His Addiction

Chapter 12

Bash couldn't just believe his eyes. His mouth fell open, and he blinked twice, wanting to confirm if it was. . .her.

The girl he had forever seen in a hoodie or man's clothes was now standing in her knee-length brown dress with an overcoat. Her hair, which Bash thought was short, he could tell if she untied her messy bun, it would reach to her waist. She looked a few inches shorter, which was obvious, as she was serving as a male bartender in Sao Paulo, faking it all, but she looked. . .fuller.

With her vegetable bag in his hand, Bash took a few steps toward her while thinking about how that teen girl looked more like a woman now with her noticeable changes. It would be wrong to call her a teen girl back when they met. She looked somewhere between a tomboy and a schoolboy then. His eyes accessed her from head to toe, and when he again looked at her face, he found a cut on her forehead and red liquid trickling down from the left side of her face, but she looked oblivious to that!

Unlike him, her eyes weren't on Bash but were on her paint buckets, which made him frown. He waited for her to look up and see him, but she was desperately tying a rope around her paint packet that wouldn't last long, and she would ruin the road or meet another accident for being blind, as she always was. She looked tense, muttering, "How am I supposed to take these home now?"

"You need to go to the infirmary first." He said, glaring at her short frame, and put the vegetable bag on her bike handle.

"Should I?" He watched the girl take out her phone from her pocket. She gasped. "Oh, wow! I don't need stitches, right? Do I have the internet on my phone? Oh, yeah. I have. I should find one and will buy a packet from them for my paint buckets."

He pressed his lips in a thin line, noticing her handset. It was a smartphone, at least, but he bet the price would be close to that phone he saw her using in Sao Paulo. "You tell me the park is nearby, but you don't know there is a drug store in this neighborhood?"

"Erh, my bad!" The girl laughed, scratching her head. He thought she would glance at him, but she just raised her head and looked directly at the store before her. His blood boiled in anger. "I should buy myself water fast. The brain zaps leave these effects."

Suddenly, Bash remembered what Julian said and stopped her, "I have water in my car and band-aids. No need to go to the store."

"Oh, that won't be necessary, sir."

But Bash didn't listen to her and approached her with a water bottle and a bandaid box. Placing the box on her seat, he offered her water, which she gladly accepted with her shaky hands but didn't lift her head to see his face still, much to his dismay.

Was she shy? Or was she trying to make him mad? Maybe she didn't want to see his face because she held grudges against him.

Bash was pretty mean to her, so it was expected. But still, it was weird. Her weird act gave an unsettling feeling to his heart.

Come on! They are adults now. Couldn't they make things up and. . .and then what? Go their separate ways?

Bash poked his inner cheeks with his tongue and narrowed his gaze at the little girl standing before him, who looked more like a woman now, excluding the annoying sound she was making in her throat with a mouthful of water. Her cheeks bulged as she gurgled with the water, making him have second thoughts. Even his older brother's children don't drink water like that.

"Thanks." She returned him his bottle after washing her hands, and Bash's expression softened, seeing her swallowing the water instead of throwing it out of her mouth after moving to the side of the road. Finally, she looked up and smiled. Bash was in awe seeing the genuine smile she gave him but didn't notice how there was no recognition in her eyes at first.

In their previous encounters, he never saw her smiling. She looked dull and nearly malnourished then, but now, he wouldn't have recognized her if he hadn't taken a closer look. So, he was baffled by her beauty and didn't notice her eyes without contact lenses.

"Thanks for the water, sir." Bash snapped out of his thoughts, and his gaze landed on her lips, which looked fuller and pink. It looked glossy with the water she just had from his bottle, unlike the last time he noticed how pale and dry they looked when the last time they met. "Can I get some cotton and your antiseptic? My hands aren't sanitized, and I shouldn't touch your first-aid box like that."

"I see."

Bash said, averting his gaze from her lips. He had a sanitizer in the box but moved it away from her reach after cleaning his hands. No, it was more like he threw that on the passenger seat of his car, pretending he was busy with the antiseptic.

From his peripheral vision, he noticed her frowning at him but then lowered her hand that she extended earlier, thinking he would give that to her. He bit his inner cheeks, seeing her puffing her cheeks, and watched his seat with anxiousness in her eyes. "Sir?"

"Here."

He gestured to her to come closer with the cotton in his hand, again pretending he didn't hear her calling.

Elias or Milena, whoever she was, looked startled, and he noticed a faint rosy glow appear on her face. She looked rather cute when she tilted her head to see if anyone was coming their way. Nodding to him, she leaned closer and tightly held her back seat and handle with her hands. Carefully, he dabbed the cotton on her cuts. He watched her even more closely and was surprised she didn't hiss in pain, feeling the burning sensation. It was supposed to hurt because the wound was deep, but he didn't question her, not when her flowery scent was clouding his mind. How did her hair smell so good when it didn't seem like she shampooed it this week? It looked messy but not tangled. He could run his fingers through them easily, even if they looked thick and curly from the bottom.

"Thank you." He didn't like how she moved away after he put a bandaid on her cut. She looked uncomfortable, probably because of their closeness or because she heard her sniffing. Her head was close to his nose, alright? He wasn't a pervert or anything close to that. Enraged, he clenched his fists, but his eyes softened when they took the cut on the back of her hands, but before he said something, she beat him to it, looking stiff, "I should head back now. Could you please take the first aid kit from my seat?"

Pressing his lips in a thin line, he went with his kit to place it on the passenger seat and heard the paddling of the bike behind him. Turning around, he saw her walking away with her bike with hurried steps, and he chased behind her with anger in his eyes.

"You are planning to take them like that?"

Her back stiffened, but she didn't stop walking. "Y. . .yeah. I can manage. It isn't even that hard. Bye!"

He gritted his teeth and began taking long steps toward her. "I helped you with your wounds, and now you're leaving like that!"

"But I told you thanks twice!" She squeaked, increasing her walking speed. It made Bash feel like he was some predator wolf chasing behind a naive lamb. "You shouldn't come after me. I don't need help. You go. They are my stuff, and I can handle them!"

Walking past her, he turned around and blocked her path. "Give me your number,"

She paled when he snapped, breathing harshly after taking his phone out of his jacket, "My number?"

Her eyes widened, and he froze, noticing her eye color. . .hazel but with gold flecks.

"Why do you want my number?" She looked at him cautiously, eyeing the passersby and locals.

"Relax." Bash said, suppressing that familiar feeling arising in his heart. He was in his hoodie and sunglasses, so there was no way others would recognize him. But this girl. . .she could see him closely. Why was she pretending like she didn't know him? He smiled, but that didn't reach his eyes. "I want to transfer the treatment cost. So, that's why I am asking. You're hurt..."

"No, I am not. It is just normal cuts." Softly, she cut him off, lowering her gaze. "Thanks, but please don't bother yourself,"

"Alright." Before she could head past him, Bash extended his hand, saying with a steely smile, "It's Sebastian. Sebastian Fernandez."

It took a while for her to receive his hand. Her hand was soft, and he firmly shook hands, enjoying her nervousness and how her hands were shaking. "I...it's- " Her lips quivered, and her eyes screamed she was giving him the wrong name. His grin turned even wider when she said with her shaky voice, shivering under his gaze, "It's P-Piper. Piper Hamilton. It's nice to meet you, sir."

"Nice meeting me?" Bash smiled knowingly, and her cheeks turned beetroot red, seeing him looking behind her where the accident happened and how her tomato left a mark on the road. Taking a step backward, he said, "I hope it isn't your cat's name you gave me."

"Uh-What? No!" She winced at her voice, eyes turning watery. She blushed, stammering. "Excuse me. I have somewhere to be."

With that, she hopped on her bike and fled from the scene with her dear life, sitting in an uncomfortable position with her paint buckets. Her expression of horror had him throw his head back and laugh, but it wasn't pleasant to hear, at least to Julian's ears.