Ares cocked his head to the side and wandered through his memory for a long time before he replied apologetically, "I'm afraid not, miss Irwin. I'm sorry. Will you remind me of where we might have met before?"
The corner of her lips seemed to twitch slightly, but there was no change in the overall expression. So he dismissed the thoughts of her being annoyed. In his defense, instead of faking knowing about one, being honest sometimes resulted in better.
"Call me Ruby as I call you, Ares." The woman in orange requested. Although she had a friendly smile, he somehow did not feel comfortable enough to be on a first-name basis with her.
Ares smiled back at her with all he could manage. "As much as that sounds incredible, I don't think I'm qualified to call you by the name your loved ones have bestowed upon you. I even forgot our first meeting, so please understand this is my way of showing you respect and apology." And before she could push him further, he continued, "Are you alright? I'm sorry I wasn't concentrating on where I was going. Do you feel pain anywhere?"
The woman noticeably swallowed nervously, and her eyes frantically moved around until they landed on the floor. "Ah... yes. I may have sprained my ankle." She looked up at him and smiled with a frown.
"Ah..." Ares nodded and squatted in front of the right ankle. As far as he remembered, he did not step on her feet, and it was a light bump in the chest. In addition, it felt like he was stopped by hands, and did not bump with a force that could cause a sprained ankle.
But nevertheless, he still asked a passing nurse to take care of her. There was a big chance of faking the pain, but if someone was saying to have pain, the best option was to get diagnosed and treatments.
Despite her staring back at him as she was taken away, Ares didn't wait for her to walk out of his sight and rushed to Eric, waiting with pouted lips.
"What were you doing? Did something happen?"
"You can say that..." Ares replied vaguely and kept the file on the chair. He then stood next to his friend and began refilling and arranging medicines so the other could treat patients.
It wasn't before three minutes when Karson popped up out of nowhere, almost stopping his heart permanently. "Who was that?"
With medicine bottles in his hands, Ares placed them over his crazy heart. "Who was what?"
"That chick in orange." The friend replied nonchalantly and took a seat in front of him. "I saw you talking to her. You didn't look nice."
Ares sighed deeply and placed the bottles in a safe place before telling Karson, "She is miss Ruby Irwin. I bumped into her. Apparently I met her before, but I don't remember her."
The other remarked, "That doesn't sound like a full story. Tell me why you looked like you wanted a wall in between you guys. I mean her face wasn't on the level of covering up. It wasn't that ugly."
"That's mean."
"Meh. If she came to a hospital looking like a freshly peeled carrot from head to toe, she is basically asking to be judged in my point of view." Karson shrugged. "Anyway, what's the reason?"
"I just didn't feel comfortable with her."
The other smirked. "That's new. You rarely get uncomfortable with people. You get along with just about anyone."
"I'm aware of that..." Ares cast his eyes down. "She was a little scary and intimidating to me."
"If you say it like that, even Ms Queen fits the description but I know that's not true for you."
The moment Karson mentioned her name, the non-child-friendly scene played in Ares's brain like an automatic response. And they were vivid, to say the least. His hands could still feel her fragile arms and hands. His ears were memorised by those weak breathing under him and not to mention her eyes. The only black holes he ever got lost in.
Without realising it, he was red as Eirene's lips the first time they met at the bar. "She- She's different!"
"Mn-hymn." He heard his friend say and laugh like he heard the best joke on earth. "You are in love."
Omal showed himself from behind a curtain curiously, "Who's in love?"
Karson gestured towards Ares, who looked like a long-lost twin of a tomato. "Of course, him!"
The model excitedly snapped his neck towards the one mentioned. "So you finally admitted?! Big brother is happy for you." He then wiped the non-existent streaming tears with his sleeves aggressively.
Ares wanted to deny them, but his friends had no plans to listen to his excuse and began dancing towards each other singing the theme song of a famous romantic movie. The two spun and exchanged flirty glances, which ended in Karson holding Omal's back with an arm and the model's leg in the air. Even still, the two still exchanged smouldering gazes amid the countless uninteresting conversations behind them.
"I sometimes question why I'm friends with you." Orion unanticipatedly spoke from next to Ares. The boy sprung up from the stool but immediately collapsed from the shock. His friend always showed up like that as if he was an undercover ghost wearing annoyingly healthy skin.
Omal only moved his face from that position, "Isn't the answer obvious?"
Karson continued, "It's love. Don't be shy. Admit it and I'll be kind enough to give you a bro hug."
"No thanks." Orion replied coldly without a hint of interest and helped Ares get on his feet. "Somebody is asking for you."
"Who?"
"A woman. She said she wants to thank you for helping her. Her name was Lucy, I believe."
"Oh." Ares nodded. He had a faint idea of who it was.
Orion guided the boy around the clinic as he was unfamiliar with it, and knocked on a certain door. "I'm going to help Estella. If you need anything, call me." Then left without waiting for an answer from behind the closed door.
Ares obediently waited in front of the door. Because his surroundings were deserted, he could hear many things. That included the quietened voice inside speaking in Spanish.
----
"Is she alone?"
"Then confirm it!"
"Take it."
"What?! That's what I paid you for! You work for me and therefore what I say is a must."
"I don't care."
"Are you really okay with the fact that you are letting go of this once in forever opportunity? Are you dumb?"
"A person like you will never even get to meet her if not for me. Aren't you supposed to be thanking and crying with happiness? After all, she is every man's dream. You can do whatever you want and nobody will know. I'm giving you permission."
...
The conversation definitely did not sound anything good. And some words she used, triggered pictures and videos of certain somebody in Ares's orderless mind. And the tone and the way she spoke were violent. He could even sniff the dangers coming from the room.
He felt that he shouldn't be there checking up on the trio he left in the hotel sounded like a good idea.
But he was too late.
The moment Ares stepped back and reached for his phone in the back pocket of his suit trousers, the door in front of him opened and revealed the human-sized, giant carrot. No, Ruby Irwin.
"Hey." She pulled him into the room within wasting a second. Behind him, he heard the click of a lock.
-----
Jaxon frowned mildly and stood up from the sofa grimly while staring at his phone screen. "Crap. I gotta take this."
"Go ahead." Viorel nodded, attempting to change the sombre atmosphere they had just now.
"I'll be quick." The manager hastily walked out of the room.
The air between the two siblings was heavy. Eirene had shared her story, but he still was not satisfied. But the actress was never mad at her brother. She could understand him.
If their roles were switched and Viorel was to be the one that went through that past and experienced the current, she would do the same or even more to make sure the person he chose would never hurt him and treasure him.
"Do you want anything?"
Eirene was about to shake her head, but when the corner of her eyes caught the empty glass with a straw in it, she unthinkingly muttered under her breath, "...Strawberry juice."
In a flash, she turned to her brother in awareness and embarrassment creeping up on her. Viorel had a surprised look but nodded to himself and stood up. "I'll be right back."
"Ah..." She wanted to stop him but couldn't think of what to say as an excuse and let him go. She shyly looked down on her tied-up self and decided to wait as she had an emergency reflecting conference in her mind.
Only a second had passed when Eirene heard her brother. "WHO THE F*CK ARE YOU?!"
----
"I seriously have to go, miss Irwin!"
Ruby grabbed a hold of Ares's forearm and pulled him to her. "No, you don't!" Her pull was strong for someone who had a sprained ankle.
"Please let me go. You have been keeping me here for fifteen minutes. I have to help out my friends and the doctors." The boy didn't act rashly and gently but firmly pressed strength in pushing her hands off his.
"You, you..." The carrot woman looked around and pointed at her injured foot. "You made this! You should compensate!"
"Again, I deeply apologise but can we talk about this later? I really have to go. It's an emergency." Ares broke away from her grip and opened the door speedily. He wasted no time sprinting out of the clinic and to the hotel. He couldn't bother calling beforehand.
Because he was in such a hurry, he bumped into a pair of a young father and daughter in the lobby but barely faced them and apologised. He didn't have the patience for a lift and climbed the stairs as if he was in the Olympics.
Ares banged open the staircase door and ran to the room Eirene stayed at. Blood drained from his face when the door was open. The only thing he could hear was a series of sharp ringing and his own messed up breathing.
He walked into the room like a marionette and froze in his steps when he saw his crush's older brother beating the sh*t out of two males dressed in black. It was the most hectic thing he had ever seen.
Viorel's movements halted when he saw the boy entering, giving just enough moment for the two to escape.
"WHY THE HECK ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR?! WE HAVE TO CATCH THEM!" The man shouted angrily but soon realised something. "No, you stay back here! Guard my sister with your life or I'll end you."
"Okay! Huh?" Ares watched his future brother-in-law sprint past him to give chase. He was more than befuddled, and after taking a glance at the actress on the bed, he turned around to help Viorel with whatever he was doing. But his legs were caught by something warm and soft.
"What are you doing to my mummy?!"