An Unexpected Girl

chapter twenty-six

Adi drove for a while. At first, Iris thought they were driving back to her apartment, but after about fifteen minutes, she realized they weren't going toward either of their apartments.

Iris didn't really care, regardless. She didn't even notice this at first and sat quietly in Adi's car with silent tears streaming down her face. She knew that she probably appeared extremely melodramatic right then.

Although Iris did cry quite often, she hardly did so in front of other people. Although unhealthy, she'd much rather bottle her emotions and wait till she returned to her bedroom's privacy before letting her tears flow.

But this was not the first time Adi had seen her cry. At least last time, Iris could excuse the fact that it had been out of her control. But yet again, this was also out of her control. But just in a different way.

Her father was a part of Iris' world that she never really engaged in, she much instead preferred tucking it away. After all, he was nothing but chaos, and now it felt like he had collided with everything. Bringing nothing but chaos to her.

Adi sat quietly next to Iris, focusing instead on her driving. She didn't ask questions; she did not look at Iris or even ask her if she was okay. She just let her cry while she drove. She just let her get it all out.

At some point, Adi wound the car windows down a little. The breeze slapped Iris straight in her face, but she welcomed it. She welcomed the feeling and how the breeze caressed her face. It was weirdly comforting. Soon enough, tears stopped flowing from Iris' eyes. Instead, she was left with a slight sniff and tear-stained cheeks.

Still, Adi said nothing. She waited till Iris was the one to break the silence. She waited for it to be on her terms.

"This is the second time you've seen me cry in less than a week," Iris finally said, her voice was hoarse and sounded far away, "I fear I'm going to lose the whole 'bad chick' vibe I have going on."

A small smile grazed Adi's lips. "What bad chick vibe?"

Iris smiled despite herself.

"Ha-ha, Adi. Hilarious, as always."

A few moments of silence passed between them. The only sound was from the wheels of Adi's car against the highway they were currently cruising down.

"If it makes you feel better, seeing you cry twice in one week doesn't change how I view you. You're still the same girl that tried to kill me using weights," Adi said.

Weirdly enough, this comforted Iris and a warm feeling settled within her.

"You shouldn't get too comfortable," Iris finally responded, her tone teasing, "I am still hell-bent on completing my assassination mission."

"Yes, ma'am," Adi simply responded, a shadow of a smirk at the corner of her lips.

There was silence in the car once again. It was a comfortable silence, and Iris leaned back in her seat, feeling the breeze coming in through the window. She felt relaxed; she felt calm. Everything in her life was falling apart, but not right then, not at that moment.

Iris deserved to have some peace of mind, even if it was only for a few minutes.

"I'm going to play some music if that's okay?" Adi asked.

"Mmm," Iris responded as Adi grabbed her phone and connected it to the car's Bluetooth.

With one hand on the steering wheel and the other scrolling through her music library, Adi finally settled on a song.

Iris heard the first few chords of the songs come through the speaker and turned to face Adi. Of course, Adi has the largest look of satisfaction on her face.