Chapter 57 – Lost Kitten
Before she could even hit whoever is behind her, she immediately put a stop to her violent adrenaline rush realising that it's someone whom she knows.
"Pierre??"
"Hi Audrey. Oh my, chill it's just me." He said as he raised both of his hands up on his chest surrendering.
"You scared me." She replied as she slowly disseminated on the metal seat beside her. But then she suddenly moved back looking back at him asking defensively, "Wait, were you the one following me??"
"Huh? No. I just got here." He said in wonder as he pointed out a guy wearing sleek black clothes standing outside a car and said, "My chauffeur just dropped me off."
She looked at where he was pointing and heavily sighed in relief knowing that he isn't her freaking stalker. She also felt so relieved because she's with someone who she knows right now. It terrified her so much earlier because it's the first time that she's been followed alone relentlessly outside the campus.
She looked at Pierre apologetically for her violent reflex action earlier. "I'm sorry I don't mean to be rude. I almost hit you unknowingly and thought for a brief second that you were my stalker."
"It's okay. Wait, what? You have a stalker? Are you okay?" He asked in surprise.
Audrey told him all the details that she knew so far and apologized again for she really felt bad after mistaking Pierre to be some bad guy. He saved him once and now she felt like he saved her once again.
"I'm really sorry Pierre. I guess I didn't expect that I'd be this terrified. I felt really stupid getting lost with my poor navigation skills. Just imagine if I have my own car, I'll seriously get lost and might even end up going nowhere."
She took her phone out of her pocket and tried turning it on but unfortunately, it's still low in battery. "I just want to go home right now." She looked at her hands then and realized that they were both shaking.
Pierre can clearly see how scared she is. He actually somehow admires her for putting up a brave face even though she is honestly going to break. "If you don't mind, I can send you home."
"That's not necessary. If my brother sees me getting off at someone else's car he might freak out. Oh gosh! My brother!" She suddenly stood up looking at her watch remembering that it's already late and that she hasn't even called him to tell him that she'll be late.
"What? What is it??" He asked perplexed by the sudden movement of Audrey.
"It's already late! He's probably freaking out right now! I need to go home now!"
Pierre looked at his watch and saw that it's just 7'o clockish. So, he said, "It's just 7PM."
"Exactly!"
"You're bother is really strict. It's understandable though. Having a pretty girl like you strolling during the night alone is really dangerous especially now that you have a stalker."
Audrey looked at him as if she's hesitating to say something. She doesn't want to be rude after getting saved twice but she needed to say it. "Can I ask you a favour?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"I know I haven't thanked you yet properly for saving me before and now for saving me again. But I really need to ask you this…." She paused for a moment before saying, "Can I borrow some money?"
"Money?"
"Yeah. I'm really broke right now. I can walk home because I know this road but I really needed to go home as in right now."
"Okay." He took out his wallet and gave her a mouthful amount of cash and handed it over to her.
"Oh gosh this is too much! I am not planning on extorting money from you." She said in panic.
"Oh sorry. I'm just not that familiar with the currency here." He replied with a small faint laugh.
"You're not from around here then." She speculated as she just took enough cash and returned the rest to him. "Be careful on whom you interact with. Not everyone is as nice as me to return this much amount of money that can even buy a brand-new phone."
"Well, I'm glad then that you are not a scammer." He laughed.
"If I'm a scammer then I must be the beautiful but deadly one. So, beware." She laughed.
He really is such an angel. He's just too innocent. She feared that people like him might be easily fooled. He really has such a nice smile though. It somehow reminds him of Aiden's and the way he talks too. And his eyes, they're really pretty too.
She immediately called a taxi and got one fast. Before she left, she looked back at Pierre and said, "I'm going to pay you back with interest."
"You don't have to."
"Please, it'll make me feel bad."
"If you insist."
"I'll call you when I get back home."
"Okay, take care."
"Yeah. You too."
Audrey is really thankful that she bumped onto Pierre. If it weren't for him, she would have probably been at the bus stop thinking what she should do.
Her thankful expression slowly turned into worry. She also somehow felt nervous thinking that her brother might be worried sick about her. She's now figuring out what excuse she should give. She can't just say that she was being followed. It'll only make him worry more.
As she's nearing her house, she quickly saw Kylie waiting outside their house. It seems that she's waiting for her.
So, when Kylie saw Audrey got out of the taxi, she straightaway went to her and asked, "Are you okay?" A quick embrace was given to her afterwards to check if she is hurt anywhere but she turned out to be fine.
Kylie then added, "I wouldn't really worry like this because it's actually, technically still early. But your brother is freaking out inside."
"Is he okay? He didn't look like he's having an attack, right?"
"No but he already called the police and was about to declare you as a missing person but they said that it's still too early to declare that you really are missing because it's only been an hour. He even called Aiden and asked if you were with him but it turned out that he's with Angela as expected."
"Oh gosh."
"Anyways, did your phone perhaps die? We just couldn't contact you."
"Yes, it distressingly did."
"You better explain yourself to your brother first. We'll talk later."
Audrey went inside and nervously opened the door. She saw her brother sitting at the sofa looking down with his hands clasped together as if he's praying.
Slowly, she walked towards him and said stuttering, "Uhm, I…I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to…"
"Thank God you're okay." He hastily embraced her.
She was surprised because this isn't the reaction that she expected him to give. She expected to be yelled at or get lectured but no. She was welcomed with a very warm embrace.