Turning in the direction of the voice, they saw a young woman with short, curly blonde hair and green eyes, wearing a purple tracksuit, running toward them.
Even without seeing her, Chiaya knew exactly who the voice belonged to.
The woman, without stopping, leaped into Chiaya's arms. "It's so surprising to see you here. Considering how you were last night, I thought you'd be asleep until noon," she said with a laugh
Chiaya thought this was the worst possible person to run into right now. But then again, it wasn't surprising at all. With her endless energy and tendency to be everywhere at once, she was also the most likely person to bump into. Of course she had partied with them until the middle of the night and was somehow already out on the streets this early.
Trying to hide her panic, Chiaya said, "Buse... good morning. Aaah, this is my childhood friend from back home, Karan."
Buse turned and looked at the man. Karan's style was certainly not something you'd see on this street on a Saturday morning. Still, Buse was the last person to be judgmental about such things, so she didn't dwell on it.
What bothered her was that one of her closest friends of eight years, had made plans with a tall, handsome man the morning after they'd met up, and hadn't told her about it. Also, Chiaya's face had gone completely white, and she was stuttering. Something was definitely off.
To avoid ruining Chiaya's game, Buse turned to Karan and asked, "Oh, really! Are you staying at Chiaya's house, then?"
Without even giving Karan a chance to speak, Chiaya jumped in, "No, no, no. He just... he just came for a quick job and will be going back."
"But your hometown is seven hours away. Did he come just for today?" Buse's expression, which screamed "I know you're hiding something, Chiaya," made Chiaya stutter even more. Chiaya had never really lied to Buse.
Well—except that one time she tried to hide the fact that she messaged her toxic ex.
Buse, of course, had dug it out of her like a pro — asking every trick question in the book until Chiaya slipped.
And now, Chiaya was getting déjà vu.
It was autumn, for god's sake — way too cold a season to be sweating this much.
"Not today, but... he won't be staying long," Chiaya mumbled.
With a mischievous grin on her face, Buse said, "Then we must meet up soon. I want to hear all about your childhood, Chiaya."
"I think we can meet up tomorrow evening, I'll let the gang know." Buse went on.
"Actually… we already have plans for tonight," Chiaya replied.
Watching Buse's face shift through ten different emotions in two seconds was surprisingly entertaining.
"Oh. Then… would tonight work better for you guys?"
Chiaya couldn't take it anymore.
"Tomorrow evening... maybe we can make time," she said quickly. The more she delayed it, the more time she had to rehearse whatever lie she was going to come up with.
"Anyway—we should get going, Buse. We'll talk later, byeee," she said, grabbing Karan's hand and pulling him away without waiting for a response.
Only after they were out of Buse's line of sight did she stop and take a deep breath.
Karan hadn't said a single word during the whole exchange.
"Phew. We managed to get away faster than I thought," Chiaya said.
"Come on, let's go get some breakfast."
Going to her usual café didn't seem like a smart idea — too risky, she might run into someone she knew.
A popular spot wouldn't work either. Too many eyes.
So she decided on something else: a cafe she'd never been to before, somewhere a bit outside the city center.
A small cafe caught her eye, its front covered in red and orange ivy leaves. Without thinking twice, she pulled over and parked.
Inside, they were greeted by a friendly brunette woman in her fifties.
"Welcome! Just the two of you?" said the woman
"Yes," Chiaya replied.
"Would you like to sit in the garden? It's a bit chilly, but I can turn on the heater for you."
Chiaya never turned down sitting outside, unless there was a blizzard or something like that. She always preferred the fresh air.
The garden was enchanting, filled with trees painted in autumn's colors.
You'd never guess such a place was hidden behind the street view.
In a city where cafes and bars with gardens were almost nonexistent, this spot felt even more special.
Chiaya made a mental note—this was a place she'd want to come back to sometime, when she wasn't running from anyone.
In the garden, only two men sat at a table some distance away from them.
They glanced at Karan just once before returning to their heated conversation.
"This is good," Chiaya thought. The fewer people, the less pressure.
The woman handed them two menus. Karan took the book she offered but had no idea what to do with it. Noticing his confusion, Chiaya remembered what he'd said back at the house when he picked up a book — that he couldn't read the words, only look at the characters.
"I'll read it for you. What kind of food would you like? How about eggs or maybe a sandwich?"
Only then did Karan realize the book in his hand contained a list of food. In Narval, the food lists were written outside the door. Stalls and taverns offered no more than three food options. Although this menu was considered a small menu by normal standards, it was far too crowded for him. "You choose for me," he told Chiaya.
Chiaya then rattled off a list of things to the woman that Karan couldn't understand. "I ordered a lot. We can share and this way, we can both taste everything," she explained to him.
The woman took their order and walked away, and Chiaya turned to Karan.
"Okay, we can talk now," she said. "First of all, I want clear answers. Who is this Elara, and why are you looking for her? If I'm going to help, I need to know every detail, and I don't want to hear that 'you'll be in danger' shit either."