Shane sat up straight, putting a bit of distance between himself and Audrey. He adjusted the collar of her suit jacket that had flipped over, and said gently, "I told you, when you stop asking this question, you’ll naturally know the answer."
"You always brush off like this. Just tell clearly, do you like or not!"
He looked out the window in silence.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Audrey thought he was organizing his words, but when the cabin door opened, he crouched down and stepped out first. She then realized he was only stalling.
Seeing his hand offered to help her out of the cabin, Audrey avoided it, grabbed her bag, and got out by herself.
After saying goodbye to Barry Barrett, Audrey followed Shane straight to the parking lot.
She was still sulking, walking ahead without talking to him.
The driver drove the car to the closest exit to them, and within a few minutes, they got in the car.
Feeling tired from the fun, she ate a bag of crackers and played with her phone before falling asleep against the car window.
Shane didn’t disturb her, simply watching the shops along the road. He softly instructed the driver, "Stop by a pharmacy if we pass one."
The driver imdiately responded, "There’s a pharmacy just past the next traffic light."
"Okay, stop there."
The car stopped smoothly, and Shane looked at Audrey; she was still asleep.
Only then did he get out quietly, gently closing the car door, and walked to the pharmacy.
He went to buy so throat dicine for her; her voice was terribly hoarse.
When he returned with the dicine and opened the car door, he found Audrey looking at him. As soon as she woke up, her anger seed to vanish. She looked at the bag in his hand and asked, "What did you buy?"
"Sothing tasty."
She imdiately craned her neck to ask, "What is it?"
Shane smiled, got into the car, and closed the door.
As the driver gently started the car, Shane handed her a bag with the dicine, "Take two pills, and once you do, I’ll give you so candy."
Audrey tore open the bag and looked, her voice raspy as she asked him, "What dicine is this?"
"You should listen to how your voice sounds now," Shane replied as he unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and handed it to her.
Hearing it was throat dicine, Audrey obediently took the water bottle and swallowed the pills.
As soon as she swallowed the pills, he reached over and popped sothing into her mouth.
She savored the taste, sweet and cooling, likely a throat lozenge.
As she tasted the candy quietly, the silence in the car was suddenly broken by Audrey’s resolute voice: "I think you like ."
Shane glanced at her sideways, and she stared ahead as if she weren’t talking to him.
After a couple of seconds, Shane finally responded, "If you think I do, then I do."
"You do like ; you just won’t admit it!"
Her tone was very certain, but her eyes secretly observing his reaction betrayed her inner uncertainty.
She was just guessing. She believed that a man who rembered to buy her dicine for her hoarse voice must care for her.
But she wasn’t sure if it was just a habitual act of care or if he had truly fallen for her.
His expression was well-concealed; Audrey couldn’t discern any clues, unable to guess his thoughts.
With a slight smile that seed both like an acknowledgnt and like an internal struggle with his feelings,
Audrey took a breath, trying to reassure herself that at least he hadn’t denied it like before, which ant there was progress in their relationship.
On the following Monday, Shane had a ten o’clock flight to another city for two days.
Audrey woke up early to help him pack his luggage and prepare breakfast.
He could have booked an earlier flight but chose the ten o’clock one so he could drop her off at school.
After dropping Audrey off at the school building, Shane drove directly to the airport.
Her big brother’s class was in the morning, and when Audrey reached the classroom, Phoebe King had already taken a seat in the front rows and saved a spot for Audrey next to her. When she saw Audrey, she waved happily.
In other classes, students usually crowded to the back; the first three rows were often left for latecors. But in her brother’s class, a bunch of girls hurried to snag the front seats early.
Audrey sat down next to Phoebe King: "Sister Phoebe, what brings you here?"
Phoebe King whimsically replied, "To experience a bit of youth in the classroom!"
Audrey bluntly exposed her, "I might believe that if soone else said it."
Phoebe King didn’t beat around the bush and imdiately asked, "Has your brother stopped going on blind dates recently?"
"My brother isn’t interested in blind dates; it’s all my mom arranging them for him. Now that she’s all set on matching you and my brother, she won’t set him up on blind dates anymore."
Upon hearing this, Phoebe couldn’t hide her smile: "I really like your mom."
"Co on, every ti you visit us, it’s always for my brother, isn’t it?"
Phoebe shalessly laughed, "Audrey, you can’t put it like that. Liking your brother doesn’t prevent from liking you guys too."
As they chatted, the class bell rang.
Almost simultaneously, Stephen Sutton walked into the classroom with a textbook in hand.
The lively classroom fell silent all at once, as both Phoebe King and Audrey stopped chatting and fixed their eyes on the teacher like well-behaved students.
Their seats were almost directly in front of the podium. When Stephen Sutton entered, he saw them.
His deanor didn’t show any obvious change, though his brows were slightly furrowed, and then he deliberately ignored the front-row students, as if he was teaching only to those in the back rows, not sparing Phoebe King a single glance.
Phoebe whispered to Audrey, "See your brother, always treating like I’m invisible."
Audrey chuckled, "My brother’s a bit shy; he’s probably just embarrassed."
"Why on earth should he be embarrassed when I’m the one pursuing him?"
"Ahem—" Stephen cleared his throat. Audrey looked up and t his gaze. Though he didn’t verbally warn her, Audrey understood he saw her chatting with Phoebe King, which was his way of reminding her.
In her brother’s class, Audrey always showed respect. She never dared to be inattentive, so when catching Stephen’s gaze, she imdiately straightened her posture and focused on the lecture, posing attentively.
Unexpectedly, while everyone was diligently taking notes, Phoebe King raised her hand high and told Stephen, "Teacher, I have a stomachache, I need to go to the restroom."
"Go," Stephen answered quickly, as if not wanting to deal with her.
As if avoiding seeing her was a relief.
Phoebe King only wanted to make her presence felt. She left the classroom with her bag, smoked a cigarette in the restroom, and then returned: "Reporting back, teacher, I’m back."
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