"I am sorry." She stammered her words in a shaky tone, as Brandon chuckled.
"Why did you take forever to call?" He asked and Eva suddenly lost her voice. She felt a loop in her throat. "Say someone!"
The voice sounded like it was near. Startled, she spun around and saw Brandon standing there, casually dressed this time.
"How?" She asked, ending the ongoing call abruptly after hearing herself in the background.
"I asked someone who knew," He admitted. It was her boss but he couldn't tell her that. "Shall we?"
She followed him up to an Aston Martin One. He opened the car for her and after shutting her door, he rushed to the driver's side.
"Don't mind the car," He commented the moment he entered the car. "I didn't want to drag attention."
Her eyes widened. "You have other cars?!" And Brandon nodded. Not wanting to boast.
"Wow, that means you have a high position at the company." Eva remarked, feeling overwhelmed that, she might be having a conversation with one of the company's high seated individual.
Brandon nodded again. Not comfortable about the whole work thing. But from the way she kept asking, he could tell she didn't go through the complimentary card properly.
"Can we talk about another thing? Like get to know each other better. I like macaroni and cheese with lots of pepper in it. Weird right?" Eva raised her brow at him at first. Then became hesitate to give him a response. She didn't want to sound rude or hypocritical.
"Well, that's not that awful you know." She started and Brandon seemed interested in whatever she has to say. "I too have my weird favorite food." This time she let out a stiff laugh.
Though he was friendly, she didn't plan on crossing the line since they had just met.
"I'm sorry about the laugh." Saying that caused Brandon to frown. He was trying to focus on the road and at her. He didn't get the reason she was already apologizing.
"I told you that because I wanted you to laugh. Don't be formal with me. So tell me what is yours? Like your own weird food." He inquired, now intent on driving because of a truck drove closely.
There was a complete silence for a few seconds. Brandon felt he overstepped and might have upset Eva somehow. Just as Brandon was about to apologize for prying, Eva spoke.
"Mine is apple pie, peanut butter and white chocolate." Brandon suddenly hit the brakes and the impact sent them bouncing forward fiercely. If they didn't have their seat belts on, it would have become a disaster.
"I'm sorry!" He said, looking out through his window. Eva though it was because of what she said but, He laughed, patted his chest like he was relieved about something. "I thought, I knocked them down," He said and turned to Eva who already felt embarrassed about her confession.
"Huh!?"
"It was three kittens. I got scared for a minute there," He said, pointing out to the side of the road. Eva leaned closer, saw the kittens through his opened window and smiled. "They look cute too."
Brandon nodded. They both contemplated if to carry the kittens along or just leave them.
"What if no one sees them and, they get killed in the process?" Eva asked with so much concern written on her face. She wasn't a cat person but, looking at those adorable innocent creatures really soften her heart.
"Im not a cat person either." Brandon admitted. Like he had just read through her mind.
"What do we do?" Eva asked and thinned her lips, to stop herself from saying something she might regret later.
Cats are wonderful pets but having one, was a 'no no' thing for her.
"I think, I know someone who would do anything to have them," Brandon said, having remembered a family friend.
"Okay."
Brandon picked up his phone and dialed the number. It rang the first time and no response. Trying the second time, after what seem to be forever, the call was pic, Brandon had to put it on loud speaker for Eva to hear too.
"Hey Bran, how are you?" The feminine voice was heard. She sounded more matured and Eva started to guess the age of the person in her head.
"Im good, what about you?" He asked back.
"I'm fine—just had steak with some fried veggies. I'm stuffed! I can't even... Meow!" she replied with a laugh, followed by the sound of a meowing cat in the background. Though, her laughing was because one of her cat had meowed so loud near the phone.
Brandon diverted his eyes to meet Eva's after the cat did that.
"I've got some news you might like." Brandon started and the other end became somewhat quiet. Only the cats can be heard in the background. "We found abandoned kittens. I don't know if…"
The woman on the other end of the phone finally broke her silence, "Why not bring them over. The ones here wont mind sharing." She said and next thing they heard was, "You will be good with the new ones, right?"
Eva almost laughed. She was stunned. Didn't know there were people so obsessed with cats,
"Okay. Will be there soon." Brandon said before ending the call. "Let me get them then." Eva smiled back.
While Brandon was busy with the kittens, Eva was on her phone. She was still angry at her friends for what they made her do the previous night. She didn't notice when Brandon kept the kittens at the back, then when he opened the front she turned to face him.
"Please after dropping them off, can you take me home instead? The thing is, we spent so much time here and it's quite late. I have a job tomorrow." Eva pleaded.
"Oh, okay. That's not a problem." Brandon replied and started the engine of the car.
Now there were little kittens at the back, he had to drive carefully so they don't fall off. The ride was quite cool as the duo talked about a lot of things. Brandon kept trying to get more details from her and still, he was shocked Eva still had no clue he was the man she had something with.
He didn't know if to bring it up or let it be. The more she talked about her view, the more he found himself entrapped in both her personality and beauty. A lady with a heart of gold if not mistaken. And the moment they arrived, she was already sleepy but still wanted to get out and meet the new face.
"Hi." Eva greeted.
"And you are?" The woman asked first looking at Brandon and then, back at her.
"Sorry, I'm Eva. A new friend." Eva spoke up for Brandon,
Nodding continuously, "That's nice of you to come along with these wonderful creatures." She pointed at the kittens.
"Not a problem. It is a pleasure meeting you, madam." Eva said with a charming smile.
Scanning the woman from her face to her skin and hair, Eva did a happy dance internally. She had guessed the woman to be around 38 years but seeing her real, she seemed around the age or maybe 40. Not far from the guessed number. The woman wore a casual red three-quarter sleeve top with a simple V-neck. Below, she had on a pair of navy-blue leggings that fit snugly.
Eva looked away so the woman doesn't feel uncomfortable.
"I need to drop her off." Brandon broke the silence and Eva was glad.
Soon, they were out of the compound and in the car again.
"Where do you live?" Brandon asked, pretending not to know. He knew almost everything about her.