In the morning, I call my family to tell them Brandon and I are returning the day after tomorrow. Chris won’t leave until the weekend, so we still have time for the family reunion I promised him.
Brandon takes me downtown, holding each other’s hands as we walk on the streets as we decide to go on a food tour. It’s because it’s what I usually do when I go on a trip. Brandon seems fine with it, even though I know he’s picky.
We go to an all-Asian restaurant and pretty much force him to try everything I ordered. I have Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai food on our table.
Brandon grimaces, eating some portions of kimchi. “It’s spicy!” He looks at me. “And sour?”
“What? You don’t like it? I like kimchi, though. Try this one.” I pick up a piece of dumpling using chopsticks and offer it to him.
He chews the food carefully and stares in space as though he’s thinking. “This is much better but still spicy. It’s delicious.”
“That’s a wonton, and I love spicy food. You’re not the only one with a favorite.” I laugh, then eat one for myself too from my Sichuan noodles. The soup dish is combined with chicken, shrimp, and a spicy chili sauce.
“I didn’t even know that fact until today; thank you very much. But you ordered every spicy dish here, including this.” He then eats his meal with rice, trying the Pad Kee Mao Ta Lay—a Thai seafood dish. “I’m starting to think Asian food is on the spicy side.”
“Not every Asian likes spicy food, so no. It’s just me.”
I munch the food delightfully because it’s been such a long time since I have eaten in an Asian restaurant. There are many out there, but only a few are authentic.
“So after this, I’m craving for dessert, and then we can relax by the beach.” I wiggle my shoulders in excitement. “If that’s fine with you.”
“You’re the boss.” He smirks, shaking his head. All of a sudden, a ringtone reverberates under the table. I recognize the melody anyway. It’s his ringtone.
He slightly frowns, then pulls his phone from his pocket. He stares at the screen. “It’s a call from the Albany police.”
“Why are they calling you?”
“It has something to do with—hold on a sec.” Brandon holds my hand and answers the call. “Hello, Chief Barnes. It’s Brandon Lucien.” A long pause. “Are you sure? Yes, yes, but I’m outside… I can watch the footage later. Could you send it to my email, please? I’m afraid I can’t visit him, but I’ll call you again… Of course, Chief Barnes… Thank you for your help. Yes, yes. I’ll speak to him soon.”
I blink, impatiently waiting for him to finish the call.
Brandon’s grip on my hand tightens. “Alayna.”
“Yes, what is it about?”
“Do you remember when I told you I’m still looking for William Lucien? My father?”
My eyes grow wide. I realize I haven’t been paying attention to my fiancé’s well-being. I’ve been too preoccupied with my own issues to even ask how he was doing. “Yes, I remember. What happened? Did you find him? Is that what the call is about? I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”
“It’s all right. Yes, I received a call about a lead, but I didn’t actually find him yet. It’s about his brother—my uncle.”
My mouth forms a dramatic O. “I didn’t know you had an uncle.”
“I forgot about him, to be honest. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him. I just saw him for the first time in years last month.” As I can see from his face and voice, he is excited and nervous.
“Well?”
“Well, he finally spoke about what he knows about my father. He’s in a jail in Albany, so I can’t speak to him right now, but the police will send me video footage of him—his message for me.”
I grin genuinely. “That’s great news. He knows where your father is?”
“I hope so, Alayna.”
I rub his arm. “You will find him. I have a good feeling that you will.”
A ghost smile forms his lips. “I hope you’re right, but—” He clears his throat “—it’s your day today. We can talk about this later. Let’s have fun.”
“Are you sure? We can postpone this for another day. It’s really okay, Brandon.” I touch his face with my palms, but he kisses it.
“No, I owe you this, please. I also want to get to know you even better because there’s still too much to know.” He winks at me.
“Because this is probably one of our few proper dates.” I grin again at him.
“That’s right.”
“We should do this often, don’t you think?” I say, utterly diverting from the earlier subject.
“We can do this often if you go back with me to New York. You can still work there when you open another branch like Oliver said.”
“Mm.” I agree, still chewing the food. “You heard about that, did you? I did not talk about that with Oliver having the intention of moving in with you in New York, well, until now.”
“Huh.” He raises an eyebrow. “I don’t think that’s what I meant when I asked you that“Ollie and I have a goal for expanding the restaurant.”
He slightly grunts, then sighs. “How long?”
“I don’t know. Maybe for another month? My siblings just started a new life in Seattle, and I was always away from them.”
“We take them with us,” he says. “One big happy family. The house is big enough for Casey, Lennie, and me—”
“And her assistants,” I add.
“And her assistants, yes. Besides, Oliver is moving out after he gets married. Cassius has his own house.”
“Ah, of course. I almost forgot about Ollie’s upcoming nuptials. But is that okay with you? I have twelve younger siblings. Can you already imagine the chaos?” I giggle.
“I wouldn’t wish for anything else. It’s time to bring joy to the house. You want to be with them, I want to be with you, then we all move in together,” he says, as though it is so simple. “We can still have our privacy, so it doesn’t matter. Like I said, it’s a big house.”
“Sounds good. I mean, yes, it’s great, but I’ll have to ask Mom about it first.” I continue digging on my plate. “I’m not sure if she’ll like it. She, um, is still skeptical of our relationship. Three months ago, she thought you were marrying someone else, which is my fault. I’m sorry because I assumed, and I told her because I was upset and needed support.”
“I can’t blame you or her. She’s your mother.”
I nod. “But it’s not your fault. I just wish she would believe me now.”
“Darling, she will. It’s just going to take time.” He eats a spoonful of his food. “That’s why we’re having a formal engagement party—a celebration. I’ll invite some of my closest relatives. You can invite your family and friends. Ah, and some press.”
“The press?” I blink. “Were you serious about that?”
He drinks his juice, then shrugs. “Of course.”
“With the world watching?”
“You don’t want to?”
“Don’t you think that’s too much? What happened to privacy?”
“That’s the point. I’d like to publicize this rather than read our engagement in a tabloid with many added rumors. I don’t like reporters chasing you either.”
“By doing it this way, do you think they will leave me alone?” I ask.
“They probably know about you already. We’ve already been together in public,” he says. “And thisI puff. “You’re exaggerating.”
“I wouldn’t dare. Not about something as serious as this.”
My mouth drops open. I’m suddenly under a spotlight I didn’t expect. I look around me, suddenly conscious of whether some paparazzi are stalking us. “W-what do you mean?” I whisper.
“Ever since I…” He sighs in exasperation. “Ever since I went public, I’m always in the news. These reporters constantly want to know where I was the last ten fucking years,” he says irritably. “I’m already getting tired of it.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I don’t open news sites anymore,” I say sincerely. That must’ve been a shock to him. He had lived almost his whole life in the mansion, so I understand he still isn’t used to this. He is suddenly prey to the media. “Don’t you think we’re only going to give them what they want? We’re not even celebrities.”
Or meHis“That’s why we’re only doing this once,” he says. “So they’d leave us alone.”
“Okay,” I drawl, dropping my palm flat on the table. “Let me just have this sink in for a moment. This is new to me.”
“Take some advice from Oliver. He went through this too.” He winks at me, then sips on his juice again. “It seems you haven’t told me about Jason’s brother yet,” he inserts out of the blue, but his voice sounds casual. His sudden turn of the subject gives me whiplash.
“What?”
“I said, tell me about Chris Valentine, your foster brotherHe gives emphasis to the last two words. He knew who Chris was to me. I mentioned a little about him before, but talking about Chris now is sudden. I’m not sure what to say. “Really? Can’t you pick a better time to talk about this?” My eyebrow raises.
“Are you going to avoid this like you avoided our more recent situation?”
“I’m not, but this is our date. It’s supposed to be happy.”
“It is.” He places his cup on the table. “This trip is all about knowing each other too.”
“Fine, but let’s go to a dessert house. I feel like eating ice cream while we talk.”
The side of his mouth curls. “Whatever you prefer.”
“You are telling me something about yours too,” I retaliate, pouting. I wish to know about his current business with Pauline. I didn’t even know she was with him until Arianna spilled the beans.
We take a stroll on the streets in search of a dessert house, but I spot a gift shop with an eye-catching adorable window display of handmade key chains, personalized coffee mugs and t-shirts, miniature collectibles, and snow globes. Oh, I love seeing snow globes!“Can we look inside? I found something!” I request.
He frowns. “Why?”
“It’s a gift shop!”
“I know it’s a gift shop.”
“Oh!” I clasp my mouth. “Please don’t tell me you haven’t been into one.”
He shakes his head.
“Seriously?”
“Nope. It’s not my thing.”
I burst out a laugh in amusement. “Oh, please. I can’t imagine.”
“Is there something funny?” He crosses his arms.
I press my lips. “No!” I clear my throat. “You, my dearest, should see the world more. Well, there’s always a first time in everything, and I’m getting one for everyone. Come on!” I pull his hand and tug him with me into the shop, and I’m instantly in awe as my eyes feast on the surroundings.
There are probably hundreds of various items inside. There are cosmetics, toys section, clothing, thrift books, and hand-craft materials for DIYs.
Excitedly, I scan the store, skimming through the personalized-made souvenirs, while Brandon looks around and stops in front of the action figures. I’m thinking of giving everyone different stuff, so I ask the store attendant to assist me. As I read her name tag, Maddie, offers and introduces me to their new bestselling gift idea.
She leans into my ears and whispers while making sure my fiancé isn’t listening.
“Really? A personalized ring?”
She grins. “Yes, it’s very new to our shop, and we’re the only shop that does it here. You can make your own ring. We can only do one simple design, though, but it’s your personal touch, so it’s special.”
I glance at Brandon first, making sure he’s not paying attention. “How do we do it?”
“You can write your fiancé’s name and yours on a piece of paper. Our jeweler will copy your handwriting exactly as you wrote it and carve it on the ring.”
“How did you know he’s my fiancé?”
“The engagement ring on your finger.” She grins sweetly. “Would you like to try it?”
“How much will it cost?” Not that it matters, but I just wish to know. I may not be able to afford anything past two thousand for the time being.
“I’m afraid it’s not cheap because we use white gold, but it’s personalized, so it depends on the thickness you’ll make. It starts at five hundred dollars.”
“How do I pay for it then?”
“Will you be using a card?”
“Yes.”
“Then we can use your card for the initial payment of two hundred, and you can pay the rest after you get your ring,” she explains.
I inhale a decisive breath. “That’s fine. Let’s do it! I won’t tell him unless it’s finished.” I chortle giddily.
“Here’s the paper to write your names.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Maddie picks a piece of paper and pen from the counter and hands them to me. I scribble Brandon’s name, but my penmanship is messy, so I scratch it and write again.
Alayna Brandon.I fill out my details too, and I hand the paper to the store attendant. “Thank you. How long will it take?”
“Eight hours, so we can just deliver it to you if you like.”
I nod, thinking. “Do you think I can have it by tomorrow? Because we’re leaving the next day.”
“Absolutely!” She claps her hands. “I can have the other items delivered to you too, if you have other orders.”
“Oh, right. Yes, I’d like to get some of the stuff for my friends. I’ll write the items along with my order.”
“Of course, ma’am.” She gives me another form, and I write the things I wish to buy.
Brandon suddenly appears at my side with his hands in his pocket, looking at what I’m writing. Thankfully, Maddie has already taken the details. “What is that?”
“Brandon, what’s the villa’s address?” I ask, remembering I didn’t write it on the order form.
“Why do you need that for?”
“Because they will deliver my orders tomorrow. They’re personalized stuff, so they’ll need time to process those first.”
“Here.” I step aside and hand him the pen, then Brandon puts the villa’s address on the form. “How much is it?” he asks as soon as he’s done and starts opening up his wallet.
“I’ll pay for it!” I say immediately because I don’t want him spending on something I wish to do. Besides, I don’t want him to know about the ring yet.
He shoots up an eyebrow in curiosity, then smirks. “What, why?”
“These are for your cousins and my siblings. It won’t be a gift from meBrandon laughs. “Fine.”
“That’ll be three hundred for these items you listed, ma’am,” Maddie says, looking at her computer screen, then winks at me.
“Okay.” I draw out a card from my wallet and hand it to Maddie. She swipes my card, then hands it back to me along with the receipt, which I immediately shove into my purse.
“Thank you very much,” the attendant says. “Your order shall be delivered to you by morning.”
“That would be great,” I finally say, then grasp onto Brandon’s arm and head to the exit. “Let’s go! I’m ready for my ice cream now.”