Slime Evolution

Chapter 486 - The Wait

The Porsche landed on the street in front of the mansion so smoothly that Lohan smiled to himself, and he stayed still for a few seconds, hands on the wheel, waiting for the car to finish settling before turning off the engine.

There were ten minutes left until the agreed time.

He had calculated everything precisely, the route, the air traffic, the small delays that always happened, and even so he had arrived with a margin that made him feel ridiculous.

But he preferred ridiculous to late, especially after Isabella’s teasing about the barbecue, and especially after having spent his whole life in a hospital bed waiting for time to pass.

He looked at the entrance of the house through the windshield, the large wrought iron gate, the well kept garden, the elegant lampposts, and the landing space in front of the main door.

Empty.

No red Rolls Royce parked there, no elegant figure waiting at the door with a curious smile. There was only the silent garden and the sun glinting off the leaves, and a feeling of relief so great that he let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding.

In the days after that night, after going through the scene with her mother at the door, Isabella had explained everything by message, laughing with embarrassment.

The red Rolls Royce was Evelyn’s, who liked to make surprise visits and always parked right in front of the door, so that no one inside the house could pretend they hadn’t seen her arrive.

That was an old habit of hers, almost a tradition, and Isabella had admitted, with an embarrassed sincerity, that she herself had never managed to get used to it.

’At least now I know what I’m looking for,’ he thought, with a low chuckle. ’If a red Rolls Royce shows up, I’ll get ready.’

He opened the Syn interface, and typed a short message.

[I’m here. I’m out front.]

The reply came in less than ten seconds, which made him raise his eyebrows.

[Already??? It’s not even 12:50 yet!! Give me a few more minutes, please, please, I’m still finishing up!]

Lohan laughed, and typed back.

[No rush. I’ll wait.]

[Thank you!!! I promise it’ll be quick.]

He put the interface away, leaned back in the seat, and stared at the garden, and time began to pass.

Five minutes turned into ten.

Lohan, to keep his mind busy, took out of his pocket the three pens he had stashed there, almost without thinking, and made them float in front of his face, slowly circling one another, in a hypnotic dance that filled the silence of the car.

When one of them wobbled, he corrected it effortlessly, since he had only brought these pens, he had to train trying to control more pens with a single partition of his mind, which was much harder than simply adding more, and then he tried changing the orbit to a figure eight, and then to a triangle, and discovered that it was very, very hard to keep his precision while distracted by the thought of a girl who was probably changing outfits for the sixth time.

It was at that moment that the side door of the mansion opened, and one of the maids came out, walking slowly toward the car with a tray in her hands.

Lohan let the pens drop carefully onto the center console and rolled down the window, not quite knowing what to expect.

"Good morning, sir," she said, in a neutral, polite voice, but with the corners of her mouth trembling slightly, as if she were trying very hard not to smile. "Miss Isabella apologizes profusely for the delay. She asked me to bring you this while you wait."

On the tray was a glass cup full of a chilled juice from some orange fruit, and a small plate of expensive looking cookies. Lohan accepted it, thanking her, and the maid stepped back a pace, but stayed there, hesitating, as if she wanted to say something more.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Forgive the indiscretion, sir," she said, and this time the smile escaped completely, discreet, but unmistakable. "This is the first time I’ve seen Miss Isabella take more than an hour to get ready for a lunch."

And before he could respond, she made a small bow and went back inside the house, leaving Lohan with a glass of juice and a strange warmth in his ears.

He drank the juice slowly, without tasting it.

Fifteen minutes passed since the message, then eighteen. And when the clock on the dashboard read 1:10 PM, ten minutes past the agreed time, the front door finally opened.

Lohan didn’t notice that he had stopped breathing.

Isabella came out slowly, descending the three entrance steps with one hand resting on the stone railing, and the first thing he noticed was the dress.

It was light blue silk, almost white under the sunlight, with thin straps and a simple cut that fit her body at the waist and fell in soft waves to just below the knees, like still water that moved at the slightest breath of wind.

Over her shoulders she wore a short cream colored linen jacket, left open, which gave the whole outfit a relaxed air that contrasted in a very beautiful way with the elegance of the fabric.

Her red hair was pinned up in a loose bun, held with a small pearl clip, and a few rebellious strands fell around her face, framing her neck, where a thin gold chain shone with an almost invisible pendant, which Lohan only noticed because of his enhanced vision.

Her eyes, golden, had been highlighted by makeup so light it seemed like none at all, just a soft shine on her lips and a touch of pink on her cheeks, which perhaps wasn’t real makeup.

She walked toward the car with her low heels tapping softly against the stone of the courtyard, a little slower than usual, with an expression Lohan had never seen on her, a mix of embarrassment and determination, as if she knew she had messed up and had decided to face the consequences with her head held high.

He only realized he had his mouth open when she stopped in front of the car door and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you going to sit there with your mouth open or are you going to let me in?" Isabella asked, with a little smile that tried to be teasing but escaped at the edges, trembling with embarrassment.

Lohan shut his mouth so fast his teeth clicked together, and felt his face heat up, and for the first time since going through the evolution, he didn’t know what to do with his hands.

"I..." he began, and stopped, and tried again. "You look... Isabella, you look beautiful."

The sentence came out before he could think of a more elegant version, and he saw her face change, the pink of her cheeks spreading to her ears, and the look of embarrassment melting into a real smile, disarmed and a little incredulous.

"Thank you," she said, softly, looking away for a second. "Sorry for the delay. I couldn’t find... I mean, I could find it, but nothing looked right... anyway." She coughed, composed herself, and lifted her chin. "It won’t happen again."

"I would wait all day," he replied, and this time the sentence came out natural, without thinking, and he only realized what he had said after she widened her eyes.

Before the silence got too awkward, he did the one thing the oldest part of his brain suggested: he opened the car door, got out carefully so as not to crush anything, walked around the front of the vehicle, and opened the passenger door with an exaggerated gesture, bowing slightly, with his hand outstretched.

"Milady."

Isabella stood still for a moment, looking at him, and then began to laugh.

It was a surprised, genuine laugh, that escaped before she could hold it in, and that made her shoulders shake and the golden strands sway around her face. She brought a hand to her mouth, trying to control herself, and failed, and her eyes shone in a way that made Lohan’s heart leap uncomfortably hard.

"Who are you?" she asked, between laughs, resting her hand on his to get into the car. "What did you do with my Halon? The Halon I know is only good at killing monsters."

"That’s just ONE of my charming traits," he replied, with the most serious face he could manage.

"Then I hope to get to know more of them." she said, still laughing, and settled into the seat with a graceful movement that made the silk of her dress slide against the leather.

Lohan closed the door with the care of someone closing the lid of a reliquary, walked around, and got in on the other side, trying to recover some dignity and failing miserably.

When he started the car, he felt her eyes fixed on his face, and heard her voice change tone, more curious now, and softer.

"Halon," she said. "Your eyes."

"What about them?"

"They look different." She leaned a little toward him, with genuine curiosity, and her eyes traveled slowly over his face. "There are little golden specks around your pupils. I’ve never seen that before."

Lohan felt his heart speed up in a way that had nothing to do with the evolution.

"It’s because of the evolution." he explained, trying to keep his voice steady. "It seems that change came over to the real world too."

"They’re beautiful," she said, simply, and leaned back in the seat again, looking out the window with a discreet smile that she was clearly trying to hide.

The silence that followed was soft, and warm, and Lohan realized he was smiling at the car’s dashboard like an idiot.

"So," he said, finally, breaking the spell before he could destroy it himself. "Where are we going?"

Isabella opened the Porsche’s navigation panel, and typed in an address with her fingertips, at a quick, confident pace, and when she finished, the map lit up, showing a route that cut across the east side of the city, a region Lohan had never visited.

"The reservation is already made," she said, and this time there was a mischievous satisfaction in her voice. "And this time I was careful. I booked a private room, with soundproofing, a locked door, and express orders that no one can come in without being called."

"No one?"

"No one," she confirmed, her golden eyes shining. "Not the manager, not the staff, not some hysterical rich old lady who wants to argue with the waiter. Today it’s just the two of us, Halon."

"You thought of everything."

"I learned my lesson," she replied, and gave a little giggle. "The last few times, the universe seemed to have a conspiracy against us. Today I decided I was going to win."

Lohan looked at her, sitting beside him, in a light blue dress, with her golden hair shining under the sun coming through the glass, and felt something stir deep down, something warm, frightening and good, that he had no name for.

"Then let’s win," he said, and shifted the car into gear.