Graveyard, Backyard

47. Bystander

His heart seemed to have realized her presence before his eyes.

As soon as Claire, along with a girl with jet black hair, entered the reception area, his gaze found her, refusing to waver. At first, she was in deep thoughts, frowning as if she ate something fetid. While her partner was gawking the fine interior of the restaurant, she caught him staring Claire and nudged her.

Claire's eyes found him and they just stared each other. Just when he encouraged himself to turn around and walk away like before, his sister's orders flooded his mind. She had strictly warned him against ignoring the situation and running away. He has to be around her and look out for threat.

But how can he be around her after putting her through so much... He groaned inwardly and walked towards the girls with a formal smile.

"Claire," he said with fake enthusiasm, "What a surprise!"

Claire was clearly dumbfounded by his behavior. He just wanted to laugh at her cute yet completely clueless expressions.

Ah, he loved to tease her and surprise her. But he did that enough in past months.

"Oh.. Hi! Um.. What are you doing here?" she asked, twitching her fingers.

A stuttering Claire, with no confidence or authoritative tone? What has he done to her? He wanted to just disappear and never see her beautiful face again but he was a man on a mission. He finally had a chance to redeem his sins and repay for hurting her. She was in danger due to him, again. And this time he has to man up.

"Who's this?" he smiled at the girl next to Claire to snap her out of her dumbstruck face.

"Oh.. She's my friend, Aria. She's from Rivera."

Aria. He remembered her. She was Claire's high school friend back when she was in Rivera and she'd somewhat helped Claire when she returned back to her dad for few days.

"Oh!" he smiled at her relieved she wasn't a threat to Claire, "Hey. I'm.."

He stopped. He had no idea what to say. He'd avoided interaction with anyone since he'd been going around like a normal person. But one thing was for sure. He can't be Ander Booth, not when his name is printed on restaurant's board as a founder.

"I'm Will.." he instinctively said his 'go-to' name but he can't claim he is Monroe's son to everyone. "I'm Will Booth. Claire's friend."

Seeing the relief on Claire's face confirmed that she hadn't told Aria everything.

"Good to meet - wait. I've heard this last name before." Aria, who was as short as Claire, looked at her with confusion. To her, she asked, "Is he related to that Ander Booth?"

Claire was tongue tied, Ander saw. So, he cut in, "You mean the first owner of this restaurant? He was my great grandfather."

'This is getting old,' he silently murmured to himself.

"What!" Aria laughed out loud, "That crackhead had children and grandchildren? And yet he was after young girls? He's a pedophile! Bonehead! Good that he's not around or I would have smacked Ander's empty brain."

"Aria!" Claire warned her. To Ander, she mouthed "She's got no filter."

Ander just laughed instead. He liked this girl. She's funny. And she evaporated the tension between them.

"I don't mind. He certainly would be." Ander joked along.

Aria shrugged and said, "Well, he had a good sense of humor, though. Naming a restaurant in old witch town, 'Sands & Witches'."