Almost an hour went by, conversation of the two still hadn't come to an end. Oriel's blooming laughter was frequent from inside the car. Collin guarded the two, waiting outside. The temperature began to drop till Collin tightened the buttons of his suit. He rubbed his hands together to warm them up. Every now and then, he kept stealing a glance at the uncaring people inside the car.
"What's wrong with them?"
Inside of the car was warm and cozy. Mr. Bruce had almost no regard of the time or the chilly weather in which Collin stood shivering. The temperature further dropped and Collin felt a thousand ants crawling on his body. His arms folded to cover his chest. But chatters of Mr. Bruce were nowhere over.
AACCHOOO!
Collin's sneeze was clearly heard by Oriel. She looked out through the widow and saw him shivering like a puppy. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "Please tell him to come inside, he catches cold easily."
She immediately looked back upon her words and realized the mistake that she had just committed. "Don't tell me that I was so deeply immersed in talking to you that I forgot about him."
She was relieved that Mr. Bruce didn't pay any attention to what she had just said to him. "I think I should leave now, I have someone waiting for me at home." She was about to get off the car but Mr. Bruce grasped on her wrist slightly. "I will drop you where you are going. It's late now and I can't risk you safety with these lonely roads." He pulled his hand off. "Why don't you tell him to come inside now."
Oriel lowered the window on her side of the backseat. She called out to Collin and said, "I think you should get in now."
"I'm so sorry, my boy. I guess someone had me distracted from you." Mr. Bruce mischievous stare fell upon her. "But as two gentlemen, we ought to send this lady to her home safely, right"
Collin sneakily scoffed at what Mr. Bruce said. He remained silent while his frosty breaths were in contrast with the air. He quietly pulled the door to the driver's seat, buckled his seat belt up and adjusted the rear view mirror a bit, catching Oriel's uncomfortable expressions in it. He adjusted the mirror further to right and saw Mr. Bruce incessantly staring at her. He grabbed the wheel tightly with one hand, revved the engine with the other and slowly stepped on the accelerator.
His body felt the warmth that was inside. His chilly breathes went normal again and they were on their way down the road going to Oriel's house. She was looking outside the window, at he beautiful view of night city. Her eyes smiled at the beauty of the night as she admired it. "You must like lights a lot," Mr. Bruce asked.
"Hmm... yeah! lights are beautiful. But, I think it's not the lights that make this view so pretty but it is the darkness that is making those beam sized lights look so amazing. During the day, when the city is getting blinding light from the sun, it doesn't appear as dazzling as such meager amount of lights amidst the spread of darkness make it. Isn't it strange?"
Mr. Bruce pondered deeply on this. A smirk developed on his lips and he nodded his head slightly looking at her. "You mean to say that it's the scarcity of light that makes the night so pretty."
She turned her face towards him and said, "exactly."
"Hey Collin, isn't it similar to the thing that you told me about moon and the sun" he abruptly leaned towards the driver's seat and asked him.
"I'm not sure what you're talking about." Collin kept his eyes and attention at the wheels.
Their eyes met inside the reflection on the mirror but they were quick to look away.
"I'm sure you told me this last night only that moon is superior because its light doesn't hurt your eyes and one can gaze at it as long as it is there in the sky."
Their discomforts only rose with the persistent meddling of Bruce.
"Here it comes. You can stop the car," shouted Oriel.
The vehicle slowly stopped around the corner of the road. Mr Bruce looked outside and carefully examined the house that she had identified as hers. However, it was just the biggest and house that existed in her neighborhood. She didn't want them to find out about the place she actually lived in. "I see, this is where you live. That's nice little home for a family of two," commented Mr. Bruce.
"Are you sure this that this is the place that you live in?" inquired Collin. He was aware that she had lied about her home and pushed her to the edge by asking it.
"I just said that this is where I live. What makes you so suspicious?" she retorted.
"I just wanted make sure that we dropped you on the right address. That's it."
"Then why do you feel that you meant something else by your silly and useless question."
"I' can't help if you felt that way. I just know that I never meant that."
They glowered at each other with loathe. Mr Bruce felt the chills and interrupted them. "Alright, Collin. I think we should leave now."
Collin raised the glass of the window while Oriel was still not done yet. He revved the engine and started driving away from her. His side mirror showed Oriel's furious face. The car left the street and she finally retrieved her calm. She started walking in the direction of her house.
She turned the same old knob again and found the door left open. "Not again!" she said. She entered the house while screaming to call Bella and the door shut behind her.