Irani gave the man a small smile before she glanced at her watch. “F-five thirty.” After saying that, she avoided his eyes and looked away.

The guy beside her looked harmless. Pero looks can be deceiving. She still couldn't help but feel nervous since they were only the two of them here in the waiting shed. It was also getting darker now.

Lord, I hope I'll get a ride soon… Irani whispered as she kept on looking at the road.

Her lips parted when she saw a familiar black car coming her way. It looked like Red's car.

The car then stopped in front of her. The window opened revealing Red.

Their eyes met. Unlike earlier, his expression was different. He looked serious.

“Get in, Irani,” Red said in a serious tone as he opened the front seat for her. His eyes were never leaving hers. His voice was serious… but she sensed the concern there.

This time, Irani didn't bother to think twice. She entered Red's car without second thoughts.

“Who’s that guy?” Red asked her the moment he closed the window. He was looking at the man with furrowed brows.

Irani bit her lower lip. “I-I don’t know," she said in a small voice.

Red snapped his eyes at her. "Did he say something to you? Did he do something inappropriate?"

Irani noticed how Red clenched his jaw.

She shook her head as her eyes went back to the man beside her. "Nothing, Red.”

“Are you sure?” he probed.

Irani's brows slightly furrowed. Was it really concerned that she was seeing in his eyes?

She cleared her throat and nodded. "Yeah. Uh, aren't we going now?" she asked him.

Red took off his seat belt then he leaned towards her. Irani's lips parted as Red slowly closed off the distance between them.

"Hey, what are you doing..."

"Your seatbelt.” He just said before he pulled the seat belt on her side and put it on her.

"There Irani," Red smiled before he went back to his seat and started the car.

Irani let out a breath. She could still smell Indigo even after he already moved away from her. Or maybe it was his car she was smelling?

She silently examined his car. In fairness, his car was clean and smelled so good.

She then cleared her throat as she glanced at Red who was busy driving beside her. “Why did you come back for me?” she asked him.

Red turned to her.

This time, she noticed that his playful aura was now back. The corner of his lips was curled up in an amused smile as if there was something funny with what she just said.

“Actually, I forgot something at the campus that's why I came back, Irani. But you're really thinking I came back for you?" A grin formed on his face. " I didn't know you're assuming, shortcake."

Irani felt her cheeks heat up. You and your big mouth, Irani.

Tsk. Why did she think anyway that she was the reason why Red drove back?

"I told you to stop calling me shortcake." She snapped at him.

Red glanced at her again. "Oh, so what do you want me to call you? Do you prefer dwarfie?"

"You're really an ass, you know that?" she said, glaring at him.

Once again, the asshole Red dela Merced ruined her mood again.

“DID you ride a taxi home, Irani?" her mother asked while they were having dinner that night.

Irani reached for her glass of water and took a drink before answering her mother.

“No, Ma. Uh, it was Cashmere and his brother who took me home."

She decided to not tell her mother that it was her best friend's cousin who drove her home. She knew her mother. She would surely ask about Red, and she didn't want to talk about that monkey in front of her parents.

Besides, she was still annoyed that she left Andrei's umbrella in his car. Now, she had no choice but to contact him again later.

"You didn't even invite them inside?" her mother probed.

"Both of them are in a hurry, Ma," she said.

Her father was a pediatrician, while her mother was a landscape artist. She was an only child. Her mother suffered a condition in the uterus after Irani was born.

"Next time, just call Mang Lino to fetch you, Irani," her father said. Mang Lino was their driver.

“No need, Dad,” Irani answered. She was already too old to be fetched by their driver. She was used to commuting. It was raining really hard tonight that's why she had a hard time getting a ride.

"How are boys at school, Irani? Is there anyone courting you?" her mother then asked in a playful tone.

Her parents were cool about her getting a boyfriend. Their only rule is that she would bring the guy to their house and would introduce him properly to her parents.

Her parents were like that because they were high school sweethearts. Despite the years that passed, her parents remained loyal and sweet to each other. Because of them, Irani believed in long-lasting love. She grew up to be a hopeless romantic.

“Don’t worry, Ma. I won't keep it a secret from you two," she said with a smile. Of course, if there is someone she wanted to introduce to them, it would be Frei and no one else.

"You have classes tomorrow, right?" her mother asked, after shifting their topic to her school. "I hope you can go home early tomorrow. Your grandma would already be here by afternoon."

Her Lola Martina was her grandmother on her mother’s side.

Her mother's family was from Davao, a province in the southern part of the country. The old woman was flying to New York to visit her aunt there.

She heard from her mother that her grandma would be staying with them for a few days before her flight to New York.

"Sure, Ma. I'll try. I hope I won't get caught in traffic tomorrow."