BLACK ROSE

"And even after the shoot, she comes whenever she can and enjoy the time here." Ronan opened his eyes and looked at the boys with a soft smile, "Do you want some tea?"

"Yes, please." Ares answered immediately and followed the man to continue listening to the story.

Karson, Orion and Eric turned to find Omal, hiding behind a tree branch from guilt, a look before following the two.

Ronan led the boys to the small cafeteria in the middle of the purple-coloured flower garden and let them take their seats. "What would you like to drink? It's on me."

Orion declined politely, "We've already caused you enough burden. We'll pay for ourselves."

Ronan replied with a smile, "It wasn't a burden. I actually enjoyed showing you around." He then faced the boys and said, "And I want to do this."

Eric grinned and said, "Then there is no way I can say no." He then called the waitress in the corner and said, "Can I order one vanilla milkshake?"

"Sure." The waitress typed something on the small pad and looked around the table.

Omal said excitedly, "One red velvet hot chocolate, please." He put his hands over his mouth as soon as he realised what he had done. He turned to look at the smiling man in front of him like a robot malfunctioning and quietly asked, "Could you not tell my mum about this?"

"Of course," Ronan said. The way Omal moved the hand to his chest and deeply sighed was very dramatic and not so dramatic if they knew what kind of mother he had. Hard being a model.

"Thank goodness." The boy wiped the invisible sweat off his forehead.

Orion then ordered, "One tea rose coffee."

Karson raised his eyes from the menu and asked the man, "What's the most famous drink here?"

Since Ronan was next to the boy, he pointed at one of the names on the menu. "That would be this, chamomile flower wine."

"Ohh. Then I'd like to order one of that." Karson told the woman. "Have you chosen yet, Ares?"

"Yeah..." Ares answered absentmindedly. Ever since hearing about Ronan's story, he couldn't focus on anything other than the actress. Even facing the menu, his mind was occupied with the thoughts of her. So when he was called out, his eyes were immediately drawn to one name on the menu. "I'd like to order this one," He pointed and said.

The waitress took a look and read out loud, "One black rose cocktail." After she typed in, she looked at Ronan and asked, "And you, sir?"

"The usual." The boss answered.

She repeated everyone's order once again before she collected the menus, bowed slightly and walked away.

Once the waitress walked away, Karson asked the boy in the next seat, "It's a whisky-based cocktail. Are you sure you can handle it?"

Ares froze holding the strap on his shoulder. He just reflectively ordered what he thought Eirene Queen would order. He didn't think about how alcohol didn't go along with him and what it could do to him. "Oh no."

Orion caught on to the conversation happening next to him between the two and asked Ares from the other side, "Do you want to switch with mine?"

"Yours is coffee, right?" Ares had a frown from considering the option.

"Mm-hmm."

"I'll just stick with the drink I ordered. Thanks." Ares smiled but only on the surface. He couldn't believe he was that dumb to order something his body didn't get along with.

Ronan looked over to the trio after he was done chatting with Omal and Eric. "Is there anything wrong?"

"Nothing." Ares put up the brightest smile he could manage and answered as soon as he could.

"Well that's good then." The owner smiled and turned to baby number one again to resume the talk although it was mostly the two boys questioning things and the man answering them.

A while later, their drinks were served.

Ares stared at the candy apple-coloured drink in front of him for a while before he took a deep breath and finally decided on touching the glass. He had his eyes closed as he raised his drink and brought it into his mouth cautiously.

"It tastes good. Really good." The boy stared into his drink with disbelief on his face after having the first sip. He then took another sip, thinking his tongue was just malfunctioning. But even then, the taste didn't change. Moreover, it became more tastier and delicious.

Seeing the boy's surprised expression, Ronan said, "You made the same expression she did when she first had it. And yet she acts like she's got no one." The last sentence was only in a murmur.

Hearing what Ronan said, Eric hesitantly asked, "Eirene Queen?..."

"Yes." Ronan smiled at his drink, a normal espresso with flowers floating on top, and then looked up, "Anyway, enjoy."

"Thank you for the treat." Karson said and took a sip of his wine and widened his eyes. "This is nice."

"Thank you. My wife came up with the recipe." The owner smiled proudly after seeing the reaction and the drink.

"From my knowledge, I know you don't do mass production. Why's that? You have enough land and flowers to do it." Karson asked the man.

"My wife... Her name is Sunny. It all started with her wanting a flower garden. Then developed into this and with the rest being just out of a hobby. And when one of the workers suggested we make wine out of it, she wanted them to be hand-made." The man gestured to the drinks the boys were having.

Eric stopped sucking on the straw and asked, "Even this milkshake?"

Ronan chuckled and answered, "Even that. We have made a deal with a farmer and they are the ones that make any milk-related food and bring us here."

Eric then looked at the milkshake with a satisfied look, "No wonder it tastes different from the ones in the shops. This one tastes richer and more fresh and yet, so simple. It came from a good cow." He nodded to himself and drank his drink with a new feeling. "Please continue with your talk."

The man laughed before resuming. "So, as I was saying, everything served here is all handmade and natural without any chemicals and of course, we are going to have less income and more men working than mass production but we believe it's better this way. Farmers get income. Gardeners get income and moreover, people can come here and taste nature. The food here is healthier than those in cities and people who live here, hardly get sick. i want people to enjoy the taste of original food."

The boys nodded hearing that. Ronan's way of working, style and making his business work was far from many businessmen they met in their lives.

Many who became successful in business, thought of only their benefit. Money and more money. Some were even a step away from scamming. They didn't care about the people as long as they were okay.

Surely some businessmen cared about the people but those were only a handful.

And many of those who did business honest and caring way was always kicked off and couldn't make it to the lucky people who were on top of the stairs of success. So they start losing confidence and slowly take a step toward the dark side.

"I like your idea. I like how nature is involved and reveal the real taste of things. I didn't know the same coffee could be so different. The water must be really clean and tasty," Orion said and looked around. "Estella would love this..."

"Who may that be?" The owner asked with a playful smile. The boy snapped to look at Ronan with a shocked face. Orion must have thought he only said that in his mind, but in truth, he said it out loud and clear.

Omal laughed when his friend lost his cool and chugged down the hot coffee just to get burned on his tongue. "It's his fiancee."

"Ahh, I see." The owner smiled more playfully and happily hearing that.

The boy they were talking about had red cheeks, redness darker than those of tomatoes, and was coughing while being helped by the group's babies. Coffee was spilt on his clothes, table and on the ground. Even the waitress had a suppressed smile as she handed the cold towels and walked away.

"You sure love her." The owner told the boy being checked up by his friend.

"I'm fine, Eric." Orion gently pushed away his friend examining his tongue and tried to act like everything was okay.

"Seems like you don't even have a first-degree burn." Eric said after looking at the tongue and continue, "Be careful."

"I know. I got it." Orion answered him obediently and sipped the little amount of coffee left in the cup.

The six chatted until the surroundings turned dark. Ronan taught the boys business, the world, society and the importance of loved ones in one's life.

"How are you going to go home? It's already dark, and the bus is long gone. Do you want me to drop you?" Ronan asked once they were at the gate of the garden.

"There is no need for that, Mr Guardian. I called someone to pick us up when we entered the cafe. They should be here by now." Just as Orion finished talking, they saw a pair of headlights heading towards the six of them at full speed and stopped once the passenger seat banged open.

A girl jumped out of the passenger seat and tackled Orion into a hug. "You scared me! I thought you were kidnapped! Do you know how much I begged father to come to pick you up and tell Jace to hurry the car?!"

Orion awkwardly patted the girl's head on his chest, "Uh, there are people around..."

"And?!" The girl pulled her face away from the chest and gave a glare with a frown.

"I'll take my leave." Ronan smiled warmly, seeing the couple. They reminded him of the days he had with his wife. Better go see his daughter now.

"Thank you for everything." Ares was the first, followed by Orion, Karson Omal and Eric, repeating in unison.

"No worries," The owner said.

Then an excited squeal echoed into the forest. Everyone knew who made it and turned their heads towards the only girl among them.

"You are THE Ronan Reid Guardian?! I so wanted to meet you! I'm Estella Snowdon. Nice to meet you!" The girl was about to hug the middle-aged man but was held back tightly by Orion.

"Nice to meet you too." Ronan greeted back.

"Estella, we have to go. We already kept Mr Guardian for too long." Orion told her knowing damn well that once she starts talking, she'd never end but she seemed like she didn't hear him.

Ronan, who heard that crystal clear, chuckled nervously. "I'm sure we'll meet again soon."

"There." Orion dragged his fiancee to the black SUV as he said, "Thank you and good night."

"Good night." Ronan watched the boys get into the car, one by one, Estella was grumpy because she didn't get to talk with him.

Just as Ares was waiting for Eric to enter the car, he heard one of the workers call for Ronan.

"I think this belongs to Ms Queen," The worker said. From the position, Ares couldn't see what object the worker was referring to because of the gate and Ronan.

"Ahh. It is. She came here two weeks ago with Theia if I remember correctly. The owner replied. "I'll contact her."

"It must be hard to be raising a kid. I can't even imagine having one. They kind of annoy me."