Second Love Story

Chapter 13: Kidnappers

The kitchen, which was right downstairs from Clara’s room, was filled with sizzling and boiling sounds. Florence, after missing Thomas's call, got busy preparing a mild supper for her starving employer, Clara.

While the food needed some time to cook, Florence took the time to call Thomas back.

“Miss Florence!!” Rita cheerfully sprang like an evening flower in full bloom. “Oh my! Rita, you shouldn’t be this loud at the mansion.” Florence unconsciously started to nag her junior. But, noticing the background full of giggles and laughter, she couldn’t help but get curious. “Well, the mood seems abnormally lively there. Did something good happen?”

Sherin got the phone from Rita, as she was pouting about getting schooled. “Oh, Florence, the lively atmosphere certainly has a reason. Do you not think so?” Sherin tried to make Florence even more curious.

“Let me guess. Did Ash stand up without you carrying him around? Or did he take his first step, perhaps?” Florence teased Sherin in a joking voice, masking her seriousness and worries about Clara. However, her teasing annoyed Sherin, and without any suspense, she broke the news in a cynical tone, “Well, too bad for you that you couldn’t see the father and son make-up chatting and giggling and all.”

“Wait, what?” Florence was genuinely surprised as she lost all the seriousness and stress from the long day vanished into thin air. “No, wait, just a second. Hold on to the line.” She rushed back to the kitchen from the porch to turn the stove off.

The cheerful conversation between the mansion employees and Florence continued for another half an hour before Florence had to serve Clara the almost-cooled-down supper.

As the giggles faded into memory, Florence warmed up the vegetable stew and brought it upstairs. Despite the serious atmosphere, she handed Clara the bowl and a couple of toast buns. She wasn’t curious but worried. However, she knew that knowing the situation would make everyone feel discomfort. Thus, Florence simply stood by the side, waiting for Clara to take a bite.

Clara had no choice, but knowing a little bit about her sister and Michele settled her restlessness. Seeing her take the food, Florence was relieved and left the room with Michele. Her room was filled with the smell of melted butter and stew and the crunching and slurping sound of every bite she took from the hearty meal.

A while later, Florence, who was waiting for Clara to come down or call her, grew impatient as she approached Clara’s room. She knocked softly so as not to startle her. As no response came, she knocked a bit stronger, just louder enough for Clara to hear. Or so she expected. As Clara did not respond again, Florence opened the door slightly to take a peek inside. What she saw made her realize the time. It was half past 11 at night. Clara was sound asleep right beside the empty bowl on the floor. A relieved, gentle smile escaped Florence’s lips as she bent down to pick up the empty dishes.

---

On the other side, a certain someone was shivering as the cold wind washed through his thin clothes. Shaking and swaying. Ash opened his eyes, half asleep. Unable to comprehend the situation, he stared at the star-filled night sky and the moving moon.

“Heh, the moon’s moving…” Ash chuckled and got back to sleep. Tried to do so, but noticing the sensation was weirdly vivid, he jolted up and sat straight. Still swaying but fully awake.

“THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU FREAKS!!” Ash yelled from the top of his lungs.

Gray, Eugine, and Rebecca were… practically k********g Ash.

5 hours ago --

Gray drove his luxury car to a garage he frequented. “Bob!” he called, waving his hand with a cheerful greeting smile.

Bob—Robert Stanley has been their school friend since kindergarten. He was never interested in studies and always slacked off, so he was rarely seen going to class. However carefree he seemed, he was always passionate about cars. Thanks to Marie’s sponsorship, Bob became a professional racer and occasionally repaired cars and other vehicles.

“Yo! Gray. What’s up?” Bob and Gray hugged each other as a greeting.

“Woah… Look at you! What’s up with these ginormous muscles, man?” Gray, in his usual cheerful tone, commented on Bob’s muscular body.

“Yeah, well, planning to retire from the tracks…” Bob’s voice shy contrast to his buffed appearance.

“What!!!” Gray was shocked to another realm. “You can still go on, and what’re you even gonna do with all that fame and money?”

“Of all the people to talk about money, it had to be you, huh?” Bob jokingly commented, knowing Gray—one of the wealthiest guys in the country.

“Ahem… So what's your plan now?” Gray cleared his throat and looked at him curiously.

After a few seconds of pause, Bob responded, “It’s not like I like to retire either, ever since my first loss, I never lost again. And with Eunison's cars winning golds, it was like a walk in the park…”

“So you got tired of it now…” Gray continued as Bob was hesitating.

“Yep. And the worst part is that I don’t know what to do anymore.” Bob’s voice shrank low as he was obviously confused.

Realizing that the mood was getting serious, Bob cleared his throat and stood up. “Well, whatever it is, I’ll have to figure it out on my own. And I probably should stop brainstorming in gyms,” he joked as he led Gray inside the garage.

“That’s how you got this bulky? Just how long were you trying to figure out!?” Gray was surprised by Bob’s predicament.

“All right! Enough of me. Take the thing you were so desperate to call me in the middle of the night and get outta my sight… You rich folks have a creepy way of celebrating birthdays…” Bob handed the key for a Jeep without a roof that Gray had asked for.

“...um, for your information, you are ‘‘rich’’ too, you know!??” Gray took the key as he got in the car. “Anyway, thanks for getting this in such a short time. Oh, and I’ll get my car when I return it. The party invite is still valid, you know… call me if you change your mind anytime. Ash’s gonna freak out by your new look…” Gray drove away as he waved his hand.

Robert Stanley, now a well-known figure, was once an orphan left by his parents. Thanks to Marie's education sponsorship program, he was able to attend the same school as Ash and Gray. When Marie learned about Bob’s passion, she took it upon herself to support him and subsequently established a trust foundation for children pursuing interests beyond academics.

After picking up the jeep, Gray went to Eunison, where Eugine and Rebecca were waiting for him. The plan was to kidnap Ash and drive all the way to Malibu, where Ronny and the others would be waiting for the party’s main character.

---

Present,

The wind was freezing cold despite the mid-summer of May. Ash scanned the lovey-dovey couple in front of him and was super upset about the fact that he was the only one in thin PJs while the other three were fully packed. As his rage was rising, Gray hit the brakes to avoid the speed bump. However, as the only one without a seat belt, Ash hit his head.

“Gray.” Ash’s voice felt so ominous that it made Gray instinctively pull over. He stepped out and walked toward the driver's seat. Ash has always been phlegmatic, even before his sudden change of character after Marie’s passing. However, not many knew of his contrastingly short-tempered side other than Gray, who’s been practically like an extended part of Ash since crib-hood days.

Ash’s annoyance overflowed as he stuck out his hand in front of Gray’s face, who was still sitting in the driver's seat. Without any word spoken, Gray handed Ash’s phone to him.

The atmosphere was eerily tense for the other two friends as well, who happened to be working under Ash. Rebecca’s quick thought process has always been her strong suit. Upon witnessing Ash and Gray stare at each other, she instantly pulled out Eugine’s jacket and got out of the jeep to cover her boss herself. Poor Eugine started to shiver from the cold as he empathetically realized Ash’s irritation.

After a few minutes of quietness in the air, Ash checked the time on his phone; it was 2 AM. He sighed and opened the door of the front passenger’s seat, a couple of duffle bags were stacked up, one of which he realized was his bag. Curious as he was, he opened the zipper to check the luggage. It was obviously Rita’s skillful packing, and a nice leather jacket was packed on top of it, ensuring easy access. The view of the elegantly packed bag snapped Ash.

He threw the other duffle bag on Gray’s face “Were you trying to kill me on the way, shithead!!?”

“Ouch, man! My neck could have twisted…” Gray tried to ease the tension.

“Great then! I will be delighted to conduct your funeral!!” Ash annoyed.

As bickering ensued, Rebecca and Eugine sighed in relief. Shortly after, Ash joined them in the back seat.

“I really thought I was a light sleeper for so long. How on earth did I even get here?” Ash calmed down to his usual self.

“Well, you were kinda drugged to sleep,” Gray replied as he continued the drive.

“You guys went as far as drugging me!?” Ash couldn’t believe his ears.

“No i***t! There was a situation at your home. And you were in the hospital for an hour. Our plan was to wait till you fell asleep. Oh, FIY, you definitely aren’t a light sleeper at all. You would be sound asleep even if a fire broke out!” Gray explained as he continued, “Mansion employees seem to have been celebrating something. We didn’t have time to get the details. But what happened was that Dahlia added some oyster sauce that had oyster shell essence to the noodles. And apparently, you are allergic to oyster shells. You passed out just a few minutes after gobbling down the entire bowl. Thomas rushed out to us. Oh! And he knew about the plan, by the way. Then we carried the sleeping princess to the hospital, and a few minutes later, Thomas came to hand over your luggage and picked up Ben.”

After Gray finished explaining, Ash didn’t talk for a while. He was too dumbfounded and petrified by the entire embarrassing ordeal. A while later, Ash’s eyes widened for a moment as if he remembered something. He rubbed his face with his palms, “Oh Man… She must be crying her eyes out now…” Ash commented. He immediately took out his phone to call Dahlia.

“You’re gonna call her now!? Did you even check the time?” Gray was shocked to see Ash cruel enough to wake someone in the middle of the night.

“The night shift ends at 9 PM, and everyone goes to sleep soon. But you said Thomas came by to deliver the luggage, so he’s sure to have spoken to the doctors himself. Worse, he’s strict about anything affecting Aunt Clare or me. I bet he must have said harsh things to the poor kid. And she would be guilty and crying now…” Ash explained the situation and called her.

The phone didn’t even complete a full ring before Dahlia picked up. “Oh, Master Ash, are you well, sir? I am so, so terribly sorry, sir. I didn’t know that you were allergic to oysters…” Dahlia’s voice trembled as she apologized earnestly, not knowing how to express her guilt.

Ash had placed the call on speakerphone. Gray, Rebecca, and Eugine were truly taken aback to discover that Ash was correct.

"It's okay, Dahlia. I'm completely fine. I had no idea I was allergic to oyster shells, but now, thanks to you, I can stay outta this in the future. Don't let Thomas's words worry you. Just stop crying and get some sleep, alright?" Ash turned the speaker phone off and comforted Dahlia.

Despite the call being on handheld mode, the surroundings were dead quiet that everyone was able to listen.

Upon hearing this, Dahlia cried even harder, startling everyone, particularly Ash. The conversation took a while. Ash convinced that he was perfectly alright, and that if anything, the three who kidn*pped a patient should be punished. Soon, he hung up the call.

Eugine commented, “Wow! Man, I never knew you could talk in that voice…”

“What voice?” Ash asked, confusion apparent.

“I’ve been curious about something for a long time now, dude.” Gray’s question caught all their attention. “How come the maids at your home never hit on you?”

After a brief pause to process Gray’s question, Ash asked, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’ve seen my home, right? Our maids never miss a chance to pounce on us. Some want to be a part of our family, and most are just lustful predators. Not just mine. Pretty much all of our friends’ live-in employees are quite like that. You’ve been attacked by them a buncha times, too, haven’t you? So, how are all your maids not like that? Even Rita, who pretty much grew up with you, shows no interest in you?” Gray’s words made Rebecca and Eugine curious.

“Let me ask you this. Were your employees recruited with lists and interviews?” Ash’s voice clear.

“...Isn’t that how it's usually done? I mean, why do you think Butler academies and Service academies exist?” Gray was confused by Ash’s question.

“Yeah, that’s the norm. But my house has been quite different ever since Mom took over.” Ash said with a bittersweet expression.