Come Up Against

Then again, it reached the point that it was a silent commotion; no one turned out willing to get too close and could only watch from afar. This made her wonder.

"Are you alright?" She reaches out to her best friend, who stood frozen, which her touch she flinched and got back to her senses.

"O—Oh! Yes, yes! I'm here. I'm going now."

Both of them greeted each other with a happy new year.

Nathalie gave Daisy a tight hug before she left. She had always been a thoughtful lady ever since, and she couldn't help but wonder how she would reach this far without her.

"Now go, Jonathan is waiting—No, your family is waiting for you. Better hurry! It's almost late afternoon; you might not get there before the clock strikes twelve!"

"Right!"

Nathalie stood, carrying the eco bags, and strode her way out; meanwhile, the beautiful lady slowly approached her, almost intersecting their paths.

Since she wanted to keep herself in disguise, she wanted to leave and not to draw so much attention, but her stares were too much to handle, so she confronted.

"How may I help you?"

The cosplayer hummed for a while before she uttered softly, so sultry in her voice, "Are those yours?"

From the direction of the pointed finger, there she found the unwrapped manuscript laid on the table, which she hurriedly kept in her bag.

"Thank you so much."

However, she only took a glance and blinked once. This had her shrug internally from her indifferent aura.

"You're clumsy as ever, Nat."

"I'd have gotten the award for that as well," Nathalie scoffed at Daisy.

Without further ado, she left the cafe with a good lighted heart in her, humming, as she went and trudged her way out with four eco-bags of equivalent weights hung on her forearms. The customers eyed her with skepticism as though she was on a shopping spree in the mall.

The only difference would only be about hoarding food.

Caught within her line of sight, she found Jonathan, who raised his wrist and watched his white gold watch with a nod. Then shot up to see Nathalie, carrying a whole lot of bags. In an instant, he dashed and offered aid to her, in which she gladly took it.

"Miss Quinn, why didn't you give a holler that you needed help?"

"Come on, it's not that heavy, I did worse than these."

He scratched his nape before his other hand reached out for the other eco-bag. "If you say so, but please don't do this on your own when you're not alone. What are these?"

"Gifts from Daisy, you know how she is doing." She smiled.

"... I see."

However, Nathalie scrutinized him out: he was still in his usual uniform, even on boots and beret, which had her remind him without delay.

"Jonathan, why are you still in that outfit?"

"Ahh!" His eyes widened after carrying four eco-bags with ease; with that in mind, he averted his gaze, and he saw a subtle flush of crimson across his cheeks. "Because, I would feel awkward, standing here with a casual outfit—"

Nathalie began to giggle.

Somehow, she took notice of the quick change of expression in his face, but was able to upkeep himself and draw back to the situation between them. Which, further noted, there's something.

While Nathalie smacked his back ever-so-lightly, she also giggled upon his reaction and strutted her way to her car and had him place the bags in a safe position. When things settled, she ought to ask him again.

"Why not?" She grinned like a cheshire cat, which got his attention. "Don't tell me you're thinking of something else."

This time, Jonathan was at loss of words.

"Anything but that, Miss Quinn."

Misery loves company, and a simple misunderstanding could go a long way.

Of course, she looked at herself.

'Well, I think I'm in quite a disguise, so I'm confident.'

"So Jonathan, do you intend to go with that outfit from our deal?"

"Miss Quinn, don't worry! I have it ready in the car."

Those words garnered her a smirk as she leaned to his side. "You don't mean to strip inside the car, yes?"

Now, the redness of his face was all over. He flinched in subtlety as soon as he heard it. "No! I don't mean it like that—"

"You're so gullible! I know it, silly!"

"Please don't joke about that," he muttered, opening the car door for Nathalie to sit before he went to the driver's seat comfortably.

"I know, I know."

"Miss Quinn, this will take one minute."

"Timer starts now." While casually scrolling through her phone.

Joke or not, it was different for him. He took off his beret and gloves. It was one swift motion as well that he unbuttoned all of the buttons as he went down, sliding out his fit coat away to the spare seat beside him.

He went all out, gritting his teeth, and she could see beads of sweat forming his forehead and around his neck, but it didn't let it distract him. Those lean muscles of his arms tensed with every move. He acted quickly.

He then donned a beige buttoned sleeve as his inner, but he still grabbed a gray jacket for him to put on. At the same time, he took off the boots and wore classic boat shoes. He breathed out and panted for a while from the race of time.

"Impressive, fifty-three seconds."

Jonathan was out of breath; he took a curt nod, wiped his forehead with his spare handkerchief, and placed his uniform properly. Then it was time he drove them off the city.

'Look at him, so cute. It's so nice to tease him.'

"Well then. Remember what we deal for today, okay?"

He nodded. "So, Miss Quinn, you took longer than usual today." Jonathan rechecked his wristwatch before he turned on the engine. "A couple of hours left before we get back to your village."

"That…" she trailed off her voice for a while, glancing at him. "There was a beautiful lady that came into the store."

"Was it the lady with an eloquent, flowing dress and particular headdress?"

"Yes!" her squeals brimmed with vigor from his question, which had him flinch a tad bit. "My bad, but yes, she was the one causing a commotion. Do you know her?"