CH 4: Alesandrie Reiyu
1409 Words
CHAPTER 4
The woman's dress was stained badly with muddy water. Beside her, a tall man followed calmly after her while trying to speak to her in a gentler voice.
Samantha only gave them one brief glance.
The man wore a mask and dark clothes. His posture stayed relaxed despite the situation.
She looked away again and pulled out several folded bills from her pocket.
The woman was still complaining when Samantha simply raised the money toward her face.
The words immediately stopped.
The woman blinked once before quickly snatching the bills from her hand.
She looked ready to say something else after that, but Samantha no longer cared enough to listen.
Without saying a single word, she started the engine again.
Then the motorcycle sped off down the highway, leaving the couple behind.
Eliana turned toward her boyfriend the second the motorcycle disappeared from sight.
"You didn't even get angry for me!"
Alesandrie finally removed the black mask covering the lower half of his face. A quiet chuckle escaped him as he ran a hand through his slightly messy hair.
That only made Eliana's expression twist further in disbelief.
"Andrie!"
"I'm sorry," he said, between another small laugh. "You just looked ready to fight her on the highway."
"I was!" Eliana looked down at her stained clothes with outrage. "Look at this!"
Andrie glanced down at her dress and nodded sympathetically. "Yeah. That splash had personal hatred in it."
Eliana smacked his arm lightly.
"You're impossible."
He smiled faintly and caught her wrist before she could hit him again. "Come on. Let's get dinner first before our flight."
Eliana immediately pulled the folded bills from her hand and waved them at him.
"No. We're going shopping." She shook her head at once.
Andrie's eyes furrowed immediately as the smile on his lips faded a little. "You didn't have to accept that."
"She gave it already."
"You could've refused."
Eliana stared at him like he had just insulted common sense itself. "Andrie, she soaked us in dirty road water and didn't even apologize."
He opened his mouth slightly but stopped.
Because now that he thought about it…
That woman really hadn't apologized. Not even one word from her. Even an insincere 'sorry' could've meant something but nada. She didn't even bother to turn her head to look at them properly and what she'd done. She only waved her money and left like she couldn't spare a second more for the people she inconvenienced.
Andrie exhaled slowly through his nose. "She did seem in a hurry though," he mumbled.
Eliana gave him a hard look.
"But that doesn't make it less rude." Andrie admitted, as he even couldn't deny that.
He rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. "I have extra clothes in the car anyway. I can change. And if you want something new, I'll buy it for you."
Eliana crossed her arms immediately. "No. This is compensation. Her apology without saying sorry." She lifted the money again. "And I'll only buy one pair. Quick shopping, then dinner."
Andrie looked at the time on his watch. They still had the last evening flight back to San Cielo. His body honestly wanted nothing more than sleep.
The medical mission earlier had lasted for more than half a day. He had barely rested before leaving the group after Eliana texted him that she arrived in the city and wanted to spend time with him before they both returned to their separate schedules again.
He was exhausted.
But when he looked at her standing there pouting angrily with muddy water still on her clothes, he still found himself smiling a little.
She came all the way there just to see him. That alone softened most of his fatigue.
Andrie finally surrendered with a sigh. "One store."
Eliana's face instantly brightened. "Two."
"One."
"Fine." She grabbed his arm quickly before he could change his mind.
-----
After almost two hours, Alesandrie was carrying several shopping bags in both hands while following behind Eliana.
"And this," he said tiredly, lifting the bags slightly, "is already the third store when our deal was only one." His voice came out begrudgingly calm.
Eliana slid one arm around his as she continued walking. "The money she gave was too much," she defended shamelessly. "And I couldn't find everything I wanted in just one store." She let go of him and led the way towards whichever store she wanted.
Andrie only sighed. He refused to understand the logic. But unfortunately, he actually did. He had a younger sister. So he already recognized the warning signs.
"Thirty minutes," he finally said. "Then we're leaving or we'll miss dinner." He glanced at her sideways. "Aren't you hungry yet?"
Eliana stopped walking and turned toward him properly.
"Are you?"
Andrie blinked once. Then he gave her a small smile. Soft even with the exhaustion sitting under his eyes. As it had gotten more pronounced from wearing a mask, all the attention was to his eyes. And that didn't make him look a little less handsome.
That expression alone made Eliana's annoyance melt a little. Only now did she fully notice how tired he actually looked.
The faint shadows beneath his eyes and the slight heaviness in his shoulders. He had spent more than half the day working in a medical mission before meeting her. And yet he still followed her around without real complaint.
A small guilty feeling finally crept into her chest.
Eliana walked back toward him and took several bags from one of his hands.
"Let's get dinner then," she said as she intertwined her hand between his fingers. "And we'll head straight to the airport after."
Andrie looked at her for a second before smiling again, this time more warmly.
"Okay." He squeezed her hand gently and led her out of the shopping center and proceeded with the original plan.
-----
The next morning, Alesandrie Reiyu made a brief stop on his way to his schedule for the day.
He planned to grab coffee with some bread and take it with him on the road toward the conference center.
The streets of San Cielo were already awake, traffic beginning to build while people moved in hurried streams along the sidewalks.
He parked near a café and stepped out of his car, one hand checking his phone as he headed toward the curb.
A message from the conference organizer had just come in.
His attention stayed lowered for only a second.
Then he stopped abruptly. A gasp left him and it was a good thing that he didn't throw his phone.
Someone had nearly collided with him. But that person moved too quickly. She dodged him with sharp reflexes before their bodies could even make contact.
"Sorry." He looked up as he apologized instinctively. But the apology barely left his lips before she was already moving past him.
All he caught was her back. Long dark brown hair hung loosely behind her in soft waves, swaying with her hurried steps.
She didn't pause, didn't react or turn around to look at him.
Did she not notice we almost bump into each other? But she dodged me. He blinked many times as his head tilted. Or did I just imagine it?
For a second, Andrie remained standing there, coffee forgotten. Then he shook his head and continued toward the café.
Samantha kept walking.
The near collision barely stayed in her thoughts.
Her eyes scanned the surroundings as she crossed toward the opposite building, heading for a safer position.
The streets were busy with the morning buzz of people going to whichever place they were headed for their morning routines or appointments.
She raised her hand toward the earpiece hidden beneath her hair.
"Status?" she asked quietly.
The reply came through after a second.
"Target confirmed." There was a slight cackling from the other line. "He's now exiting the building."
Samantha stopped near the side of the column and looked toward the street ahead. She lifted her gaze just enough to see him.
The traitor moved fast, shoulders hunched, baseball cap pulled low. Jeff looked thinner than the last time she saw him months ago since she hadn't seen him the last time they talked.
"Wind?" she asked.
"Negligible."
This is it then.
"Take him."
[I hope I could have some comments to know what you guys think. It would be very much helpful to get more motivated. Thank you.]
- Writer
