We stayed and talk in La Geole cafe for two hours. I got to know him during those times. I mean, we got to know each other. "Don't get me wrong?" Roy asked. "Why do you like staying in Barcon?"

"My fiance," I answered.

"Seriously?"

"... And I like the simple life here and most of the people here are friendly here. I dreamt of staying ever since I was fifteen when my family and I spent our Christmas here. Which by the way, you should come here on ber-months because it's like Santa town here."

Roy seemed to be interested. "Absolutely."

"So can I ask you something? How did you become a travel blogger?" I asked him.

"It's sort of a long story."

"We got time."

"My dad is a scientist," he mentioned. "Geoscientist to be exact in Yale."

"Oh, wow! That's so cool," I expressed. "Is he like a professor there too?"

"Yes, he teach," Roy replied. "Imagine being his graduate student and he was your professor in class."

I became surprised. "You went to Yale?"

I never cared about these ivy leagues, yet I am still impress when other people got in. To be honest, my old guidance counselor said that I was a Harvard and Yale material. Not that it mattered though.

Most of my classmates in high school studied there, and now some of them became lawyer, or taking over family business. 

Okay, going back to the subject at hand.

"Yeah, full-scholarship and I earned it," Roy continued. "I graduated in BA History. Anyway, he travels for research and I came along. I didn't join any research, just the travel part."

"Ah, got it."

"I always companied him ever since I was a kid that I had to be home-schooled. Growing up, it had always been me and him. I was sixteen when I started the blog because I got bored of what to do in my free time. That was when an online friend of mine, Don, who was also home-schooled, suggests I should start a blog because I travel a lot."

"Well, he's not wrong," I remarked.

"Yeah, I owe him a lot. Now, he does documentaries about wildlife."

"Now that's interesting."

"He introduce me to Wordpress, and so I started writing about places I went that had a story behind it. My first one was Machu Pichu. Lucky for me, I had easy access to explore inside. As long as I don't use any of my dad's research."

The rest of the night, he talked about some of the other places he went, until it was time to go since it was kind of late, we thanked the baristas. They put on a crooked, a forced farewell waved at us, and said their goodbyes like a creepy robot. I couldn't blame them for getting creeped by a guy that looked like my dead fiance.

Later, we returned to the inn and walked together inside, then went upstairs to get to our rooms. "Thanks for tonight," he said to me with a sweet smile on his face.

"Don't mention it," I replied to him while I unlock the door.

"Well, uhm... Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

After that, I went inside. I remember feeling so happy because I could not stop grinning the whole night from getting to know this person. I had to admit, it was the best night of my life.

Roy was just so passionate and carefree. Moreover, he was adventurous. Something I admired about a person. That was what attracted me to Topher because he was like that.

----

The next morning, I felt like I had a complete sleep and well-rested that I woke up early before my alarm could that for me. It was like someone secretly put dopamime inside me.

So, I got out of bed, took a quick shower and blow dry my hair. After combing it, I put on some make up. Although, as I was about to put on eyeshadow, I noticed that the color I used was about to ran out, but it was enough for me to use it. Still, I had to buy a new one.

Suddenly, my phone rang. It was mom wanting to call me from home via videocall, so I picked it up. "Hey, mom."

"Hi! Sweetie," she said back with a huge smile in her face. "I'm so glad that you're up. Do you have work? You have your makeup on."

"Not really, but maybe have some work done. So, why are you calling?"

"Just want to see how you're doing?"

"I'm great, I love staying in this inn," I told her.

"Really? What it's like there?" mom asked.

"The place is beautiful, everyone here is nice, and... Oh! The flower farm is gorgeous. Here, look!" I aimed the camera to the window to show her the garden.

"Is that man the owner?" She was referring to Mr. Roldan, who was trimming the bushes.

"No, that's their gardener, Mr. Roldan."

"Oh... Maybe I should stay there when I plan to visit."

"Yeah, you should. It's like breath of fresh air," I said.

"You look happy," she remarked. "And you look great actually."

"Aww... Thanks, mom. You too."

"Anyway, I will be applying my visa next month. You know, for London," my mom told me.

"Cool, you must be excited," I replied.

"Yes, I am. This is your chance to accompany me."

"This again, mom?" I remember feeling so annoyed that she still had to ask me that.

"Honey, please, you need this."

"Mom, I'm fine. I'm doing okay. I'm going back to work and I'm talking with my friends..."

"I know, I just think you need to get out from that small city for a while," my mom advised. "You need something more different than going about your usual routine."

"I have to because I have a business to run," I reminded her.

"You have your friends for that."

"Okay, fine, I'm not ready to go."

"Jesus, it's not forever," she exasperated.

"I know, mom, but maybe... let's do it another time," I sighed. However, I was bluffing just for her to keep quiet. I know, it was bad and she was just looking out for me.

"Alright, but my offer is on the table. I will give you by the end of the month to decide." Yup, she talks like a lawyer to her kids.

"Yes, counsel," I responded jokingly.

"Okay, I have to get back to work. I will call again when I can. Love you."

"Love you too, mom."

Later, I went down to the dining area to get a coffee and grabbed breakfast muffin. I remember how the place was so quiet because I was the only one there.

I brought my laptop to do some editing done. Even though, I had my makeup on, a knitted sweater and sweatpants, but I just in my planned on going nowhere.

About thirty minutes later, Roy and few other guests came to start their day. "Morning," he said as he sat with me to have his breakfast.

"Morning," I replied.

"The day just started and you're already working."

"Yeah, this had to be done this weekend. So, what are you upto for today?"

"After I eat, I'm gonna do some jogging outside, and then update my blog," he answered. "I feel like I ate a lot eversince I got here. I need to burn some calories off."

"You like to workout?"

"Yeah, I like to stay active as much as I can."

"Wait, is that why you hiked the other day?" I asked. At that time I could really see that he was not Topher because Topher was not a fan of working out. Although, he was on shape since his travels required him to walk a lot.

"Yup, believe it or not, I was... very chubby when I was in my teen years. My Dad was too busy to cook me proper dinner, so we always ate fast food."

"Oh..."

"One advantage of homeschool, I didn't have to go through bullying," he said. "Although, few of my dad's colleagues teased me about it."

"That's terrible," I replied.

"What's worse was that my Dad would join them to make fun of me."

"Oh! God. So sorry you had to go through that." I remember feeling so angry for his dad to do that. What kind of father, or any parents made fun about their kid's weight problem along with their colleagues?

"That's okay, I'm just glad that I'm not living with him. We still talk though and I visit him sometimes. I just wished he says he's sorry."

I nodded in response. "Yeah, I get it."

Suddenly, Barry came to us. "Hey! morning, guy, what's up?" he greeted.

"Good."

"Same as her," Roy said back.

"Awesome, Well, I just want you guys to know that since more guests are coming, we're going to have game night tonight. You guys in?" Barry asked us.

At that time, I wasn't interested, but I hadn't given him an answer yet until Roy did. "About time," he scoffed. "Yeah, I'm in."

So Barry then turned to me. "What about you, Pepsi?"

They were both looking at me. Somehow, I knew I wasn't pressured to join, but it was like seeing Roy's face controlled my decision-making. "Sure..." I blurted. "I'm in too."

Seriously, what was wrong with me?

"Great!" Barry exclaimed with a big smile on his face. "It will start at nine in the common room. See you guys there."

"Alright, thanks," I told him.

"Anyway, I better get a yogurt and some muesli before they ran out," Roy said as he headed to the buffet table.

I felt regret and I wanted to approach Barry or Ms. Regis, but I couldn't. I had to play a game with them.

Anyway, I finished my editting for about couple of hours later and since the game night was hours away, I wanted to relax for the weekends. I didn't feel like sticking around in the inn.

Then I remember I was running out of makeup so, that was when I thought about doing some shopping, so I got up and went out to get my scooter.

I arrived at an area almost like a strip mall. Most of them were local boutiques, outlet stores, and haberdasheries. A lot men in Barcon who works in the office would rather get bespoke suits instead of buying them straight from a retail store, so there were a lot of haberdasheries around town.

Anyway, I usually bought my makeup in a drugstore. However the colors I wanted ran out and some of the other brands there were not good for my skin. So, I went out and searched for another shop instead.

Eventually, I spotted a boutique that had a lot of clothes and make-up from Korea.

Everything looked so cute when I saw them through the window. I decided to enter the shop right away, checking all their clearance sales racks first. My plan was to buy my makeup, but seeing all those pastel, neutral colored clothing, hypnotized me to buy them.

I took all the wool knitted sweaters I saw, a long dress, a checkered skirt and a couple of stockings. You could say I shop til I drop.

Before paying them, their make-up stalls caught my eye, and then I remembered that I needed a knew eyeshadow anyway. It wasn't the brand that I use, but they had the color I wanted.

However, I noticed some liptints. You know, the ones that you could apply it as an eyeshadow, blush and lipstick. I decided to buy that instead, then I had to choose a color.

My usual style would be nude and natural because it was easy and basic, but that time felt different. I wanted to try something different. I wanted to add a more daring, yet a more relaxed color to my face.

I picked a color called Lilac Wine with a gloss. Almost like pinkish red. I used to prefer blush pink. From there, I understood what retail therapy meant when I paid all of them with my money.