Chapter 4 Do You Need Me To Drive?

Ryan Cooper was Travis’s bodyguard and driver. He was several years younger than Travis and was handsome and tall. But he had a cold temperament and usually carried a dull expression.

‘Ryan Cooper’ was not his original name. It was said that Travis paid for his education and his mother’s medical expenses. Later he changed both his name and surname in gratitude to Travis Cooper.

Arianna sat uncomfortably in the back seat. She said to Ryan, “Take me to Hillside, please.”

As usual, he didn’t respond and kept his eyes on the road.

Once the car stopped, Ryan opened the door for Arianna. They were pulled up next to her car.

Arianna said, “I’m going to go to the spa. You can leave.”

She placed her old clothes in her car before entering the clubhouse.

The staff was familiar with Arianna as she was a frequent client. But today, she did not want a massage or any other treatment. She simply asked them to prepare the bath and give her privacy.

She spent over an hour in the water. Her body relaxed in the fragrance and music.

After slowly putting on her clothes, Arianna sleepily left the facility and headed toward her car.

Ryan was still waiting for her.

“If I slept in there all night, would you still be waiting here in the morning?” She asked him sarcastically while gesturing back to Hillside.

“Mr. Cooper asked me to drive you home.” Ryan spoke without any emotion, “Do you need me to drive?”

Arianna ignored him and got into her car.

She didn’t like others to touch her things. She rarely drove people around in her car. Travis Cooper had never been to her house yet.

Ryan was driving directly behind her in his car. Arianna rolled her eyes.

They soon reached her apartment building, where she skilfully reversed into her parking spot. Ryan parked in the visitor’s parking lot.

Without a word, he got out of his car and lit a cigarette on his way over to Arianna. He followed her upstairs and watched her enter her apartment and turn on the lights. He then left quietly.

Arianna was listening for the engine to turn on and fade away from below, but it never happened. She looked out her window and spotted Ryan leaning on his car door. He seemed to be looking at his own shadow.

Ryan noticed her from afar and waved to her. Then he finally started his car and left. She didn’t wave goodbye to him.

After preparing her clothes and food for tomorrow, she habitually went to take a bath before going to bed. Though she had just taken a bath, the hot water didn’t fail to soothe her aches once more. Her skin wrinkled all over.

She has always loved taking baths ever since her childhood. It’s where she felt the safest and relaxed.

Aside from smoking and drinking, Arianna led a very healthy lifestyle. She rarely stayed up late and was a vegetarian. She only wore light makeup and used minimal products most of the time. She went on jogs every morning.

Though she returned home late last night, she woke up at the same time as usual. She got up to brush her teeth and wash her face before going on her morning jog.

Arianna usually followed the same route every morning. There was a lovely green path in the garden-style residential estate that she never got bored of.

Mornings were usually misty during this time of the year. Nothing was very visible.

It was her favorite time of the day. When she was young, Arianna lived with her family in a villa on the side of a hill. If the weather was clear, she used to watch the sunrise with her mother.

At first, the sky was navy in color. However, over to the east, it was vast and pale. A bright light slowly broke from the horizon and entered the sky. The sun was the color of a salted egg yolk.

It lit up the whole sky with millions of beams of light.

Some mornings were so beautiful that she could be moved to tears. But today was not one of those days. The fog was so dense that Arianna could barely see a couple of meters ahead of her.

In fact, it has been a long time since she has seen a sunrise. With high-rise buildings and heavily polluted air surrounding her, she was always in their shadows, never able to see the skyline.

Arianna learned to love the fog too. She enjoyed watching it slowly reveal her surroundings as the minutes passed by. The outlines of trees and buildings began to take shape before fully revealing themselves.

Maybe Arianna learned to appreciate the mornings as they changed in the same way as her life. She was a beaming child, always full of energy, just like the sun. Now, she was laid back and liked to be alone, just like the fog.

The fog was thinning as Arianna was returning home, and she could smell the pleasant fragrance of flowers blooming along the path.

She stopped at a small café to pick up some breakfast and carried it back home in a brown paper bag.

As she reached her apartment building, she ran into the old couple that lived a few floors below her. Arianna greeted them and held the door open for them.

She was envious of the couple. They were in their 70s and still spoke to each other like young lovers. They always went for a walk, hand-in-hand, at this time in the morning.

The couple stepped out the door and thanked Arianna. The man said, “We don’t see young people like you anymore. You get up and exercise, then eat a healthy breakfast and help us old folks out. You are such a nice girl.”

The old woman chimed in, “We met your boyfriend downstairs last night. Such a handsome guy he is, a perfect match for you!”

Noticing the confused look on Arianna’s face, the woman clarified, “The man who often drives you home. We’ve only seen his car before, but last night we caught him. He was a bit shy seeing us smile at him.”

Arianna realized she was talking about Ryan. She chuckled and explained, “He’s just a friend.”

The old man gave her a wink, and the woman also laughed as they walked away.