Ciara sighed as she dropped the call and returned her phone in the chest pocket of her shirt. She turned towards Milan quickly, her brows raised.
"How many minutes do I have to spend on the road before I get to my destination?" She requested, her voice demanding as she tries to sound interested in the enquiry.
"It's a twenty-five minute drive from here, ma'am." Milan replied to her hastily, sounding calculative. "Since it's almost half past six, you should be there on time, ma'am -right before the scheduled time, I guess."
Ciara nodded slowly, her bored expression on her face. "Oh, I see." She blurted out. "I should get going, so I won't be the one to delay him."
"Is it okay for you to go alone, ma'am?" Milan enquired, threading her words careful, and her voice was filled with concern. "If you are feeling otherwise, I'll suggest you should allow me to go with you, Ms. Ciara -just In case you are not comfortable with him."
Ciara's lips curled up in a sly smile. "There is nothing to worry about, Milan." She told her. "I'll manage on my own, likewise making sure the talk shouldn't be dragged out too -we will be done with whatever thing we want to talk about in a jiffy."
"But, ma'am..."
Ciara cut her off, giving her no chance to complete her words. "It's several minutes past your closing hour, Milan." She pointed out. "I'm sure there are people waiting for your arrival at home. Leave this to me -it's my company, by the way, I should know how to handle things related to it myself."
Milan sighed with a slight shoulder shrug, seeing Ciara won't go back on her words or have a change of mind. "Sure, ma'am, you are right." She nodded in affirmation as she gazed at her wristwatch. "You should get going, it's one minute away from half past six -at this rate, I'm afraid you will get there late."
Ciara only smiled warmly at her without a reply as she hastens her steps away from Milan. She got to the car park and her brows suddenly creased in disapproval.
She was surprised to see Gerald resting his back, as his usual habit, on her carwith an empty and his oh-so-stoic expression on his face as always -this time, his gaze was unconsciously at the sky.
Furthermore, she walked up to him, herfrown was deeper than it was at first.
"Gerald..."She called out, snapping him out of his trance. "You are here?"
He nodded slowly as he adjusted his position, standing properly without having his back resting on the anymore. "Yes." His reply was blank and quick that anyone around at the moment might have doubted that he even speak.
But Ciara heard him -no, maybe because she read his lips sync the quick and quiet response. "Yes.?" Ciara repeated with a scoff. "I remembered I asked you to stay away for a while, there's nothing much around to do. And besides, I haven't seen you around since today, why did you suddenly reappear out of the blues?"
"Isn't it obvious?" He muffled out, shrugging his shoulderas well. "I see no reason why you will be startled to see me here when the reason is so vivid and clear."
Ciara's frown slowly dissipated, instead of disappearing totally, it only resulted into a raised brow. "What do you mean?" She demanded, her brow still raised. "What's so clear?"
Gerald chuckled softly at the expression on Ciara's face -he was expecting it though, and he wished he would be wrong for once; but maybe unfortunately for him, he was right as always. She failed to get it!
"What's so funny, Gerald? Why are you laughing?" Ciara asked, as she seemed to be thrown into confusion, and she was starting to get irritated by his laugh too.
"It's the other way round, I should be asking you instead; why the serious expression on your face?" He uttered, scratching the bridge of his nose with his free hand, since the other hand was buried in his pant pocket. "It was supposed to be a joke, but you did not get it."
"How am I supposed to get it, huh?" She pointed out. "The Gerald I know doesn't make jokes because he is always wearing a stoic and hard look. How would someone of such know how to throw a joke?"
"Well, I'm here because I learned that you will be meeting some new company owner this evening." He enunciated. "I was surprised because you don't do meet up at nights -at least, not with someone you don't even know."
"Oh, I see. Someone has been tipping you off about me behind my back, isn't it?" She muffled out with a scoff.
"I wouldn't say tipping me off, I guess she was worried about you going out alone, that was why she pleaded with me to come." Gerald replied simply. "And why wouldn't I come? I can't even stand it if anything happens to you -no one can guarantee your safety, Ciara." "I know, right?" She replied reluctantly, zeroing any otherthoughts from her head. "But I'm sure I'll be fine, you should just go home and stop worrying about me -I'm not a kid or a lad as Herzl's age."
"I don't take no for an answer, and you know that, Ms..."Gerald told her as he checked his watch. "...and it's even only sixteen minutes before it hits seven. Hand the key over, I'll drive you to your destination. Don't worry, I'll be waiting in the car until you are done."
Ciara groaned as she reluctantly let go of the keys, placing them on Gerald's stretched palm. "I think it's time I assign you my personal driver, this way, you will be satisfied that I'm safe." She muttered as she hopped into the car, with Gerald closing the door afterward.
He stared at her for a second with a smile on his face before getting to the driver's seat. "I doubt if that driver would last up to a week, Ciara." He uttered with a smug grin on his face. "That is, if he's enduring and patient enough."
"Shut up, Gerald, and start driving." Ciara laughed at his words. "I'm already late, thanks to you..."
********
The ride was pretty fast, but Ciara still couldn't beat the time, but she managed to reach there with only five minutes late. She quickly hopped down from the car as she hastens her steps inside the restaurant -if there is anything she hated mostly when it comes to business, it's arriving later than the scheduled time.
She managed to locate the private spot Milan reserved forthem, all thanks to her description. Ciara got there and realized she was really late.
Mr. Vizio was already sitting, his head and attention focused on the magazine he's reading. She could hardly tell what he looks like since his head was bent and the lights were dim too.
She quickly drew out the empty chair that was resting on the table as she made an attempt to sit. "I'm sorry I arrived late, Mr. Vizio. I was stuck in the..."
"There was no traffic this evening, Ms..."His husky voice cut her off, giving her no chance to complete herwords as he slowly raised his gaze to meet with Ciara's.
The moment their gaze met, they were both shocked they were a surprising expression which led to a few seconds silence.
Ciara was the one who broke the silence as she opens her mouth to speak. "Damien...？"
"Ciara...？"