When the Flower Falls (Fitzmael 7) - COMPLETED

02: Are We Friends?

"IS HAZE YOUR FRIEND?"

I nodded. "Her family owns this mall."

She froze. "What?!"

"M stands for Mendes. Haze is a Mendes."

"Wow! I thought she was just hanging around. Your friend's from a powerful family," she said. "She's pretty, isn't she?"

"Yes. Her sisters too."

"She's really pretty, right?" she asked again.

"Yes, she's beautiful." I opened the door for her so we could enter the fast food place she chose.

"Oh. If she's beautiful, does that mean you like her?"

I squinted at her. I had no idea what she was fishing for, but I'd only tell her the truth. "Just because I said she's beautiful doesn't mean I like her." I pointed to an empty table. "Wait for me there. I'll order. What do you want?"

"I'll come with you," she said, pouting.

"You sure? Fine."

"She's pretty and seems nice. Why didn't you court her?" She suddenly stopped walking, so I looked at her. "Or are you taken?"

My brows furrowed. "I don't have a girlfriend."

"Then why didn't you court her?"

"She's probably your age," I commented. "She's too young for me. She's even younger than my youngest cousin."

There was a long silence. I turned my attention to the cashier and we ordered together. "As long as she's not a minor, I think it's fine. People my age know right from wrong."

"My sister says the same thing... She even wants to set me up with her single friends, but I'm not used to that." I took our order number and sat down while we waited for the food.

"Okay..."

"Is that Ren?!"

I sighed heavily when I heard whispering. I didn't even look at them. I was used to this. People often recognized me since I was always featured in online articles for still being single.

"He's the only single one left in their clan, right?"

I glanced at Elimae. She looked uncomfortable with the murmurs around us. I looked down. Should I ask her if we should eat somewhere else?

"Do you think that girl's his girlfriend?"

"Probably not! She looks too young to be his girlfriend. I heard tons of businesswomen and socialites keep proposing to Ren just to marry him."

I sighed again. Why are people always so updated about my life? I always got marriage proposals from women. Some wanted to marry me because of my name, others for business reasons, and a few said they genuinely liked me. They all had their reasons, but I told my parents to reject every proposal.

I don't marry for convenience.

"This is the first time I've seen Ren with a woman, just the two of them."

"He's one of the nicest men out there. You barely find any bad articles about him. That girl's probably clinging to Ren because of his name or his mo—"

"Eli, let's go." I stood up and reached my hand out to her.

The gossipers instantly went quiet.

I shot them a sharp glare.

They looked away, pretending not to notice me.

"Let's eat somewhere else."

She looked down and took a deep breath. Then she stood and walked away. Just like that. I was stunned.