She is Uncomfortable

Once Ran finished up with her interview, she went and ordered a cup of coffee at their meeting place. She took a sip as she anxiously waited for Rowan to arrive. Since he had two more three minute interviews and a meeting with his superiors afterwords, he should take at most two or three hours. Waiting wasn't the problem, since all Ran had nowadays was time. What was more important was whether or not he would even show up.

'No, no I'm sure he'll come. He's the one who initiated this in the first place,' Ran firmly believed he would appear, yet there was a bad feeling welling up inside of her.

With how awful everything has been treating her recently, would things even work out smoothly?

'Ugh, I can't help but be so pessimistic nowadays,' Ran started playing games on her phone, distracting herself from her nerves and also waiting for time to pass.

Only after she's grown bored of her third game and finished her second cup of coffee did she suddenly have the urge to go to the bathroom. She stood up from her table and set down her phone, heading towards the direction of the restrooms.

'Is that...?' Ran walked halfway across the cafe and suddenly stopped in her tracks. Did she just see correctly?

'Owner?' Ran saw somebody sitting down in a table near where she was currently standing. She somewhat recognized his back view and messy hair. She let out a small gasp when the figure set down his coffee and looked towards Ran's direction.

'What is he doing here? This cafe is so far from his store, plus he should still be working at this time!' Ran hurriedly hid her face using her hair and started walking again. When she finally reached the doors to the bathroom, she felt relieved. Owner shouldn't have seen her just now right? Seriously, what was with her luck lately?

After relieving herself and washing her hands in the bathroom sink, Ran cautiously walked out in order to avoid Owner.

"Ran...?" A familiar voice stopped her while she was on her way to her table. She lifted her head to see Rowan walk in with the most perfect timing, adjusting his white shirt on top of that.

"Ro," She whispered back quietly. She still hadn't made it back to safety, so she kept her volume extremely low. She tried signaling him with a suggestive look, but of course that idiot just had to misread her expression.

Rowan looked at her face and then glanced around confused. Perhaps she was trying to point out something in the background?

"Andrew?" Rowan's voice got louder as he seemingly saw somebody he knew in the cafe. Ran felt like crying when she heard who he called out to. Out of all the people in the cafe, how come he just HAD to be acquaintances with Owner?

'They know each other?! ... They know each other!!!' Ran had to repeat it twice internally. What are the chances that Owner and Rowan just had to know each other AND meet when Ran was right there.

"Rowan...?" Owner was in the middle of raising his cup when Rowan called to him. He hurriedly set it down and got up to greet his friend with a wide smile when he recognized Rowan.

'No, no, no, please don't go to him, Ro!' Ran cried internally as she saw Rowan walk over to Owner and give him a friendly pat in the back. When she saw their interaction, Ran walked back to her table and sat down with a suppressed smile, pretending that she didn't just meet Rowan.

"Hey long time! How come you haven't been stopping by my store lately?" Owner slapped him back playfully while teasing him.

"My apologies. I've been busy with work lately, but I will definitely come by when my hours loosen up a bit. I'm pleased to see you too after such a long time," Rowan had a wide smile on his face.

Owner gestured at him to sit on the other side of his table, but Rowan shook his head. "Truthfully, I'm here to meet up with somebody, so I'm afraid I will have to cut our reunion short," Rowan smiled politely while rejecting him.

Owner put on a childish smile as he poked Rowan's stomach playfully. "I saw you greet a girl, so you have plans with her huh? Who is she? Your girlfriend? Am I disrupting your date?~"

Ran coughed quietly when she heard Owner's question. 'Will you please not jump to conclusions so often?'

Rowan: "..."

Owner's face lit up when he saw Rowan remain silent. His smile was so wide that his eyes turned into slits. He nodded his head and gave Rowan another slap in the back. On the other hand, Ran felt like burrowing herself in a hole. 'How come that awkward idiot is staying quiet?! Does he actually consider this a date?' Ran ruffled her hair in frustration.

"Actually," Rowan finally spoke up, "She is a friend rather than a girlfriend, but we are indeed going on a date."

"Pfft," Ran stared horrified at Rowan. Does he consider meeting with the opposite gender for dinner and a drink afterwords a date?

Ran: ...

She face palmed and let out a small groan. 'Well, he's not entirely wrong. This can be considered a date,' Ran came to a realization and felt sort of... awkward. After all, she's only met Rowan like four or was it five times? And they didn't even keep in contact nor did they even know each other well enough. At this point, they were just borderline friends.

Owner still gave him a proud, fatherly smile as he waved him back to his date. "Better not keep the girl waiting any longer. Have fun and good luck!"

Rowan returned the smile and came back to Ran's side. He tilted his head when he saw the odd expression on Ran's face.

"Shall we get going?" Rowan asked her calmly as if the entire conversation with Owner never occurred.

Ran could only let out a small sigh. "Lets," She got up from her seat and made sure to cover her face with her hair on her way out. Fortunately, Rowan walked alongside her in a way that Owner wouldn't be able to clearly see her figure.

'Hm... That girl?' Owner tried taking a peek at the mysterious girl who was lucky enough to get a date with Rowan, but only managed to see a part of her back. He found her back view to be quite familiar but just shrugged it off. He shouldn't get so nosy, especially when it concerned Rowan.

...

"I've thought over several restaurants we could dine at together. What would you like to eat tonight?" Rowan escorted her out from the cafe politely.

"Hmm, something heavy sounds preferable. I kind of want to pig out especially after finishing my interview," Ran tried to push aside the uncomfortable feeling inside her. She should have fun tonight.

"I think I have the perfect place in mind," Rowan flashed her a mysterious smile and lead her down the main street.

They walked together in silence for a while. Ran had no idea where he was taking her, but as their environment slowly shifted from the daily city lifestyle to a rich neighborhood, her bad feeling returned.

'Don't tell me he's going to take me to some expensive restaurant... how will I manage to pay for it with my conscience?' Ran followed his back figure with a pained expression. She's spent so much money in the span of just a few days, and not to mention it wasn't even her money.

"We have arrived," Rowan pointed at a luxurious restaurant.

'Ah... farewell the money my dad provides for me,' Ran forced a smile as she sincerely complimented the outer appearance of the restaurant. It really looked good, but it might be a bit too high class for her.

"Table for two?" They were greeted by a waiter upon entering.

'Ah...' Ran followed the waiter and sat down in a wide, wooden table with an exquisite setup: shining utensils and romantic candles. Rowan sat down extremely naturally while Ran's movements were stiff. She felt glad that she didn't go back to change out from her uncomfortable formal clothes. Thank goodness for her interview!

But her torment didn't end there.

Ran opened up the menu and almost broke down after seeing the expensive prices. '50 for a small plate of clams. Almost 80 for a mere lobster?! Heavens this restaurant is just straight up robbing people!' Ran didn't dare show her shock as she pretended to casually flip through the pages. She was actually looking for the cheapest meal and skipping over the expensive ones.

"Have you decided on what you want?" Rowan's soft voice frightened Ran. She looked up from her menu to see Rowan lean back against his chair, staring at her deeply. Her eye twitched when she saw how focused he was.

'Just how long has he been looking at me?' Ran swallowed back this question as she gave a small nod.