"What?! How could you hit someone?! Check on him right away!" she exclaimed, her normally unconcerned demeanour wavering slightly and a tinge of panic appearing in her eyes.
Even though she wasn't the one who was driving the car, the thought of them hitting an elderly person on the highway made her feel panicked.
"But, Señorita—" Benjamin protested. However, before he could finish what he was trying to say, Hannah quickly cut him off.
"But what?" she hissed.
Her blue-grey eyes had a seductive glint to them as she glared at him, but when she raised her voice, Benjamin broke out in a cold sweat.
"My cool, sweet, and collected eldest miss scolded me," he thought to himself, internally whining like an injured animal.
Despite feeling wronged after being reprimanded, Benjamin still maintained a righteous expression on his face as he continued to explain.
"It might be one of his schemes to extort some money from us," he said, making Hannah frustrated.
"Gosh, Benjamin!" she groaned in frustration, and as if she had had enough of arguing with the man, she no longer bothered to say another word to him.
Instead, Hannah unhesitantly opened her side of the door and hurriedly walked toward the unconscious old man.
"Grandpa! Are you okay? What's wrong? Did we hit you?" Hannah asked questions one after the other as she gently shook the old man's motionless body in a desperate attempt to wake him up.
Benjamin, who is still concerned for the safety of his eldest miss, decides not to stop her since he knows he will be unable to persuade her.
Instead, he quietly followed her out of the car and stood beside her, looking tall and threatening, as if ready to attack anyone whom he suspected would harm the slender lady.
As he is silently protecting Hannah, he also takes his time assessing the situation of the unconscious man in front of them at the same time.
The elderly man is dressed in a black bucket hat, blue cargo pants, and a simple white shirt. He appears to be a normal elderly citizen out on an afternoon walk, and he does not appear to be faking anything, but Benjamin's guard remains unaffected.
"He is barely breathing," Hannah said to herself.
She knew that the old man needed immediate medical attention and that she couldn't leave him there, but she also couldn't be late for her blind date, so she frantically looked around for help and assistance.
Unfortunately, while some drivers would slow down to take a look at what was going on, none of them stopped to aid the elderly guy, leaving Hannah with little alternative except to assist him herself.
"Benjamin, take him to the hospital,"
"I can't do that, Señorita! Your safety is always my priority!" Benjamin immediately replied as he refused Hannah's orders with great conviction.
However, when he looked into the lady's blue-grey eyes, he felt a strange chill run down his spine.
He looked at Hannah, who was glaring him down as if she was going to make him regret his decision if he chose to disobey her.
He knew to himself that he really could not leave her alone for the sake of a stranger, or else Hannah's elder brothers would deal with him.
However, when he thinks of the consequences that he would have to face if he disobeyed Hannah's orders, Benjamin feels torn.
"I cannot simply disregard your safety, Señorita" Benjamin tried to reason with Hannah, speaking to her as though he were calming a child.
"He is a pitiful old man, truly, but we did not hit him with our car and we do not even know him," he added.
Having seen Hannah grow up, he knew she was a determined and stubborn individual, which is why he went into great depth in his explanation this time.
However, even though Hannah knew he was only thinking about her, she persisted in her demands.
"Take him to the hospital. Since I can not be late, I will take a cab to the restaurant"
Without waiting for any further reply, Hannah turned her back on her personal driver and crossed the road.
"Señorita--!"
"Follow my order, Benjamin. Please do not disappoint me" Hannah cut him off just as she opened the backseat door of the yellow car that was parked near the sidewalk, and as if a bolt of lightning had struck him, Benjamin was rendered speechless.
"Eldest miss... She entrusted an important task to me"
Benjamin's brain buffered for a few seconds before his handsome face brightened as if he had received a gift from Santa.
After hearing his Señorita's comments, Benjamin was filled with conviction and made a self-promise to himself. He would not only take the elderly man to the hospital but would also stay with him till he woke up, wanting to tell him about Hannah's kind gesture.
Hannah, who had at last escaped Benjamin, informed the driver where to take her as soon as she closed the door
"To Nata restaurant."
"What?" the guy asked, his narrow eyes widening a bit in surprise.
"Nata restaurant. It's a few blocks away from Royal High University," she explained in more detail, thinking that the driver didn't know where it was.
"You might've mis--" the guy tried to explain, but before he could even finish what he was trying to say, Hannah cut him off.
"Look, I'll pay you two times more than your usual price. Will you just go?" she said, her bossy attitude showing a little as she was not used to being questioned.
What she didn't realize was that the car she was in was just a simple yellow car, not a cab and that the man in front of her was a foreigner, not a cab driver.
Ever since she was young, Hannah had her own car and her own personal chauffeur assigned to drive her wherever she wanted to go. Not once had she tried to use any public transportation, so she didn't have any idea that she just made a mistake.
"???" As he drove on, occasionally glancing in the rearview mirror to sneak a peek at Hannah, the man in front of her remained surprised.
He had only stopped near the sidewalk earlier to check the message his father had sent him, thinking that it might be important but also not wanting to cause an accident at the same time, but he was startled when the door to his car's backseat was suddenly opened.
"Are you always this slow, or are you just waiting for the light to turn red?" Hearing Hannah's words, the man chose not to argue with her but to continue driving instead.
"Is this how people flirt in this country?" the guy thought to himself, genuinely wondering if he was being hit on.
***🦋***
Author's Note
Yikes! The secondhand embarrassment is making my toes curled up. Could you imagine being mistaken for a cab driver? How about mistaking someone else as a driver? If that's me, I'd rather walk to the restaurant than choose either of the two.