Chapter 21

"Rachel, can we stop by somewhere before I take you home?"

Rachel glanced over. Actually Dimitri didn't need her permission. This was more like a notification than a request for permission because by now the car was already veering away from the direction of Rachel's house.

Rachel felt her heart beat above normal as soon as she agreed to Dimitri's invitation when they were at the bus stop. It was between nervousness and fear of being in the same car with a man who now didn't know where they were going.

After all, Dimitri was a complete stranger to her, and no one could penetrate the human heart other than the person himself and his God, right? What if Dimitri had bad intentions towards her, what if….

The woman subconsciously shook her head slightly. She tried to convince herself that Dimitri was a good man. It's only Rachel who has a habit of always having bad thoughts about someone's intentions.

"I'm not going to kidnap you, Rachel, just take it easy."

Rachel turned quickly. Then she looked at Dimitri with a shocked face. Can this man read her mind?!

Dimitri himself just smiled a little, then he looked at Rachel with a look that made her bad thoughts wander all over the place.

As soon as the car stopped at a red light, Rachel was startled by Dimitri's sudden movement. The man drew closer, causing Rachel to pull away so that her back hit the car door behind her.

Within seconds the man was now so close in front of her face. So close that Rachel could feel Dimitri's minty breath blowing against her nose. Even the smell of the man's pine wafted strongly mixed with the smell of his breath filling her senses.

Rachel suddenly closed her eyes in fear while squeezing the bottom of her blazer tightly. All her bad thoughts returned to her, and her tiny brain began to think of various ways to save herself if the bad things she thought really happened now.

Then, the woman seemed to be awakened as soon as her ears caught a 'Click' sound, and a few seconds after that there was no movement or any sound anymore.

Nothing happened.

Rachel slowly opened her eyes, immediately looking into the narrow eyes of Dimitri who was now looking at her with perfectly raised eyebrows.

"I was just helping to put the seatbelt on, Rachel. You forgot to put it on," Dimitri explained. Now the man looked at her with amusement. "Do you think I want to touch with you, huh?"

"Ugh!" Rachel suddenly coughed softly. "Th-that's… no, really… it's not like that."

Rachel bit her lip, she suddenly became nervous like this. Oh, Lord! It felt like he just wanted to disappear off the face of the earth. Really, this is so embarrassing!

"Oh, my God!" The man returned to his seat with a laugh. A laugh that made Rachel want to bury herself alive because she was too ashamed of him.

"Do I really look like an asshole? You look so scared to be in the same atmosphere with me, Rachel."

Dimitri laughed. The laughter isn't made up. Whether Rachel herself is aware of it or not, her innocent behavior often leaves those around her feel funny.

The man drove back his car while shaking his head slightly, feeling that he couldn't understand the woman's behavior. In fact, occasionally he still glanced at Rachel with a lingering laugh. It just made her even more embarrassed.

Not long after, Dimitri's car turned into a large alley until it stopped right in front of a fairly large house.

Apparently, Dimitri wanted to stop by an orphanage. In there, the classic Victorian-style house building looks quite large with a fairly large yard.

Dimitri got out of the car, opened the old gate in front of him, and pushed it open.

Small children were seen wandering in the yard of the house forming several groups. Some were playing swing, some were playing baseball, and some were playing soccer. The courtyard is indeed much wider than the orphanage building.

Dimitri got back into the car and drove slowly into the yard. The children who were playing immediately got out of the way. They looked enthusiastic, some of them even cheered cheerfully and jumped up and down to welcome the arrival of Dimitri's car.

"Yeay! Uncle Dim is coming!"

When Dimitri came down, one of the small children about four years old shouted with joy, then jumped at him and the man immediately lifted the boy into the air and carried him with a perfect smile.

"Leo, you've grown! You're just getting heavier," cried Dimitri as the boy wrapped his arms around his neck.

From inside the car, Rachel watched their interactions. Dimitri didn't ask Rachel to come down and stop by. However, when she saw the happy faces of the children with their arrival, Rachel felt her heart moved to get out of the car and share with them.

"Uncle Dim, are you here with beautiful aunt?" said one of the children who surrounded Dimitri.

Dimitri then turned and smiled happily when he found Rachel getting out of his car with him.

The man stepped into the back trunk with Leo in his arms, then opened the trunk door and saw several large baskets bearing the logo of a well-known minimarket. It contains various basic necessities, from toiletries to groceries such as bread, meat, and vegetables, as well as various types of snacks.

"Nicole, Brandon, please help me carry this," Dimitri said to the two teenage child, pointing to the bags of crackers.

Rachel also took the initiative to bring the two biggest and heaviest bags, the rest were carried by the two children with the help of several other children.

"Hi, are you Uncle Dim's girlfriend?" asked one of the children innocently.

Rachel smiled a little, then turned to the side at the child walking next to her. She shook her head slowly, "No, we're friends. Office mates."

The woman didn't say much, only answered some basic questions from the children who accompanied her steps. Questions are introductory only. Like the name, Dimitri's girlfriend or not, and so on.

Rachel is considered a very shy person and isn't very good at socializing, even with children. So she only asked them for their name, age, and school.

Unlike Dimitri, who was now walking in front of her, he seemed to be chiming in on the chatter of the children who were following his steps. Until the cheers were so warm that they could be heard because the man was really good at breaking the ice.

Rachel was more focused on how Dimitri was so warmly hanging out with the boy named Leo in his arms, as well as the other kids who chatted a lot with the guy.

Really, Rachel was amazed, she also didn't expect a man like Dimitri to turn out to be someone who was warm and friendly to children.

Dimitri's sincere gaze was by no means fake. Not just because they want to be seen as having good value in the eyes of others or anything like that.

Unknowingly the woman smiled shyly, wanting this Dimitri trait too. It seems nice to be a more open and sociable person, at least we will never feel alone because we are always surrounded by many things.