Bailey wore a cold face outside the car and his eyes were almost void of warmth. He reached out again to knock on the car window while speaking through the phone, “Come down.”
At the same time, his voice was transmitted through the phone. “Come down.”
Carmen was totally startled. It really is Bailey!
While she was dumbfounded, she opened the door and exited the car. She could see that he had placed his phone in the basket of the bicycle while wearing a military coat. Then, he had climbed on the old bicycle with his imposing stature before he faced the rear end of the bike toward her to show the cushion on the back of the seat. “Come on up.”
He was acting in a mysterious manner, so Carmen wanted to approach him and ask, Why is he here? Why is he wearing a military coat and an ushanka hat while riding an old bicycle? Why did he come to pick me up?
As she was about to rock up to Bailey, she could hear Casper calling from behind, “Carmen, where are you going? Bailey, why are you here?”
Without answering Casper, Bailey repeated, “Come on up. Let’s go.”
He sounded like he was giving an order as if he would not accept any refusal.
Carmen responded to Casper in a hurry, “Cas, I’ll be going home with Bailey.”
Immediately, Casper waved his hands and looked at the weather outside in disbelief. “Are you sure? The temperature is below zero degrees out there! Are you two really going to ride a bike home?”
However, she already sat on the back seat of Bailey’s bicycle as she tightly held onto his military coat. Without saying a word, Bailey pedaled his bike away. Before leaving, he glared at Casper and his sports car with his wolf-like green eyes.
“Hey, Bailey! What are you doing?”
Sadly, Casper could not hear their reply as Bailey rode the bike away with a creaking sound. Bailey and Carmen soon disappeared in the dim street lights at the end of the street.
After that, they entered an alley, which was a much faster route to return home. Every day, Theo would ride his bicycle through the alley to work and it only took him 10 to 20 minutes to arrive there.
Casper followed resignedly in his car as he tried to catch up to them, but sadly, his sports car was unable to squeeze into the small alley, so he could only head home first and wait there.
While sitting on Bailey’s bike, Carmen could feel her heart racing. Why did Bailey show up here in grandpa’s military coat? Why is he riding the bike through this alley?
It was obvious that he could not recognize the road because he had his phone in front of him in the basket. The navigation was turned on as he rode carefully under the dim street lights.
It was already 10PM and the temperature was extremely cold. Carmen used her scarf to cover her mouth and neck while hiding behind Bailey to block herself from the blowing wind. She had many questions to ask, but she seemed too embarrassed to give voice to it.
Although it was not that difficult to bring her along for the ride, his body was still covered in a thin layer of sweat. From behind, she could see him panting while his white breath rose from his mouth.
The night was so dark that they could only see themselves.
She thought that the atmosphere was weird yet warm. “Bailey, how did you know I’m here? Did my mom ask you to come here?”
He simply answered, “Yes.”
The children’s wrist watch that she was reluctant to throw away had a built-in tracker, which allowed her mother to effortlessly locate her. It was no surprise that Bailey could find her beside a sweet potato stall with such ease.
Carmen asked again, “How did you meet my mom? Did you visit our house?”
“Yes.”
“Did you return with Nate?”
As usual, Bailey replied, “Yes.”
Carmen was rendered speechless. Can’t you say something else?
It was obvious that Bailey was an extremely taciturn person.
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