The soft light clouding her face woke her up.
Rena sighed, recollecting the dream which she remembered accurately.
She frowned and quickly brushed it off.
It was eerie and definitely won't ever be happening.
She arranged her sheets and checked the time.
It was 6:30am. Herman would arrive at seven as agreed so she has at least thirty minutes to get herself ready.
Thankfully, Beulah had already sent her the home address.
She swiftly warmed her leftover fries, ate some and went to shower.
She finished dressing up at seven but Herman wasn't there yet.
She waited for quite some minutes but he remained absent.
Losing patience and a bit confused, she called him but there was no reply.
'Is something wrong?' She asked herself, perplexed.
She decided to wait a bit but unexpectedly even at nine, there were no sign of him.
This time she felt almost dejected and had a feeling to call it off.
The reason why she brought up the timeframe of leaving at seven was because the address which Beulah had sent, Britts Town was far off in Alan City.
They would have to drive seven hours by car to reach there.
If they do begin at seven with Herman's car, they have at least a chance of reaching there by 1pm and returning back before midnight.
But now, if they even do start now, they might not even be fortunate enough to return to the Capital by midnight.
Rena didn't want to pass the night in her parent's home.
She somehow didn't want to be near them at all.
Just as she nearly lost hope, she heard the sound of a car humming towards her small driveway.
Hurriedly opening her door, she caught sight of a car stopping before her house.
She paused. It was not Herman's car.
Her doubts only cleared when she saw Herman stepping out of it. She was surprised.
She moved solely when Herman called.
"Rena..."
"Herman, what are you doing here? I mean by this hour?"
That was not in the plan. He ignored her calls too. It all took her aback.
Herman heaved a smile. "I was busy in a meeting and my phone was left in the office. It was an emergent gathering, I couldn't leave."
"Oh." She didn't ask any further.
Although Herman had said today would be taken as his day off, he was still a businessman.
She wasn't petty enough to want every time of his to herself. If she was, they won't have been in a relationship by now.
She nodded and gestured. "Let's leave then."
But then again, she hesitated cause she saw a detail she hadn't noticed.
Herman's clothes.
He wore a brilliant coloured shirt, a stripped knee length short and a pair of blue sneakers.
On his neck was a broad golden chain which sparkled under the bright sun's glow.
Not only his neck, even his wrist held an expensive accessory. A peculiar watch with a blue interior.
His whole appearance screamed money, added to his car which has a greenish exterior, everything was extremely flashy and classy.
Rena was baffled.
It wasn't like she didn't like the sight of it, well maybe she didn't. It was afterall too much.
"I thought you would wear a suit." She gulped.
It made sense since he was coming from the office.
Herman shrugged.
"I changed last minute. I thought I would be meeting your parents for the first time so I needed to be more casual and modest."
Modest... It doesn't look like it.
But Herman was from a higher status so for him, its meaning must be this.
Besides she haven't once seen him out of his work attires, this was a first, so she didn't really know his tastes.
Maybe combining 'casual' wears with accessories was his thing.
She nodded before asking.
"Did you buy this car recently?"
She haven't seen it before.
She was only familiar with two of Herman's rides.
Herman roamed his eyes on the car then responded with an unreadable expression.
"Yes, I bought it a few days ago. I wanted to show it to you last night though."
Rena almost felt her breath hitched.
Last night was a hell of a scene with Estella and her lackeys and then Lester.
It was a relief Herman didn't come, if he did then perhaps he might have clashed with Lester.
Rena couldn't and didn't want to guess how it would all end out.
But it wouldn't be good.
She sighed, thankfully. And inquired in a somewhat thick tone.
"Why did you bring this indeed of the other ones?"
It wasn't because she didn't like the car.
She was worried cause of the commotion it might cause.
She had seen her mother's personality especially from the last call. She was a very greedy woman, lacking shame even.
If Herman was to bring such along, her family might all stick to him like a leech and make sure to suck his money out.
Rena didn't want to face any embarrassing incidents or to be disgraced by her own family there.
Herman furrowed his brows, befuddled. "Do you want any of the other two?"
"No, I..."
"I brought this along because it's much faster. I came late so I wanted to compensate by reaching there at the designed time or at least not far off. You don't mind, do you?"
His earnest gaze gave her no room to protest.
She sighed defeated and moved forward.
"Let's go."
Herman opened the car for her and went to the driver's seat.
He didn't ask for the address cause she had already told him last night.
Britts Town in Alan City.
Her thoughts subconsciously drifted to it.
She didn't know why her family moved there but she was a bit surprised to learn they did.
Probably because her parents had settled in the countryside since their marriage.
They were both wandering souls with very poor families who met each other then for some reasons decided to be together and live in a village.
Rena never thought they would one-day move cause they both valued their jobs there and seemed to be content to it.
Seemed...
Cause well, Rena knew they weren't.
Shaking her head off those thoughts, she drew a breath and glanced at Herman who was backing her.
The last time they met was the night of her confession.
Then he had been angry, shocked but soon after compromised but now seeing him, he looked so calm, normal, almost as if nothing had happened, like if she hadn't just said she lost a child and her womb at sixteen.
She was supposed to be glad at his attitude but she couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Herman was too placid, too good, too accepting that it made her feel unsettled and disturbed.
Well maybe because she grew up at the streets and slums where she knew perfection was nothing but a facade, a deliberate pretense to lure, deceive and conquer.
"...."
Why was she thinking like this?
She shivered.
How could she compare Herman to those streets frauds?
She couldn't help but resent herself.
Harman had accepted her still because he loved her but she remained ungrateful.
She almost wanted to hit herself.
She took another heavy exhale and went still.
The journey was quite smooth.
Herman wasn't much of a talker so the ride was occasionally silent except for a few chatters.
Rena entertained herself with her phone.
She only stopped when the car halted on a road. Gazing at the side, she recognized the house they were next to.
It was her parent's home, the same as the image her mother had sent her.
Alan City, Britts Town, Sig Street, Block Eleven.