The short walk to the parking lot where Ridge had parked his car was awfully quiet between the two of them. If the blaring music from the party boat wasn't breaking the stillness of the night, Era would think she was all alone for Ridge was walking with his shoulders hunched down, his hands were inside his pockets, and he was dragging his feet, leaving her behind.
"Sorry for asking but are you okay?"
Ridge looked at her over his shoulder with his hand on the passenger door, his eyes were confused as if he just realized that she was with him.
"Yes, I'm pretty fine. Why shouldn't I?"
Era knitted her brows for the melancholy in Ridge's voice didn't escape her.
"Well, for starter, you seem to be out of your wit. You seem to be forgotten that we are together after we say goodbye to Erika."
"Do you know of the Arana's?"
Era shook her head and deepened the crease in between her brows.
"Should I know about them?"
Ridge smiled at her patronizingly and she didn't like the feeling. Of course, she knew the Arana's. She had been doing a lot of research about her missing identity and the Arana's came out not just once but multiple times in her research.
The Arana's family is one is the richest people in the country. They got their richest from old money and mining. They owned the biggest chains of jewelry store here and abroad. But she had no plan to tell that to Ridge because it's one of the many secrets that she kept for herself.
Thus, she pretended ignorance. After all, she's just a lady escort. A woman who was after the easy money and glamour of the party.
Ridge reached for the top of her head and caressed her hair with a blank expression on his face.
"Erika is an Arana. And I'm a Suarez," he said as if it was all the explanation that answer to her question.
She didn't pressed anymore. She beamed brightly at him and said, "I'm sorry," as if she understood the predicament he was in.
Ridge chuckled in her innocence and opened the car door for her.
"Time to take you home, Mira."
Era nodded once again and without a word got in the car. As she bent down her head and lowered her body to take the passenger seat, she felt the sudden tension in Ridge's body as though he was expecting something else from her.
With the soft thud of the door being close next to her, Era wondered if she should take the time to get out of the car and run while Ridge was walking in front of the car to the driver's side.
Something is wrong with the way Ridge's body tensed up.
"Buckle your seatbelt."
Era gripped the seatbelt and thought to herself, too late. Ridge already lowered himself to the driver seat and started the engine of the car. She had no idea what was that disruption in the air between the two of them.
'I guess I should just hope that it was nothing that I'm going to regret later for ignoring my instinct' she thought inwardly as she sit with her back straight like an iron board.
"I guess you're not going to ask me if I should take you somewhere else tonight."
"Uhm,...you take me to Radiant."
Ridge stared at her as if waiting for a joke to drop.
"Radiant is a salon and—-"
"Believe me, I know what Radiant is. What I don't believe is that you're not asking me to do more for you."
"Should I? This is my first time to do this service and I have no idea of what you expect of me…from me. I was told to smile and look pretty."
Ridge stared at her openly with disbelief in his eyes. After a few beats, he roared with laughter.
Era didn't say anything. She just sat there and wait for him to finish laughing.
"Are you for real?" He asked, laughter was still in his voice.
"I guess, I am," she replied, staring right back at him but her eyes landed on the bridge of his nose, carefully avoiding his eyes.
She's not for real. Not at all. She isn't feeling guilty about it for it's part of the job, but still, she isn't comfortable lying to someone's face.
"You know that you can ask me to take you shopping, bring you some place nice…and it's part of the deal as well."
Era smiled at Ridge before saying, "Well, you can do that to me next time but for tonight, please take me back to Radiant. I need to go home early for my family is waiting for me, especially my father."
She didn't know why she said what she said but she just followed her guts. If she was following her logical mind, she would not say something that could trace her back to her real identity, her as Era. Ridge knew her at Mira, the girl from Radiant, a private salon that runs an escort service in the side.
"Then, I should drive you home so that you can go home to your family quickly."
"Thanks for the kind thoughts but that's not a good idea," she replied, knowing she's threading into a dangerous game.
"How so? And what's wrong with your father?"
"Nothing," she smiled sweetly. "Just that I'm his favorite."
Ridge shook his head, chuckling, clearly not believing every word she said but did not probe for more but Era felt that he drove the car with urgency.
He must have taken seriously what she said about her father waiting for her.
"Thank you for your time. I want you to open your time for me whenever I need your service."
Era blinked in confusion with the coldness in Ridge's voice but she wasn't able to process the confusion in her head because her attention was torn away from him with the loud click and soft whooshing of the passenger door, swinging open.
She was clearly being dismissed for the night. Without a word, she stepped out of the car and stood up straight as she watched the car door automatically close.
She stood there like a statue, with the hem of her flowing dress being flown by the wind and the quietness of the empty curb was disturbed by her presence and the sound of Ridge's car, speeding away.
Era didn't stand alone for a long time in the curb. The moment the echoed of the Ridge's car disappeared in the air, a light was turn on from the inside of Radiant and a small Asian woman was outside the door, beckoning her to come inside.
Shivering from the night air, Era entered the salon with a nagging feeling at the back of her mind that her life was changed forever.