An Unpleasant Surprise
Ryan
I left the restaurant with my siblings after dinner, and beside me, I looked at the girl sitting relaxed in the car seat. She seemed upset. When she noticed me staring, Madison appeared uncomfortable but eventually smiled at me.
"I'm so tired, Ryan," she complained again, repeating something she had said several times that night. "We shouldn't have gone out for dinner tonight."
Although she had already voiced this complaint a few times, I wasn't bothered, as I completely understood her discomfort. We had just returned from a long trip to London that lasted several days, and we hadn't fully recovered from jet lag. It was understandable that she was exhausted. I was tired too, but I was eager to see Sarah after so many days. Given my sister's circumstances at that moment, I insisted that we go out that night, although I understood that Madison disagreed with my idea.
"I'm sorry, darling," I said guiltily. "I promise that next time we travel, I won't insist on doing something immediately upon return. What do you think?"
I tried to hold her hand, but she didn't seem receptive, so I touched her briefly and returned to holding the steering wheel.
"All right."
Despite the affirmative response, Madison still seemed in a bad mood and looked out the car window, avoiding eye contact.
"Please, don't be like this," I asked again. "I won't do it again."
This time, she didn't respond, just maintained silence in the car. I decided that when we got home, I would have a more in-depth conversation with my girlfriend.
When I redirected my attention to the road ahead, I realized I wasn't on the right path to my apartment but instead heading towards Kael's mansion, likely on autopilot. I also noticed that my brother's car was in front of us, but before I could change direction and turn at the next corner, Kael abruptly slammed on the brakes, forcing me to do the same, more out of safety instinct than anything else.
"Why did you do that, Ryan!?" Madison inquired with irritation. She had been jolted forward abruptly, but thanks to the seatbelt, nothing more serious occurred. I wasn't driving at high speed, and I only braked abruptly due to the surprising situation.
"Sorry, darling," I apologized for the tenth time that night. "It seems something strange happened with Kael's car and Sarah."
Without wasting time, I quickly opened the door of my car and got out, directing my gaze to the scene unfolding in front of me.
"What's going on here?" I asked, unable to contain myself.
At that moment, I realized that, in addition to Kael and Sarah, there were also two unknown girls. However, as I approached under the illumination of a streetlight, I confirmed that one of them was, in fact, Sarah's sister. In other words, our sister.
"Rachel!?"
I was completely perplexed. What was Rachel doing there, in the middle of the street, with that other girl?
"It's me, dear brother," Rachel responded with a tone full of irony. She continued, "I was missing my family, before you ask why I'm in Seattle."
It seemed like Rachel hadn't changed at all. But, in reality, why would I be surprised? After all, why would she have changed in just over a month, during which she had been traveling and spending the money she managed to extract from Kael? There was no reason for that.
"Oh, Rachel! Spare me!" I spoke impatiently. "What's going on, Kael? Why did you stop the car like that? It could have caused an accident, especially with Sarah inside."
I knew Kael didn't handle criticism well, but given the situation, I couldn't hold back.
"I asked him to stop, Ryan," Sarah said loudly and clearly, so everyone could hear. "Rachel was practically pushed out of some random car, and I was curious to know what was happening."
Even with Sarah still in the car, just a few meters away from us, she could follow the entire conversation due to the proximity. This information left me quite curious and, of course, astonished.
"Despite this girl not deserving any consideration, I couldn't stay silent in the face of the scene we just witnessed," Kael justified. "So, Rachel? Why were those men pushing you out of the car?"
The girl who was with Rachel, who had remained silent and visibly uncomfortable until then, decided to speak up at that moment and began to explain, even as Rachel stared at her, clearly asking her to stay quiet.
"I don't understand anything here, but the fact is that our ride told us to get out of the car when we refused to join some kind of party," she explained hastily.
"What's your name?" Kael asked. "And where were you going?"
"My name is Lindsay," she introduced herself. "I was going home with a ride from some friends at the hotel where we work, and I offered Rachel a ride, but the situation suddenly got out of control."
The girl seemed embarrassed and didn't specify exactly where they were going, just mentioned that she was going home.
"And what is your exact destination?" I asked again. "We can call a taxi, after all, Rachel, you have enough financial means not to have to hitch a ride with strangers, right, sister?"
I was speaking with the same irony Rachel used, but my real goal was to find out if Rachel had already spent all her money and was back in Seattle, trying to get more.
"I..." Rachel said in a much humbler tone now, clearing her throat as if she had difficulty continuing what she intended to say. "I have no money with me..."
Well, it was quite interesting to see Rachel Mitchell bowing her head in front of all of us, especially when she was using a tone so devoid of her natural arrogance.
"She started working at the hotel today, folks," Lindsay said hastily, trying to defend her "friend." "Rachel has no money here. She couldn't even pay for her accommodation, so Mr. Barney allowed her to work with us in the kitchen."
Upon hearing Lindsay's surprising revelation, all of us—Kael, Sarah, and I—were dumbfounded. We were genuinely incredulous, unable to believe that what the girl had just told us was true.
“You're working at a hotel, Rachel?” Sarah said, sounding astonished.
“In the kitchen?” Kael added, with a hint of sarcasm.
“What's the problem with that, guys?” Lindsay asked irritably. “All work is dignified, and she's not asking for anything from you!”
It was understandable that Lindsay defended her coworker; after all, she didn't know who Rachel truly was and everything she had done to us.
“You're right, Lindsay” I tried to ease the situation “We're just surprised.”
“So, could any of you at least give us a ride? We need to get back to the hotel early tomorrow.”
“What do you think, Sarah?” Kael addressed his fiancée, as I already expected he would.
“Let's go home,” Sarah said without hesitation. “I don't want her in the car with us.”
Kael seemed surprised by Sarah's response, but he shrugged and, after circling the car, drove away without saying goodbye.
At that moment, I considered following their example, but as I looked at the two girls standing there, staring at me with still-shocked expressions from Sarah's actions, I couldn't make the same decision.
“Come on, get in the car.”
I wasn't doing this for Rachel because she didn't deserve it at all. However, the girl seemed scared and sad, and I had no idea what she had gotten herself into by being with my sister.
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