"Yes, my business. Why does that surprise you so much?" Ian asked.
"You having a business does not surprise . The fact it was never ntioned in the papers does," Scarlet answered.
Ian wasn’t seen much in town as far as she knew. When Scarlet attended parties, it was always Lord Kingsley, his wife, and the younger son. The Kingsley family had a bit of attention to it because of past drama and Ian’s business was sothing Scarlet thought the town would talk about.
"I ca back in secret to avoid those little pests. I wouldn’t be able to get work done with them lingering outside for answers. Pick a seat of your liking while I prepare you tea," Ian said, giving Scarlet the freedom to sit where she wanted.
She was welco to sit in his private room if she wanted.
"It is a kind offer, but I must go," Scarlet answered. She had low expectations for any tea he could make as this was a place to serve drinks with alcohol. Not fine tea of her liking. "You are closed so we mustn’t disturb you."
"We are normally open at this ti for early drinkers, but we had a bit of cleaning to do. As an apology for walking in, take a seat. One cup of tea is all that I ask you to have," said Ian.
"Very well. Prepare a cup of your best tea," Scarlet said, walking to the nearest seat to sit. She did co in at the wrong ti and to never hear of this again, she would have one cup.
Scarlet was curious how Ian had set up a business in town and nothing was said about it. Her every move was spoken of in town long before her divorce. What secret did he have to get around the papers and how could she get a hold of it?
"My apologies," Harry apologised. "I was told that it was open at this ti."
"We see now what you are told was correct. It was just bad timing. Don’t think about it too much," Scarlet said, not angry with Harry bringing her here.
There wasn’t a single custor here besides herself so she did not need to hear about the divorce or the unborn child. Scarlet enjoyed that the only chatter was coming from the employees as they worked.
Behind the bar, one of the employees was confused to see Ian putting on a pot for hot water. "Uh, boss. What are you doing?"
Ian didn’t answer as it was obvious what he was doing. He didn’t spare a glance at the idiot beside him.
"Making tea, yes. I an, why are you making tea when you hate it?" Asked Owen, a worker and a self-proclaid friend of Ian. "And should we let that woman be seen here with all the noise that is around her these days? You wanted to lie low until the big reveal."
Ian smiled, amused. "Why wouldn’t I let her in? Isn’t she the victim in that ss?"
"Well yes, but-"
"Then it is fine," Ian replied. "She is a welcod custor so treat her well and don’t speak of what is in the papers."
Like everyone else, Ian saw the paper with the pitiful story of Beth crying like she wasn’t the one to go after a married man. The tears and pleas did not move Ian. Instead, he laughed.
"I’m sure the others won’t. You already have the rule of not speaking of outside gossip to custors. It’s a sha that such a beautiful woman has to be involved in sothing like this. Almost every day I see her na in the papers," said Owen.
Ian thought it was just like Lockwood to make the wife in this situation the villain. The town was strange and showed no signs of getting better. Scarlet was in no different position than he was years ago.
Painted to be ruining soone’s happiness.
"Wait, didn’t her husband co here before? If she becos a custor too, what if they co here at the sa ti?" Owen asked, worried about the conflict.
Ian continued to make the tea, ignoring Owen getting worked up over nothing. Scarlet was more of a priority over her husband. Her na was ntioned all over the town and Ian liked it. She was just the person he needed nearby to ruffle a few feathers.
Owen watched Ian from the sidelines, still confused about Ian making tea when he hated it. It was more than not liking the taste of tea as it had sothing to do with his mother and family drama. Scarlet waltz in here and all of a sudden Ian was liking tea again. Did Ian plan on courting the soon-divorced woman?
Ian finished up the tea for Scarlet, placing the pot, cup, and other items on a tray to take to her.
"At least button your shirt up in front of the lady," Owen said, attempting to do it for Ian.
"Why do such a thing when the lady is enjoying the view?" Ian asked.
Ian personally carried the tray to Scarlet, sothing he never did for other custors. She had the pleasure of this treatnt since they were alike.
Scarlet was surprised to see that he was going out of his way to serve her himself when there were so many employees around. "What do you want from ?" She asked as the treatnt was suspicious.
"To try the tea. Should I call for a doctor to treat your mory loss?" Ian questioned jokingly.
Scarlet didn’t care for the joke. "This isn’t the first ti this has happened. For an owner to personally serve , they always want sothing in return. The answer is no."
"Sweetheart, I don’t want anything from you other than for you to try the tea and beco a future custor. I am serving you to see the surprise when you taste my tea. Nothing more unless you wish for to serve you sothing else," Ian said, taking a seat before Scarlett.
Scarlet inspected the tea before her. The sll was pleasant, but it was all about the taste.
"I happen to have a bit of interest in you, Scarlet."
Scarlet looked back up to Ian. "I have no interest in n at the mont."
Ian chuckled. "While I have an interest in you that way, I was trying to be a gentleman by not ntioning it at the first eting. I ant that I have an interest in you because we are similar. The papers are trying to ruin us when it is others deserving of ridicule."
Scarlet couldn’t recall any news about Ian recently or for the last few years so he had to be referring to the drama long ago before he disappeared. It wasn’t sothing to forget since his stepmother trashed him every ti his na was brought up.
"I sympathise with you and it isn’t to get sothing from you. You remind of myself years ago. You should try the tea before it gets cold. It tastes better when a little hot," Ian said, eagerly awaiting her review.
Scarlet poured herself tea into the small glass cup to give it a taste. Scarlet took a small sip to test and to her surprise, it was delightful. A bit better than the teahouse she frequented before. "It is good," she complinted him effort.
"It could be better but I have not made tea in over ten years. I will do my best to make it better so I hope you will co again to try the improved tea. If privacy is sothing you need, I have a private room for you to use," said Ian.
Ian’s offer was exactly what Scarlet was looking for, but it wouldn’t be long before it was revealed that he owned the business and his na would be in the papers. Scarlet didn’t want to be around all that attention.
"Is a kind offer, but I must decline," Scarlet replied, putting the cup down.
"That’s a sha, but I will always be here to serve you when you are ready. Should you need to speak with soone who once experienced the town having fun with your problems, I am always here-"
"Ian!" A woman’s loud cry ruined the conversation.
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