ENDS

Hunter’s p. o. v.

I looked at the paper which Claire dropped at the front seat to picture the map once again.

I was supposed to look out for a street named cottois, that’s where I’ll take my next turn.

Driving through the market was a bit satisfying as the noisy environment was a little therapeutic to my mental health.

It was obvious that Iris didn’t want to talk to me and I wasn’t going to force neither would I blame her. After her outburst earlier, I discovered that she had every reason to be angry at me.

Everyone involved in this had every reason to be pissed at my being.

But it only took an outburst for me to realize.

Lol… I really do deserve an award for the way I effortlessly mess up people’s lives.

Or make some lose theirs.

Mrs. Phoebe really didn’t deserve this for any reason, her only crime was knowing me.

I really need to disappear from everyone, they’d definitely be happier. They usually are till I come along with my bullshit.

I was a little too lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed a woman trying to cross the road with her son and I had to bring the car to a screeching halt.

“xem ban dang di dau thua ong!” the lady shouted as she glared at me whilst she dragged her son who didn’t look to be more than five years old with one hand and lifted the end of her ao dai with the other to prevent herself from tripping over.

“Sorry!” I yelled apologetically at her through the window.

“di xuong dia nguc voi loi xin loi cua ban!!” she shouted back with an eye roll and I’m certain it wasn’t ‘it’s okay’

But I turned back to also apologize to Iris for the rash car movements but it seems like she’s quite deep in her nap.

She really needed it, its been a very rough past few days.

Immediately I looked back to the road, I saw the road sign I had been looking for.

Cottois 5km ahead.

And I picked up my pace just to get there as fast as I could. I had other things to do once I got to the designated home.

The weather was quite hot, too hot if I were to be asked. I think it’s time to turn on the air conditioning.

While the windows rolled up, I quickly turned on the A/C to the highest intensity and sped off.

Luckily this time, I didn’t almost hit anyone.

It took only a few minutes and we were taking the turn I was looking forward to.

They described the environment to be a neighborhood hidden between tamed forest trees.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

But all I was seeing for now were just trees that were shedding all their red, orange and yellow leaves to the autumn.

I kept going anyway, Claire did mention I would see at least two coffee shops before seeing homes and she was right.

I had actually started seeing homes after the first coffee shop but they looked deep into the woody area.

And after the second coffee shop I picked up the map again.

‘they would be at the second coffee shop waiting. Abandon the vehicle there and take the bush path few feet away from the store. Your home is the only cabin within that vicinity, don’t forget to leave this note on the back seat so the men would be certain it’s your car.’

I guess the message was as clear as day.

I turned off the engine and got down from the car to go wake Iris… after getting our bags from the trunk that is.

The fact she was still sleeping kinda had me bothered, she’s usually a light sleeper. All these noises ought to have woken her up.

But I didn’t want to raise panic just yet.

So, I tapped her softly a few times and called her name and luckily for me she muffled to the sounds I made.

At least she’s not dead. I say to myself and tap her once again.

Angrily she opened her eyes and looked to me with a scowl like she was a few seconds away from grasping at my neck.

And I had to step back a few feet just to be safe.

“We’re here. We need to leave the car.”

After I mentioned that she took a few seconds to wipe her eyes and stretch out her hands before jumping out of the car and jamming the door behind her shut.

She stood for a few seconds and at first, I thought she wanted to help me out with the bags.

But then I realized that she was only waiting for me to lead the way to wherever we were headed.

And as usual, not a word was said when we began walking.

According to the instructions our cabin was supposed to be the only home in the area and that was true.

Not so far from the coffee shop was a little house and also the only house in sight.

Carrying the bags along we took hasty steps to the building.

As soon as we got to the door, I dropped all the luggage’s and pulled out a key from my back pocket.

“You own here?” came Iris voice and I swear it caused me to jerk a little because I wasn’t expecting it.

“I think Mr. Reid does.” I replied and that was the end of the conversation.

Immediately I dropped the bags in the room I walked around to orient myself with the environment a bit.

I think I heard the sound of running water somewhere so I assumed Iris got her way into the bathroom.

Not spending any more time, I decided to leave and carry on my activities I had for the day.

First stop…

The Duong coffee shop.

Tired couldn’t even describe me at the moment, but I just need to get everything fixed and my life on.

The weather was warm, a bit. And my hasty footsteps made me trickle some sweat down my back.

As I got to the door of the coffee shop, I took a deep breath and braced myself ahead of whatever.

After pushing the door open and its chimes resonated across the entire room, I took quick steps towards the counter.

They had a busy day, cause everywhere was bustling and the entire room filled with noise but there was an elderly lady who stood behind the cashier with a paper in her hand yelling at some other people in their language.

“Good afternoon.” I greeted and she turned to me with a smile.

“My what a handsome young man, how may I help you son? What would you like?” she replies and gives me her full attention.

“I would like to speak with Mrs. Hao, Meredith’s mother.”