Chapter 4: Unscheduled Meetings

Sure enough, the guy turned at the sound of my voice. Tucking a few strands of hair that fell out of place, he scoffed and turned back to his drink.

Taking off my coat, I sat two seats away from him. The other bartender looked between us, slightly confused, but the expression quickly vanished as I waved him over.

"Welcome to The Tarven, what can I get you?" The bartender greeted me with a smile.

"I will have whatever that gentleman is having." I replied, looking in Theron's direction.

"Right away." He nodded.

I felt a pair of eyes gazing my way without trying to be subtle about it. Assuming it was Theron, I turned with a smirk on my face, ready to fire back at any retort he might throw my way.

The gaze was actually coming from some guy at the far end of the room, sitting alone in a dimly lit area that prevented me from seeing his face.

I held his gaze for a few minutes, trying to figure out what he wanted, but eventually looked away. My eyes subconsciously fell on Theron, who was staring down at his phone, running his finger over the rim of his cup.

A smile crept along his lips as his phone buzzed from an incoming message, his hazel eyes twinkling in delight. Unlike the smile he gave during the tour, this one brightened his demeanour as he relaxed his head on his arm.

He took a sip of his drink, a bit of it spilt over from the cup, trailing down his jawline to his neck before disappearing beneath his shirt.

A subconscious gulp echoed in my throat, startling me as I tore my gaze from him. The bartender arrived with my drink, offering to leave the bottle.

"No, no, just two glasses." I stuttered as I paid, wondering what had me suddenly feeling weird.

Gulping the first glass, I shook off the feeling before turning back to look around the Tarven. Most of the population from earlier this evening had disappeared, but there seemed to be some sort of performance taking place on a stage as a small group gathered in front of it. I turned back to Theron who still had a smile on his face.

"Seems the tour guide's lady friend was enough to brighten his evening." I teased, filling up my next glass.

"Not that it's any of your business, some of us actually have responsibilities that keep us happy." He replied coldly, the smile vanishing from his face.

For some reason, I felt disappointed at his reaction. Like earlier, he barely put any fire into responding to me.

"Should I get rid of him?" His bartender friend asked, glaring at him.

"No, Jacob. He's not even worth the trouble." Theron shook his head as he turned his attention back to his screen.

"Okay, I gotta do something in the back. I will be back in a bit." He relies, patting Theron lightly on the shoulder.

"Alright." Theron nodded.

Jacob, the bartender, gave me a death glare as he walked out of sight, disappearing behind a set of double doors. I soon noticed a feeling of unease rising within me as I gazed back at Theron.

"I'm sorry." I sighed, gripping my glass.

An apology that I seemed to have to squeeze out of myself.

"No, you are not." He scoffed.

"What?" I exclaimed with a frown.

"You are not sorry. You just want me to say it's alright so you don't feel bad for being an asshole." He replied, finally turning my way.

Halfway through the sentence, his phone buzzed again and that daylight smile reappeared on his face as his gaze rested on me.

"Fair." I sighed as I looked away.

"It's my sister by the way, she just finished high school." He mentioned, taking another glass.

"Your parents must be proud." I smiled lightly.

"My mother would have been..." He paused. "My dad probably doesn't even know she goes to school."

"Oh, sorry about that. Who's handling her tuition then?" I asked before I could stop myself.

But Theron didn't seem to mind my question as he played with his glass.

"This young man right here." He shrugged.

"Well then, she sure is lucky to have you as a brother." I stated, suppressing the jealousy that grew in me.

"You talk like you don't have a sibling to back you up when things go south." He said, corking a brow.

"Let's just say, I don't recall having a relationship with my siblings." I replied, leaning back a bit.

"So, even your siblings didn't want your arrogance." He chuckled.

"Ouch." I said, somehow laughing along with him.

"I am sorry, I just had to settle the score with you." He smiled, his eyes now twinkling with mischief.

"For what?" I inquired.

"For trying to dampen the mood of my tour with your 'Fact and evidence' act." He snickered.

"Oh my bad, I guess. I'm still curious though." I replied, scratching a nonexistent itch at the back of my head.

"About why I'm giving the tour, right?" He sighed.

"I'm sorry if I overstepped." I quickly said, not wanting to ruin the atmosphere.

The double doors opened drew our attention as Jacob walked back in with a wooden box filled with gin and wine, setting it beneath the counter.

"First honest apology of the night." Theron taunted, turning back to me.

"You sure do know how to hold a grudge." I laughed.

"I don't do grudges, takes too much energy. Right now, I have other things to better use up my energy on." He scoffed.

"Want to talk about it?" I asked calmly.

"You want me to tell my problems to a man sitting two chairs away from me?" He asked, taking off his glasses.

"Shall I-"

My phone buzzed in my trouser pocket, halting my conversation. I pulled it out of my pants pocket to see a missed call from Granny.

"Seems like YOUR lady friend has reached out to." He smirked.

"Haha, very funny." I drawled at him as I dialled the number.

"Nice coat by the way." He commented

"Thanks, want to take a closer look?" I offered.

"Can I?" His eyes lit up.

"Sure." I shrugged, taking it to him.

"Wow, this is a vintage Voroun set IX from the autumn collection." He gasped as he scanned the coat.

I chuckled as I walked a few steps away so the conversations didn't interfere with my phone call.

"Hey Eiran." Granny greeted when she finally picked up.

"Hey Granny, how are you doing? Did you see your friend?" I asked.

"Yeah, she was fine." She replied. "Anything eventful happen for you today?"

"Yeah, I went to the police station and signed up for detective training, how about you?" I said with a smile.

"Nothing eventful, I almost got run ove-"

"I am on my way home."