momentarily before continuing. “What is the real reason why you ran away?”

The raven blinked as her brown eyes slowly went back down to her plate in front of her that only had the pieces of toast and sweet corn kernels left; for some reason, she could imagine Noah eating those two together with an unmatched sauce like soy sauce. The question that the blond asked her made her silent for a while as she was unsure whether to trust and tell the man the truth or not. After all, Ghrae could not completely trust him yet as he was still connected to her adoptive family. Who knew when he would betray her?

“How can I trust you?” the raven replied as she looked at him with a blank facial expression.

Wyatt opened his mouth in attempt to answer her question but no words left his mouth. He knew what was coming yet he did not even prepare for it. Now that he thought about it, she did not really tell him the reason why she was in Peace Town without caring about her adoptive parents who were hiring searchers to find her. The reason why he was staying in the town was because he did not want to go back to his hellish life.

“I’ve told you, right? They don’t deserve an angel like you, which is why I have no plans on reporting to them about where you currently are,” Wyatt answered calmly as he took a piece of waffle to his plate. “I just want to know the reason why so I can understand your situation better.”

Ghrae returned her eyes back on her plate as she cut a piece of toast silently. Even though she knew that he was a player who was capable of breaking tons of promises, she could not help but notice the sincerity behind his gray eyes. She began to wonder whether he looks at his flings with the same look or not for her to decide whether to trust him or not. Though the raven remembered what the blond told her in his car a few days ago too, it was not like Wyatt would be gifted with freedom if he does cooperate with his family and the Pylees.

A soft sigh escaped the raven’s lips before she ate her toast. After swallowing, she spoke without raising her head to look at him.

“I wish to live a new ordinary life that has nothing to do with the Pylees,” Ghrae lied. “Addie Pylee did say that I can only rest in peace when I’m done with everything that I need to do.”

The raven had a different interpretation of what her adoptive mother said though the blond thought of another different interpretation of that. The thought of Ghrae wanting to live a new life somehow gave motivation to Wyatt to start a new life away from the business life as well as a small genuine smile appeared on his face.

“So, we’re on the same page,” Wyatt took his glass to take a sip on his orange juice and looked straight into her brown eyes after. “Don’t worry, Ghrae. I’ll do my best to help you.”

The raven could only give him a small smile in response since she knew that she was basically just lying to him and he believed her without a second thought. A little lie would not hurt anyway as so she thought.

***

The weather was sunny as every spot one would go was covered in sunlight. After the breakfast in the three-star hotel, they went out of the hotel to be greeted by the blazing light that was a pain in the sight. It was already late morning so most people were already awake and beginning their day. There were many people walking through the sidewalk in exasperation because of the heat that it seemed like a fist-to-fist fight could occur in the middle of the street if one bumps on another.

The blond took his beige coach jacket off as he walked to the other side of Ghrae where he was closer to the road and direction of the sun, lifting his arms with the jacket to block the sunlight from hitting the skin of the shorter woman. The action of the taller man made the raven look up at him in surprise as they began to walk to the parking lot that was just next to the building. The people, especially women, looked at them in envy as they all wished that they had a tall handsome man blocking the blazing sun from them.

“Won’t your arms hurt?” the raven asked as she stared at his bright curly golden locks that were being juddered from the wind.

“Babe, I work out,” Wyatt cockily replied as he glanced down at her with a smirk on his face. “This is nothing.”

“Who said you can call me that?” The raven coldly responded as she fastened her pace.

“Hey, wait! I’m sorry,” Wyatt laughed as he ran to catch up with the shorter woman while still holding his jacket up.

As the blond caught up with the raven, they continued to walk in a normal pace when something caught the blond’s eye as he stopped on his tracks and stopped the woman from walking by blocking her way with his broad arm. Ghrae raised an eyebrow as she followed the direction where Wyatt was looking at. On the corner near the parking lot of the hotel was a public claw crane machine that was full of various stuff toys inside. The raven curled her lip as she saw the desire in the taller man’s eyes while staring at the claw crane machine.

As expected, Wyatt turned to the shorter woman with a smile of determination plastered on his face.

“I will win you a plushie,” Wyatt said.

“Sure.”

As much as the blond wanted to sprint toward the machine, he did not as he walked at the same pace as the shorter woman while he made sure that the sunlight was not disturbing her. Since the claw crane machine was at the corner, the wall that was behind the machine helped Wyatt by blocking the sunlight from them, which gave him the chance to drop her hands back to his sides.

An excited toothy grin was on the blond’s face as he took his wallet out to get a coin, which made the raven let out a chuckle because of the childish side of his that she was seeing right in front of her. Ghrae crossed her arms across her chest as he pushed the coin in the slot, making the machine play a lively background music with colorful lights in the machine flickering.

Wyatt lightly bit his bottom lip in concentration as he controlled the claw to move to the right side of the machine where a teddy bear was with the joystick and eagerly pushed the button. The blond leaned his face toward the glass as he watched the claw drop and touch the teddy bear that he had been targeted. An excited smile appeared on his face when the claw grabbed the teddy bear though it instantly disappeared when the teddy bear slipped from the claw before it could even reach the hole.

“T-That’s unfair!” Wyatt yelled as he slammed his hand on the machine.

“Hey, don’t break it,” Ghrae said while snickering as she pulled his wrists from the machine.

The blond keenly grabbed his wallet again to take another coin as he tried to grab the teddy bear again. The raven could only just snicker at his failure state as she watched from the side.