Hey guys, I'm really sorry that the story's in a hurry. :( But I appreciate every review and criticism! Domo arigatou. :D Hope you still read Runaway. Enjoy!
~CLAIRE'S POINT OF VIEW~
I walked to the inn all by myself.
It was still early afternoon. I remembered that I haven't eaten anything since this morning. I wonder if the inn serves good food like in the city.
What on earth are you thinking, Clarisse Irene Heathers. I thought. This is not the city life you used to live in. This is a much simple and quieter life. Don't think like a billionaire. You are not the rich Claire Rosebelle people know. Think like a normal village girl. Think like Claire Rosebelle.
I reached the inn and opened the door. A cheery, orange-haired girl welcomed me.
"Welcome to Doug's inn!" she exclaimed in a cute voice.
"Um, can I get a room?" I asked right away.
"Of course ma'am. Follow me to see it first."
I followed her upstairs where there were two large guest rooms. She opened the right room. The walls were painted in purple and pink, and the floor was tiled with pink marble. Not bad. The windows were large and the room was air-conditioned.
"Here you go ma'am." She said.
"Nice guest room." I complimented as my eyes continued to wander.
"We have five beds here in the right room, so if ever there will be anyone else checking in tonight, you'll have to share this room with them."
"Thank you." I said halfheartedly, still keeping my voice polite. I hated sharing my room with other people. But what can I do? I just have to hope that no one else's checks in.
"Your welcome ma'am. So please follow me again to my dad. You'll have to pay to him today for your first night." She smiled.
"Oh, okay… um… your name?"
"Ann. Please call me Ann."
"Ann." I smiled. "And please don't call me ma'am. Just call me Claire."
"Okay, Claire!" she chirped. What a nice person.
"Um, Ann? Who owns the other room?" I asked as we walked downstairs.
"Oh? That's the boys' guest room. Your room's the ladies' guest room."
"Ah. Is that so? So, am I alone in the whole second floor?"
"Nope." She laughed. "There are three boys checked-in in the boys' guest room."
"Oh… Are… Are they nice?"
"Ha ha ha. I assure you, they're as nice as cute lil' puppies!"
I just giggled at what she said. We had gone done the stairs, and now we were heading to the counter where Ann's dad was.
"So, lady, what's your name?" Ann's dad asked as he readied his notebook and pen.
"Claire Rosebelle, sir."
He wrote my name in the notebook, probably his logbook.
"So, you're here until when?" he asked.
"Um, until Gotz finishes the farm's renovation, sir." I answered.
"Call me Doug," he smiled warmly. "So you mean you bought the farm?"
"Yes."
"Really?" Ann grinned. "You're staying here?"
I nodded and we smiled.
"Ah so…" Doug said. "You don't know until when you're staying?"
"I guess so."
"Well I'll be!" he chuckled. "Like the three guys, you're bound to stay a long time here."
"Dad, don't scare my friend!" Ann held my arm. "Claire, let me take your bag. Let's have girl talk in your room."
I smiled and nodded. What kind people.
"So Claire," Ann placed my bag inside a compartment of a cabinet. "Where did you come from?"
"Uh." I thought for place. "From Cherubim City." I lied.
"Ah. That's a big city!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah." I pretended to smile.
"Where's your family?" she asked.
"Um." I had to make my face look really sad. "My family died in an accident last month. Our house was burned down from an unknown cause. I wasn't there at the time, because I was in school."
"Oh… Sorry to hear that. Ever had a boyfriend?" she changed the topic.
"Yes." I smiled. Then I remembered Skye. All the wonderful memories…
"Still with him?"
"Nope."
"Oh… Your life's really sad, eh?"
"Ha ha ha. Yeah."
My stomach growled. I blushed in awkwardness.
"You're hungry? Why didn't you say so?" she said.
"I was kind of shy to ask you…" I murmured.
"Well, let's get some food downstairs!"
"Thanks."
She dragged me downstairs and then to their kitchen. She took the apron lying on top of the table and asked me, "It's still early afternoon. What do you want to eat?"
"Anything's fine for me."
"Alright! So we're in for a snack… Does chocolate cake seem good?"
"For real? That's my favorite!" I eagerly asked.
"Really? You remind me of Cliff." Then her face went all pink and blooming.
"Who's that?"
She picked up a mixing bowl and a big spoon and went on. "Cliff is one of the guys upstairs. He's been staying here since winter."
Then she went to the fridge to get some eggs, chocolate, milk and flour. "And," her tone became rather proud and delightful, "we're in a mutual relationship."
"Wow." I smiled.
She sighed. "Yeah, it's great and all to have mutual feelings with someone. But," she heaved another sigh, "We're not yet official."
"Why not?" I asked.
She started mixing the batter. "Dad told him to court me more and Cliff should impress him. But it's still good." The smile returned to her face. "At least I know if he really is serious about me. Besides, we see each other everyday."
"Oh. It's still good. Good for you."
After she mixed the batter, she poured it in another container and placed it in the oven. Next she washed her hands and sat down. She invited me to sit beside her. "What else do you want to know? You can ask me anything."
"Hmm. Aside from Cliff, who else are checked-in in this inn?"
"We have Kai and Gray. Why do you want to know them?"
"Uh, nothing. So that I won't have a hard time knowing them when I meet them."
"Ah okay." She smiled. "What do you want to know about them?"
"Hmm. I don't really know."
"That's all right. Let's start with Gray."
"Okay."
"About Gray, you probably should congratulate him later."
"Why?"
"He's getting married with Mary, the librarian, this coming summer," she explained. "I'm going to be their maid-of-honor."
"Wow, really?"
"Yep. I feel happy for him." She smiled. "Poor Gray's been kicked out of his grandpa's house two years ago. He stayed here in the inn ever since. He was kicked out because he didn't want to be a blacksmith like his grandfather."
"Oh, the kids and the Mayor had told me that earlier." I said.
"Ahh." She nodded. "So moving on, Gray's parents are living in the other side of the world."
I nodded and urged her to continue.
"After Gray's been kicked out, me and dad advised him to train as a blacksmith so that there won't be any problem again. He agreed, but I know that he wasn't really willing to do so. But he's all grown-up so he must do it. And it's for the sake of his grandfather."
"He didn't like working?"
"No, no, it's not like that," she shook her head. "It's just that, Gray doesn't want to be a blacksmith."
"Why?"
"I believe the reason shouldn't come from me." She winked.
"Oops. Sorry."
"Nah. It's okay. You should get to know him. He's a nice guy. Ya know, it's really nice to have girl talk. Mary's my bestfriend, and I'm her only friend. 'Course that means I'm her bestfriend too." She giggled. "She only visits on Monday mornings, so we rarely talk. You should be friends with her too."
"I'll be sure of it."
"That'll mean a lot to her." She smiled. "Mary is the only girl who comes here. The other girls- Karen, Popuri and Elli, I always go to their place to chat. They're really busy. But oh, sometimes Popuri and I see each other by the hot spring by the morning."
"Oh… Well, I promise that I'd always visit you when the farm's done." I vowed.
"You would? Thank you! Thank you so much!" She gave me a hug.
Ting! The cake's done. Ann stood up and took it out wearing cute pink potholders. The aroma of the chocolate cake was simply delectable! She set it down on the table and took two small plates and forks. She sliced the cake and placed each slice on the plates. I took the fork and… I couldn't find words to describe the flavor of the cake!
"Ann! This is so GOOD!" I exclaimed and took another mouthful.
"Thanks." She smiled and ate. "So, you want to talk about Kai next?"
"Sure." It was impolite to talk with my mouth full, but I was really hungry. I promise this impoliteness would only happen once.
"Kai's a city boy. Particularly from Sunny Palms city."
That rang a bell. I remembered that the guy I was supposed to marry came from that place. Sunny Palms was the nearest city near my place, Star Fall City. Could it be...?
Ann interrupted my thoughts. "He comes here every summer, but he's here now. He said he just wanted to stay here for a year or so. He's a great cook like me, owns the shed down at the beach."
So it might not be the guy. If he was my fiancé, he would a big restaurant instead of a small shed.
"What about his family background?" I asked.
"That… I don't know." She said. "The only persons who know that part of Kai's life are Gray and dad."
"Oh. So Gray and Kai are close friends?"
"Best friends, you might want to say!" she giggled. "They're like brothers."
"Oh. How long has been Kai coming here?"
"For nearly five years now."
"Wow. He must really love this town."
"Yeah. Especially that the women and girls here really like him!"
I eyed her sarcastically.
"Eh. In my case, he's just like an older brother."
"Really?" I teased.
She just laughed. "We are so going to get along well."
"I agree."
"Anyway, back to our topic," she continued as she went to get another slice for me, "Kai's nice and all, but some guys around our place don't really like him. Especially Rick. Rick's been 'protecting'," she stressed the word, "his sister Popuri from Kai. He thinks that Kai is a bad person. Popuri's really crazy about Kai."
"Who else doesn't like him?"
"Hmm. That'd be Duke."
"Oh. What's his problem?"
She placed the plate in front of me and stood up to get some juice from the fridge. "He's just pissed off that all the girls here like him. Shallow reason eh?"
"Really shallow." I agreed and went in for another mouthful.
"I bet that you'd like Kai too." she winked.
"I might." I laughed. "Describe him."
"Kai's a dark-skinned guy. Hmm, what else… Oh yeah, he has black hair… and um… dark brown eyes… a cute smile. And if you're talking about his attitude and persona, he's a real charmer! He's nice, a joker and really confident. He's also a down-to-earth person, and sweet. Very, very sweet and romantic!"
"How'd you know he's really, really, really sweet?"
"I just saw it in his eyes and every girl here knows that. Also, I can read his actions." She sighed out of the blue. "But… he had twenty-one girlfriends already, so I may not be sure if he's really… loyal. I know he really is serious in his relationships, but once he's tired of it," she shook her head. "He'll end it."
I swallowed the last piece of cake and said, "Oh… But isn't he interested in Popuri like she is to him?"
"Kai once told me that he likes Popuri, but he isn't really in love with her. You want some more cake? I'll bake again." She smiled.
"Wait, we ate up all the cake?" I asked in disbelief.
"You had six slices." She giggled. "I had only two. You were so classy when you ate, I couldn't imagine you had six slices!"
I flushed in embarrassment. At least I still ate with poise and class. But I, myself, was also surprised that I ate six slices with that kind of eating. Listening to Ann sure makes you forget everything else.
"Don't bake again, I guess I'm full. I'm really sorry!" I apologized.
"It's okay. So, what's your story?" she altered the topic.
"What do you want to know?" I asked. I had to be careful in my answers.
"Hmm. What's your ideal man?"
"Hmm," I answered quietly, "A man who makes me happy. Who's a real gentleman, a charmer and really passionate. And he must be outgoing. I'm sort of shy."
"Wow, sounds like Kai." I flushed. It didsound like him. Then she bit her lip, "Oops. I didn't mean anything by that."
"Ha ha ha. It's okay."
"So, what else are you going to tell me?" she asked..
"Hmm. Do you want to know about my stitches?" I showed her my forehead.
"Oh my Goddess! What happened to you?"
So I told her about everything that happened to me since I came here last Thursday. She showed sincere emotions as she listened to me. I told her about my admiration for Trent and how pale I was in the clinic to blush. Ann's a really nice friend. We didn't realize that it was almost 4pm if it wasn't for Doug's call.
"Ann! It's already 4pm!" he called out.
"Oh yeah!" she jumped out of the chair. Good thing I had finished my story.
"What's happening?" I asked.
"Everyday at 4pm, I cook for the boys' food. This is the time they'll be going home from work. You'll finally meet them!" she squeaked.
I giggled. "Yeah, finally. Can I help you cook?"
"Of course! We'll be cooking sashimi for Kai, cheese fondue for Gray and curry noodles for myCliff!" she squealed enthusiastically.
I just shook my head and laugh, and grabbed an apron to help her cook.
I guess I might actually like this Kai.
~KAI'S POINT OF VIEW~
Finally, 4pm!
Whew. It was good day for business. Many people and tourists came by to eat. I can't wait to go back to the inn for my sashimi. That's my menu for today. I looked inside the fridge, and no ingredient was left. I realized that I have to close tomorrow and shop for ingredients. Ugh. I hate grocery shopping.
I walked idly as ever going to the inn, thinking about Claire. I wonder where she is now, I thought. My stomach growled impatiently. I grunted to myself and saw Cliff and Gray nearing to the door of the inn.
"Hey guys." I greeted.
"Hey Kai." They both said.
"Smells good!" Gray exclaimed as he opened the door.
"Good work today boys." Doug smiled. "We have a new tenant here. She's with Ann in the kitchen."
"She? A girl?" I asked.
"Boy, your eyes gleamed when you said 'girl'." Gray snickered.
"Oh yeah she is." Doug said. "A blonde."
"A blonde? Claire? Claire Rosebelle?" I asked excitedly.
"How'd you know?" he asked.
I jumped again and again shouting, "She's here! She's really, really, really here!"
"Um, Kai?" Cliff whispered. "I think they're coming out of the kitchen. So I guess you should cool down for a bit…"
"Yeah… I gotta play it cool…" I said. "Thanks for the advice."
"Okay, guys," Gray told us. "Let's sit down to eat!"
The door's hinge squeaked and it finally opened wide. Ann came out first carrying a bowl which smells like curry noodles and a plate of cheese fondue. No one else came out.
"Alright, here you go boys!" she placed the plates on the table where we sat.
"Thanks Ann." Gray and Cliff said.
"Hey, where's mine?" I complained.
"Someone else will serve it." She winked. "Just wait."
The hinge squeaked again, so we turned our heads towards the kitchen's direction and she came out, carrying mysashimi. My heart pounded. I could even hear it.
I was… stunned.
"Um, hello." She greeted us shyly as she came nearer.
"Hi!" my two buddies said. I remained quiet. I felt kind of nervous. Weird.
"You must be Gray. I heard you're getting married. Congratulations." She smiled.
"Thanks!" Gray beamed. Whenever the topic's his marriage, he's as delightful as ever.
"You're Cliff, right? Pleased to meet you." She smiled again.
"Nice to meet you too." Cliff answered warmly.
She turned to me and said, "And you must be Kai. Here's your sashimi."
"Uh…uh, um, tha… T-thanks." I stammered. I felt really nervousandtense.
She just gave me a friendly but quick smile and Ann pulled her arm.
"Listen up!" Ann yelled. "This is Claire Rosebelle. Just call her Claire. She's going to stay with us for a long time, until the farm's renovation is finished. I already told her about you guys. Please be nice to her!"
"What? What did you tell about us?" Gray said nervously.
"Just light information about each of you guys. Oh, and your marriage. That's all."
"Whew." Then Gray turned to me. "Hey, I thought Cliff was the only shy-type here. Why aren't you talking?"
"I, um..." I stuttered.
"You like Claire?" Ann eyed at me mischievously. She could read and tell my actions and my emotions. Ugh. It's her I can't escape.
I don't know what to say. I just looked at each of their faces and swallowed. I became more nervous and I began to sweat.
"Oh Ann, stop it, please." Her face flushed into deep pink.
"Ha ha ha. Kidding." But I know that was a lie. She knew that I like Claire. "Anyway, eat up. Claire helped me in cooking for those."
"Thanks again." Gray and Cliff both said.
"Yeah. Um, thanks." I quickly said and ate right away. Hmm, it didn't taste like Ann's cooking, but it was really good. It suited my taste buds.
Claire gave a quick smile again to us and both of them went back to the kitchen. When they were not in sight anymore, Gray laughed so hard and Cliff chuckled a little. I was confused.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"You." Gray snorted. "It was so obvious that you like her."
"I agree." Cliff said when he had stopped laughing.
"Ugh." I covered my face.
"But you know," Gray said with his mouth full. "She's a nice girl. Beautiful, knows how to cook, has a little shy attitude and friendly. It's a real sight to see you like that. That's a first time, eh?"
"Yeah, I never felt nervous around a girl before."
"Well, she might be the one." Cliff said.
"I bet you're right, Cliff." Gray agreed. "My friend here really needs to settlenow."
"What the heck do you mean by that?" I asked.
"It's just that, you had too many girlfriends already, and yet you haven't found the right one for you. I have a good belief that she's going to be your girl forever." He answered.
"Hmm. But I think she has a secret. There's a mystique in her personality. I've sensed that since the day we first visited her." Cliff said as his eyes wandered.
"You too?" I asked. "I feel that she's a real mystery too."
We had to stop talking because they came out again, carrying two plates of chirashi sushi. Ann sat down beside Cliff of course, and the only seat left was the chair beside me.I swallowed hard when she sat down. My heart pounded louder. I began sweating. Gray smirked and gave me a "cool-yourself-down" look. I took a deep breath and continued eating.
"Well, we'll be eating with you guys." Ann grinned and dug in.
I watched how Claire ate. It was so sophisticated and refined. Like a city girl… The way she holds the chopsticks… the way she chews…
"Kai, stop watching how Claire eats and eat your sashimi instead." Ann scolded me.
Claire looked at me with a shy and flushed face and quickly looked away. I felt that I was blushing too. I just ate quietly. Gray, Cliff and Ann were laughing.
"Um, what's funny?" Claire asked them shyly. I get a feeling she's not used to being laughed at. She blushed again a deep pink.
"You look cute together!" Ann squealed.
"I agree!" Gray exclaimed and Cliff nodded.
"I, uh…" I stammered again. What the heck were they doing this for?
"Oh. Uh." That's all she said then she lowered her head.
"Aw, what a blushing couple. They look right for each other, right dad?" Ann yelled.
Doug eventually came nearer and took a good look at us. Claire and I lowered our heads. All of them started laughing again.
"Well Kai, congratulations. You've found your match." Doug smirked and walked off.
"See? Even dad thinks so." Ann squealed.
"Ha ha ha." Cliff laughed lightly.
Then Ann winked at Gray and Cliff. Gray and Cliff stood up and went behind me, smirking. Ann moved nearer to Claire. I have a bad feeling about this. What were they planning to do?
"Hey Claire, why don't we go to your guest room now, help me look for something." Ann pulled Claire and ran upstairs.
I turned my head to face the two idiots standing behind me. They were still smiling teasingly. My heart throbbed. I felt that they're planning against my will. Against our will. Ann appeared on the edge of the stairs and winked again to them. Gray and Cliff nodded to each other and held both of my arms. "You're going to have fun, dude."
"Let go of me, morons!" I yelled as I tried to squirm out of their grasp.
"We just want you guys to talk." Gray said.
I felt that I blushed again. I continued to fidget as they carried me upstairs. Ann was waiting outside of the ladies' guestroom. I heard Claire shouting, "Um, I think I couldn't find it here."
"Just keep on looking!" Ann answered back.
"What the hell are you guys planning to do with us?" I snapped.
"Shh." Ann hushed. "You're just going to talk privately."
Ann opened the door and the guys threw me in. Apparently, they locked the door, leaving Claire and I inside. Claire looked at me with a blushing, shocked look. I faced away from her and banged the door.
"GET US OUTTA HERE!" I yelled nervously.
Ann shouted back. "We'll only release you later at 9pm. So just have a nice conversation inside.
"We'll be locked here for four hours?"
We'll be back later!" then I heard them laughing. Their chuckles faded as they went downstairs. I gave up banging the door and sat in a corner.
"Sorry," I apologized. "You're new here, but you're already getting involved in their pranks."
"It's okay." She smiled. "Anyway, all they wanted after all is for us to talk."
"Yeah, I guess so." Talking to her eased my tense. I felt better.
"Ann told me you were a city boy. From Sunny Palms City?"
"Yeah. And I figured that you're also a city girl."
She cringed a bit. "H-How did you know?"
"From the way you ate earlier. You were so sophisticated and refined. I was watching you…" Then I realized that I actually admitted that I was watching her eat! Dammit.
"Oh. So… S-So you were really watching me?"
"Um, yeah." I flushed and looked away.
She sat beside me and looked out at the window. I had eased up a bit, so I'm a little comfortable talking to her.
"Um," I started. "So, you like stars?" what a stupid question to ask.
She faced me with a sweet smile. "Yes. Reminds me when I was still living in the city."
"What city did you come from anyway?"
"Uh. Cherubim City."
"Oh. That's far from us."
"I know. Star Fall City is the nearest to yours…" she stopped then her eyes widened.
"What's wrong?" I said, a bit worried by her reaction.
"N-nothing." Then she took a deep breath. "Was the sashimi good?"
"Yeah. It didn't taste like Ann's cuisine, but the taste was just perfect for my taste buds."
"Oh. Ann let me cook the sashimi alone. I'm good at fish cooking." She smiled.
Nice! It was Claire's cooking after all. I smiled to myself. I was so happy. Better thank those three morons for locking the both of us inside.
"It was perfect." I complimented her and flashed a smile.
She flushed a light pink and said, "Thank you. You're a cook, right?"
"Yeah."
"Can I drop by tomorrow to taste your food?"
Dang it! I was closed tomorrow. "Sorry, Claire. I have to close tomorrow. I'm out of ingredients. I need to go grocery shopping."
"Oh. It's okay. I think I'll just visit Gotz tomorrow when he's renovating the house. I'll bring him food."
How thoughtful she was. Since I'm comfortable in talking to her now, I think I'll make a move so that I'll know more about her.
"Oh. You want to go grocery shopping with me? I'll help you make food for Gotz."
"Is it okay? I mean, me and Ann can do all the food alone."
"Nah, its okay.'Sides, I want to know you better…"
She blushed. I just realized what I said. I kinda flushed a little too.
"I mean," I defended, "because I think you're a nice friend and all."
"Oh. Okay. I'll tell Ann afterward." She beamed.
I saw her face all sweaty, sweatier than mine. Apparently the air conditioner wasn't turned on, so I stood up and headed for the cabinet.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"I'm going to get a towel for you. You're all sweaty."
"Oh. How nice of you. I'll turn on the air conditioner, then."
As I was rummaging for a towel, I can't help but glance at her. She used a chair to reach the switch of the air conditioner. I shook my head and thought; she's so cute trying to reach it. Then I found a nice, soft towel for her. When I turned around to give it to her, I saw her left foot slip and my reflexes were alert and involuntary. I ran behind the chair where she stood and caught her. Her initial reaction was shocked and frightened, and then when she realized I caught her, she flushed a deep red and gasped. I heard her heart throb.
I swallowed hard as I carefully put her down. I felt that my heart was pounding too. Both of us were still in a shock. I snapped out of the daze and automatically asked her, "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah. Thanks." Then she gave me a quick hug. "Thank you so much."
That hug made me feel uneasy, but I liked it anyway. "No problem. Here's the towel."
"Thanks."
"I'll turn on the air conditioner instead." I volunteered.
She nodded, and headed for the corner where we sat. I stepped on the chair and switched it. The cool air came out and immediately filled the room.
I sat down beside her again. We sat there silently and shyly, until she broke the awkward atmosphere. "Do you want to hear my story from the day I got here?"
"Oh, the day you got hit by a stone?" I smirked.
"You know that?" She giggled.
We talked and talked endlessly, laughing and blushing at most. I hope this night doesn't end. I like her company. I'm no longer nervous to chat with her. She's the kind of person that you'll never get tired with. And I really think that she likes me a bit. I will still try to unravel the mystery behind all those laughs and smiles.
I never thought I'll be meeting my match here in Mineral Town. I guess I'll be staying here longer than I planned. I have a new goal now: To be with Claire Rosebelle… forever.
So yeah, I made a little edit when I saw there was a typo while reading it again. Sorry!