An hour later, Dean, who had finished cooking breakfast, and Claire, now awake, sat down to eat with Janet. Janet looked at the plates on the table, which were full of bacon, scrambled eggs, pancakes, and toast with various sauces and syrups. Then she looked at Dean and Claire, who had already started eating.
"Um... thanks so much," Janet said.
"No problem, just eat. You're still recovering," Dean replied, cutting his pancake.
"Yeah, just relax," Claire added, chewing with a mouth full of food.
"Okay," Janet replied, feeling a little awkward as she picked up her fork.
Suddenly, Claire's phone rang. She looked at the screen and saw her mom's name. She immediately answered.
"What's up, Mom?" Claire asked.
"Claire, can I talk to Dean?" Sarah asked.
"Huh? Why do you want to talk to Dean?" Claire asked, confused. She looked at Dean next to her, his hand frozen in mid-air as he looked back at her.
"I just want to talk to him," Sarah replied.
"Um... okay," Claire said, looking at Dean and covering the phone so her mom couldn't hear. "Mom wants to talk to you," she told Dean.
"Alright, give it here," Dean mumbled, putting his knife down.
Claire handed her phone to Dean. He swallowed his food and started to talk.
"Hello," Dean greeted.
"Dean, could you watch Claire at your place for about a week? My husband and I have to go out of town for a business trip. We'll probably be gone for a week, but we're not totally sure yet. Is that okay?" Sarah asked.
"Huh... um... yeah, I guess so, ma'am," Dean replied, looking confused and a bit resigned as he glanced at Claire.
"Okay, great. Thanks. My husband and I will come by later to drop off Claire's suitcase. We're leaving early tomorrow morning, but I have to pack and get things ready today, so Claire can just stay there starting now. She's already there anyway. Thanks so much, Dean," Sarah said.
"Y-yes, ma'am," Dean replied.
The call ended. Dean handed the phone back to Claire, who was staring at him, looking puzzled.
"What did Mom say?" Claire asked.
"Um... she asked me to have you stay here for about a week because she's going on a business trip with your dad to another city," Dean answered.
"Oh, right, Mom often goes with Dad on his work trips," Claire murmured. Then her face lit up, and she turned to look at Dean. "Wait, so I get to live here now? Yes! Now we just have to make it official!" she said excitedly.
"Ugh... looks like this is going to be a long week," Dean muttered to himself, continuing to eat. "Come on, eat. Don't get too excited," Dean told Claire.
"Hehe, okay," Claire replied.
["Isn't this great? Now you two are together and getting even closer."]
"Shut up," Dean thought back, annoyed.
"Um... you guys don't live together yet?" Janet suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Dean and Claire both looked at Janet, who was sitting across from them, having completely forgotten she was there.
"Oh... no, we don't. She still lives at her home with her mother," Dean said, pointing to Claire with his thumb.
"Um... yeah, but we work at this cafe together, and we're practically husband and wife already, hehe," Claire said cheerfully, wrapping her arm around Dean and leaning her body against him. Dean looked a little uncomfortable.
Janet watched as Dean slowly tried to get Claire's arm off him, but Claire just held on tighter and leaned in more, which made Dean's face turn red. "Why do you keep moving?" Claire complained, her face also turning a little red as she was now very close to Dean's face. "It's hard to eat when you're hugging me like this," Dean protested, his face getting even redder.
"Hehe... you two are cute," Janet said with a small laugh.
Dean and Claire looked at Janet, who was still chuckling. Then they separated and went back to eating, their faces red. Janet continued to watch them, eating her food with a small smile.
"Do you guys know of any boarding houses, rental homes, or apartments around here? I'm actually looking for a place in this area," Janet asked.
"Hmm... I know the owner of an apartment building across from this shopping complex and near the campus. They're willing to rent it out for $1,200 a month. What do you think?" Dean asked.
"Oh, really? That works for me; it's within my budget," Janet replied, sounding hopeful.
"Okay, I'll make a call in a minute," Dean said, standing up and taking his phone from the table.
Dean walked into his room and closed the door. Janet and Claire continued their breakfast.
"You're a reporter, right? What are you covering?" Claire asked, trying to make conversation.
"Right now, I'm covering the mysterious deaths caused by this app," Janet said, taking out her phone and showing the screen to Claire.
"Pffft," Claire spit out her food when she saw the Nightmare Revenge app icon on Janet's phone screen. She immediately grabbed a napkin and started cleaning the table.
"W-why... do you have that app? Where did you get it?" Claire stammered.
"Hmm... I don't know, it just appeared on my phone. But I didn't delete it because I figured I might need it someday, considering how dangerous my profession is, hehe," Janet replied casually. "And since I have the app, my editor asked me to investigate the mysterious deaths related to it. It's become a bit of an urban legend in this city over the last two years, you know, and it's big news if I can uncovered it," Janet added.
"I-I see," Claire said. She immediately reached out to Dean in her head. "Dean, Janet has our app! She just showed it to me," Claire said.
"Huh? Are you serious?" Dean asked in his head.
"Yeah, and she said her editor asked her to investigate the deaths behind it for a big news. What should we do?" Claire replied in her head.
["Just let her be. Keep looking for an apartment for her. I gave her that app a few months ago when she was in a tight spot, and she just said she might need it someday, right? hohoho."]
"Oh, so this is your doing?" Dean asked in his head.
"Well, if NS says so, you don't really have a choice, do you?" Claire replied.
"Just give me a reason, don't keep it a secret anymore," Dean insisted.
["Someday, you'll understand, hohoho."]
"Ugh... seriously, another secret? This is the worst," Dean grumbled.
Janet, who noticed Claire suddenly go quiet and stare at her plate without eating, waved a hand in front of Claire's stunned face. "Huh?" Claire snapped out of it and looked up at Janet.
"What's wrong? Why did you suddenly zone out?" Janet asked.
"Nothing... hahaha," Claire replied awkwardly.
A little later, Dean returned to the table. The apartment he mentioned turned out to be one owned by Liam's wife, Laura, and they were indeed looking to rent it out. Dean told Janet that the apartment was still available and that he and Claire could take her to see it after breakfast. According to Liam, the key was at the cafe counter. Of course, Janet immediately agreed and asked if they could go after they finished eating.