18. At the Seaside

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In the next ten days, Cloud received only a short message from Rain saying she was staying with a friend for the time being. Just that. Cloud knew he must have given her some time to calm her feelings, but after two days, he could not help sending her picture of Chrysanthemums. He did not expect a reply from her, he just wanted her to know that he would not give up on her that easily. However, Rain surprised him.

[What is the name?] R

[Chrysanthemums, I am using them for a garden.] C

[They look cute.] R

After sending the message, Rain searched Chrysanthemums as she was sure that Cloud was hinting at something. Hope for the future, she read it out loud with a smile on her face. Honestly, she was also reluctant to let Cloud go, but she needed time to think about the happenings before taking a step.

Three days later, Rain received another flower picture from Cloud; pink Geranium. This time there was a name tag in front of the flower so Rain did not need to ask the name. She quickly searched the meaning of pink Geranium.

I am always with you.

Looking at the screen, an amiable smile formed on Rain's lips. She could give everything she had to change their past. If they met now, she would never let Cloud out of her hands, but now she had so much doubts and disappointments; therefore, she was not sure if her love could suppress the bitter memories.

Sighing heavily, Rain put her phone in her bag before boarding on the plane to go to the seaside. Based on the things she heard from Gray, she was sure that she could find the place she planned to go.

***

Rain settled in the hotel room, took a shower, changed her clothes with lighter ones and went down to the reception. In fifteen minutes, she had the address she was looking for. Then she asked the receptionist to call her a taxi and set off for the address which she arrived in twenty minutes.

She took a deep breath in front of Geila's Kitchen and went in.

"Welcome, please sit wherever you want, I will bring the menu," a smiling waitress welcomed her.

Nodding, she sat near the window so she could see the sea. It was a really nice place; clean, neat and cosy with light brown wooden tables and chairs. All the windows were open so the fresh smell of the sea was mixing with the flowers' that were hang on the windows.

"It is all because of me, they lost it all," she murmured unwittingly, but luckily the waitress was not near so she did not hear.

After getting the menu, Rain order fish, salad and wine to calm herself as well to gain some courage.

Finishing her lunch, Rain patiently waited until there was no customer left in the restaurant before she asked about the cook. However, the waitress misunderstood her reason so she got a bit tense.

Rain quickly put a smile on her face, "I liked the meal a lot so I want to thank in person."

"Oh," the waitress smiled back, "Mrs. Rake is the best cook I have ever met, I will call her for you now."

"Thank you, can you also bring some coffee for us?"

"Sure," the waitress went back to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, a woman in her late fifties appeared from the kitchen. She was a very petite woman with brown curly hair similar to her son's. Rain stood up from her seat to shake her hand, but unintentionally she forgot to let it go, making the older puzzled. Luckily, the waitress brought the coffee and the awkward moment passed quickly.

"Can we talk a bit?" Rain asked politely while hiding her hands on her back as they started shaking.

Anisa Rake kept her gaze on Rain's face for a while as if she was trying to remember who she was before nodding tentatively.

Rain exhaled heavily while sitting back to her chair. For a second she thought Mrs. Rake would say no. "I enjoyed the meal a lot, you are a great cook," she said with a nervous smile. She decided not to jump into the serious matters directly. Maybe she would not jump at all.

Anisa smiled, but it did not reach her eyes, "thank you for the compliment but I am not that good, you know."

Rain smiled awkwardly looking at the woman who sat in front of her. There was no doubt Cloud was her son; same hazel eyes, tip-tilted nose and thin pinkish lips... The more Rain looked at her the more she noticed how much she missed Cloud.

"I can tell you are not here for a vacation, are you here to talk to me?" Anisa asked suddenly as she saw Rain was struggling to find the words.

"I..." What? I am the reason of your misfortune? Rain rubbed her temples. It was harder than she thought.

"You?"

"I am a friend of Cloud," she just lied, "I heard something about his past and got curious."

Anisa arched her eyebrows with suspicion, "friends? You are very curious for a normal friend."

Rain wanted to smash her head to the table. Of course, it was not normal for a friend to ask such a thing, let alone coming all this way to dig about the past.

"I am..." tears welled to her eyes, "the reason of everything!" Her words broke into sobs while tears trickled down her cheeks.

Not expecting such a reaction, Anisa froze for a second before going to her side and holding her fragile body in her arms. Her apron soaked with Rain's tears while she was rubbing her back to soothe her.

"I am so sorry..." Rain was repeating the same sentence in between her sobs. Her hands were grabbing Anisa's shirt tight as if she was afraid to let her go.

"Shh, everything is fine," Anisa was doing her best to calm the agitated girl in her embrace, but it was not going too well. So she tried a new method; "you have no right to cry so please stop, will you?"

Hearing what Anisa said, Rain's body stiffened. Her hands left Anisa's shirt and fell to her sides while she pulled herself back. When she talked, her voice was hoarse after ten minutes of crying, "what did you say?"

"I am sure you heard me," Anisa replied with a soft tone which contradicted to her statement.

"So you know who I am," Rain wiped her tears so that she could see Anisa's expression better.

"Yes dear, I recognised you right away although you look very different from the photo Cloud had," she said while sitting back to her chair, "what are you doing here if I may ask?"

Rain gulped, "I just wanted to apologise in person although I know I don't deserve your forgiveness," she said with a hint of pain in her voice. "I am so sorry for everything," she said again while putting some money on the table for the meal, "thank you for the meal, I wasn't lying when I said it was really good."

With a sudden move, Anisa grabbed Rain's arm, not letting her go. She would never guess that she would feel pity for the cause of their family suffering, but somehow she did. The girl in front of her looked so innocent and agitated that Anisa's motherly instincts wanted to help her. "Is that all? Just a mere sorry?"

"What else I can do?" Rain asked softly.

Anisa took a deep breath, "come here for a week and help me with the work. Serra will be missing for a week so I need somebody to help me. Also, you have to tell me what happened between you and Cloud, deal?"

Rain could not say anything, being in shocked what she heard, so she just simply nodded before moving towards the door.

"At seven be here, okay?"

Rain nodded again and left the restaurant with confused feelings.

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