Stained [Stalker Grayson Hawthorne x OC]

Part 2

It has been exactly two days since Grayson landed in London to meet his half sisters. He loved both of his sisters dearly but Grayson Hawthorne is a man who needs some time alone with himself sometimes. He did not care about what people would think, he was too busy to care about how they view him for the things he does. Things like dining alone in a fancy restaurant. And when he is alone, he doesn't just eat and relax, he thinks about his work, he has been working alongside with his aunt in the Hawthorne Foundation and in Hannah, same as forward as backwards. Even though his grandfather has cut him and his brothers off his fortune, Grayson managed to make enough and more money by investing.

Once he was done with his food he was looking at a few paperworks, something that you'd find a person doing in a cafe not at a fancy restaurant. Finally he decided to call the waiter to get the bill but that's when something caught his eyes. Someone across his table, with very familiar wavy hair. That girl. She looked different from the last time he saw her, she was wearing a white shirt layered with a black vest, he couldn't see her bottoms as it was hidden under the table, her hair was pretty much the same except it was neatly done. There was a hint of makeup as well. She was sitting on the table not 8 feet far away from him with someone, a guy. A date? boyfriend?

Has she been here the whole time? His first thought was that she was stalking Grayson but he erased that thought when he saw her with some random guy and having a serious and professional conversation with the guy. She was using her iPad to show him something, Grayson can't tell what was on the screen but he could see there was a lot of writing. He watched her talk to this unknown guy for a while until the waiter asked him if he was ready to pay. Grayson ordered a cup of coffee and watched her again. He observed her movements, he noticed she speaks while using a lot of hand movements and has a very expressive face, the way her eyes widened every now and then, he even tried to read her lips. He told himself that was the only reason his eyes wandered to her lips.

Finally the guy stood up and shook her hand before leaving the restaurant. Grayson watched her as she did something on her iPad and then kept it inside her bag, his heart skipped a beat when her eyes left her bag and directly met him. She was just as shocked as Grayson when he noticed her presence. And she saw him while he was looking at her, she must think he was a creep, Grayson expected her to scrunch her face in disgust but instead she gave him a closed mouthed smile and a weak wave. Grayson looked back to make sure she was waving at him even though he was 99% sure that she was waving at him.

With no choice, he waved back. That was how their interaction should have ended but it did not. Just a wave because after all they are still strangers. He doesn't even know her name. Maybe he should ask her name, but why? His legs started moving on its own, something was pulling him towards her table, it was like a magnetic force.

He was grateful that she spoke first. “Hi.” it was all she said.

“I see you've managed to change to a cleaner attire” He comments.

“I did.” It was a bit awkward. Neither of them knew what to say. “I’m Arya.” So that's her name. Arya. If she is giving him her name, it means she wants to know him, right?

“Grayson” His tone was neutral yet again, impossible to read.

“If this was our first time meeting, I'd say ‘nice to meet you’ but giving our previous encounter…” She said in a joking manner.

“Once again I'm sorry about that. May I ask, what are you doing here? London is a big city, is it a coincidence that we are seeing eachother again?” He asked. Hoping that it didn't sound weird.

“Well I had a meeting with a client of mine. Are you suggesting that I'm stalking you?” She asked, he looked for offence in her face but he only found a surprised smile.

“No. I mean, no.” He was quick with his words. “Client? So you're here for work, I see” He quickly changed the topic.

“Mhmm. What about you?” She asked, dropping the previous topic.

“Family.” Was all he said.

“That's nice,” She said. There it was the awkward silence yet again. He was still standing.

“What do you do? For work?” He asked out of curiosity and immediately regretted it. She looked like she was ready to leave and he is keeping her here.

“Public relations.” She answers. “Why don't you have a seat?” She motioned towards the seat in front of her. He hesitated but sat anyway. He told himself that he was only engaging in this conversation because he is curious about her.

“That is interesting. You must be good with words.” He told her.

She chuckled, “I’m not that good, giving that I started like 9 months ago”

“Just 9 months ago? So you got the job as soon as you finished your studies?” He asked with a frown, she looks young she must have just gotten out of university.

“I did an internship last year. For like three agencies.” She said.

“Three? You must really like this field then, at what place are you in now? at your job? ” He asked.

“I'm definitely not the manager given my years of experience, I work with a team. What work do you do?” She asked.

“Family business.” He said and immediately switched back to her life “So where is your team?” He asked.

“In Singapore. Our client wasn't able to make it back to Singapore because of some personal reasons. So one of us had to come here and clear things up.” She told him.

Grayson leaned back “Then you must be really good at what you do”

“Maybe” She shrugged.

There was a moment of silence. “Am I keeping you from something? I'm sorry, you were about to leave” Grayson asked.

“No, it's fine. I actually have nothing to do. My meeting with the client is over. If you weren't here, I would just go back to my hotel and sleep because I'm leaving London tomorrow early in the morning.” She chuckled.

She's leaving that soon?

“Why not explore?” He asked.

“I didn't think I'd have time, so I didn't prepare what to explore,” She replied.

“This is your first time in London, right?” He asked.

“Yep”

“And you would like to explore?”

“Yes”

“Then you should let me take you exploring” He offered “I'm a good tour guide.”

She smiled and nodded.

Like he said, he was indeed a good guide, he explained things with its  history. He mostly took her to posh places that he has been, Arya already knew he is rich from his looks, but the places he took her showed her that he is filthy rich. Grayson almost forgot that he was in London to see his sisters and not tour guiding a pretty girl. He actually enjoyed her company. She was polite, humble and even funny in her own way. They talked a lot, mostly about her, Grayson was interested in her before but learning more about her only kept him fascinated.

There was a feeling that nagged him when it was time for her to get back to her hotel. He dropped her off at her hotel.

He will never see her again.