Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 51: Take her to his condo

Chapter 51: Take her to his condo

Neil gripped the steering wheel tightly, driving fast through the city. He didn’t know why he was still upset about what happened in the cafeteria. Furthermore, he didn’t even know why he was driving the girl along with him, but the thought of leaving her behind with those devilish students just didn’t sit well with him.

He stepped on the gas to clear his mind of his irration, and his cold gray eyes, showed his unemotional and dominant character as he broke the speed limit of Zen city. However, when he noticed Mia in the passenger seat all curled up and slightly shivering, he turned off the air conditioner then turned up the warmer and slowed down a bit, something he would never do considering he was a warm-blooded person who always liked to keep the air conditioner on in his car.

He didn’t even know where he was driving to when he should be in his boring office going through his professor work and looking for an opportunity to get into the counselor’s office and do his final investigation. But here he was driving to who-knows-where. He never really liked sitting in an office after he’d spent fifteen years in military camp, and even though his father’s company was still available and he should be running it like his late father had wanted him to, Neil had turned away from the company and allowed his distant cousins to run the company. They would do a better job than a broken shell like him would do.

Neil believed his life was better off being revolved around his mission and finding the man who killed his parents. He had no desires of being a man who would sit in an office all day long going through filles and documents, he would rather go around defusing bombs and risking his life to save lives. And now that he finally had an opportunity to drive out of Ivy Grove institute and away from that darned office, he felt much better and at ease. He would drive around the city and then take the girl back to the university.

Neil thought to himself, however when he turned to look at how the girl beside him was curled up on the seat with her wet clothes sticking to her body like a second skin, he decided to drive to his condo instead of driving around the city. As he continued to drive, his eyes kept swaying back towards her. She was unblinkingly staring out the window, and he noticed tears gleaming in her eyes from her reflection on the closed window. Why was she crying? Could it be that she was crying because she wasn’t satisfied with how he’d only made her hit Diane once?

His expression became serious as he tried to figure out what could be the reasons for her teary eyes, but not being familiar with women’s feelings, he couldn’t guess. How could he guess when he had never been around any female for years apart from Davina? He never really gave his attention to any woman unless she had something to do with his mission, and he never tried to think about how a woman’s mind works, he wasn’t knowledgeable with anything about his opposite gender. And now that he saw her teary eyes, he could only guess that it was because she didn’t get to hit Diane the way she pleased.

Turning to her, he asked, "Why didn’t you hit the girl the way you wanted back there?" he asked, his voice steady and devoid of emotion as usual.

Mia, who was lost in thinking of what would happen if she lost her scholarship and how she would disappoint her mother who had given everything to make her study, was taken aback to hear the man beside her speak. With her large teary brown eyes, she looked at him. "Sometimes," she replied calmly, "one has to hold back, knowing their actions would have a bad aftermath. Not all problems are resolved with physical retaliation, and I would have even appreciated it more if you hadn’t made me hit Diane..." She murmured the last part softly.

By hitting Diane, she would not only lose her scholarship but the opportunity to graduate in peace in any school in Zen city. The thought that her two years of studying hard to graduate with high grades would now go to waste made the tears in her eyes rolled down her cheeks. She quickly looked away from him and continued to glance outside the window.

Neil’s face showed no emotion, but his eyes were curious and his chest felt uneasy at the sight of the tears in her eyes. Instead of thanking him for helping her hit a bully, she said she would have appreciated it if he hadn’t made her do it? Why? Was she also part of those who feared the Foster family’s influence in Zen city?

Neil thought to himself, but a realization slowly dawned on him. He had almost forgotten that the girl before him wasn’t the rich little heiress he once knew in Mirage mesa, with her current family background, she couldn’t afford to offend someone like that brainless spoiled brat. Not to mention she was attending the university on scholarship. To him, the Fosters were nothing but little ants, but to someone like Little Mi, they were people she couldn’t afford to offend.

Neil didn’t speak a word to the person in his car and silently continued to drive towards his complex apartment building in uptown Zen City.

Mia, who was still curled up on the seat, sat up straight when the car came to a stop in a fancy underground parking lot of a luxurious complex apartment building, where several gleaming cars were parked in rows. She stared blankly as he walked out and opened the car door for her, and when she didn’t move to come out, he frowned and said, "Get out."

Mia slowly got out of the car and clutched her bag to her chest. Where did he bring her to? She thought in confusion as he started to walk forward expecting her to follow him, and she did just that, she hurriedly followed after him towards the elevator in the underground parking lot.

Inside the elevator, Mia saw her reflection in the reflective walls of the fancy elevator, she gasped in surprise, but quickly pressed a hand to her mouth when her startled gasp made Mr. Ice cube’s gray eyes looked towards her in the reflection. She felt the sudden urge to dig a hole and hide from how messy she looked. She looked like the trashy person Diane had insulted her of being. Her brown hair was sticking to her face and shoulders, with remnants of the milkshake making it even messier.

Her wet dress clung to her body like a second skin, and she had a bump on her forehead with dried blood on it. In contrast, Mr. Ice cube looked flawless, like a character from a painting. He stood nonchalantly in front of her, hands in his pockets. She could see from his reflection on the wall that he wasn’t wearing a tie and his suit jacket was no where in sight. It was a dress code for the professors in Ivy Grove to dress in suit, but Mr. Ice cube never dressed complete. His white button-up shirt was unbuttoned at the top, allowing his tattoos to show as always.

But when she raised her eyes to his face in the reflection, she regretted doing so immediately, because his lazy gray eyes were regarding her in the clear reflective wall. Feeling subconscious, Mia shrank backward and clutched her bag to her chest even tighter.

When the elevator door opened and they stepped into the building lobby, Mia wished she could disappear from sight. The lobby looked luxurious with high grand ceilings, marble flooring, and with large paintings on the walls. There were several chandeliers hanging from the ceiling adding to the grandeur of the space. The lobby was spacious and well-lit, creating a welcoming atmosphere for visitors. But not for visitors like her, because almost everyone turned their heads to look at her, and the front desk staffs even tapped each other to gesture towards them.

Mia quickened her pace to catch up to the man in front of her. He was walking incredibly fast. She didn’t know why he brought her here and where he was going, but she didn’t want to be here in her messy state. She would rather go home than go through another embarrassment in a place she had never been to before.

"Mr. Ice_i mean Mr. Bennett, where are we going to? Um, if you don’t mind, can you please give me a ride to the nearest bus station? I’d like to go home." She asked softly while trying to keep up with him, but he didn’t even stop when he heard her words and only said, "No."

"No?" she questioned, puzzled. "Am I not allowed to go home? Why?"

"You’re not in a condition to go home. You look disheveled, and it’s embarrassing to walk around like that," he nonchalantly remarked as he made his way towards another elevator in the lobby area. But upon hearing his words, Mia halted and didn’t follow him into the elevator this time. He must have felt embarrassed to be seen with someone in a messy state like her, as he had been rushing away from the lobby. She was aware that she looked unkempt, but she hadn’t asked him to bring her along and feel embarrassed about her appearance.

Observing that she hadn’t join him in the elevator, Neil stuck his leg between the closing doors and frowned. "Get in," he commanded in his usual authoritative tone that would make any soldier comply, but the girl shook her head and softly murmured, "I want to go home."