Chapter 306: 306: Observe Carefully and Learn Diligently (16)
Chapter 306: 306: Observe Carefully and Learn Diligently (16)
“It’s getting late, I need to go home.”
Steve didn’t respond but just shifted his gaze from Ruby’s face back to his computer and continued typing away.
Ruby kept her eyes on Steve’s face. As the light in the study was dim, she couldn’t see his expression clearly. Considering that he had ignored her when she mentioned going home at noon, she assumed he wasn’t pleased with her departure. So she added, “I have work tomorrow, and there are documents at home I’ll need. I won’t have time to pick them up in the morning.”
Steve remained silent, his typing not slowing in the slightest.
His silence unsettled Ruby but, thanks to Mrs. Taylor’s advice, she had grown smarter. She didn’t say goodbye outright, but instead recalled all the words Mrs. Taylor had said to her. Mrs. Taylor advised that sometimes, when the time was right, a woman should act spoiled and ask a man to do something for her, it might make him happy.
Ruby bit her lip, sounding tentative as she asked, “Um… I didn’t drive… and it’s late… Could you please take me home?”
At Ruby’s words, Steve’s fingers, which had been typing away, paused briefly before resuming their rhythmic tapping on the keyboard.
Ruby stood at the door, noticing her heartbeat quickening.
How many years had it been since Steve last drove her home?
When she was young, she loved to visit the Burtons’ Mansion after school. The Gregorys’ residence and the Burtons’ were adjoining. Whenever she was ready to go home, no matter how busy Steve was, she would relentlessly bug him to take her home.
Sometimes he was doing his homework or playing games with Rusell Henris and Edward Woods, getting annoyed by her pestering. He would glare at her with impatience but would still stand up, organize the messy books and comics she left at his place, put them in her backpack, and then carried it for her, descending the stairs without a word.
Back then, she was young and naive, solely focused on getting what she desired. She bid everyone farewell cheerfully, happily following him home, hopping along the way.
Time had flown by, and those youthful days felt like a dream, a fading memory.
The room was quiet, the only sound was Steve’s tapping on the keyboard.
Just when Ruby thought Steve wouldn’t drive her home, he suddenly closed the laptop with a “snap,” stood up, walked over to her using the dim light from the window, and looked into her eyes for a long time under the light from the hallway. Finally, he said, “Wait for me.”
Afterwards, he brushed past her into the bedroom. In less than a minute, he came out dressed in formal attire, holding a set of car keys. He said to Ruby who was still standing in the doorway, “Let’s go.”
And with that, he took the lead and went downstairs.