In Between (Tale of 3 Hearts)

Chapter 11

"I see you can now differentiate I and my brother." Bryan smiled, showing off his white teeth.

"Or I just got lucky." She replied faintly while staring down to avoid eye contact. "I should go." But Bryan held her wrist.

"Just wait, please. Just give me a chance to talk to you."

"Why?"

"You have got everything all wrong. I'm not the bad guy, let me talk to you. I have tried calling to get to you, but it's going to voicemails."

"You think it's about you?" She said in a hoarse voice.

"I know it's not Allie. I don't want to pry into your privacy. Asking you why you broke down at work seems tempting," he dropped her hand and showed his hands into his pockets. " You seem devastated that day and all I ever wanted was to check up on you but it was obvious you wanted space. Look, I just to know you are ok, make peace with you and clarify the whole murder thing Ryan said.

After exhaling audibly He added, "I want you to hear my story before you fully decide to put me on arm's length."

"Fine."

She too gave out a sigh. "At least let's find a spot to sit, these boots are killing me."

"This way." With a simple smile, he grabbed Allison's groceries and led the way.

In 15 minutes, they were standing in front of an old fashion restaurant. It looked old and out of style. It had some kind of antique lanterns hanging beside the entrance of the building, and the cheese on top was that wall ferns were sprouting out from the grey walls.

"You sure we are in the right place?" Allison asked with doubt.

"Of course. Quit judging a book by the cover."

"Sometimes one should." She murmured.

He simply opened the door for Allison to enter.

"A gentleman I see."

"With your bold flattery, I might reconsider."

Just then, their eyes came in contact and they burst out laughing. Bryan's face wrinkled in a laugh of derision whereas Allison bent down to hold her knees for stability.

"Why are you laughing?" Bryan asked.

"Why are you laughing?" Allison asked between laughter too.

"You are even shedding tears." He offered her a handkerchief from his pocket to clean her face. "Here, take it."

"Thank you." She took the handkerchief and dabbed lightly on her happy tears.

"Shall we?"

"Lead the way Sire." She replied in a British accent.

"Huh, bold and intriguing."

He led the way into the restaurant. To be fair Allison was expecting the interior deco to be astonishing, like THE DELECTABLE CAFE. But it was just as the outer deco was. It looked just like a relic restaurant from the past. It was a little dark but blue lanterns hung all over the walls to illuminate light. There were Chinese drawings of a woman in silky red garment, dancing on the river. The round tables were made of brown wood as well as the chairs and not less than 10 people were in the restaurant, eating. And of course the aroma that filled the air gave Allison a quick appetite as it made her stomach grunt a little.