Riding Cherry

After taking a stroll in the neighborhood, Anna finally decided to head back to her apartment. She was starting something new that maybe shouldn't have started. Sometimes, people do something they really don't mean to do but still end up doing it. The way she thought she would react after seeing Theodore again, it didn't turn out like that. She was still in the submissive end, going with the flow. Whenever she is in front of that man, somehow, all her rationality turns out like nothing.

Cooling her head out for a while, it made her feel a little better. Who knows what is going to happen? All she can do right now is to witness all the events going through her. When she reached her apartment building, Anna saw someone that she was least expecting right now.

It's Owen, right? How come he is here? It doesn't look like he came here because of some important business. Why is he lurking around here? She was really going to ignore him right now, then her phone rang with her loud funny ringtone. Shit, Kiera told Anna a lot of times to change this tacky ringtone but she never changed to irritate Kiera. And now, for this reason, she couldn't help but get noticed by Owen. After all, no one can avoid this ridiculous loud sound of her ringtone. Damn. you should have listened to Kiera, Anna.

"Miss Annabelle….?" Owen looked back at the source of that weird sound and was really astounded to see Annabelle here.

Annabelle ignored him for a moment as she answered the call and signaled him to stay where he was. It was Theodore. Why does he have to call her right at this moment? She was really not ready to talk to him but still decided to pick up the call.

"Erm…. why?"

"Where are you?"

Anna got a little déjà vu feeling when she heard that. Doesn't he have anything else to say except this 'where are you' speech?

"I am nearby. Will call you later."

"Nearby where?"

Anna was going to cut the call but couldn't when he threw another question to her. Gahhh…. Why is he acting like a dad now?

"Why?"

"Come back soon," somehow, that voice sounded a little bit timid. Anna could already see an invisible sulk coming from the other side. What happened to him all of a sudden? Is he going to act like a real boyfriend now? Only thinking about that, it made Anna blush hard. Owen was quite confused seeing her reaction which was caused by the person who called her. He never actually saw Annabelle like this before. The cold and sharp-witted person like Annabelle had never felt so defenseless before to him. He also saw many idols in his career, but she was the one he really admired for her personality. Then again, that same woman blushing for some reason, acting all lovestruck fool made him speechless.

Soon after cutting the call, Anna turned back to Owen returning him with the same calculative gaze she used to give him. Yes, this Annabelle, he knows her like this.

"Why are you lurking around in a secured area?" Anna asked, looking straight at his eyes.

"I am not lurking around…I don't have any wish to be called a stalker or something. it's just I sometimes saw her in this area, so…," Owen hesitated a bit while replying.

All of a sudden, Anna felt disgusted. This guy, he is really a creep, huh?

"You were following her around? What kind of sick are you?"

Owen said hurriedly as he didn't want to be misunderstood by Annabelle, "No, it's not like what you think. I just had something to tell her, so I came here as I didn't find her in her apartment."

"Okay, I totally got it that you have something to talk to her about. Solve that when you can get in touch with her. Don't lurk around here, or else I have to report it to the police."Anna held her head in utter frustration as something was making her more anxious right now. How can she really ignore that? Though Kiera never ignored her calls so often, she did sound like she was very tired these days. She should have asked her further. If she is not at her apartment, then where is she?

As soon as Owen left the place, Anna's composed self was no more there. Where did she go? Shit, she really knows nothing about her. Instead of her apartment, where would she go when she feels like she is too tired?

"What happened?" All of a sudden, her daze broke when she felt someone's touch on her shoulder.

Theodore was waiting patiently until now, but when he heard she was just downstairs, he decided to come here as he was no longer patient. But he never imagined he would find her talking with another flashy-looking scum and will get all depressed.

Anna avoided looking at him as she felt like her tears were going to roll from her eyes. Theodore got a bit irritated and grabbed her chin to look at his eyes this time.

"Tell me, what is it?"

"I… I'm such a fool… I don't even know…" Anna stammered a bit while talking as she was feeling dejected by the fact that she knows nothing about a person which she claims to be her best friend. "You know, right? You know where she is?"

Theodore looked at her for a while then yanked her by hand towards her car.

"Keys?"

At first, Anna couldn't understand what keys he was talking about. But after looking at him for a while, she got what he was talking about. She checked all her pockets and finally found a key but unfortunately, it was not her car key.

"Emm… I don't have my car key but… it's my cherry's…..." Anna was puzzled. How come this key is inside this overall's pocket? When did she put it there?

Theodore didn't say anything but twitched his brows as usual. Anna pointed towards the red-colored Ducati motorbike parked near the parking lot with a guilty face as if she was caught doing something wrong. Though Kiera thought she pursued Anna well for selling that motorbike of hers, Anna never decided to sell that actually. She was really in love with that one model as it was her hobby to do motorbike races. How can she sell her favorite Ducati like that? It was really impossible.

Theodore looked at Anna and the bike back and forth as if he couldn't match the two things together. This petite girl, driving this huge motorbike, was something someone could least imagine. Theodore smirked a bit, making Anna stupefied, thinking that this girl never fails to amaze him.

Anna was still dwelling on the thought of whether to drive it now or not, but in the next moment, Theodore grabbed the keys from her and walked towards the motorbike. The way he sat on the motorbike, it looked like he was also used to driving this kind of vehicle. Damn, somehow his stern face and long legs resting on her motorbike body made him look like a sensual demon right now. Anna slapped her face hard to snap back to reality. She ran towards him and sat behind putting her both hands around his torso tightly as she knew very well this precaution was necessary to do before riding a racing motorbike. Though she did it very casually, she didn't know someone was quite pleased with her sudden action.

It's been more than two months since Anna last sat on her motorbike. After retiring, the first crazy thing she did was buy this motorbike. She named it Cherry as its red shade made her remember the cherry fruit. At that time, she would always go to the car racing on highways to kill her time. Kiera didn't say anything at that time because, at that time, it was only what made her free from all the anxieties. She started to oppose it after Anna almost got into an accident 2 years ago. After that, she also avoided doing car races that frequently. And to think she would be sitting in this motorbike again with Theodore driving for her was something she could never imagine a while ago too. Annabelle rested her head while looking at the sky. For the first time in her life, she enjoyed a motorbike ride not looking at the road but the sky. She enjoyed it in a different way. His wide back which she was resting her whole body on was somehow giving her a secure feeling. So, that's how those couples felt when she saw them glued to each other like this, huh?

How funny it sounds! At that time, she was the one scoffing at those couples calling it a mushy act and now she is, so tightly hugging him from behind. Maybe it wasn't that impactful for him. But being this close to his skin for this long time, it really kinda gave her some giddy feelings she never experienced before. What is this? She doesn't know.

Soon after crossing some colonies, Theodore parked the motorbike near an old archery training home. Finally, Anna released him as she already knew why she was brought here. She rushed towards the training house with the light bolt speed and went towards the main ground. She found a tall girl wearing a leather black cloth and bracer on her arms.

"Kiera!"

Though Annabelle's shout was loud enough, Kiera didn't turn towards her. All her focus was on that bullseye which she was aiming for.