Andrea didn’t know why the man knew her name, but if he could move, then… maybe, she wouldn’t have to stay here longer than necessary. At this, she rubbed her nose to calm her sniffing and gestured toward the passenger’s seat. She had no choice but to let him in; perhaps, his presence would help her get a grip on her situation better.
The man went to open the door and got in as she disengaged the locks. She then spoke as soon as he sat down, “Sorry, I’m not really in the mood to talk. I’ll just drive you to a hospital for your arm.”
“Where are you going in this storm? You even looked like you’re heading out for a date.” Gryphon didn’t care about the supposed silence. He huffed before taking a look at the backseat. “You don’t even have a coat or a companion. Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
He noticed how the woman was dressed up, only to be left with a pitiful ending. More than that, the vulnerable woman might get in trouble if she continued going around in just that dress that showed too much. He could even tell that she was not wearing a bra from the open back.
Was this Andrea Archer trying to die? Shouldn’t she just drive into a lake than drive around and attract monsters within men?
“What are you doing out there, walking across the street, then? Normal humans don’t take a stroll under a storm.” Andrea heard the man scold her, so she tried to fight the urge to feel weak. He already saw her looking so sorry; that was enough. However, her tears and her mucus wouldn’t stop falling.
“I left a party.” For some reason, Gryphon only sighed and leaned against the seat. He then began taking off his heavy suit jacket, disgruntled that it had been soaked in the rain. “A formal party, mind you. It’s the most annoying one I’ve been to. It’s my birthday, and yet I have to spend it with some people that don’t even matter to me. The things they spoke of are also garbage.”
“You talk too much. Are you sure you need a hospital?” Andrea growled. However, her heart had slowed down. It was as if talking to another person—a stranger, perhaps—was making her mind clear up from the fright that Mathias had given her. Was it her coping mechanism, or was there something about this guy making her feel safe around him?
She then glanced at the fuming man and hoped that he was willing to beat up Mathias if ever he caught up with her. He really looked pissed.
Thinking about that scary man made Andrea remember about her phone. The woman finally decided to stop at an emergency bay to calm down and find her stuff. The moment she lifted her hands from the steering wheel, she noticed how shaking her hands had become. No wonder she dropped her phone in the first place. What a shame.
Upon seeing her strange action, Gryphon frowned and looked at her again. He noticed how her blonde hair was messily pinned to one side, while most of her make-up was washed away by tears. Her chest would rise and fall visibly as if she was taking in deep breaths in succession.
He reached out to touch her hair, but his injury ached at his movement. He fished for his moist handkerchief and pressed it against the wound. “Tch, we should at least find a hotel. This rain won’t let up until later. Are you planning to stay with me in your car for the whole night?”
“You want to go to a hotel? With me?” Andrea finally turned to take a good look at the acquaintance that she picked up. After all, one wouldn’t stay in a hotel room with a stranger… well, aside from the excuse that they planned to do what adults would.
Andrea didn’t plan on doing anything like that with someone she just picked up from the road. She was even thinking of dropping him off at a hospital after resting for a bit. It could be said that his words had made her freeze. However, she froze all the more when she saw his face.
She didn’t expect to find him. Of all people, it was him.
Seeing the expression on her face, Gryphon’s lips finally curled in a mocking smile—she finally noticed! He then caught a glimpse of something by his foot. He bent down to pick up the phone on the floor. It was on an active call with someone named Mathias.
With a smirk, he answered, “What’s wrong with hitting the hotel with an ex-girlfriend?”
He had no idea what Andrea was doing, but whoever was on the phone was probably someone Andrea didn’t want to speak with. If she did, Andrea would have looked for her phone. Moreover, the horror on her face only grew some more. He felt so victorious after suffering from failures tonight.
Gryphon ended the call and turned off the phone before ditching it into the glove compartment. The man then ruffled his wet hair, letting the gel soften, so his hair wouldn’t look ridiculous when dried. His minutes-worth of styling when down the drain the moment he walked under the rain.
Since he was hoping to wash off the rain, the dirt, and the blood; he gave directions to Andrea: “Turn right after the stoplight. There’s a hotel three blocks away. I can get us a room there.”
“…get out.” Andrea even took a few seconds before making a noise. He didn’t even realize that she said something until he turned to look at her with lifted brows. She repeated with a louder voice: “Get out of my car, Gryphon Pearce! Who told you I’m going to check in with you?!”
“Heh, police report says you will.” Gryphon laughed out as he showed her his injury again. For some reason, he really missed that shocked face of hers. “Do you want me to press charges against you? That Mathias guy can fetch you from the precinct, too, if you want.”
“Dammit. I shouldn’t have hit the brakes!” She slammed her arms on the wheel before growling, releasing all her frustration. Her eyes closed before taking a look at him again. “…where’s the hotel again? Are you paying for it?”
…
The storm battered the streets outside the hotel, the white rain coating the glazed windows with a faint glow of the surrounding lights. Cold and humidity assaulted everyone who dared to let the wind inside their rooms, so most just slept through the weather.
However, in the lobby, the valet attendant still rushed when a guest arrived at a very late hour. It was already past eleven in the evening, but someone still wished to check in. The receptionist readied the only available rooms to be picked from, rehearsing her lines no matter who walked up to ask for one.
It’s just that… who pushed the glass door was someone the hotel staff was not expecting to see. The handsome man entered in his white shirt and suit slacks, a suit jacket hanging from his arm. His dark-brown hair sat tousled on his head, rainwater dripping along the contours of his face.
All of a sudden, the staff rushed to get someone to give complimentary towels to him and the miss with him—one they had never seen with him before. She had corn-blonde hair and a red mini dress. Redness was evident on her skin as if she had been in the cold for quite a while. Her feet were bare, so the staff also gave her a pair of slippers.
The receptionist pulled up a different list for the man that came. It was their big-big-big boss’s cousin that she kept on calling her little brother. There was a rule for them to cater to him, even if they couldn’t cater to her. It’s just that… why did it look like they were at it in the bushes? The two looked dirty, despite the pristine aura around the man.
“There should be one waiting for me.” She heard him say. The receptionist checked with her computer. It seemed that they did come here for that.
“There should be one waiting for me.” With no idea of what the staff was preparing for him, Gryphon stood in front of the reception desk while drying his hair, watching the receptionist arrange for their suite. He didn’t even glance at Andrea, who was looking around the hotel’s empty reception hall. It was obviously empty since no one would be here at such a late hour. “Andy, let’s go,” Gryphon called out as he walked to the elevator lobby, key in hand. However, seeing no one behind him, he had to fetch her from where she stood. This girl must have turned deaf with all that water in her ears. He pushed her inside the elevator and pressed the button to close the doors. When the doors closed, the two had no choice but to see their reflections on the metal doors of the elevator. The male stared at himself, noticing how his wrinkled designer white long-sleeve stuck to his body from the wetness it inherited from the suit jacket. The stay inside her car was not even enough to dry him. He
“Me? Your pretend darling?” Andrea only smiled for the photo before laughing out after he tossed the phone to the side. “One, I am not playing a game like that. Two, me, trying to win you back? In case you forgot, you dumped me back in high school because I wasn’t posh enough. I am not going to sacrifice my hard-earned self-esteem just to go posh for you. And three…” “You talk too much. It’s just a yes-or-no question.” With an angry grunt, Gryphon moved his arm from under her head and only placed it on the rim space between them. “I already took the photo, so there’s no point in saying ‘no’ now.” Andrea glared at him before sighing. She only leaned on her back again and looked up at the ceiling. To be honest, what would she gain from saying ‘no’? What was pride in the face of a man who would hunt her down to a corner? It didn’t matter whether it was Mathias or Gryphon; both of them could surely make her life miserable. It’s just that… she didn’t want to feel like she had no voice of
“What is it?” Mathias begrudgingly answered his phone as he tried to huff off his exhaustion. After all, he exerted a lot of energy at every swing he did against Andrea’s soft body. However, his anger was yet to be quenched for real. As long as Andrea could still move, he would not stop.There was no way he would let Andrea run to that man again.It’s just that the voice that came from the phone was as if the cooling breeze of spring. His overall fury only needed a few seconds to be dissolved into a drop of a smile on his face. Mathias then leaned on the wall and kept listening to the voice with a smile that only grew deeper.“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be there tonight. Sorry about last night. I was too drunk to attend to my phone.” His smile seemed to hit an all-time high
“I look stupid?” Gryphon erased all the sorry on his face, wearing a cold glare to replace his worried gaze. How could he forget that this girl had been always so cheeky that he would smack her just for saying things? He just gave her a warning finger gesture. “You’re lucky we’re in a hospital. I can’t be caught flicking your forehead… oh, wait, I can do that!”“What? No!” At the finger threatening to painfully flick her forehead, Andrea shot her hands up to catch his own hand. However, the bruises and overall weakness of her body kept her from moving all that much. She winced, not at the pain of the flick.With a snort, Gryphon took back his hand that didn’t even land on her face. His phone had also pinged as if it was not meant to be too distracting. He just pulled on his clothes to smooth the
Sadly, Ashley didn’t tell her about it. He would rather have Gryphon tell her as if it was important to her as well. Then again, since it was Ashley who said so, Andrea just shrugged her shoulders. If anything, there was a lot to talk about. It had been more than ten years since they last saw each other, and for two birds with broken wings, their lives sounded a little identical.Gryphon had gotten back to the hospital just a few minutes before visiting hours were done. He even looked like he was drinking before remembering that he had to visit a friend in the private ward. When he sat down and almost missed the chair, Andrea even frowned at him.He then returned her frown, saying nothing for a few seconds. When the strange chime came as if warning visitors to conclude their stay, that was the only time he spoke: “I’m checking you out of this
“What do you mean you didn’t bring anyone?! I have photos!” A woman’s voice came from the intercom, and Gryphon soundlessly growled from the other side. He then turned to the side and saw Andrea gesturing at the door, seemingly screaming without making any audible noise. [Who is that outside? Should I hide?!] Andrea looked a little panicky, her eyes growing wider. This man had no girlfriend, yet there was a woman that he was not letting inside his house. She was even being kept away on the premise that she wanted to search the house for a woman that Gryphon took home. Why would she care if Gryphon took another woman home? [Why would you hide? She’ll eventually leave!] At the gesture, Gryphon competed with Andrea on who got to make their glaring eyes a lot bigger. Some more, and one of them would pop a vein. Andrea got down on the floor as she noticed the gate opening from outside. She pounded on the floor. [You! Why would you lie to me?! You said you have no girlfriend!] Since Gry
Reveling in the past had never been a good thing for Andrea. There were so many mistakes done in the name of trusting her guts and testing the heights of her luck. When she won what she thought was Gryphon’s love, it was easily replaced with his fickle stunt. After that… she went to Mathias’s arms.She just shook her head and sighed. Considering her circumstances, she could only go with Gryphon. As for walking away from him, she didn’t have to imagine what it was going to be like. Whether Gryphon punished or billed her, by the time she crossed paths with Mathias, she would only die.Between dying physically or dying on the inside, Andrea chose the latter. She had always been choosing the latter since she was tossed out of her home.“All right, let’s go with your plan. However&hel
Gryphon was not the problem. Of course, he wasn’t. Andrea long knew that it was her poor decisions that made her life as it was now. When she decided to excel in life, she gave in to high school pressure and tried not to be so intimidating to get a boy. It was followed by how she fell in love with the state’s prince, the very same guy who broke up with her because she was a commoner.Then, just when she thought she should live a life for herself, she chose to be enslaved by Mathias. Right now, she was on the run for her life… landing back in the lap of the state prince. How laughable. If only Andrea didn’t think that her life was the only thing she had, she would have given it away as well.She only scrunched her face to downplay her pain and waved her hand to show her frustration at the man next to her. This Ashley was really Gryphon&r