Under the Umbrella ✓

-17-

Aria was puzzled. "You... got it?"

"Yeah," he affirmed.

"What was it?"

She could see how amused he was by the look in his eyes even though none of his other features reciprocated it. "That's a secret."

"Unless you want to be labeled a creep, I suggest you tell me what it is," she half-threatened.

"Go ahead," he encouraged, causing her to frown. "Are you done interrogating me?"

She wasn't interrogating him, but she didn't bother to latch on to it in case she'd fritter away from the topic. "I have one more question." He looked at her expectantly. "You said you knew my name. How?"

She could have been making a big deal out of the littlest things, but it was the only opportunity she could grab to sate her curiosity. She didn't care if he thought she was annoying or overly cautious.

"Will I continue to be labeled as a creep if I don't give my explanation for that?"

"Most probably," she eagerly guaranteed. "Actually, definitely."

"Then I pass."

She stared at him wordlessly. Does he like being called a creep? Was Sandra right to have warned her about him being a pervert?

His lips gave away to another small smile like he had been trying to restrain it in for a while. Aria let out a quiet breath that she didn't know she held. "I heard your name a few times the first time you came here. You and your friend aren't the quietest people around."

She gave a nod of recognition. She couldn't deny that. She was an entirely different person with Sandra around, and she didn't want to amend that side of her. That was the side she preferred, and that was the person she aimed to be, even though that would be asking for too much now.

Diane stopped at their table to drop off the coffee Aria looked forward to gulping down, but by now, the remnants of her sleepiness had vanished. Her mind was too conscious of the moment. But when Diane placed a plate of a frosted cupcake on the table in front of her saying it was on the house, she felt a long grin stretch her mouth, almost forgetting all about the stranger. She thanked Diane profusely before she left.

"You don't have a habitual drink." He didn't pose it as a question, more as if he had stated it to himself to prove himself correct from past observation.

Aria, on the other hand, was just amazed he noticed. He was always too immersed in something. She didn't think he would have paid any close attention to her.

He looked at her enquiringly. "Are you going to add that to your creepy list? Because then I might have to make my own one up just for you."

She didn't quite think he was creepy. Not anymore, at least. The time she mentioned it, she was only trying to get him to cough up an answer, but he seemed far too wrapped up in the word.

But she didn't know what to make of his last statement. "What did I do?"

"For starters, you stared at me for about five minutes the last time you sat with me."

How the fuck does he know this too? Aria was outrageously dumbfounded. She was afraid she would stutter if she tried to respond to that. He was like a fucking wizard.

"I wasn't staring," she managed to say, her ears burning up. "I was thinking."

"About me?"

"Not you!" she exclaimed. "Just stuff." He nodded, but it didn't seem like he considered it even one bit. "And I didn't make any creepy list," she muttered before taking a huge sip of her coffee to distract herself.

She figured he'd be straightforward from the very first time they spoke, but she didn't think he could be this upfront. She also realized now that he wasn't as somber as he looked.

Again, in place of replying to that, his lips stretched out a small smile. It didn't look like he was restricting himself from smiling, but for some reason, he didn't smile any wider or longer than he currently did. She wondered what he would look like if he grinned or even laughed.