Whisper | E.D

TEN

I drove to California Pizza Kitchen where Kian said he would meet me. It was his idea to come here, not mine don't worry.

"Romano!" I say loudly greeting him giving him my bear hug. His face turns red from embarrassment. He pulls me from him and mouths "I'm going to kill you" As the waitress brings us to our table.

She seats us in a booth right next to the kitchen where we could see waiters coming in and the chefs cooking the food. Then it hits me like a beachy Cologne. Why am I not even surprised. I look up to see a tall man with brown hair flopped over his face stand at 6 feet in the all-black CPK uniform. Reading the name tag. Grayson

"What can I get you started with today?" He says joyously. Maybe he doesn't remember me. phew.

"I will have a Water" he jots it down nodding and says

"And for you Ms. Adams?" looking me in the eye waiting for an answer. Kian staring at me in confusion.

Hijo de Puta.
Son of a bitch

"Hi, Grayson I will have a sparkling pink lemonade" after a couple of seconds I say.

"Kian this is Grayson, my friend and Grayson this is Kian... also my friend" They nod at each other awkwardly.

"Nice to meet you" Kian says, sticking his hand out to shake Grayson's hand. Breaking the awkwardness. He always had good manners. Respect for others even if they haven't met yet.
Grayson shakes his hand firmly and smiles.

"Drinks coming right up" He said, breaking the handshake.

I take a huge exhale out as I feel like I can breathe again. Kian and I start chit-chatting about how our families are doing. I had explained why we stopped coming around but I can tell he had more questions.

"So have you and Noel talked since then?"  He asked slowly, being cautious if I wanted to talk about it. And I did but only with him.

"No, we lost contact after that. I didn't want to bother him" I say playing around with my straw in my drink.

"Nailea" He goes to grab my hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "Don't ever think you are a bother to anyone. You are far from it. Especially not to Noel. He loves you dearly and you love him"

I look at him just take all of what he said. He is right, it's silly to think he doesn't want to talk to me. I'm just scared that if I do contact him what if he ignores me or leave me alone...like last time.

"Nailea. Call him sometime okay" I nod as I feel my head pounding trying not to cry about how much I miss Noel.

Grayson comes around the corner with a notepad in hand. From a distance I see him look at our hands linked together and my distressed face. He looks at me concerned with soft hazel eyes. He walks over slowly giving me time to take a couple of deep breaths.

"What can I get for you today?"

We order our meals within 20 minutes. He shows up, setting them on the table. We were talking about his plans for the future. He had taken over his family's business and was planning to expand. Open more parlors around New York. He had been debating it for a long time just due to the parlor being a family small business and wasn't sure if he was ready. No matter what he decided I was still going to be here to support him.

"We can have an arrangement of orange syrups just for you" he says snarkily.

"ah-ha very funny" I scrunch my face mocking him. We both laugh a little until I completely stop. I see the waitress that led us to our table directing two people to theirs. Across the restaurant stood Ethan and the girl from class.