Faye Calinao
"Here we are," Lei says as he opened the door to the cafe. I thanked him as I walked into EQ Nordic Eatery. I stepped inside and the first thing I am welcomed with is the smell of sweet bakery items. I smile as I continue to walk in and I stop where I knew I wouldn't be in the way. This cafe is very spacious and large. There are two floors for seating and dining. Right in front of me was the line leading to the cashier to place an order and pay.
The presence of Lei now beside me sent small shivers and I turned slightly to him to see he's already looking down at me. He placed a hand on my lower back and he smiled before looking forward and began leading me toward the stairs to go to the upstairs dining area. Lei led me to a table by the railing so we had the view downstairs and could look out the large windows of the streets of Shanghai. It's a very beautiful place to be. He stepped away from me to pull out the chair for me to sit in.
"Is there something you crave for this morning?" Lei asked me.
"I'm up for a surprise," I smile up at Lei.
"Okay." He makes his way down the stairs and I watch as he falls into the small line of other customers. I watch from afar as Lei waits in the line. Every so often he would look up and catch me looking. Lei would smile up at me and my heart flutters once more at the sight. He has a genuine smile and shows his teeth. Lei is a different person from the one I met yesterday. As Lei is approaching close to the front, he is surrounded by wine bottles on short shelves. He looks at them and takes one from the shelf. I look confused at him wondering what he is up to. Lei approaches the front and orders for the both of us.
I take my phone out of my purse to see a voice memo from Meizuo. I bring my phone to my ear to listen.
"Good morning Faye! Or.. maybe it's afternoon for you. I hope you're feeling better. I wanted to make sure Lei is behaving. I'll see you later! What should we do tonight?"
I respond to Meizuo's voice message before sending one to him. Ximen also sent one to me. He must have sent it when Lei and I were walking in. I listen to his voice message.
"Faye." Ximen sounded so... sophisticated. "I know you're probably going to end up spending the day with Lei. I want to let you know I'm going to be out of the house all day and won't be back until late. If you need anything from the house Lei knows how to get in. I'll see you sometime tonight."
I send Ximen a voice message as well before I place my phone on the table. I saw Lei coming up the stairs with the bottle of wine. He walks over and takes the seat from across.
"It's barely noon," I say.
"I know." He says and opens the bottle. He reaches for my glass and fills the glass halfway. He does the same for him. "I think you like this one. If you do we can take the bottle for later." I nod and I take my glass and take a small sip of the wine. Lei waits for my reaction. The sweetness fills my taste bud and it takes a moment for me to figure out what the flavor is. There's a bit of acidity to the wine. I grab the napkin and dab my lips. The label to the bottle was facing towards him.
"I like it," I comment and take another sip. "I'm sure I haven't had this one before."
"Beerenauslese riesling." He takes his second sip. "Since we're here having a wonderful breakfast, can I ask my original question I had for yesterday?" I take a moment and pretend to pause before shrugging.
"I'm not sure. You've already asked me a personal question." Lei rolls his eyes in a playful way before breaking into a smile.
"We are having a meal together, aren't we?"
"Hmmm. I guess you can ask your question now," I smile.
"Have I mentioned how cute you look today?" I almost choke on my wine and carefully put my glass down. His expression is calm and there wasn't a sign of... anything. I lowered my eyes slightly feeling my cheeks flushed.
"Thank you." A waitress approached our table with a tray of food and I looked over at the wonderful breakfast. Lei and I thank the waitress before I am back to my thoughts of Lei. Does he want me to feel flustered? Is he doing this on purpose or is this the way he is?
The croissants looked very fluffy and the strawberry or raspberry danish looked appetizing. I first take the danish and begin to take my first bite.
"Kol Nidrei, Bruch..." Lei says as he takes a bite into his croissant. I looked at him and he was already staring at me. "It's one of my favorite pieces. How long did you take to learn and memorize the piece?"
"It took me... about two weeks to learn and memorize? It took the entire summer of my junior year. I performed the solo part with the symphony orchestra for our winter concert."
"Is the cello your first instrument?" I shake my head and smile as I get to share my story.
"The violin was the very first instrument I picked up when I was four years old." I smiled at the thought of how I could remember something from such a young age. "My parents were attempting for me to start the piano, but I walked right over the violin and picked it up. I immediately fell in love with the feeling of the violin on my shoulder. I remember going home with my first violin that day. My father came to realization after a few months of private lessons I was passionate about music. I eventually learned to play the piano and by the time I was ten, I was performing many solo pieces for the orchestra I was a part of..." I paused to see Lei was listening carefully. He made eye contact with me when he realized I had stopped speaking.
"When did you start playing the cello?" His tone was confused. "You're well known for performing the cello. Your focus is the cello?" I hum as a response.
"I did not start playing until I moved to America after my first year of senior high school." I felt myself feeling sheepish. Ximen himself was surprised when he learned I switched instruments when I left Shanghai. Lei's expression seemed to mirror Ximen's exact expression when I told him.
"Huh? No way. You've been playing for a short amount of time then? Why did you switch?" I smile faintly at his curiosity.
"Too many questions," I try to change the subject away from my past Mr. Huaze. "It should be my turn to ask you questions." I wasn't quite ready to tell anyone my reasoning for why I switched instruments when I moved to the states.
"There's not much to know about me." I folded my arms as he stared at me in complete calmness.
"It's not fair I told you things that others don't know. I know more about Meizuo than I know you."
"That's Ximen's fault. You're best friends with my best friend and I had no idea you knew each other." Lei folded his arms and raised a brow at me.
"You would have known yesterday morning if you weren't trying to embarrass me in front of the school. Then you- " I stopped myself from continuing on. Worry appeared in his expression and he let out a sigh.
"I apologize for my behavior yesterday. Please forgive me?"
"You apologized yesterday."
"I know," he nods. "I do feel terrible. I was cold towards you and you panicked when you saw me last night."
"Are you always intimidating to people?" He takes a sip into the glass. He nods. "Why?"
"I'm in a closed group with Ah Si, Ximen, and Meizuo. We're really close and we don't let many people in. We hold a reputation at MingDe and I grew up with them. I grew up the way I did, being around my closest friends almost everyday. Speaking of closest friends, how long have you known Ximen?"
"You and Meizuo are very curious people."
"Well we are both curious about how you've never come up in a conversation. We knew about Geng." I frowned slightly as I thought about my other... acquaintance. We didn't quite get along, but we tried working out our differences for Ximen's sake. I knew she had a crush on Ximen for quite some time, and she tried to push me away.
"I prefer if you don't bring her up," I spoke lightly. Lei is once again confused by my now quiet tone. He nods and begins talking about the recital while we continued with our breakfast.
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I'm having a wonderful time working on this fanfic 😊
Have you watched My Unicorn Girl with Darren Chen and Sebrina Chen? Their characters Wen Bing and Sang Tian has my heart! Highly recommend 💓
Next Update: Wednesday