Mysterious Mr.Richard novel Chapter 51

After the two children slept, Pearl tucked them in and left the bedroom.

There was an unread message on her phone from Alex.

"Tomorrow morning, I'll pick you up."

After reading the message, Pearl looked hesitant. "Okay, thank you." she replied after a while.

Alex seemed to be waiting by his phone. He replied in the next second, "You're welcome. It's on my way anyway. Sleep earlier. Good night."

"Good night."

Alex had always taken good care of her. Even though she tried to persuade herself that his concern was because they were classmates, or perhaps a mutual friendship like Ethan and her, but her intuition told her that it was more than that. 

Staring at the phone screen for a long time, she sent a message to Ethan, "Last time you said that your friend had a car to sell, Help me connect him."

......

The next morning, the sky was dim. Summers in Kityall City were always stormy.

Once Pearl stepped out of the building, she saw Alex's car.

"Breakfast?" Asked Alex. He reached behind and brought out a bag from the backseat, the he handed it to her. "I got you some breakfast."

"Thank you." Pearl took it. She looked inside the bag and saw a sandwich and coffee. She smiled, "I'm already troubling you by sending me to work, but I didn't think to bring breakfast for you. Instead, you brought breakfast for me. I'm so sorry for the trouble."  

"There's nothing to be sorry about. It's on my way anyway. I bought the food somewhere near your neighborhood too."

Pearl nodded thoughtfully, opened the sandwich, and chatted with Alex when she was eating.  

"Anyway, I'll be at Jackson Hospital for a long time. I can fetch you to and from work."

"Thank you, but it's fine. I'll buy a car soon so I can drive to work by myself."

"Drive?" Alex was surprised, and the look in his eyes was blank. "You got a car?"

"Sort of," Pearl smiled and said casually, "Ethan has a friend who has a car that is as good as new. He's willing to sell it, and the price is within my budget, so I wanna buy it."    

"Well," Alex said, his face fell.

The air in the car was a little weird. After a long silence, Alex said, "Pearl, to be clear, fetching you to and from work is really convenient for me. Don't misunderstand my actions."

Pearl looked at him in surprise. "I don't. Why do you think so?"

Before Alex could say something, she seemed to have thought of something. She smiled at him, "Alex, you don't think I'm looking for an excuse to avoid you, do you?"

"Aren't you?" His face was still warm, but his eyes were firm and calm.

"Of course not," Pearl denied and joked, "You think I'd buy a car to avoid you? Where would I get the money? Alex, you overestimate me too much." 

"Isn't it more convenient to take my car to save money?"

"Brandon and Bonny are preparing their school too. The summer vacation is almost over. It would be inconvenient if I didn't have a car, when school starts."

Although buying a car is really a part of reason to avoid Alex, she had been planning it for s while. Buying a car at this time just happens to have this opportunity. Pearl was not entirely lying. 

There was a silence in the car for a moment, and then the car stopped at a red light. While holding the steering wheel, Alex lowered his head and kept quiet. Suddenly he said, "Pearl, what if I said that even though the kids needed to go to school, you could call me whenever you needed help, and I'll be there immediately? What excuse are you going to find to refuse me?"

Pearl was stunned and choked for a moment.