Strangers in the Park

Chapter 5

"Have you found her?" The old man asked Conrad. He took off his oxygen mask even if he was struggling for breath.

"Who?" Van asked.

"The runaway." Conrad deadpanned. "It's none of your concern." He glared at her as if she was a nuisance.

"It is if it involves grandpa." Van retorted and glared back. It was never really good to have them in the same place.

"Snap out of it you two! You're on the same team! You shouldn't be biting each other's head off." The old man stepped in and cough as he struggled his breathe.

"Grandpa!"

"Dad!"

They both yelled and the old man just dismissed them away. "So?"

"We're still searching for her. But do you think that they'll just hiding her?" Her uncle asked.

"It's not possible. They don't have any idea who she is." The old man replied.

"Who are we talking about here? Why am I not in the loop?" Van stated angrily. Being the only child if her parents, the task of running the empire was divided into her and her uncle but in the end, only one of them shall rule it.

"It was supposed to be a simple task. Your uncle was to get the girl and bring her here but he failed."

"She wasn't there when we get there. Apparently, she took the matter in her own hands and run away." Conrad explained but it sounded like a pathetic excuse. "We have been searching for her."

"Just who are we talking about here?" Van asked again, her temper was getting into her for being out of the loop.

"It's none of your concern." Her uncle replied. Van realized that this mission was really important for her uncle to act like an ass.

"She's the last living heir of the Grecko." Grandpa replied. "Maybe it's best if Vanessa would help the search."

"The Grecko?" Van was sure that she heard of them before or read about them. She squeezed her thoughts until she found her answers. "The Lizard Clan? The one that got annihilate twenty years ago?"

"Yes! Apparently their daughter survived the massacre by being saved by her private nurse. The child was born with heart murmur and needed constant monitoring at birth."

"How did you know about that?" Van inquired and her uncle became more irritated.

"People talk. You just need to listen." The old man then started coughing hard. A few droplets of blood came from his mouth. Van brought the oxygen mask back to his face to aid his lungs.

"I'm already handling it! Don't get in my way." With those final words, her uncle left the room while Van stayed at her grandpa's side.

---StrangersInThePark---

"Ahh Kami-sama onegai..." Anna sung and danced as she chopped some vegetables. After she was satisfied, she took out some meat "Your turn Mr. Pan!" She placed the frying pan into the stove, waited until it was hot enough before putting in some oil. "Now where is Mr. Spattula... Fuwa Fuwa time..."

She was so engrossed in cooking while singing and dancing that she did not noticed the door opened. After being away from days, Van finally went back to her apartment.

She found the girl so amusing that she had forgotten another argument with his uncle about the eastern territory.
She sneaked behind the blonde and leaned on the island table. "Do you always speak with inanimate objects?"

"Kyaa!" The blonde squeaked in surprise and her expression was priceless. "Master... you're finally home."

"It's good to know that my apartment wasn't burned down." She placed a finger on the table and saw no dust. "And it was well maintained."

"Well... It's my duty to keep your place clean and I know my way to the kitchen." She replied with glee.

"What the hell is that song?" Van inquired at the sound that was still played. The language was foreign to her ears.

"It's Japanese. It's from an anime." Anna went to the iPod dock and turned the music off.

"I see that Toni did a good job." It was Van's way for praising the blonde's attire, she was wearing a one piece pink floral dress that was up to her knee. It was plain and simple yet elegant. "I hoped you didn't maxed out my credit card."

"Oh..." The blonde blushed in embarrassment upon remembering her ordeal with Antoinette. It was great experience but she doesn't want to experience it again. Antoinette or Toni for short literally had a field day dressing up Anna. She had the body of a model and a submissive attitude so Toni enjoyed playing dress up with her. She never felt tired of dress shopping. "I have no idea how much it cost, before I knew it your car was full of boxes and shopping bags. I had to bring them home before I was able buy groceries."

Van frowned and massage her head as she tried to imagine the blonde's ordeal. "It's so much like her. She had been bugging to do that to me. Apparently she had finally found her toy." Van changed the topic and reveled on the blonde's still flushed face. Looking at it, she was really gorgeous.

"What are you cooking?"

"Some stir fry veggies"

"Urgh." Van made a choking sound by the mention of veggies.

"I'll cook you some chicken, don't worry." Anna said. "I have no idea when you're going back so I only cooked for myself. Sorry master." She explained.

"Van." The blonde stopped cooking and looked at her master... confused.

"I'm sorry master? I didn't get that."

"You can stop calling master, just call me Van." Just like a magic spell, the blonde was able to tame the wild beast without even trying. Van was confused herself but she doesn't want to think about it now. There was already a lot on her mind so she doesn't have time to think about this unusual feelings. She'll just go with the flow.

"Okay Van." The blonde smiled. "Would you like some beer while I finished cooking?" The raven haired girl nodded. She could get used to this. She felt domesticated and it was somehow good.

Anna cook a bottle of beer from the fridge, she added them in her grocery list when she saw some empty bottles from the trash. "I got you this. I hope it's okay."

"It's my favorite actually. It's perfect." She took the offered bottle and drank almost half of it. "Ahhhh! It's so good."

"Glad you liked it. Why don't you freshen up first. It'll take a while since I'm still thawing your chicken." Again, the raven haired woman nodded at the blonde. She felt weird following her requests but she just ignored it. One thing's for sure... the blonde has a different effect on her.