"Please remind me why we are here again?" It was the nth time that Aiden had asked. He was already moaning even though they had only been here for about fifteen minutes at that point. As of right now, they were waiting for the clock to turn to four while they were parked in front of the campus of Fort Lauderdale University. Olivia was so preoccupied that she failed to see that it was almost five o'clock in the afternoon and that they had been waiting for about an hour.
"We are here to meet with Leah Hall, the girl from the restaurant." Olivia spoke as she leaned against the passenger window and watched students enter and exit the building.
The view from the front of the university was a breathtaking sight. The splendor was something that Olivia adored, but Aiden was anything but enthused about it. "You already said that. What I don't understand is why we are here; why couldn't we meet her at the restaurant?" Angry, Aiden asked about it.
"Because if we don't meet with her, she's going to rat us out to her boss." Aiden rolled his eyes and gazed out the window as Olivia used a voice that conveyed a sense of calculation toward him. It was beyond his comprehension why Olivia was giving in to the threats made by a young girl when she could have simply dealt with the little girl in the same manner that she had always dealt with those who had committed crimes, but here she was, acting like Miss Goody-Two-Shoes.
Aiden, of all people, knew her best and knew that Olivia was not someone who could easily be intimidated by individuals like April Williams and Leah Hall; she was a cutthroat person. Olivia was not a saint, and Aiden knew her best. She detained most of the men as hostages and subjected them to terrible punishments, but she had never killed anyone; that was Aiden's duty. When it came to women, she took care of them herself and never caused them any bodily harm. The worst thing that ever happened to her was that she accidentally sent one woman to an asylum; other than that, ideal threats were sufficient.
After what seemed like an eternity, Olivia finally caught a glimpse of a young lady. She was leaving campus and making her way down the steps in the direction of the roadside. Even though she was not wearing her uniform, she appeared to be rather recognizable; she was dressed in ripped jeans in a pale blue color, a crop top in yellow, and short shoes in a nude color. She carried a sling bag and tucked her hands comfortably into the pockets of her jeans. Her hair was a blond-brown color, and it was hanging down over her shoulders. She was wearing purple sunglasses. The fact that she walked away from their car at an angle was something that Olivia noted, and she appeared to be in a good mood and somewhat unaware of the circumstances.
As Olivia slid down her window and Aiden closed it, she let out a sigh and continued to stare at him behind his back. "Here she comes, and don't even think of 1000 ways to punish her; I don't want anything to happen to her." As Olivia issued a cautionary statement, Aiden smiled. Olivia made another attempt to open the window, but Aiden prevented him from doing so. "You are as annoying as David. To prevent the girl from passing by, open the window. Exasperated, Olivia yelled out, but Aiden only laughed and rolled down the window before hooting for her. Olivia's outburst conveyed his frustration.
When Leah turned her head to look in the direction of the car, she was stunned for a brief second. However, a phantom smile pulled at her lips, and she proceeded to walk in the direction of the vehicle. "Hey, what are you doing here?" She inquired with a broad grin, and Olivia squinted her eyes in response to her question.
"Waiting for you." Olivia made a comment with a blank expression on her face, but Leah laughed.
"Is this about what happened at the restaurant?" When Leah inquired, Olivia gave her a raised eyebrow in response. "Girl, you are so young and naive. In all seriousness, I was joking; I will not reveal any information to Noah. You have your own money, so whatever the motive is behind your act is none of my concern. In addition, Noah deserves a new experience. It is not like you are doing anything to hurt him." Leah spoke the words, her cheeks beginning to flush slightly, and Olivia looked at her with a look of disbelief.
"You mean to tell me that I drove all the way here and waited for you for an hour for nothing?" Leah gave her a cheeky smile and proceeded to the opposite side of the car, where she opened the passenger door and got in next to Olivia. Olivia questioned her with clenched teeth, but Leah responded with a smile and opened the door. However, she sighed and smiled at Olivia, even though Aiden and Olivia were looking at her as if she were insane.
"Not quite. Now that you're here, you can drive me to my place; it's only a fifteen-minute drive away." The expression on Olivia's face caused Leah to make a conscious effort to stifle a laugh. "So, what do you say?" She cocked her eyebrow in her direction.
"Get out of my car." Olivia clenched his teeth.
"What is it? Did you not receive a complimentary return trip? No way, sir! Leah gave a defiant shake of her head and then fastened her seatbelt more securely. Olivia clenched her teeth and distracted herself by looking away, and Aiden could not help but smile. At first glance, it seemed that he and the new friend of his boss were going to become excellent friends. "Hey, are you serious, Olivia? I have a cousin who is waiting for me, but she does not have a key to my room. Leah expressed her displeasure.
"Where do you stay?" Aiden inquired while turning on the ignition, and Olivia gave him a glance over the mirror, but he smirked. Aiden then turned on the ignition.
"Oh!" Just keep driving straight; I'll let you know when we arrive at the property where I live, which is a student house. As the car drove away from the building, Leah smiled broadly and chirped joyfully as she peered out her window. She observed the car leaving the building.
"So, Leah, what are you studying?" When Aiden suddenly asked her and gave her a quick peek through the rearview mirror, Olivia rolled her eyes and continued to stare out her window before she responded.
"I'm doing my third year in Sociology and Anthropology (SAR)." After that, they reverted to silence until they arrived at Leah's student house, at which point she exited the vehicle. She said this with a slight smile, and Aiden shook his head in agreement. After that, they were back to silence. "Could you wait here for a second? I made some samosas yesterday; thought you'd like some." Leah made the offer with a friendly grin, but Olivia declined it while Aiden accepted it. "Great, just a second!" As she spoke, she dashed into the backyard.
It was more of a student village than a student house. A large yard was enclosed by a fence, and the walls were painted in white and lavender. Inside, there were a number of houses that ranged in height from single to triple stories. There were two enormous brown gates, and it appeared that there was a high level of security because there was an alarm system, cameras, and security guards. To exacerbate the situation, the yard required students to use access cards to gain entry. She insisted that they could not simply drop her off outside the yard, which caused the security guards to give Leah a difficult time. This incident occurred when Aiden attempted to park inside the premises, following Olivia's instruction.
There was an abundance of cars parked inside, with loud music playing in the background. There was obviously a party going on because students were scattered all over the place. Glancing at her wristwatch, Olivia noticed that it had been five minutes since Leah had left, and she was beginning to feel a growing sense of impatience. She had a difficult day, and at this moment, all she wanted was to go home and take a long bath with bubbles before she went to bed.
"Don't you think she's taking too long for someone who's going to fetch food?" Olivia inquired, and Aiden responded with a shrug. The students hurried toward one of the buildings and let out a huge roar after a short time. Olivia experienced a queasy feeling in her stomach as she listened to hooting and whistling in addition to the cheering that was going on. "Aiden, I think we should leave." Aiden, however, chose to disregard her and instead rolled down his window. Olivia remarked.
As he observed security personnel hurry past their vehicle in the direction of the location where the drama was taking place, he strained his eyes. "I think there's a fight." Olivia took a deep breath in response to what he had stated. The hope that she had was that Leah was not keeping them waiting here while she watched a brawl break out between some classmates. The crowd appeared to be approaching the entrance after a brief pause in the commotion, followed by heroic cries. During the time that Aiden was observing the fight, he saw a group of individuals attempting to tear themselves apart from one another while the security guard and another individual attempted to pull them apart. The students were not even attempting to stop the fight. Although Aiden had a fleeting moment of confusion, he dismissed the possibility that he had spotted Leah among the crowd. Nevertheless, a few seconds later, another guard hurried to the scene and pushed the crowd back. Aiden was able to see who was fighting; it was two girls, and Leah was one of them. "Olivia, it is Leah." Ms. Olivia jumped up from her seat in response to Aiden's frantic statement.
"What?" In a voice that was filled with panic, she inquired, but Aiden had already exited the vehicle. "Aiden!" Olivia yelled, but he was already running towards the battle, and the mob quickly engulfed him. The mob quickly consumed him.
Olivia got a nasty feeling about everything that was going on; Aiden should not have been getting engaged in fights between students because he was a visitor here, but here he was involved in the fighting. When there was once more silence, Olivia believed that the conflict had come to an end. However, a new roar echoed, making Olivia feel uneasy once more; could it be that Aiden was now the one engaging in combat? She pondered, but her thoughts were put to rest as Aiden came from the crowd carrying Leah, who was writhing, kicking, and screaming while he held her in his arms. Aiden ensnared her in his arms, pressing her back tightly against his chest. He had her in his arms.
Her hair was in a state of chaos, tears were streaming down her face, and one shoe was missing. The sling bag and top she was wearing were both damaged, and she could not find her sunglasses.
As Aiden approached, Olivia removed himself from the vehicle and opened the door for him. At the same time, Aiden was struggling to get Leah into the vehicle. "I beg you: let me go! Let me go!" She screamed and kicked the door, trying to stop Aiden from putting her in the car. However, Aiden managed to trap her against the car and hold her legs. After that, he lifted her up and threw her into the car. Aiden closed the door she entered and locked the vehicle when she tried to exit.
"What happened to her?" Olivia inquired about it.
"Get in the car; I'll explain later." After Olivia had entered, Aiden swiftly shut the door behind her. He then murmured something and unlocked the door for her. Getting into the driver's side of the vehicle, he hollered at the security personnel to open the gate. Soon after leaving the gate, he rushed off in the direction of April's flat.
Leah cried silently the entire time. Aiden assisted Leah in getting out of the car when they arrived at April's apartment; she appeared to be in a state of weakness and was broken.
Although she was crying, April curled herself into a ball in her bed after Aiden brought her to her room. Aiden left her in the room while he went to join Olivia in the sitting room. He covered her with a blanket and left her there.
"What happened?" When Olivia voiced the question, she folded her arms over her chest and peered over Aiden's shoulder to see what was going on behind the closed door.
Olivia had a sneaking suspicion that something serious was going on because Aiden appeared to be agitated and anxious. After he let out a sigh, he slumped against the wall. Aiden spoke in a harsh tone, and Olivia trembled in response. "Leah was fighting with her cousin," Aiden announced. A lock of her hair was brushed behind her ear by one of her hands, which she took from her chest and used to brush it.
Why is that? There is no need for her to argue with her cousin. While Olivia was recalling the day when Leah begged her to take her home, she remarked that she appeared to be glad to see her earlier.
A gloomy laugh came from Aiden, and he shook his head. "She was, until she found her sleeping with her boyfriend in her bedroom."