Underestimated Heiress

CHAPTER 16 - Eric's confrontation

They came down the mountain safely and reported to the police station to file a complaint against the 3 hooligans, they all helped the police in identifying the hooligans by describing their faces as much as they could. After coming back to the camp, Jess and Colin met to discuss the results of the analysis, they were happy with the outcome. The crisis had brought the team together.

Everyone had a very tiring day, some of them were still in shock from what happened earlier, they all wanted to go home asap but it was late and it will be safe to go back tomorrow on the agreed time. To cheer up the group Jess and Colin thought they should have another campfire.

During the campfire, everyone acknowledged Jess's courage and leadership. She also gained some fans, like Ben. Ben was in awe of Jess since the incident, he was acting like a fan around her. Jess could sense the admiration and respect that she saw in her colleagues eyes, it was making her uncomfortable. She was not here to make fans, but a team. She thought she should talk to everyone now, she might not get a second chance to clear this gap that she was feeling. "How troublesome, initially, they considered me beneath them and now they consider me above them. What should I do to make them treat me as their equal?", she thought, rubbing her forehead. Colin noticed this from a distance and smiled, he walked towards her and told, "give it some time, once you make a mistake they will bring you down to their level. Until then just enjoy the attention that you are receiving, well you earned it." She turned her face to look at Colin who was standing next to her, they both smiled and she nodded.

That was the happy ending for the camp, but of course Jess was reprimanded by her dad for not taking her bodyguards along. Other than that, she was given the biggest space to sleep in the girls' tent and was also added to a girls group chat. She was able to change the opinion of most of the people in the team about her. Colin understood a bit more about Jess and he didn't realize when he started having a crush on Jess.

Next day, everyone packed and got ready to leave, when Colin approached Jess and said, "Jess, I will give you a lift, you can come with me." Richa who was standing next to Jess heard this and said," I thought Jess was coming with me." At the same time, Ben, Geeta, and Susie all said one after the other, "I can drop you Jess." Jess was speechless, they all started asking for her address so that they could decide who lived closest to her to give her a lift. Jess wanted to change the topic, so she interrupted everyone and said, "Actually, me and Colin have to discuss the data that we have collected. Colin, can you please drop me, sorry for the trouble." Richa couldn't believe her ears, she smiled and winked at Jess, teasing her. Jess ignored her but she saw that suddenly Colin was very happy. She couldn't understand what was happening and decided to ignore it.

Actually there was nothing to discuss, Jess didn't want to reveal where she lived and she thought it would be convenient to go with Colin as he knew of her situation that's why she requested Colin to give her a lift. They all got in their respective cars and waved bye to each other. After the driver started driving, Jess said, "I will ask my dad to send a car so that you don't have to come all the way to my farmhouse." Then she looked at the driver and asked, "Excuse me Mr Lang, which route are we taking?"The driver replied, "Miss, we are going via Echuca." Jess looked at Colin, Colin had instructed the driver before sitting into the car. Jess felt uncomfortable, she said, "Colin, this will increase your travel time by 2 hours. You don't need to do this." Colin joked and said, "That's ok, this time, when I come to your place, I hope you will be more hospitable." Jess nodded and felt embarrassed when she thought of how she had treated Colin when he came unannounced to her house the last time.

Colin and Jess didn't talk much after that, Jess kept getting messages from the team members, but she was too tired to check her phone and fell asleep. When she woke up, they were almost in Echuca. She rubbed her eyes to confirm that she has been sleeping for more than an hour. She looked at Colin, Colin was reading a book on his kindle.