
“Lunch...?” Ayana said nervously. He was still staring at Carlos warily. Although the man smiled very sweet and looked friendly. Ayana knew what kind of monster was residing inside the man.
“Yes, lunch. I'm hungry,” Carlos said as he waved his hand. “I'll be waiting for you in the kitchen. You better hurry up and make me something to eat, before you're the one I ate.”
Ayana's body stiffened upon hearing that and without a second thought, she walked after Carlos out of the room towards the kitchen.
Once Ayana had arrived there, Carlos had been sitting in the barstool, where Ayana used to sit, resting his chin on his intertwined finger by propping his elbow on the counter.
At the time of Carlos' arrival, Ayana intended to make fried noodles, but because she heard the man had returned, Ayana still had no time to clean up the ingredients that she would use. Everything is still on the kitchen table.
But, Ayana did not know, if Carlos wanted to eat the same food. And so, he asked first. “What do you want to eat?”
Ayana's voice was so slow that it was like a whisper, but Carlos could still hear it clearly.
“What will you make?” Carlos nodded towards the food ingredients that Ayana left behind.
“Mie fried,” Ayana replied, then she asked doubtfully. “Do you want fried noodles?”
Carlos squinted his eyes, “you can cook?”
“I used to cook for my foster family before. But, I'm not sure if this will suit your taste,” Ayana said as she walked to the front of the electric stove and started boiling water.
“You suit my taste, so I guess what you cook will suit my taste.” Carlos grinned and his laughter blared in the kitchen when he saw Ayana looking very frightened by what she meant.
Without asking or saying anything else, Ayana immediately focused herself on making fried noodles for Carlos. Her trembling hands and the gaze of Carlos that was fixed on her every move, made Ayana feel clumsy.
Ayana wanted to tell Carlos to stop looking at her like that, but it was very unlikely for her to ask for that. Carlos will not hear and Ayana will probably get more than just a sharp look. The last thing Ayana needs is; Carlos is nearby.
It only took about fifteen minutes for Ayana to prepare Carlos' lunch. When she finished, Ayana placed the noodles on a white bowl and placed them right in front of the man.
A tasteful fragrant aroma immediately approached Carlos' sense of smell, especially when the source of the scent was right in front of his eyes.
With just his scent and plating alone, Carlos was already smiling happily. His stomach kept calling himself to taste. But, his forehead frowned when he saw Ayana was about to leave.
“Where are you going?” asked Carlos in a dislike tone.
“I... I will return to the room,” Ayana replied timidly. He's done the job, what else does Carlos want?
“Sit down and accompany me to eat,” orders Carlos, this time his voice sounds serious, he no longer sounds tempting or playing.
Ayana hesitates, but she doesn't want to find trouble with this guy, so she complies with what Carlos wants. Ayana sat in the barstool before Carlos while bowing her head. Wishing this man would finish his lunch quickly and not bother him anymore.
“I... I only make one serving,” said Ayana. The ingredients were only enough for one serving, so he only made it for Carlos only.
Hearing that, Carlos released the fork in his hand to make a loud clanging sound and this made Ayana surprised. The girl further lowered her head with a trembling body.
Ayana thought, Carlos will hit her again or do the action she did not want, but after the silence that felt had lasted for centuries, Carlos stood up from his chair and headed for the hanging cabinet, he said, he took another clean plate and a fork.
After that, Carlos returned to his seat, divided the fried noodles Ayana made into two and gave half of them to the girl.
“Eat,” Carlos said in a commanding tone. He pushed the plate in front of Ayana's face and began to eat back the part. “I don't like to make people starve.”
Ayana was surprised by the actions Carlos did. He did not think that the man would feed him.
“Moreover what you're waiting for?” carlos asked impatiently. “Eat.”
Ayana nodded and timidly, she grabbed the fork on her plate and started rolling the noodles, wrapped it around her fork and started eating slowly.
“Taste you good,” praise Carlos and he heard Ayana muttering ‘thank’ very slowly, as if that way he hoped he would not attract the attention of Carlos. “Do you always cook?”
“I'm used to cooking for each of my foster families.” Ayana answered truthfully, although she didn't know why Carlos started this conversation.
“Hm...” Carlos muttered and continued eating. “How many times have you changed foster families?” the question came back after a while. It is common knowledge that anomic will have more than one foster family, especially for families who only want alimony money, because the more adult the foster child, the more unwanted they are.
“Six times,” Ayana replied. This conversation felt strange, because Carlos did not usually invite him to talk with normal topics.
“Where were you when you were eight?” that means ten years ago. The same time as when Juan met the little girl he had been looking for.
“Eight years?” Ayana repeated Carlos' question. He tried to remember. “I... I was in the city of R, in the house of my third foster family.”
“City R...” Carlos repeats it in a dreamy tone and puts on his lunch without rest. “Have you ever experienced an impact while there?”
This time Ayana raised her head. He was not sure what Carlos wanted to ask. But, he had experienced something, unfortunately, the memory of the incident was not so clearly recorded and only a faint memory that sometimes came in the form of nightmares.
“I don't really remember it..” Ayana answered honestly and gasped back when Carlos approached her.
Ayana's body again reacts to the closeness between herself and Carlos. The man was too close as he stood right in front of Ayana.
Carlos knelt down in front of Ayana and placed his hand on Ayana's thigh, so that the girl could go nowhere. “Tell me what you remember.”