Alaric smiled as he shook hands with one client after another. The meeting this time was quite long but went smoothly, the paper had been signed as an agreement between the two parties to become donors to the museum he was taking care of.
He walked to the parking lot. His car was parked at the end of the basement, a jet black, sleek car that seemed mysterious. Alaric unlocked his car and stepped inside, the smell of wood and tea greeting him immediately. He sighed, leaning back for a moment on the car seat to relax himself after a long meeting. His right hand loosened the tie he was wearing, while his left hand placed his bag on the passenger seat.
Alaric frowned, feeling something foreign touching his hand. He turned around and found a bag hanger next to his own bag. Confused, Alaric grabbed the bag hanger. It was a stuffed rabbit made of knitted yarn.
'Thea...' Alaric realized the key chain belonged to Thea. The milky tea-brown haired girl was the last one to sit on the passenger seat next to him. Selene herself was not very fond of such cute things. Alaric noticed that the hook on the doll's hanger was slightly loose. Thea obviously hadn't noticed it slipping out of her bag.
Alaric cradled the stuffed rabbit that felt light in his hands, the knitted yarn smooth and neat. And he refrained as much as possible from inhaling the scent that might linger on the doll.
'What was I thinking?' Alaric rubbed his face in exasperation, placing the doll hanger on the dashboard of his car. He glanced at the watch comfortably attached to his wrist, it was 4pm. Calvenhart's sky was slightly overcast and it might rain again like last night. If Alaric hadn't been looking at the clock he would have thought it was late. He took off his coat and tie, putting them on the back, and was now wearing only a white shirt.
His golden brown eyes glanced back at Thea's doll hanger lying unceremoniously on the dashboard. Alaric then decided to take the hanger with him. The hanger must be Thea's prized possession, he didn't want to make the girl panic looking for the hanger. He only wanted to return Thea's belongings, there was no other intention.
____
Alaric's black car was parked in front of the modest apartment Thea lived in. The parking lot in front of the apartment was quite narrow, and fate seemed to be on Alaric's side because he could get a parking space easily. Drizzling down the city of Calvenhart, Alaric put Thea's doll hanger in his pants pocket then he ran quickly into the apartment lobby.
He ran a hand through his hair to get rid of the raindrops that had landed on his head. Alaric's golden brown eyes scanned the lobby of the apartment, there was a vending machine that was starting to rust but still worked fine. The reception desk that made a wooden creaking sound when the cat perched on it moved, and the middle-aged woman watching TV at the reception desk.
Alaric approached the middle-aged woman to ask about the room number of the apartment Thea was staying in.
'Second floor number 20.' Alaric mumbled remembering Thea's apartment number. As he climbed the stairs Alaric realized that the apartment might seem simple and old, but it was neat and safe. He smiled and nodded a few times as the residents of the apartment passed him by. Realizing Thea's neighborhood was like this, somehow a sense of calm came over him.
"Are you looking for Thea?" Thea's neighbor saw Alaric pressing the doorbell.
"That's right. Is she inside?" Alaric asked with a polite smile.
"I saw her in the laundry room, downstairs in this apartment."
Alaric thanked her and went downstairs. The laundry room was located in the corner of the apartment and as Alaric got closer he could hear the humming sound of the washing machines spinning. In the doorway of the laundry room he saw Thea moving her freshly washed clothes into the dryer. The girl was wearing a loose T-shirt and shorts, her milk tea brown hair in an original bun that made a few strands of hair fall out because it wasn't tied, looking messy but strangely giving off a sexy vibe.
Alaric was stunned for a moment to see Thea. The innocent and clumsy girl who stayed at his house last night, or the polite girl he met at the museum now looked very different. Messy, and also seemingly simple because she had no makeup on. Alaric unconsciously looked at Thea's smooth legs and only wore shorts, her thighs looked a little plump, but it made Alaric want to touch and squeeze them. Realizing his gaze and thoughts were going in an inappropriate direction he cursed inwardly.
He shouldn't be like this, this girl was so young and his daughter's best friend.
"Mr. Grayson?"
Alaric snapped back to reality when he heard Thea's surprised exclamation. He lifted his face and saw Thea coming towards him, narrowly missing the girl dropping the laundry basket. Ah her nervous demeanor returned at the sight of Alaric.
When close, those gray eyes looked at her confused. Thea had to look up slightly as she stood in front of Alaric. Adorable. "What's wrong?" asked Thea.
"It looks like you unknowingly dropped this in my car." Alaric reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a bunny-shaped knit doll hanger.
Thea widened her eyes and accepted her hanger with a relieved smile. "I left it in your car? Thank goodness, I was panicking earlier." Thea noticed that the hanger's hook was a little loose. "Hmm I should change the hook," she muttered more to herself.
"Looks like it's quite valuable to you," Alaric commented.
Thea nodded. "Yes, it's a memento from...my father." She looked at Alaric solemnly. "Thank you for taking the trouble to return it. You could have left it with Selene."
Thea was right. Alaric could have left the doll hanger with Selene. And wouldn't that have been easier and less troublesome? Alaric swallowed for a moment, silently admitting that he wanted to see the girl again.
"I happened to pass by your apartment."
Thea nodded in understanding, not looking confused anymore. She looked up at Alaric and realized the shirt he was wearing was a bit wet, as was his hair. She glanced out the window and realized that outside the window, due to the buzzing sound of the washing machine, she had not noticed the outside.
"You got caught in the rain from dropping off my hanging bag," Thea muttered guiltily.
"No problem." Alaric chuckled running a hand through his slightly wet hair, realizing he had nothing more to do with the girl Alaric decided to head home. Despite the fact that he wanted to spend a little longer with Thea, but he realized he couldn't. Thea was his daughter's best friend. "Then I'll go home first."
"Would you like to have some tea in my apartment while we wait for the rain to stop?"
"You remember, don't you? I took the car this morning?" He squeezed his hands in his pockets, why did the words just come out?
This was Thea, the girl who had been kind to him and might just open doors for him. Alaric swallowed, instantly regretting saying those words of rejection to Thea.
The washing machine continued to spin, buzzing to fill their awkward silence.