REGINA'S P.O.V

I was creeped out to the extent of throwing the chit right back to where it came from. You don't throw chits randomly at people and ask them to call you in the middle of the night. The place was strange to me. A part of me suspected Asher and part of me thought that it was one of the guards out there. I looked down the balcony and there were two guards strolling along the back of the mansion. I stared at them for a while waiting for them to look up but they didn't. The possibility of it being Asher was nil because no one in this world can travel that fast unless he had thrown that chit from his balcony and that was, again, impossible, because of the distance.

I looked at the chit again. It was handwritten and the writing was extremely poor. It was half cursive and half straight. 

At first, I was skeptical about it but that person had access to the house, so it was most probably a worker. My curiosity was at all time high and I remembered that I had a burner phone with me for absolutely no reason and I hadn't used it except for one time when I prank called Hina to tell her that I had told her dad about what she had been doing all day. She had lied to him about coming to my place when actually she went to meet her boyfriend. It was fun when she lost her shit but had to tell her because it would panic the heck out of her. 

I dialed the number and thought about cancelling the whole plan right when I hit the dial button. 

I had my ears perked up in case I could hear the phone ringing somewhere near, but I never heard anything. The call went straight to the voice mail. I tried again to make sure that person didn't miss by chance and it finally connected.

"Hello?" I heard right after the very first bell.

"Yes?" I must have sounded dumb.

"What? Who's this?" He spoke and I recognized his voice. This can't be true. I was probably wrong.

"You asked me to call you and you don't know who I am?" I said, composing myself while looking over to see if Asher was on his balcony. He wasn't.

"I don't know what you're talking about. What's your name?" He sounded annoyed this time.

"What do you mean?" I accidentally voiced my thought.

"Didn't you hear what I said? Tell me who you are before I hang up on you." His tone annoyed me.

"What the hell? You threw that chit with your number and now you're acting like you know nothing?" Just when I said that, I saw Asher coming out of his room back on the balcony. He was on his phone. My breath hitched because I had heard the window sliding in my phone too. 

"I'm hanging up." he finally said.

"Wait! Um, look up?" I asked and Asher glanced up.

"Shit." That was the only response that I could come up with before hanging up. I was still in a trance and when I looked up, Asher was leaning over the rail and looking towards me standing in front of the open window, looking down at my phone. I was embarrassed. We hadn't talked for so many years and when we finally did, it had to be like this? 

I knew this was the only chance when I could justify myself before he took me as a petty ass. He must be thinking that I got his number because I was dying to converse. I quickly dialed his number again. He picked it up and was waiting for me to say something. It got awkward because we were looking straight at each other. I couldn't muster up the courage to utter even a single word when he finally said, 

"Where did you get my number?" His voice was stern and it made everything worse.

"It was written in a chit thrown at my balcony."

"Who did that? Did you see?" He sounded concerned this time, nevertheless, his tone still wasn't welcoming.

"No, I just thought it was someone I knew."

"Then why were you using a burner when you thought it was someone you knew."

"I don't know, can't be that naïve."

"I'll find out who threw it. Anything else?"  There was silence for a moment and I finally decided to be a petty ass forgetting all about my self respect,

"Do you remember me?"

There was silence on the other end.

"Do you want to do this on phone?" He asked finally

"I don't know, do you?"

"No,"

"Do we have any other choice?" I secretly prayed that he'd hang up because as much as I wanted it, I still wasn't ready.

"Yeah, we can go out somewhere." His voice trailed off, awaiting my response.

Was he asking to meet? Right now? Bipolar much? A minute ago he sounded like he hated my guts.

"Maybe, when?" I squirmed under his gaze even from this far and felt my anxiety bubbling up.

"Right now." It didn't sound like he was asking but it would be even embarrassing to outright accept. 

"Its the middle of the night."

"So?" he retorted, "You're doing something better?"

"Well, okay."

"Meet me outside the main gate, at the end of street." He said hanging up right after without giving me any chance to speak.

It was kind of justified in its own that he didn't want others at the house to think that we knew each other than professionally but at the same time, it bothered me because I couldn't find anything wrong in knowing someone outside your professional life when you are not at your job. I was not on my shift right now.

I wanted to change into something else, but it wouldn't have made any difference, and again it was the middle of night so why bother at all. I was wearing tights and a tank top so I just pulled on a warm hoodie. I walked out of the room and found all the lights had been dimmed which meant that everyone went to bed. I was not sure if the front door was locked or not. When I reached it, they were locked. I knew I needed a card to unlock it because I had seen Hailey using it. 

Idiot, duck faced door. 

I was lost now. If I wanted to go out, then I had to wake Hailey up and I couldn't risk anyone knowing why I were going out at this time of the night. So, I called Julia who had luckily given me her number before going to her room. She picked up almost immediately.

"Hey, Julia, how can I unlock the doors right now?"

"There is a card behind the flower pot." I looked around and found a pot right beside the door and the card were surely there. 

"Got it, thanks."

"Why are you going out at this time? Do you want me to come?" She asked and I laughed nervously.

"Oh no, just going for a walk and fresh air."  

"Oh, alright." She sounded convinced so I hung up.

It had been almost thirty minutes so I had to hurry my ass up. I was taking longer strides partly because I was anxious and my limbs were working on their own. The guards opened the gates and I went straight out. I could see a car parked at the end of the road and the lights had been switched off. I recognized the car as Asher's because it had been in the driveway earlier. I walked towards it and suddenly, I felt cold. We usually had pleasant days and colder nights but it was unusually chilly tonight.

I had almost reached the car when the door opened. Asher came out of the car and began walking towards the other side of the door. He opened it for me. I had no time to admire so I thanked him and sat inside. 

We didn't say anything until we were both seated inside.

"Regina Miller." He whispered, looking at the steering wheel. I waited for him to continue or look at me but he didn't. Looking at him in such proximity was different but familiar. He smelt the same; the musky scent, but he looked different. Something was missing. 

I was trying to figure out the difference when he looked at me straight in the eye and that was when I realized what was missing. His eyes missed the liveliness that was there when we first met. His once sparkling blue eyes were dull and looked almost empty....sad. His face was devoid of any expression and that reminded me, I don't know this guy. I never knew anything about him except his name.

His hand reached out which startled me a bit but when his fingers came into contact with my face, I relaxed. He was gentle. 

"What happened to your face?" He asked examining the bruises on my face, his hand lingering a little longer on the corner of my lip. 

I had forgotten about it. 

"Its just...." I didn't want to tell him because that would have made me look vulnerable in front of him, as if I was unable to protect myself and wasn't strong enough to be on my own. I didn't want anyone to have that impression of me whatsoever. Hailey and others knew and it was enough people already.

"Tell me." he almost ordered and that made me move back, his hand suspended in the air. 

"It's good that you reported to the police." He said when I didn't respond, making me look at him. How did he know? He must have asked Hailey. I made a mental note to ask her.

"I can handle it myself." I said looking away on to the quiet street.

"I see." He replied, "You are my employee. Don't think I'm unaware of what you do, even in your free time." 

I looked at him quizzically. He sounded like a creep. Can't he mind his own business? He turned the car on and began driving.

"Where are we going?"

"Nowhere." His tone was clipped. This interaction was annoying me to another level.

"Why did you never say anything to me if you remembered?" I asked while he drove. I noticed we were on the main road which was empty and I wasn't sure if we were going anywhere considering how the whole town usually slept after 9.

"Why didn't you?" He shrugged slightly.

Fair enough. It was the same on my part. I had been thinking about how unfair it was to me when he didn't approach me or say anything. We sometimes don't realize the part that our own ego plays in our decision making when we are blaming the other for being so egoistic. We forget that we can be unfair to them too, without even realizing.

"So, tell me about yourself?" I said to make the mood a bit lighter so things won't be so uncomfortable especially when the quiet and silence was brooding.

"What do you want to know?" he asked back.

"Anything."

He shook his head, "You don't need to know anything about me and as for you, I know enough about you."

"No you don't." I said, folding my arms in front of my chest and turning in my seat to look at him directly.

"You bet." 

"You know nothing."

"Try me." He said giving me a challenging glance and I was up for it.

"Who's Evangeline Thakur?" I asked being hundred percent sure that he'd lose considering how random the question was.

He bit his bottom lip in anticipation, which was unbearably hot and I had to ignore it when he finally replied, "She was your nanny when you were-" he paused for a second, "three years old."

I was stunned, "Stalker."

I could swear I saw him smile, faintly.
He didn't say anything for a while and I thought the conversation was over.

"You remember what you called me when I caught that spin wheel guy?" He asked, his rings clad fingers tapping on the steering wheel.

"Mr. know it all." I replied.

"Yeah, so don't flatter yourself. I like to keep up to my attributes and I have my sources." He had a smirk on his face and I was about to say something but he continued, "Anyways, I didn't call you here to have a chat."

My confusion went right through the roof and my cheeks flamed, "Then why did you call me?"

"Work."

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Question: Red Ferrari or White Lamborghini? :D