"Please have a seat, sir."He sat at one of the round table provided in the dining area. She pulled a chair and sat opposite him. The young girl with ponytail came with two cups of coffee. He nodded his thanks before she left both of them alone to entertain the other customers.
"May I know if you have a special occasion in mind, sir...?" She smiled regretfully, forgetting to ask for his name first before getting down into business.
A small smile graced his cold face. "Fuse Ren. And yours?"
"Hanada Tsubaki." She breathed a sigh of relief. "May I know if you need the cake for an occasion? We have a catalogue if Mr. Fuse wants to take a look."
"It"s for my company"s gathering. It"s just a small gathering among my department"s employees so I think I"ll need at least three cakes? Different kind of cakes preferably."
Ren had just straight out lying. He made up an excuse just to converse with her, even though it led him to order cakes he didn"t need. He couldn"t possibly ask her about what had happened all those years ago. It wasn"t like she remembered either.
He needed to start befriending her again, made her to get to know him from the start. It would take some time but he knew he could do it. After all, she was his and he was hers.
"Please excuse me for a moment."
Tsubaki left Ren sitting at the table, walking towards the counter. She opened the cabinet door behind the counter and retrieved a catalogue. Accompanied by a pen and a reservation book, she returned to her seat.
"This is the list of sweets our customers could request from us." Tsubaki opened the catalogue before pushing it in front of Ren. He looked at the pictures and descriptions of each cake.
Various types of cakes and cookies filled the catalogue. Ren could say each one of them was baked with love. Tsubaki had always loved baking. She found joy in providing the best sweets to everyone around her. Sweets were meant to lift up someone"s spirit, she would always tell him.
Ren ordered a hummingbird cake, a chocolate mousse cake and a box of salted caramel glaze donuts. He still remembered the taste even after five years. Ren wasn"t really fond of sweets but meeting her had changed him to have a sweet tooth. He would do anything to taste whatever those hands of hers would skillfully bake.
"So, you would pick these up the day after tomorrow at 12 noon. It is correct?" Tsubaki wrote a remark besides Ren"s orders.
"Yes."
"Okay."
Ren looked at Tsubaki when she was busy writing. Her long eyelashes peeked through her bangs. Her loose side ponytail was brought to her right shoulder. She looked much more matured, more delicate and refined.
Five long years had gone by.
"This is your receipt and... this is our business card."
Tsubaki placed two items in front of Ren. Ren snapped out from his gaze. Luckily she seemed didn"t notice the way he looked at her.
"Thank you, Miss Hanada." Ren put both of them inside his jacket. He stood up and gave her a smile. "I"ll come back to pick up the cakes."
"Thank you for your patronage." She replied his smile with a small one of her own.
Ren was dazed with the way a smile lit up her gentle face. If possible, he wanted to hug her, telling her how much he had missed her, how sorry he was for let himself to be dragged away from her but he knew he couldn"t. He didn"t want to startle her. He needed to carefully approach her.
"You"re welcome. We"ll meet again, Miss Hanada."
Ren had to use every last bit of his self-restrain just to make him to walk away from her. He sighed in relief once he stepped on the pavement outside. He took one last glance at her before he strode to his parked car.
Once Ren was seated at the driver seat, he pulled out his phone from his jacket. He dialed a number. After two rings, the receiver picked up the call.
"Yes, sir."
"Have you finished what I"ve instructed?" Ren"s question was direct. His gentle tone while talking to Tsubaki earlier had been replaced with a cold one.
"Yes, sir. I"ve compiled it and placed it on your desk." His a.s.sistant answered him immediately.
"Cancel all of my remaining schedule for today. I"m heading back."
Without waiting for his a.s.sistant"s answer, Ren hung up. He gripped the phone tightly, his knuckles went white. Several sinister faces intruded his mind. A mocking smile appeared on his face.
It took him five years to reach his current status. He swore he would hunt down each one of them who dared to mess with him, who ridiculed him five years ago. He would let them taste his wrath. He was not the same old Fuse Ren.
Just you wait.