Chapter 244 | Can We Talk?

Ian looked at the man in front of him in complete awe.

At a sudden moment, he realised that he had too much in his mind that he wanted to share. He wanted to ask, and he wanted to get to know.

It was not more than two minutes, but he felt as if his prayers had been heard–although he wasn't much of a believer.

Ian had goosebumps, and what he did was something that any normal person would do. Look at the person who was in front of him and stare as if he had never seen a human before.

"Ian," Raelynn's voice came in a more hushed tone.

"Oh, wow. Yes. I'm sorry," Ian said with a smile and quickly took a step to his right so he was no longer blocking his path.

"What was that?" She asked when the gentleman scoffed and walked to get what he wanted.

Ian said nothing but continued to walk toward the cashier.

The employer scanned the goods, and said, "Hundred and fifty dollars, sir."

"Here," Ian offered the money, and the pair got out of the grocery store.

After walking a few steps outside the store, Ian stood on the side, at a distance where he was able to see the main entrance of the shop.

"Wh- Why are we waiting here?" Raelynn asked a bit loudly as she saw how Ian wasn't paying any attention to her or where they were.

"Wait."

"Huh?" She had a huge frown on her head, and suddenly, it hit her. "Are you waiting for the same guy who was inside? Seriously?" She asked again.

Ian rolled his eyes. "I'm. I'm. You would be surprised to know what's on my mind right now, so just, spare me some time."

She smiled. Of course, she knew what was in his mind. For sure it has got to be something related to work. One way or another, Ian was someone who'd do anything and everything whenever possible when it comes to his movies and what he was interested in.

There's a legend saying, 'you never know when creativity strikes'. It was the same thing that happened with Ian.

Besides Ian, Raelynn stood with her arms crossed. Ian had the groceries.

"Baby put these in the car. I'll be with you in two minutes."

He said as he saw the man who they met inside walk towards them.

-

[Inside the grocery - A few minutes ago]

There was a man, wearing shorts, in the middle of the grocery store. He had his long sleeves on, his favourite pair to chill while he was away from work stress. Trying to do his favourite thing—or more like second favourite thing, after cooking.

"...And, I need lettuce." He said and walked to the aisle where all the veggies were.

A man in front of him, wearing jogging pants and a t-shirt, stood, checking out the stuff.

He couldn't notice but thought how pretty the woman in his hand was. She was stunning, with little to perfect facial features.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat, but the man in front of him seemed careless that he was holding up the line.

"Excuse me, sir? You're holding the line to lettuce!"

As soon as the man turned to look at him, he looked baffled. As if he had seen a ghost. His eyes were open, and his mouth was slightly opened too. It was weird, as no one ever had such a reaction to a chef. Not in this lifeline.

He still looked shocked. His expression changed a bit, but it was for his lips to stretch so that he was smiling. His eyes softened a bit, nevertheless, he still looked stupid.

"Are you mad? Get out of my way!"

He said loud enough to startle the woman beside the madman.

"Ian?" The beautiful woman beside him whispered to him.

The madman couldn't help but move to the left. The other man frowned at the weird encounter.

It was normal for people to get angry when someone else was holding the line, but is it normal for people to stare as if they've never seen a human with the naked eye?

He continuously kept looking for the good stuff among every other lettuce. He felt the woman and the madman walk away, for good.

He sighed knowing they were gone, and there'd be no one to watch him like a hawk. A sudden wave of relief rushed over his body.

"Phew! What the effing weird thing was that?" he muttered to himself and picked up the best lettuce to the Ceasar's salad he was about to make.

He walked to the cashier and billed all his goods.

"Thank you, sir, have a pleasant evening!"

The woman in the cashier said with a polite smile.

"You too!"

Walking out of the store, the cold wind hit his face. His nose started to become a little bit frosty, but he walked out with his goods without looking back.

"Hey!"

A voice came from his left, for which he turned.

'Damn, fucking right. The madman'

"What do you want? Why do you keep looking at me like that? I don't like men, I'm pretty much into men. If you like men so much, can you help me get in contact with that pretty lady who was with you?" He asked, looking directly into the eyes of the madman.

The madman chuckled without saying anything more.

"I'm Ian, nice to meet you too."

The guy chuckled back. "I don't want to meet you. I've had quite a stressful day at work. If you want to talk about anything, come visit Caprio J' Adore, the restaurant down the lane tomorrow before 6 pm. I've to go now, bye!"

He said and walked away, without waiting for a reply. He was tired. All he wanted was to make his favourite soup and get to bed so that he could finally have the peace he craved the whole day.

-

[Next day morning - Renner Studio]

Ian woke up in the morning with a huge smile. He felt as if he finally could win the day after exhausting weeks of stress. He felt the dark cloud was finally moving away, letting the sun fall.

"Good morning, beautiful."

He kissed Raelynn on her lips.

"Mhm!" She sat back and sighed. She was tired. "Hey, what was that yesterday?"

"Hm?"

"What was it? You were going to ask something before we saw this man and you were obsessed over him?"

She asked and suddenly, he knew what she was talking about. For a moment, Ian thought that she must be asking about the man he encountered.

"That… Come here," he pulled her and put his hands around her body. "I was going to ask for you to move in. I mean, c'mon Rae, you're spending your entire week in the mansion. If you want, I can easily set you up with another room, and if not, we can share the bedroom here… Only… Only if you're comfortable! No pressure!" he said while he highlighted the latter.

Raelynn smiles cheekily. The truth was that she knew he was about to ask her to move in. She had a gut feeling that said what she just heard, and as usual, she waited for him to tell it himself, instead of asking about it.

"I'd love to. When should I move my things?" she asked back with a smile.

-

[At Caprio J'Adore]

Ian scheduled a table for two, and let himself warm inside the French restaurant that was just outside the busiest street in Hollywood.

He had been sitting in the same chair for almost fifteen minutes, yet the waiters were busy. From what he saw, so many people had already gotten their meals and were enjoying them to the fullest.

It was a fun restaurant, and Ian had the feeling that the person he met was running the restaurant with his recipes.

"Hi, what can I get you?"

The waiter finally approached him, and Ian gave his order in the most polite way possible.

"Be right with you, sir."

"Thank you."

Within minutes, the order was brought to him, and the next thing he knew was that he was savouring every bit of the most delicious meal he ever had. He felt as if the food was heaven, and he couldn't help but moan at the sudden hit of taste.

He finished his dish with the most satisfied face and raised his hand to ask about the check-in.

"Yes?"

"Can I please get the receipt and a word with the chef?"

The waiter raised his eyebrows and smiled nervously.

"You're I-Ian Renner. Absolutely! Yes! Yes!"

They waited, walked in steady but quick steps and the chef walked outside the kitchen, wearing his costume that went along so well with the white cap.

"It's you!" he said as soon as he was in front of Ian.

"Ian Renner, pleasure meeting you."

"Leonardo DiCaprio."

Ian smiled knowingly.

"Can we talk?"

-

A/N; Powerstones! Powerstones! Powerstones!