Hello, Miss Ye. What can I do for you?" Kevin said in a cold tone. The thought that she might have some feelings for him bothered him, thus, he couldn't help but be cold to her. He didn't want to give her any false signal or hope. If he wouldn't keep his distance from her, she would probably think that there was still a chance for her. It would be easier and less stressful for him to just let her down that way. It was for the good of them both. Plus, he didn't have the same feelings for her. He was plainly not in the mood for any small talks with her at all.
"Nothing! I saw you, so I just wanted to greet. That's all." Louisa missed to see the impatience on Kevin's face and remained smiling. However, Daisy was also there and was able to see everything. Her heart sank as a hunch that Louisa might hurt Leena suddenly came to her mind.
"Oh. I should get going since you already greeted me. Good-bye!" Now that was Kevin being intentionally cold to the lady. It was so clear that he wanted to get away from her but just couldn't ignore her for the commander's sake.
"But Kevin, can I ride with you to downtown? My car is in the garage being repaired, and I came here by taxi. I thought that I could ride with my dad but you sent him a document just now. So he still has to stay here for a while," Louisa said in a small voice. Her delivery sounded fake and was dripping with excuse even for her own ear. Nevertheless, she needed to make up an excuse to have a ride with Kevin. So she said it anyway.
"I'm going back to downtown too, Miss Ye. I can give you a ride if you don't mind." Daisy interrupted before Kevin could reply. She knew that she was being suspicious but she couldn't let it go as long as there was a possibility that this might hurt Leena. After all, it was clear to all that Louisa liked Kevin very much. As a woman, she could understand Louisa's feeling. Kevin was a great man and it was easy to fall in love with him. She still couldn't understand why Louisa kept pestering Kevin though now that he was already married. It was alright to have feelings for someone but it was selfish to act on it if you knew that doing so would lead to hurting someone else.
"Thank you for your offer, Colonel Ouyang but we are not on the same way. The garage happens to be on Kevin's way back home." What Louisa said was true. She already had everything planned beforehand. She intentionally sent her car to the garage on Kevin's way home for repair. She would bet her bottom dollar to get every chance to be with Kevin and this was a great opportunity.
Oh? Is it so? I wonder how'd you know where I live? You sounded so sure that we are not on the same way," Daisy sneered. Did Louisa take her for a fool? She was being extremely obvious! They were all going downtown first thus, they were all going the same way. The only difference was that she and Kevin didn't live in the same direction from downtown. She could still definitely give her a ride to the garage.
Well, I don't know your address but I bet that it's not on the way." Louisa didn't like Daisy the first time she saw her and her interruption just now made Louisa hate her more. Who was she to interrupt her like that? Who needed her ride in the first place? She was sticking her nose where it didn't belong. She was going to ruin all her plans! She couldn't allow that! Besides, she was asking Kevin, not her!
Daisy, that's fine. You go ahead. Now that Miss Ye insists that she and I are on the same way, I guess I can give her a ride." Kevin's brows furrowed. He was helpless. Louisa was being persistent in catching a ride with him and he couldn't just bluntly refuse her request for the commander's sake. He had to say 'yes'. What he couldn't understand though was why she came here by a taxi to pick the commander up after work hours? For God's sake, she didn't even have a car! Was she really that bored?
Okay, if you are sure. Take care. I'm leaving now." Daisy looked at Louisa keenly with her eyebrows deeply furrowed. There was nothing more for her to say since Kevin already decided on the concern. She believed that Kevin could handle the situation anyway.
"Okay. You take care too. Mark, drive safe," Kevin said as he turned his head to Mark. Though Mark was often careless, he was in fact very good at driving.
"No problem, Major General Gu. Of course, I will be very careful." Mark gave him a standard military salute. He was extremely polite to Kevin. Not like his usual carefree self when he was with Daisy.
Kevin watched Mark and Daisy walking to the parking lot until both disappeared. It was only after a couple of few minutes that he turned to Louisa who was still patiently waiting for him. He let out a small sigh under his breath then finally said to her," Let's go."
"Thank you so much, Kevin! Hope that I'm not too much of a hassle." Louisa felt a little nervous upon seeing Kevin's expression. It was so clear that he didn't like anything about what happened. She had no idea if she was being too forward but she really wanted to know why he left so suddenly last night. She wouldn't be able to rest unless she knew.She had the feeling that he lied when he said that he had something to do back then. Truth was, he really got nothing going on during that time and just made some random excuse to leave. He was avoiding her.
That's alright. Like what you said, it's just that we happen to be on the same route, right?" Kevin said as he pulled out the car door and waited patiently for her to get in. He was in a hurry thus, he asked Lee to park his car directly outside the building when they came. It explained why he didn't have to walk through the parking lot with Louisa. At least that was a good thing.
Louisa's lips trembled. She was suddenly speechless. She didn't expect Kevin to be that cold and distant at all. She felt both embarrassed and awkward. Her teeth gritted before she got in the car. How awful, now she had to think of any possible way to break the awkward until they reached the garage.