A Tale Beyond Destiny

Chapter 4: Weird Woman (Caleb)

“Let’s go now,” I told her as I started to stand up and held my hand at her so that she would not have a hard time on getting up from where she was sitting, but she was just looking at me, curiously, as if she could not figure out what I wanted to do and that made me sign again,. “You are already shivering and you needed to get out of that clothes of yours,” I explained as I looked at her dress, almost looked like a gown to be exact.

It seemed like she finally got what I was trying to point out because she opened her mouth a little, then she nodded her head. She finally accepted my hand, which had been held for almost a minute now, and I just helped her to stand up properly.

“Thank you,” she mumbled, and I just nodded my head at her as I finally let go of her arms.

She, on the other hand, just checked herself for something I really did not know, and I never wanted to know. She did that for I did not know how many seconds, or maybe minutes, and I just got fed up because I could already see that she was shivering from the cold, but still, she did not give any care about herself. It seemed like she was just worried about her dress, and nothing else.

I let out a loud irritated sigh as I put my hands on my hips, and that action made her look at me with a frown on her face. “You know, if you do not like the idea of getting sick in the middle of a cold night, then I suggest that you should follow me now and stop looking at your dress, worriedly.” I did not bother to hide the irritation on my face anymore, and it seems like she felt that because she looked down on the ground as she refused to look at me.

“I am not worried about my dress,” she whispered, as if she was afraid that I would shout at her if she would make her voice a little louder than that. “It is just that...” She was about to explain what she was doing, but I just waved it off.

“Forget that I said that to you,” I told her as I let out a sigh once I started to walk after I told her to follow me, and she just did that without any hint of hesitation. “Let’s just go into my car so that we can change our clothes,” I mumbled then I looked down at my shirt and pants that were also soaked because of what just happened earlier.

I shook my head as I could not believe that I did not even notice that I was also soaked from head to toe. It seemed like I was so worried about this woman who was walking behind me, and I did not even care about myself anymore. All my focus, right as of that moment that I saved her from drowning, was all on her and I did not even pay any attention to myself any longer.

I let out a sigh as I decided that I should just let it go because it had already happened. And somehow, the thought of upsetting her, because I would possibly blame her if I caught a cold because of what I did to her, did not sit right for me.

Somehow, I did not like the idea of making her feel bad or something similar to that, and it almost scares me because it was the first time that I felt like stopping myself from doing something because of a woman that I just literally met earlier. Above it all, I did not even know anything about her, not even her name.

I shook my head once again because of that thought, and I made a mental note that I should just ask something about her in the car, and before she entered my house. I did not like the idea of letting a mere stranger enter my house, and letting her stay, without even knowing any single thing about her.

I let out a sigh again before I looked behind me, but I almost got frozen in place when I saw a look of so much fondness on her face as she looked around the park. It looked like she was enjoying the scene in front of her, even though all I could see was the street lights and some decorative lights that hung on the tree. She looked like she enjoyed looking at those things, even though it could be considered as a normal thing that could be seen in a typical part.

Nonetheless, as of that moment when I kept on looking at her, I could not seem to stop myself from thinking that she was so beautiful. I could not stop but to think that she was one of those people that caught my eye because of the beauty that she holds.

As I was thinking of that, the woman that I saved earlier looked at me and made me snap out of my thoughts as I looked away from her. I faked a cough as I cleared my throat because of how awkward it was to be caught staring at the woman that I barely knew, though I guess that she did not give any single care about it because I did not hear her react, though I could not see her face because I refused to look at her.

I started to walk again as I finally cleared my mind, because it seemed like she had invaded my thoughts and all I could think about was her and her smile. I almost rolled my eyes because of that, but really, I did not know why, but I could not stop myself from thinking about the way I had seen her earlier.

I almost messed my hair because I could not seem to get her out of my mind, but I stopped myself from doing it because I think that she might have a different interpretation of my actions. So, I just resort to focusing my attention on walking as if that would be the most interesting that I have ever done, which is not, really.

I just breathed out a sigh when I finally saw my car in the parking lot, but that relief was immediately gone when I realized that she would be in the same space as mine, and that said space was too small for me to think right, without even making a f*ol of myself. After all, I could already tell that I would act so d*mb in front of her.

I rolled my eyes, without her knowing anything about it and it was intended for me, before I finally looked in her direction, and that was the moment that I saw a curious expression on her face as she stared at my car, almost wondering what it was; though I think that it may sound so absurd because, really, who the h*ck did not know something about a car?

“This is my car and we will ride it so that we can reach my place, though it is just not so far from here,” I explained as I pointed at the car behind me, and she still had that curious expression on her face that made me frown.

“Is this some sort of transportation?” she asked me, which made me look at her in shock, because I did not expect that she would ask me that. She came near to my car as she touched it with so much adoration in her eyes that it made me even more shocked than before. “It is fascinating,” she said as she looked at me with so much excitement and awe in her eyes that made me even more confused. “I have never seen one before,” that statement made my eyes widen.

“Are you serious about that?” I asked her because it seemed like I could not seem to comprehend what she said.

She was not kidding me, right? I mean, she looked so serious right now, and I could tell that the awe and excitement in her eyes was genuine. It was not just because she was pranking me for saying that she did not know about a car, but it was really the truth.

I blinked and blinked, but after a few minutes of looking at her, dumbfounded, I finally let out a sigh as I waved her off as if I already wanted to dismiss this topic, because, really, I could not seem to believe that she really did not know anything about cars.

“Don’t answer that question anymore,” I told her as I put one of my hands on my forehead as if I just had a headache because of her, and her antics. “Let’s just go inside so that we can finally go to my house.”

And because she really did not know anything about cars, I needed to open the door of my car for her, and even close it for her, before I got into the driver’s seat to start and go on my way home, because it seemed like this day had exhausted me for real.

I shook my head again because of that thought. I came here because I thought that it would be relaxing to go and see the eclipse, but I guess that I was wrong, because I had another problem, even bigger than the previous one, and it was all because of the woman who was sitting beside me and looking at my car as if it was the most interesting thing that she have ever had eyes on.

I was about to drive and just have a rest at my own house, but I stopped when I turned to look at her.

“Right,” I mumbled to myself, though it seemed like she heard it loud and clear because she turned to look at me with a slight frown on her face.

I did not pay any attention to it anymore as I leaned in her direction, which made her eyes widen. “What are you doing?” she even asked, with a hint of shock in her voice, and that made me shake my head once again as I reached for the seatbelt on the passenger seat.

“You needed that seatbelt,” I explained to her as I finally finished what I was doing and I went and sat in the same position before I took care of her seatbelt. “For safety purposes,” I added when I saw that she frowned and looked down on that said seatbelt as if it had done something wrong on her.

I finally started my car when I checked that everything was already fine, and the whole space was just silent. It seemed like she was still checking some things on my car that caught her attention, and I just let her, because I did not like the idea of having another headache because of what she would say as soon as she opened her mouth.

Though as the minutes went by, I started to get annoyed at the constant silence between the two of us. And so, I tried to think of something that we could talk about, and that was the moment when the idea of introducing myself to her came into my mind.

She would not mind that, right? After all, it was my idea to introduce myself to her and to find out something about her, because again, I did not like the idea of letting a mere stranger get inside of my house and staying in it for the meantime.

I cleared my throat first before I said, “I have not introduced myself to you yet,” and that made her look at me and stop touching everything that she could reach at where she was sitting.

I heard a small ‘oh’ as if she had just realized what I said to her. She even stopped whatever she was doing as she sat straight on her seat. Maybe it was because of her instinct, that was why she did that even though I started to be confused because of her actions.

“That is right,” she said as I saw that she gave me a sheepish smile. “I have not said my name to you either.” She tucked her hair behind her ears as if she was ashamed that the thought of introducing herself had slipped out of her mind.

I smiled at her as I waved off her silent apology as I finally introduced myself to her, “I am Caleb Dwayne Miller, by the way.” I then maneuvered my car to the intersection where my condominium was located. “I run a business not so far from here.”

She nodded her head at me, understanding what she said, before she gave me a smile as she said, “I am Caliana Sofia Briar...”

She had not even finished her sentence yet when she stopped because of what I whispered to myself. “Briar,” I mumbled as I started to think of her surname, but then I frowned when I realized something about it. “What a very weird surname,” I said that made her laugh out loud, and that made my eyes widen and was about to apologize to her because I knew that it was too rude, but I stopped and all my words was caught on my throat when I saw how she laughed.

It was like the most beautiful laugh that I ever heard. I know that it may sound so absurd, but really, that was what I thought when I saw and heard her laugh. It was not so loud that made me want to cover my ears, and not so reserved that made me feel flustered because of what I said. It was almost too perfect to be true, and I just wanted to hear it over and over again.

“You are funny,” she said as she looked at me, then in front of the car once again and I saw how her eyes widen. “There is a car in front of us!” she shouted as she pointed at the car in front of us, which made me look at it, and steered the car so that it would avoid the collision.

We both let out a sigh when we both saw that we had managed to escape the accident that we were about to face, if ever. I then focused my attention on the road in front of us so that it would never happen again.

“Sorry about that,” I even apologized to her as I maneuvered my car into the underground parking lot of the condominium where my home is. “I just got a little distracted...” because of you. I want to say that but I needed to save myself from the embarrassment that I would feel, so I did not bother to include that in what I just said to her.

“It is alright,” she said as the car we used came into a halt, and that was the moment that I looked at her once again; though I immediately regretted it because I got mesmerized by her smiles.

I shook my head because of that thought. Maybe I was just so tired and needed to rest, and that was why I was thinking about something like that? Yeah. That might really be the case because I have never been like this before. I had never acted like this way towards someone before, and it was a plus that I just met her almost an hour ago.

“It is alright, really,” she said, which made me focus my attention on her again, but then, I saw that she was not looking at me. Instead, she focused her attention on her nails as if she did not want me to see the expression that she had on her face. “I just laughed because this was the first time that someone had the courage to say something about my surname.”

What she said made me raise one of my eyebrows. “Why?” I asked her, which made her look at me with an equally confused expression on her face. “Is it a crime to say something about your surname? Would I be killed if someone had heard me say that?” I even asked her, as if I was challenging her to tell me the truth.

She quickly waved her hands off as if she was saying that it was wrong to think in that way. “It is not like that,” she said as she even slightly shook her head before she looked down on her fingers again. “It was just... my Father, and my family, was feared by too many people, and that was the reason why they cannot say anything about me or my name, that is.”

I slowly nodded my head at her when I heard her explanation, but then, I snapped my head towards her direction once again when I realized something about her. I knew that it may sound so absurd right now because I did not know how many countries that a concept like that had, but what if she is a royal and that is the reason why everyone feared to say their opinion about her?