Seeing that he was not reacting, Rainie prodded him, “You’re not going to complain to the manager, are you?”
Zachary came to his senses and shook his head. “No.”
With that, Rainie opened the door and left in relief.
She really was not pretending not to know him, and yet her face was Lulu’s…
Zachary felt a sense of deja vu, back when he first met Lulu-though they were slightly different in personalities.
Still, he was not giving up.
Picking up his knife and fork, he took his time to eat, though he lingered for over two hours at his table before stepping outside.
The view of the ocean was certainly good and he killed time like that until nighttime-when Rainie was done with work.
Zachary quietly followed her, and it turned out that she was staying in a pretty village near the beach. Most of the houses there were detached housing, and those positioned well would have a perfect view of the crystalline ocean.
Some of the houses were used as lodgings as well, and it seems that the village was lively every day and crowded.
Rainie happened to be staying in one such lodging and Zachary stood outside as he studied the store front above.
Whipping out his phone, he googled it-there were empty rooms since it was offseason, and he booked one.
Then, he loitered outside a little before heading inside, and a well-dressed middle-aged woman named Barbara came immediately to assist him.
As Zachary showed his booking, Barbara smiled. “Welcome, Mr. Slate.”
Zachary nodded, and she registered him at the front desk and led him upstairs, “Please come with me. I’ll take you to your room.”
The room was clean and the furnishing unique, having a good layout and atmosphere despite being quite small.
Zachary nodded in satisfaction.
“Please enjoy your stay!” Barbara said, and left.
Zachary did not ask her about Rainie right away, and simply stayed in his room.
However, soon after Barbara left, there was a knock on his door, and Zachary answered it to find Rainie standing outside,
carrying a couple of white bath towels.
“You?!” She frowned. “You didn’t follow me here, did you?”
“I didn’t.” Zachary shook his head.
Rainie found that too much of a coincidence, but since she had no proof and he was a guest, she restrained herself and entered, putting the towels in the washroom.
“My mom forgot to bring these here, so I’m putting them here now. Call the front desk if you need anything.”
She quickly left after that, when Zachary called out to her, “Wait.”
“What?” Rainie asked rather impatiently.
“Do you provide meals here?” Zachary smiled.
“No,” Rainie replied coolly.
Nonetheless, Zachary stubbornly tried again, “I’m not familiar with the area. Could you recommend a good restaurant?”
Rainie smiled then, but it was an ironic one. “As in the gourmet food you always eat? We don’t have that here in this village.”
Zachary was speechless for a moment, and kept smiling, “I’m not a picky eater. I actually eat everything.”
“Even dung?” Rainie asked, and pointed at the washroom before he could say anything. “You can make it yourself.”
Zachary was left speechless again, and he wondered if she really was Lulu.
After all, she was not that crude before, but why would they share the same face if she was not?
Still, he tried to be polite. “Nice joke, Ms. Lang.”
Rainie shot him a dirty look. “What makes you think I’m kidding?”
With that, she dashed downstairs, her boots hitting the floor loudly in her wake.
Still, Zachary was not giving up. Once it was time to eat, he headed downstairs to ask Barbara, “Do you offer meals here?”
Barbara did a double take, but she soon smiled. “Actually, wasn’t there a sign out there that says we don’t provide meals? But if you don’t mind, you could eat with us-*”
“Mom.” Rainie walked up to them just then. “He’s actually a very important person. All the food he eats is more than what we can afford, and our cheap food would hurt his tongue. Let’s eat already.”
With that, she pulled her mother away, but Zachary followed. “I can stomach cheap food too.”
Barbara proved warm and enthusiastic. “Sure! Join us!”
Rainie rolled her eyes at him, but could not say anything since her mother had agreed to it.
She was certainly upset even if she wanted to bear with it-the thought of a person harassing her at work eating at the same table left her very grumpy.
Even the food in her stomach was hard as a rock as it went down her stomach.
Zachary was not being cagey-the homemade meal was good anyway, and seeing Rainie suffer made him happy for some reason, somehow making the food even more delicious.
“I’m planning to stay here for a while, and I’ll pay the expenses for food as well,” Zachary said as he whipped out a stack of bills from his pocket.
Barbara quickly refused. “Oh, you don’t have to—it’s already enough that you’re staying with us.”
It cost 250 dollars to stay a night, and she would profit just from Zachary’s long-term lodging.
“You can always eat here if you don’t mind too,” Barbara smiled, her chubby face making her seem even more friendly.
“Thank you very much,” Zachary became smug that he got to stay, and noticing Rainie’s glare just then, he asked knowingly,
“Why the sour face, Ms. Lang? Did you eat something terrible?”
“That would be you,” Rainie snorted, and left the table right then.
Barbara glanced at Zachary just then, “You know my daughter?”
Zachary nodded. “We met before-I ate at the place where she was working.”
“I see,” Barbara nodded. “She can be feisty, so please don’t take offense.”
Zachary asked, “Your daughter? But you look nothing alike.”
He wanted to know more, and he saw that the woman’s face fell.
Still, she quickly realized that she was overreacting and she forced a smile, “Oh, what are you saying? Who is she, if not my daughter? Do you mean to say I found her somewhere and carried her home?”
Zachary grinned. “Actually, now that I looked closer, there is a resemblance.
Actually, there was none at all, but the conversation would get awkward if he did not say that.
The woman beamed. “Of course she’d look like me.”
Zachary then asked tentatively, “I also think she’s my age… 27 this year?”
The woman paused and started closely at Zachary right then. “Why are you asking so many questions about my daughter?”
“I thought she’s my age, so…”
“Do you like her?”
Zachary wanted to tell her that he wanted to be friends with Rainie, but was cut short.
He hence admitted to it while looking like he was embarrassed from being caught.
Barbara realized with a start then. “Oh, so it’s no accident that you’re staying here? Are you trying to woo my daughter?”
Zachary did not deny it.
Barbara studied Zachary from head to toe just then and she was satisfied with his dignified appearance.
Her daughter was not exactly young anyway, and she would marry eventually.
As such, he had no reason to stop a suitor, not to mention that this was not the ancient times where parents dictated their children’s matrimony.
Freedom of love was the trend these days, and it was fine as long as the people involved were fine with it.
Zachary smiled, silently agreeing to Barbara’s question, and she said, “My daughter has a bad temper.”
“My temper is fine-that might make up for it,” Zachary quickly told her.
“Well, she’s an adult now, and I can’t decide for her,” Barbara smiled. “It’s upto her if she likes you.”
Zachary nodded in understanding and smiled, even declaring openly, “She would. I’m a nice guy.”
“She’s not as simple as you think.” The woman laughed in amusement and cleaned up the table. “There’s plenty of scenic locations around here, so you can take a stroll and take it in.”
“Thank you,” Zachary said, and headed outside.
He found Rainie sitting at the rock bench outside and walked over to her. “Hey,” he said, backing down just then. “Why don’t we get reacquainted?” Rainie turned to look at him with coolness and disdain. “Are you crazy?” Zachary frowned. “Why would you say that?”
“I’ve seen you for who you really are. Do you think I’d think highly of you just because we got reacquainted?” Rainie snorted coolly.
Zachary was speechless-had she made up her mind that he was a villain now?
At least give him a chance!
“There were times when things aren’t what you believe it to be,” Zachary said. “Yesterday, I thought you were the woman I loved.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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