Sun Upon Dark Clouds

43: Good Job

“Good job.”

When the woman with bangs had already calmed down, she joined the police to the police station for some questioning as the victim for the case of the perverted man. Since the woman got traumatized at male strangers, Ghrae decided to accompany her to the police station. Before they left to the police station though, the librarian and the people complimented her for saving the woman instead of getting mad at her for causing a noise in the library. The openminded people everywhere in the town was one of the reasons why Ghrae liked Peace Town.

Everything went well in the police station as the man eventually got to jail though the women did not know for how many years he was sentenced for. Knowing that the man was being punished as deserved already put the woman with bangs in relief as she felt more grateful for the raven as time went by because without her, she would have had to suffer for a lifetime trauma.

“Thank you so much. I wouldn’t have been here without you,” The woman with bangs said as she clung on the raven’s arm. “By the way, what’s your name? My name’s Lizzy.”

“I’m Ghrae,” The raven smiled at her as they both walked out of the police station after everything was done.

The raven looked at the woman with questioning eyes when she suddenly let go of her arm and stood in front of her. She noticed that she had a mole on her nose.

“I know that nothing can repay for what you did to me, but I insist to treat you for a drink to thank you,” the woman said with her lips pressed into a thin line cutely as she clenched her fists in determination. It was a good thing that she was feeling better now.

“It’s fine actually,” Ghrae let out a light chuckle but when she saw the sulky face of the latter, she added. “But if you insist, then let’s go.”

“Yay!”

A chuckle left Ghrae’s lips when Lizzy excitedly clung on her arm again as they both began to walk away. Everything ended in everyone’s satisfaction.

***

“Oh.”

It was a small world that no one expected it to be. The woman with bangs did take the raven to a place where she would treat her a drink but the raven did not expect it to be in the very same coffee shop that she only knew existed in Peace Town. All three of them looked at each other in surprise to see each other’s presence at the same place.

“Hey, I didn’t know you guys were friends,” Noah said as he flashed his usual friendly smile while looking at the two of them who just entered the coffee shop.

“You guys know each other?” Lizzy asked in surprise as she glanced at the raven and back at the coffee shop owner.

“Yeah, she’s a friend along with that celebrity over there,” The brunet pouted his lips toward the direction where the brunette was.

“Huh.”

Ghrae raised an eyebrow in amusement as she watched Coley give the customers friendly smiles while serving them drinks. The brunette had not even noticed her presence yet as she was too focused in interacting with the customers who were looking at her with hearts in their eyes. It was no wonder that the coffee shop was packed today as she could assume that Coley was the reason for it; it was also no wonder that the coffee shop was being extra friendly and cheerful today.

“What can I get you two pretty ladies?” Noah smiled widely as the both of them stood across him.

“I’ll have the usual,” Lizzy could not prevent the broad grin on her face as she looked at the taller man with hearts in her eyes.

“I’ll have an iced latte,” Ghrae said.

“One iced black coffee with whipped cream on top for Lizzy and one iced latte for Ghrae,” Noah began to tap on the monitor. He was truly having a nice day.

“With whipped cream?” The raven raised an eyebrow as she looked at the other woman.

“Yeah. I’m attending medical school and I often study here at night while drinking that for the past years,” Lizzy explained cheerfully as she took secret glances on Noah who started to make their drinks. “Which is why Noah knows my name and my favorite order.”

“Oh.”

Ghrae nodded as she realized that Lizzy had something common with the coffee shop owner, which was their interest in weird food combinations. It was her first time to see someone have a bitter drink with whipped cream on top and she could not imagine it tasting good, which was why she assumed that the woman shared the same trait as the coffee shop owner. Aside from that, the raven realized that the woman was probably one of the same customers who always visited Noah’s shop who were also his admirers. She began to wonder why the coffee shop owner was not interested with the medical student when she seemed to be such a sweet girl.

Then she realized something as she turned to the woman with bangs to ask another question.

“There’s a medical school here?” Ghrae asked in curiosity. She had never seen a school around Peace Town yet though she was sure that there could be elementary to high school schools around.

The woman with bangs leaned closer to her as she whispered as if she did not want anyone to hear her, especially the coffee shop owner since she was cautiously glancing at him even though he was giving zero attention to them.

“There isn’t. I travel for an hour and a half every day to go to my medical school,” Lizzy whispered.

“But why?” Ghrae slightly furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

“Because I like him,” Lizzy leaned back as she wore a huge toothy grin on her face. She looked like a high school student experiencing puppy love toward the coffee shop owner.

“Oh,” was the only utterance that left the raven as she confirmed her assumption. She took a glance on the coffee shop owner as she added. “Have you asked—”

“I have asked him out three times and I got rejected three times,” Lizzy held three fingers up with a smile on her face as if it meant nothing to her. Seeing the concerned look on the raven’s face, she let out a light chuckle as she brought her fingers down. “I’m okay though. I understand his rejection because I’ve seen how much he worked hard to keep his coffee shop up and I don’t want to be a burden. I like him so much and I am willing to wait until he is ready to open his heart. For the meantime, the least that I can do is to support him by coming here every night.”

Ghrae could not say anything to that as she saw the sincerity in her black eyes. She felt proud and sorry for her at the same time as she saw how Lizzy had been waiting patiently for more than a year despite no progress with the coffee shop owner. A small smile appeared on the raven’s face as she just wished long lasting happiness for Lizzy.

“Enjoy,” Noah gave the both of them a smile as he placed their drinks on the counter with Lizzy giving back a wider smile.

Just when both of the women were about to go and take their seats at the only vacant table at the corner, the brunette had seen them as she enthusiastically waved at the raven with a toothy grin on her face while her eyes instantly curved into crescents. A light chuckle escaped the raven’s pink lips as she noticed the people around her looking at her with hearts in their eyes. For a second, Ghrae felt lucky to be the only person that Coley was smiling widely to among all of the people who were in love with her in the shop.

“Hi! Since when were you here?” Coley asked as she ran toward them.

“Not long,” Ghrae flashed a small smile as her hand unconsciously reached to tuck the hair strands that fell to her eyes behind her pierced ear. “How are you? You don’t really look tired yet.”

“Believe me. Being a famous superhero is exhausting,” Coley dramatically said as she wiped the beads of sweat on her forehead with her sleeve. Finally, she noticed the woman next to her. “By the way, who is she?”

“I’m Lizzy! She saved me from an asshole earlier!” Lizzy brightly introduced herself as she clung on the raven’s arm.

The brunette’s eyes landed on her hands that were on the raven’s arm as her mouth was left ajar in surprise. She had no idea why but she felt like being petty as she pouted and pointed at her hand while she looked at the raven with furrowed eyebrows.

“How could you let her hold you while I can’t?” Coley spoke with a hint of jealousy in her tone.

“What do you mean? We have held hands more than once,” Ghrae raised an eyebrow.

“You always shrug my arm off if I wrap my arm around your shoulders.”

“That’s because it’s hot and Lizzy isn’t wrapping her arm around my shoulders,” Ghrae simply replied.

Coley could not say anything after that as she could only just whine silently while glaring at the hands of the woman with bangs that were clung around the raven’s arm. The brunette glanced at their arms and back to Ghrae’s poker face as she repeated it like a cycle. A sigh escaped the raven’s mouth as she rolled her eyes and gently took Lizzy’s hand off her arm.

“Just say that you don’t want other people holding me,” Ghrae said before turning to take a seat at the table with Lizzy, who just laughed at what just happened.

A satisfied grin appeared on the brunette’s face as she followed them and took a seat in between them since there were no new customers coming yet.

“Did you do something today? Why is the shop extra packed?” Ghrae asked as she took a sip on her drink.

“I punched a guy and everyone praised me for it,” Coley proudly answered as she leaned on the backrest of her chair and cockily pushed her hair behind her shoulder.

“But why?” Lizzy asked as she grew interest in the conversation even though they literally just met.

“He slapped his ex-girlfriend and I saved her by doing that,” Coley shrugged with a smug smirk on her face. “I don’t know how but more customers came after that.”

“Wow. You were like Ghrae then!” Coley raised an eyebrow in curiosity as she glanced at the raven who was just calmly drinking her iced latte. “She saved me from a jerk who was harassing me in the public library earlier by screaming when I did not have the courage to.”

A proud smile stretched on the brunette’s face as she looked at the raven who was looking away from her like it was no big deal. If anyone would be the proudest for what she did, that would be Coley.

“Really? Good job, Ghrae!” Coley flashed a genuine toothy grin as she gave her thumbs up.

Because of the brunette’s cuteness, the raven could not help but c***k a smile. For the first time ever, she actually felt proud of herself for doing something morally right. She was glad that she did something that she was not forced to do and that led to a good result.