Reiner – A Sweet Reminder


    It wasn’t the first time that I started thinking of people back home. I knew that I didn’t miss home and


    that I didn’t want to go back. However, recently, I’ve been thinking of the people back at home more


    and more. I shook my head a little to shake away my thoughts. Perhaps Reiner’s words telling me to go


    home was finally getting to my head.


    “Natalia…” Reiner called my name softly.


    My chopstick stopped midair in my surprise. I lifted my eyes to look at Reiner.


    “Hmm? What is it?” I asked curiously.


    Reiner nced away as if he was hesitating to say what he had in mind. I cocked my head to the side


    curiously as I watched him and waited for him to continue.


    “Actually, never mind…” Reiner said emotionlessly.


    He continued eating just like nothing had happened. I picked up my teacup and sipped at the warm


    green tea as I peered at his face over the rim of my teacup. I wondered what he was about to say…


    Lunch came to an end without us sharing any more conversation. To my relief, lunch was over, and we


    were leaving the restaurant. I couldn’t believe that I was thinking this, but I truly wished to return back


    to the office and do some work so that my mind wouldn’t need to think about anymore useless things.


    After exiting the restaurant, things didn’t quite go as I had expected. Instead of leading me back to the


    car, he led me to the lobby of the hotel. I followed after him without asking any questions, but I was


    surprised when he started walking out of the hotel.


    “Let’s stop by a café,” Reiner suggested.


    Did he want desert or something? I didn’t think that Reiner would normally drop by a café in the middle


    of a workday. Perhaps, he just wanted some coffee?


    “Do you want to get coffee?” I asked as I walked at his side along the pavement.


    “Not really…” he replied vaguely.


    Reiner was acting a little strangely and I didn’t quite understand why. I continued walking by his side as


    we strode past various shops that lined the side of the road. Soon, we arrived at a beautifully decorated


    café. This light pink café decorated with pastel-colored flowers made Reiner look so out of ce. I


    couldn’t believe that he brought me to a ce like this.


    Had he been here before? Most probably, he has. Who did hee here with; I wonder? This just


    doesn’t look like a ce that man like Reiner woulde by himself.


    I turned to see him looking at the various cakes and confectionaries that were disyed magnificently


    in the store’s window. Reiner’srge frame as he bent over looking at the small pieces of cake, tarts


    and the like felt strangely out of ce. A smile curved my lips before I could understand what kind of


    feeling had taken over me.


    “Shall we head in?” I asked, encouragingly.


    “Yeah, we should…” Reiner replied a little nkly as he followed me inside the café.


    The waitress quickly led us to an unupied table before passing us the menu. Apparently, Reiner


    wasn’t just looking to get a simple takeaway coffee. I nced at him to see what he would order. Apart


    from the drinks section of the menu, the other parts of the menu consisted of mostly cakes and other


    desserts. Are we really going to eat cake together here?


    “You should order a cake,” Reiner spoke up without looking at me.


    “Oh…ok…” I replied, a little confused.


    “The blueberry cheesecake here is good,” Reiner said with his eyes still on the menu.


    I cocked my head to the side as I got even more confused than before. Did he bring me here for me to


    eat blueberry cheesecake? It had been a while since I ate cheesecake…


    My eyes scanned the menu but couldn’t find blueberry cheesecake written on it. I nced at the


    Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g


    waitress who quickly provided the answer to my question.


    “It’s not a regr menu here but we do have it today,” the waitress said with a sweet smile.


    “Oh, I see. I’ll go with what he suggested then. One blueberry cheesecake for me please,” I turned to


    order from the waitress.


    “Yes, Miss. Anything else?” she asked sweetly.


    “I’ll have coffee and some apple juice for her,” Reiner said as he ordered a drink for me as well.


    My eyes watched him intently as he spoke to the waitress politely. I wondered what he was thinking. I


    couldn’t read him at all…


    I offered him a small smile when I felt his eyes settle on my face. Reiner looked like he wanted to say


    something but, in the end, nothing ensued between us except for silence. I better find something to talk


    to him about. The waitress returning to our table with our order saved us from more awkwardness. The


    arrival of the blueberry cheesecake also provided me with something to talk to Reiner about.


    The cheesecake looked amazing. Just as expected from a café that had such an impressive and eye-


    catching disy. I admired the cake for a while before picking up a small fork and cutting a small piece.


    Without hesitation, I ced a small piece of cake into my mouth.


    “This…” I murmured before trailing off as I got lost in my own thoughts.


    Was it just my imagination?


    I took another bite of the cake, this time arger one. Either my imagination had started running wild or


    my taste buds are fooling themselves, but this cake tastes a lot like the one that Reiner used to make


    for me when we were back at Lucien’s mansion. My eyes nced over to Reiner who seemed to be


    enjoying his coffee.


    It couldn’t be…


    I stuffed more of the cake into my mouth as I savored its familiar taste. Regardless of whether this cake


    tasted like the ones that Reiner made for me or not, the taste made me feel better about everything that


    was going on. I was smiling before I knew it as I put more cake into my mouth before sucking lightly on


    the little fork. It tastes so good and so familiar.


    --To be continued…