Whirling Storms: Darius

13

"What did I owe this lunch for, Darius?" I asked after he asked me that question.

"Let's go to my car first. It's too hot in here for you." he said and even opened an umbrella for me.

We were both under the umbrella but I noticed how it was leaning more to my side than to Darius's side. His opposite shoulder was entirely hit by the sunlight.

Such action made me blush instantly and I couldn't help it. I talked to myself in my mind to calm down. I shouldn't fantasize too much. Darius might feel uncomfortable around me.

"Sorry for coming unannounced. I just really needed to see you." he said and I nodded at his statement.

"Shall we talk about it over a meal again?" I asked as I remembered the first time he came looking for me.

"Yes, Miss Aronson. Over a meal." he said and flashed a charming smile.

The restaurant we went to was a nearby one that didn't even took ten minutes to reach from the university. I went down of the car first and waited until Darius comes back to park the car.

"Sorry, the parking lot was packed. Shall we enter now, Miss Aronson?" he asked and I nodded before entering the restaurant.

Just like what I expected, it was a fine dining restaurant which I don't often go to. Gosh, I should have told Darius that we can just eat at a fast food resto. That'll be more than fine for me.

"Sit here, Miss Aronson." he said and gestured me to seat at the chair he pulled out.

I smiled and sat down carefully before placing my bag on an empty chair beside me. We kind of sat on a table fit for four people.

"Would you like to order, Sir?" a waiter asked and placed two sets of menu in front of us.

I got one and gasped a little when I saw the prices. I looked at the salad and was hoping that they were just a bit less expensive than the others. However, even the salads were expensive. Are their ingredients made of gold?

"What's your order, Miss Aronson?" Darius asked and I closed the menu before smiling awkwardly.

"I'll just have water, Darius." I replied which made him chuckle shortly.

"Please make it two and remove the garlic on one of the meal." Darius told the waiter and thankfully, the guy immediately left.

Why did I said water out of other things? That was a little embarrassing but my poor ass can really afford only a glass of water here.

"I ordered the same thing for you, Miss Aronson. You're okay with anything right?" Darius checked and I nodded quickly.

"It's fine. I'm not a picky eater." I said and fumbled with my fingers. I'm trying to distract myself with anything. I'm super red in embarrassment.

"So, Darla told me that you were still experiencing strange pain on your stomach." Darius rose the topic and I was surprised.

"Why did she tell you that? But anyway, I still experience those. It kind of hurts so much." I confessed as I remember the strange pain.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how will you rate the pain, Miss Aronson?" he asked and gave me a serious stare.

"Is this a checkup or something?" I joked to ease the serious atmosphere.

"Rating, Miss Aronson?" he repeated and I removed all the silliness in me.

"Seven? Or eight? I don't really know but on that level, I guess." I answered.

I feel like I'm in a checkup with my doctor. Honestly, I already visited once but they only told me that maybe I was stressed. I believed them but there was a little more doubt in me. If this was stress, why would I feel it sometimes, on a daily basis?

Sure, I get cramps or body pains when I am stressed but not on this level. The kind of pain I was experiencing was so excruciating to the point that I fear of dying from it. That's how extreme it was.

"Have you been meeting strange people now and then?" he asked and gave me a serious stare again.

He suddenly jumped into another topic which made me confused.

"How is this related to the pain I'm experiencing, Darius?" I carefully asked only to be given a cold stare.

"Yes or no, Miss Aronson?" he asked and I bit my lip before crossing my arms across my chest.

Strange people? I haven't met anyone that I find strange nowadays. I'm also always with Neo so I don't think I have mingled with others now. My routine runs from my house to the university and back to my house again.

"Ah! There was two times, I guess?" I answered unsure if my memories were giving me the right number.

"Two times?" he asked and I nodded before telling him the story.

"So this happened before our last exams when I was studying in the library. Some creepy guy in black clothes kept staring at me from afar. Even when I went out, he was still there and approached me. That time when you drove me home and you weren't able to go home because of the curfew. That was when I met that creepy guy."

"Did he say anything to you?" he asked as he jotted down something on a memo pad.

"He was trying to give me something but I didn't receive it because that's when you arrived."

"The other one? When did you meet the second strange person?" he interrogated.

"It was when I visited the mall. After I went out of the woman's bathroom, a girl kind of gave me a flower. I received it without much thinking and got my hands burnt from it. I didn't know how that happened but the moment I touched the flower, my hands started burning like crazy." I narrated as to how much I was hurt that time.

"Are you okay now? Let me see your hand." Darius abruptly held my hands and checked it.

The mere contact with him made me electrified so I pulled my hands away. I smiled at him to not make him think that I was disgusted or anything.

"I'm fine now, Darius. The burning sensation wounded my hand and it stayed that way for five days. But I'm totally okay now." I assured and Darius wrote a little bit more on his memo pad before putting it on his pocket.

"If you experience these again, especially the stomach pain, call me right away okay?" he said and I blinked at his offer.

"But why would I call you? It's not like you're the one responsible for this." I stated and laughed a little.

"But I'm partly responsible for it though which you probably don't know."