RUN WITH ME
CHAPTER 16: THE MISS

"Well, your order will be ready in ten minutes, please wait, yes," asked a woman in her black and white clothes who seemed very neat and professional. The waiter bent down a bit, then picked up the two menu books that were on the table. Two people of different sex at the table gave different faces, one with a flat face and one with a friendly smile. After that, the waiter stepped away, putting the two people there in an awkward position, or perhaps rather just one awkward side.

"Thank you for being willing to accept my invitation, Mr. Kanagara," Cassandra said slightly awkwardly.

Gavin simply gave his flat gaze and nodded, giving no reply. Cassandra was eager to cry in her heart because of that cold reaction. It was not easy for him to have his parents send a dinner request to the man in front of him, because then his family would be aware of his interest in Gavin. For him it was already very embarrassing.

"Maybe you haven't realized the intent of this request, so I—"

"I've already realized it." Cassandra fell silent and gawked at the words. His heart and mind rumbled with panic, since when? How did that man know? Did Arunika tell him? No, Arunika already said that she would keep her secret. Well, did this guy know about it from the beginning?

"That's why I came here." The sentence full of ambiguity that makes Cassandra confused with a heart that beats unfailing, what does it mean? Gavin noticed the whole change in expression so much that he groaned resentfully inwardly, he was really not happy being in this kind of situation.

"I want to make it clear, I have no intention of getting to know you more deeply, Miss Rosverd." As if struck by a meteor rock, that short, dense, clear sentence left Cassandra speechless with her heart split in two. He has not done anything and has been rejected.

Silence was between them. Cassandra tried to restore her strength to reply to the words of the man a year older than her, "doesn't ... I have no interest in your eyes?" he asked in a soft voice, but still could be heard by Gavin.

"I'm sure you'll pull in the eyes of the right person." A sentence with clear intent Gavin blurted out politely. Cassandra laughed inwardly, how could this man give such a subtle-sounding refusal?

Cassandra then exhaled slowly and gave a look that Gavin could not understand.

"I never understood you guys" exclaimed Cassandra as she held her hands together on the table and gave her calm face. Gavin still maintained his flat expression despite being slightly confused by the sentence.

"Repeatedly I was attracted to you. When I took the initiative to approach first, it was clear that you gave a face full of interest. But when I was ready to go deeper, you suddenly pushed me and said no interest. I'm so confused, what exactly do you want?" cassandra asked as she placed her chin on the pedestal of her elbow on the table.

"There's one thing that's not quite right about me in your sentence" Gavin replied as he leaned his back against the head of the chair and folded his arms in front of his chest. Cassandra raised one eyebrow, asking through it.

"From the beginning I never gave a face interested in you." Cassandra chuckled at hearing that, then nodded confirming.

"You are the exception, Mr. Kanagara. But my point is why they behave that way, based on your opinion as a fellow man." It was Cassandra who made Gavin go silent for a while.

"Actually I thought of many possibilities, but there seems to be one definitive answer." Cassandra was interested in hearing that.

"Family .. no, rather your surname." Gavin pressed the word 'name' in his sentence. Cassandra fell silent, waiting for Gavin to continue his sentence.

"Whether men come from ordinary families or men from families like you, all consider dealing with women who bear the name Rosverd very burdensome. The name Rosverd is not an abal-abal name used for one or two generations only, the name has been used by dozens of generations with a long history. I guess that's why they quickly pulled away despite being interested in you." Gavin clearly thoughtfully.

Cassandra smiled hearing that, it was not wrong of her to ask this to someone who was the same fate as her.

"Then, do I have to take it off?" Gavin snorted with a smile hearing that, an interesting question.

"If you're willing to live in simplicity, go ahead. If not, then you should be willing to wait for the man who is ready to enter this complex family." Cassandra laughed at the answer. In fact, he and Gavin both consider the family complex.

"It turns out that it's also fun to talk like this with you, Mr. Kanagara," Cassandra praised as she gently wiped the corners of her slightly watery eyes, while Gavin smiled faintly.

"I don't care if you want to build a friendship with me, I'm happy to accept it. But if what you want is a deep relationship, I'm sorry I had to turn it down" Gavin said in a polite voice.

Cassandra waved her small hand, "i'm used to receiving rejection from men, after all I think it's better to just make you a friend and talk about sarcasm like that."

After saying that, the food they ordered finally came. Gavin and Cassandra began to eat it while chatting casually.

"There's actually something I want to ask." Gavin who was cutting his flesh gave a fleeting glance at Cassandra who had just swallowed one of the vegetables on her plate.

After easing his choking, Gavin gave a puzzled look, "why are you asking that?"

Cassandra raised her shoulders indifferently, "why do I feel that your gaze on Miss Bumantara and your gaze on others are so different. The saying goes, the eyes are the windows of the heart." Gavin was silent to hear that because he also did not know how he felt about Arunika, whether only as a friend or more than that.

Looking at Gavin's inertia, Cassandra smiled inwardly. It still seems confused, yes—that's how he thought. Cassandra again asked another question, which made Gavin even more silent.

"I'm just curious, so if you don't answer it's okay. Why aren't you ready for a relationship?"

After a few seconds of silence, Gavin gave a reply while poking one baked potato with his fork, "because I still can't accept about what happened to my mother." Cassandra frowned, why suddenly Gavin's mother was dragged into the problem.

Cassandra is ready to open her mouth again to ask a follow-up question, but is stopped by Gavin who gives a knotty smile.

"Please relish your meal because dessert will soon be out." Cassandra also realized, her dining friend was not willing to tell her further. So he decided to shut up and respect his wishes.

The next minutes Gavin and Cassandra's table was filled with conversations full of familiarity—because they decided to build a friendship— until finally the dish containing dessert was empty. Cassandra gently wiped her mouth with the small cloth available on the table, as well as Gavin. Then the woman checked the clock through her cell phone which already showed the numbers eight and thirty.

"Without realizing it was this late, when there were still many things I wanted to talk to you about, Mr. Kanagara," Cassandra said as she stood up from her seat, as well as Gavin. Then they walked out of the fancy restaurant. It turned out that there were already parked two cars waiting for the arrival of his master.

Before entering the car, Cassandra threw out her hand, "it's good to talk to you, call me Cassandra." Gavin smiled faintly and returned the helping hand.

"It's nice to talk to you too, Cassandra. Please call me Gavin too." Cassandra nodded and the handshake came off, and the woman entered her car and walked away from the restaurant. Soon Gavin also entered the car whose door had been opened by the driver.

It took about twenty minutes for Gavin's vehicle to finally reach the yard. Gavin opened his door slowly and his eyes rolled around the corner. It seemed like most of the people in the house had already entered his room and were preparing to sleep. That way Gavin walks into his room in the hope of not meeting his father or Rebecca. He now does not want to be asked about dinner with Cassandra.

Every time he walked into the room, Gavin would always pass through his private studio because the two rooms were next to each other. Usually Gavin will walk through the room if he does not want to play music, but not now. His steps came to a halt at the front door of the studio and his head turned to the left to stare at the wooden door. The man stood in the same position for a few minutes until he finally changed his direction towards the room and pushed slowly on the door.

His grand piano was always the first thing Gavin saw every time he entered the room. In front of the beloved object was attached a large window that presents a view of the courtyard beside his house so that the moonlight that somehow felt very bright can easily enter his personal studio and illuminate his grand piano. Suddenly Gavin seemed to see two people sitting in front of the piano with warm shades due to the twilight light surrounding the two people.

"Mama! Gavin can play one piece, you know! Wanna see?" said a little man with an enthusiastic smile.

The woman clad in a long white shirt with black hair on her neck reacted by giving a happy and curious face, "oh, huh? Smart mommy boy. Try Gavin to play, mama wants to hear it." After that the little boy began to press the keys with his ten tiny fingers, while the woman sitting next to him smiled proudly and gently stroked his son's head when little Gavin managed to finish the piece. Then the woman lifted the little Gavin into her arms and tightened it.

"Mama's son is great." Little Gavin laughed happily at the compliment while returning his mother's embrace.

Slowly the shadow faded from Gavin's view and re-enacted the grand piano scene that no one occupied. The young man slowly approached him while removing the suit that had hung on his body since earlier, then left it lying on the floor. With glazed eyes Gavin sat in front of the piano with his head bowed.

"Mama, Gavin is longing" he murmured with a droplet of water dripping about his two clenched hands. Gavin let his tears flow until they stopped by themselves. After her crying stopped, Gavin raised his head and stared blankly at the piano in front of him. His hands lifted and touched one by one the keys there quietly.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, making Gavin quickly wipe away the trail of tears on his cheek and re-regulate his breathing. The door opened slowly and the knocker only showed his face with the body still behind the door.

"Sir Gavin's okay?" Gavin smiled softly when he realized that the younger brother was coming. He also made a hand gesture as if asking Erlano to come closer. The one asked did not reject her and walked up to the red-eyed brother. Erlano realized his brother had finished crying, so he dared to ask about it earlier.

"Sister is fine, Erlan," Gavin replied as he lifted Erlano's tiny body and placed it in his lap.

"Sir Gavin often sat in front of this thing with a sad face, Erlan became worried." Gavin was silent on hearing that and did not reply. And without the two brothers noticing, Rebecca stood in the doorway with both hands folded in front of her chest with an indecipherable look.

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