[Yes?]
Arthur’s flat voice came through the phone. Sara also saw the solitude outside pick a call, her suspicion was confirmed.
A gratified smile involuntarily crept on her face. She knew she was a bit dumb but she also had her moments of showcasing her intelligence.
"...Where are you?"
She asked after a brief pause. Intending to tease Arthur a bit before calling him over if he was not busy.
Arthur on the other hand was a bit confused hearing her ask that. Why was she asking that? Was she in danger? But her voice didn’t sound like it. Then did she need something? She has the money. What could she possibly want to buy with her cheapskate personality that over thirty thousand dollars aren’t enough for her?
But another possibility was that she could be nearby. Her voice did sound a bit teasing.
In a split second, Arthur thought all of that and gazed around. There’s nothing in this section of the city which could give a clear view of where he was standing. Except the pastry shop in front of him. The glass made it hard to discern who was on the other side but he saw a blonde head among the few other customers who also seemed to be on the phone.
"... You want me to come over?"
After a brief pause, Arthur decided to bet all his Aura and make a blind guess. If that woman in the pastry shop wasn’t Sara, he would just say that he was flirting. And Sara will come up with a reason of her own. Or so he hopes.
[Wha—? How did you know?]
Sara’s shocked voice came through the phone. Arthur smiled in satisfaction. It felt nice to be right after making a galaxy brain deduction.
’I should have gotten Aura Farmer System instead of this one. The blatant blasphemy. Tsk. Tsk.’
Arthur clicked his tounge internally. Smile never leaving his face.
"I can see you. But do you want me to come over or not?"
[Argh. Whatever. Yes. If you’re free. We can take the kids back home when their school ends.]
Arthur didn’t say anything, he hung up and crossed the road after the lights had turned green for the pedestrians.
He entered the shop. There were quite a few more people in there than he had initially thought. They were talking amongst themselves. Sara of course had their attention as their gaze sometimes drifted to her involuntarily.
Sara didn’t seem to pay any mind to them.
Arthur Street to Sara and sat across from her.
"What will you have?"
Sara asked with a bit of enthusiasm. She was very happy now that she was getting to enjoy her childhood favorite pastry. The taste was the same as she remembered. She was even happier now that she had someone to chat with over the pastries.
Even if the person was apparently emotionally impotent. His face and voice barely showed any emotions, which greatly displeased Sara. But beggars can’t be choosers.
She always wanted to come over here with her friends but everyone is always so busy that they can’t manage the time.
"Aaaa... milkshakes or cold coffee or anything equivalent is fine."
Arthur said after looking at the menu a bit.
"Not any pastries?"
"No. I can’t take too much sweet. Pastries here seem to have exactly that."
"It’s not that sweet though?"
"I know. But I meant the quantity. It’s too much. And I hate wasting food."
"Well, then I will take parcels for everyone, there, you can have the amount you want and won’t have to worry about wasting since others will be there to eat it. How does that sound?"
"Sounds good."
Arthur nodded. Sara seemed very adamant on making him eat sweet things. He didn’t have any particular problems with eating sweets, but eating too much makes his stomach upset.
Sara called out to the waiter to order. She ordered an espresso for Arthur and a parcel of an apple pie. A few moments later, the waiter served Arthur with the espresso.
They chatted about random stuff. It was mostly just Sara sharing her thoughts and memories and Arthur adding something.
Their order also arrived. Sara was almost done eating when Arthur recalled something.
"By the way, Miss Anastasia, did you buy the stuff I told you to?"
"Let’s drop these formalities shall we? Since we are now girlfriend and boyfriend after all. That would look weird."
"Alright. But did you buy what I told you to?"
Arthur accepted Sara’s proposal in a heartbeat. Her argument makes sense. While he could have called her by her first name without her permission, he was just being respectful.
Seeing that Sara was at a loss of words, Arthur pursed his lips and stared down at her. Making her look down in shame. She has clearly forgotten.
Well, not like it was any world ending stuff. It was for her own household.
"Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s better this way. You can choose what to buy and what to not. So what do you say? Will you go shopping? I’m free. And that will be an excellent pass time until the school is over. And I’m sure those two can eat lunch on their own at lunch time. So you don’t have to be there."
Arthur proposed after a bit of thought.
Sara nodded slowly. She felt a bit hurt when Arthur said she won’t need to be at the kids lunch time. She knew he didn’t mean any harm. Heck, he didn’t even mean anything. But it stung because she realised just how much those two were neglected.
Both by her and her father. But there was nothing she could do other than to be more careful moving forward.
After eating, Sara and Arthur left to buy stuff for the house. They went to a supermarket. There, they bought all the stuff. It was mostly Sara choosing what to buy and Arthur stopping her from buying something cheap.
They took a home delivery for the items to be delivered.
After they were done, it was almost time for the kids’ school to end. Both of them took a taxi to the school. They waited for a few minutes with many other parents. The school bell rang and students poured out.
They searched for Jude and Judy and before long they spotted two blonde heads running towards them.
They took a cab and went home. On the way, Jude and Judy recounting their magnificent day at school where they were the center attention, flexing all kinds of toys.
After a while, they arrived home. But there was someone also waiting for them.