"𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙢 𝙞 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤, 𝙞𝙛 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬?
after a lifetime spent biting her tongue and bruising her fists, alara sultan is met with an opportunity. a chance to bring an impo...
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"I'm sorry about my friends."
The café door swung open with the chime of a bell. Mingling with the bitter aroma of roasted coffee beans, was the herbal scent of the lavender bunches placed atop every birch wood table.
Alara frequented Carbonic Coffee often. It was the only cafe within the immediate vicinity of what she called her second home. Even if it hadn't been though, she would have found it and loved it regardless.
The coffee shop was entirely light wood and ivory countertops; a rustic theme that was only further enhanced by the meticulously placed greenery.
After Valen's dramatic pull up in the BMW M4 he had been test driving, with Ralph and Billy in tow, nearly every eye had fixed on them. That included a certain anime character lookalike that she happened to be idiotically enamoured with.
Soren's plan of "playing it cool" had been thrown out the window the moment the convertible had pulled to a stop in front of them. She had never seen him so starstruck.
Artanis though, she had been the one that Alara was doing her best to apologize for. Even after they had driven off and Valen had dropped them off at the cafe, she continued to do so.
Ralph still shook with the remnants of laughter. "Al, we told you, it's fine. It was pretty funny, actually."
"Yeah, besides, I really needed to hear that I've aged like fine wine." Billy's smile was so broad his eyes crinkled shut. "It was a much needed boost."
"They seem like really good kids. But, I still don't understand the whole 'daddy' thing." Ralph pondered, regarding her with a slight frown. "Why'd she call us that?"
Alara groaned, she would send Artanis a scathing message as soon as she was within the comfort of her bedroom. She knew her best friend would be excited to meet them, but she hadn't expected all the suggestive compliments. It had been funny, but also incredibly embarrassing.
At least it seemed like her godfathers genuinely liked her only friends. They had even suggested grabbing coffee together while they were in town, to tell her friends old stories about the infamous Three Strikes and how they'd formed. Soren had given an sharp gasp at that, near stumbling over his words to accept the offer.
"Don't worry about it, Ralph." She patted him on the shoulder. "Come on, let's order coffee and sit at my booth. We still got an hour before Dad's expecting us at the dojo." Alara jerked her head towards the front counter.
