The pitter-patter of the rain drops against the glass window had long set their own rhythm as he stared out of the tinted window. His deep set caramel brown eyes looked rather lost.
"How long will it take for the mechanic to reach here?" He inquired without shifting his gaze.
"I cannot say for sure, Boss. The rain is refusing to slow down." The driver spoke from the front, leaning to the side a little to have a better look at the sky above. "It doesn't look like it's going to clear out anytime soon." He added more to himself.
Dark, heavy clouds had taken over the Los Angeles sky. It was pouring down so heavily that one could barely make out the face of the person they were standing next to. Though it was only twelve in the noon, one look at the sky above was enough to fool you, especially with the cackling thunder. And to top it all like a cherry, his car had to break down right in the middle of the worst downpours ever recorded.
If it was any other day, Carlisle would have preferred staying stuck within the four walls of his office. He would take solitary confinement over the pitter-patter of the rain any day— and allowing himself to get wet was way out of question.
"Mom's going to be super mad." He mumbled under his breath, more to himself than his driver. A confrontation with her wasn't something he was looking forward to. On the contrary, if he could just avoid meeting her all together, Carlisle wouldn't mind it. As much as he loved the old woman, her constant nagging on certain matters surely did get on his nerves—and not in a good way.
"I am sure Madam will understand." The driver spoke up, seeing him lost in his thoughts. "As much as you have the power to control many things, you can not regulate the weather now, can you Boss?" His words were followed by a low chuckle.
"If only my mother understands that…" Carlisle shook his head, a smile gracing the curve of his lips.
If it was anybody else, he would have received a deadly glare by now. But the rules were different when it came to Thomas, the driver. He was the sole person who was allowed to drive Carlisle back anywhere. Whenever Thomas had something else to take care of, Carlisle preferred to drive himself around since trusting others didn't come easily to him. Of course, that excluded his family, including his beloved sister who happened to be loving under the same roof as him. She was the only family he had in the states. As for his parents, they only visited during holidays—and what would be a better time than the upcoming Christmas holidays.
Sighing to himself, Carlisle leaned his head back against the headrest.
"I am gonna close my eyes in the meantime. Wake me up if I doze off by any chance, though only if something changes about our current situation." He didn't forget to add the latter. It was hard enough for him to get any amount of sleep otherwise anyway and if someone were to interrupt his sleep, he wouldn't be able to get a wink again.
--------------------
"This is weird."
Thomas's voice pulled Carlisle out of his slumber.
"There goes my sleep." An annoyed groan left his lips as Carlisle rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Please tell me that the rain has stopped and the mechanic managed to make it in time and fixed the car." He added as he leaned over to the front to have a better look at his surroundings even though the windscreen was packed with teeny tiny droplets running down the front of the car. But it didn't look like it was still raining.
"In that case…," the driver cleared his throat, "I have good news and bad news for you, Boss."
"Shoot me with them both." Carlisle side eyed the man.
"As you can see, somehow, the clouds have dispersed. Even though it's still partly cloudy, it has stopped pouring down." Thomas spoke up in response.
"Lemme guess the bad news…," Carlisle exhaled out a tired sigh. "The mechanic hasn't arrived yet."
"Yes, Boss. And I don't think he will be coming any time soon either." Thomas added.
He let out a groan in frustration. "Mom's going to kill me."
As of right on cue, Carlisle's phone vibrated next to him as it laid still on the backseat. As soon as his eyes landed on the flashing screen, he had a sudden urge to rip his hair out. It was his mother.
After drawing in a couple of breaths, he managed to muster up enough courage to pick his phone up.
"Carlisle Adam!"
The second the line was connected, a screaming greeting was what he got.
"Do you have no regard for your ageing parents? First of all, you don't come visit us anymore. And when we do come to see you, you have the audacity to keep us waiting."
"Hello, Mother." The man shook his head. "I am doing good, thank you for asking. How are you doing?" Carlisle spoke with a dead straight face.
"Don't you dare play smart before me. Don't forget that you came out of me." The response made him roll his eyes up as Carlisle shook his head. His mother sure knew how to be dramatic even.
"Not again, Mom…." He drawled it out, feeling a headache building up. "It's not my fault that Los Angeles was hit by a rain storm and I got stuck in the middle of it." He tried to reason it out with his mother but the lady was having none of it.
"There's a thing called weather forecast. People check it before leaving their homes." His mother's response was, as always, jabbing. "But why would you do that? You practically live at your office. Why even bother owning this huge penthouse?"
"Your other child lives there too if you have forgotten by any chance." Carlisle let out a muffle scoff. "As for the weather forecast, I did watch it before leaving, nobody said anything about it." That was partly true. It was known to him that the weather might turn bad later on in the day, but not this bad.
"Do not speak back to me." His mother yelled at him through the phone.
"Mom, you need to calm down. Is Dad not around?" Carlisle rubbed his eyes once again.
"Do not tell me to calm down. You either come home in this instance or you can forget that you have a mother!"
"Seriously, Mom?" He sighed to himself on his mother's dramatic reaction. Of course, she was only egging him to get home soon. But Carlisle knew better than to risk it.
"You can try me." With these words, she disconnected the call, making the man sigh out in frustration again.
"Thomas?" He called for the driver. "You wait here for the mechanic. I will see if I can hitch a ride to the penthouse."
"In this weather?" Thomas was clearly not comfortable with the idea of his boss leaving on his own, given he knew the man's predicament about having others to drive him. "Are you sure, Sir?"
"I am sure you heard pretty much everything." Carlisle stared back at him with a passive face. "You might be okay with having your head chopped off, but I don't share the same sentiments." He would rather be uncomfortable than to have another session of scolding from the lady.
With these words, Carlisle drew in a deep breath and stepped out of the car, not forgetting to pocket his phone with hopes that he would be able to hail a cab.