Plan...Failed?

"Thank you for having us!"

Athasia and Ivan bowed their heads before finally saying goodbye to Callie's family. They finished the presentation quickly and are now on their way home.

Aunt Ellie smiled at them, "Please take care on your way back and don't be shy to visit again,"

"You are welcome here any time," Uncle Charles said, waving his hands at them too.

Callie stepped forward and grabbed Athasia's hand. "Please c-come a-again. S-See you at s-school!" she exclaimed despite her stuttering.

The Young Miss hugged her and kissed her cheek. "Yeah, sure.." then she waved her hands. "Bye bye.."

Ivan walked next to Athasia as they were both trailing the side of the streets. The afternoon sky was giving a dandelion shade to the horizon. The sun was about to set.

He parked his car not far away from Callie's house, so they immediately saw it. He really didn't want to bring one, but his mom kept on nagging him.

"Where are you going after this?" Ivan asked, clicking his key.

Athasia halted. "I have plans. Why are you asking me?" She leaned forward and felt the afternoon breeze touching her face. 'It's cold,' she thought.

The only thing she had inside her mind was hoping that Ivan would go right away. She already texted that one coffee shop that she will attend the interview today.

"Do you want me to drive you?" Ivan offered again, standing close to his blue car, dazzling at the side of the road.

Come to think of it, Athasia didn't know how to get there. She told her driver that she will be taking the bus. Well, isn't it more convenient to explore and discover things? She took her phone out and checked the location of the coffee shop and from the looks of it, it's not very far from here.

She showed her phone to Ivan. "Can you take me here?" she asked.

Ivan read the location of the coffee shop and nodded his head, "It's okay," he opened the door, "Please step in.."

The Young Miss stepped in and waited for Ivan to step into the driver's seat too. The air-con turned on and so did the engine. The young man fixed the rearview mirror and mumbled something, "Please put on your seatbelt, I don't want to put anyone in danger because of me,"

Athasia did what was told to her, however, it made her chuckle. "Why are you so tense? Is this the first time you take someone inside your car?" she teased, looking straight to the road.

And to her surprise, Ivan nodded his head. "Yes." he turned the handlebar and focused on driving.

The Young Miss poked his shoulders. "I wasn't expecting your answer. I thought you already took someone like Olivia in your car," she said, holding her laughter.

And from the side of her eyes, she saw Ivan frowned that his eyes almost squinted. He stopped when the traffic lights turned red. Well, she's expecting it since the two of them were cousins, but after seeing the young man's expression, she doubted what she said.

"Why would I take her in? She's very noisy. All she wanted to do was to throw tantrums," Ivan mumbled.

Athasia gasped. She pushed herself up and cupped Ivan's cheeks, making his eyes look at him. "Hey, are you really Ivan? What's wrong with you today? Does Uncle Charles' cooking affect you that much?"

It's because Ivan was the quiet type of a person who didn't want to stand out despite his personality. Littleyoonie wrote his description like that in her novel. It was a little surprising that Ivan was babbling at least 5 words.

She let go and went back to her posture. "I didn't know that you two were not that close," she scoffed again. "You're right though. Olivia loves to throw tantrums every time"

Ivan shot a quick glance at her, and her smiling face caught his eyes. Athasia's thin lips curved up to her pink cheeks, and it made the tip of her nose red. As the setting sky shadowed her, her view was like a goddess enjoying her entertainment.

He ignored it and drove as soon as the traffic lights turned green.

They reached the coffee shop just right in time. Athasia said thanks to Ivan and waved her hands. Of course, she let Ivan's car disappear first from her sight before entering the shop.

As soon as she was alone, she immediately turned on her heels. She can feel that today was her lucky day. Even though she arrived a bit late, the manager considered it.

The coffee shop was quite busy since it was afternoon. The surroundings were noisy too, and there were lots of customers lining up at the counter.

She didn't want to disturb anyone, so Athasia took a seat and suited herself. She planned on waiting until the coffee shop closed. She really didn't want this job to catch some attention, so she made the very small moves as much as possible.

This is a good location during weekends because it was far from the University. She took out her phone and texted the one who contacted her that it's okay for her to wait until the closing time.

She placed her phone back on the table and leaned her elbow on the desk to cup her cheeks. Athasia stared outside, observing the road with the cars passing by. Somehow, she was deafened by the noisy surroundings inside the shop as she focused her mind to the edge of the sun touching the horizon.

She didn't even realize that someone took the seat across from her. She was sitting on a double chair table anyway, so it can't be helped.

But it surprised her to see a very familiar face.

Their eyes met and Athasia slammed her hands on the desk as she exclaimed. "What the heck are you doing here?!"

Who wouldn't freak out?

It was Maximilian Svestin who met her eyes.

"Hey! I should be the one asking you that!"