Chapter 357: 357 - Daily Dose of Regret
"Nah... I don"t feel like using that one to be honest. If you have a good two-seater with a nice real engine, I"m looking forward to it," he said, while Carlos raised his hand, calling someone.
Not long after, the same employee approached them. "We want one of the speedsters for Noah. He"ll be waiting here," Carlos said, making the man go pale.
"Err... About that. the speedsters were recalled by your mother. She said they were subpar and demanded improvements," the man said, nervously. Noah could not know why, at least not from what he remembered of Carlos from the years. But he knew his parents were a bit harder to deal with at times.
"... We have not a single decent car?" Carlos asked, furrowing his brows.
"Carlos, man, it"s okay. I can take the Ferrari, even if it"s a bit dissappointing," Noah stepped in, calling Carlos out, yet he only furrowed his brows further, as he saw the employee relax.
"I"ll be bringing you car, sir—" the man hastily spoke, which triggered Carlos" sense.
"Wait. No. If we don"t have speedsters bring a Lincoln Series," he b.u.t.ted, a hint of fear and nervousness in his facial expressions. His brows were furrowed, but the edge close to the top of his nose were raised. The edge of his mouth was also extended, which did not fit the facial profile of anger. Noah would never miss those cues, and he too started paying special attention to the employee.
"Ye—No, wait. There"s also a pro—" the man stuttered, getting his words cut out and confused before Carlos mae an incisive remark.
"Get the f.u.c.k out of here and bring me someone else from the gate personnel. You no longer work for this family. Get lost," he splurted out caustically, leaving the man no chance to rebut and only the option to lower his head and walk towards the main gate by feet, while Carlos pulled his phone out and fired the man"s profile from the househld system.
"Is there any problem?" Al asked, approaching the two, while the kids and Lilith waited behind just watching.
"No, just exterminating some pests," Carlos responded with anger, now having understood some of the situation. "Noah, beware of the people from the Khan Family. They wanted you to ride that EV at all costs," he warned Noah, who closed his eyes and took a very deep breath.
"I noticed it," he said while giving out an extremely long sigh, "Let me just get any car and get this over with, I don"t want to involve Al with any of this Nine Families bulls.h.i.t."
"Me? Why would I—" Allie started asking, only to be interrupted.
"I told you I became someone important, didn"t I?" he aske while holding her shoulders, to which she nodded. "One of the perks of having money and power is that people want to dig up everything about you."
"Get me a good and reliable diesel, preferably a speedster or a Lincoln." Noah heard Carlos speak to someone behind him.
"Lilith, take care of the kids and dig up anyone in this house that is not loyal to Carlos" family. I"ll get rid of them with him when I get back," he said in thought, making Lilith have a prou posture, before widening her eyes.
"Wait, does this mean I"ll stay behind while you drive around with this woman?! I want to go too," she protested, to which Noah gave no mind.
"Lilith!" he reprimanded her. "There"s a reason I need you here. You are the only person who is completely under the radar and can hear eveything without worrying about a thing. I need you," he justified himself, and his words worked like a charm. His need for her was enough to make the snake forget all of her personal issues and worries, and focus only on him.
"I"ll do it! But remember you have me, alright," she said, before slithering away from the group.
"Where"s Lilith going?" Bel asked, as he saw her go away.
"I told her to go arround checking the house. She"ll take a stroll," Noah responded, before looking at her. "Become large. We don"t want anyone to think you are just some snake around the corner and have you need to defend yourself," he said, watching her grow to her ma.s.sive and glorious self. "That"s it," he told himself and her, filled with a sense of pride for her.
Without him noticing, the unmistakeable sound of a w.a.n.kel engine filled his ears, making him grin, and turn towards Carlos, "A Rotary?! You dad sure has great taste," he said, making Carlos burst into laughter.
"Father my a.s.s!" he exclaimed, "I waas the one who asked for this, isn"t it glorious?!" he asked, as the slim and beutiful pearled black car rolled towards them. The lack of vibration and the perfect suspension system made the car look like it was floating.
"d.a.m.n... This a limited?" Noah asked, reminding himself that Carlos was never the one behin cars for their family.
"No, a proof of concept. I"m sure you will love it. I designed it for my own line of cars," Carlos said, puffing his chest high.
"I wanna ride it too!" Maggie ran towards them, her eyes shining.
"You can later, I need to get Al"s stuff so you can have your girls" night," Noah said, lowering himself and patting her head like one would a small child.
"Hmmm... Okay. But you"ll take me on this car when we buy me the gaming system!" she said, reminding Noah they had not gotten around to do what they had planned for today.
"Oh, right, we woul"ve done it today," he reminded himself. "Anyhow, let"s go tomorrow morning. I have a dinner tomorrow night so we have to make things early..." he said, also reminding himself of his promisse with Sha. "Either way, we better get going, else it"s gonna get late." he turned to Al, nodding at her as he opened the pa.s.seger seat as soon as the valet left the inside of the car.
As he went around the front, he threw a glance at the beautiful white epoxy-looking panels, which glistened in contrast to the black leather interior. "d.a.m.n..." he thought, as he enjoyed the look, and saw the figure of Allie inside, whose simplicity at the time contrasted with the glamour.
He waved at the kids, before entering the car, and starting to adjust his positioning to drive. "What the..." he said, as upon touching a sensor where the seat adjustment was, an array of lasers turned on momentarily, and all the adjustable systems started moving on their own. Side mirrors, wheel, seat, everything. All were adjust perfectly to his body at the touch of a b.u.t.ton, something he had never seen before. "d.a.m.n, Carlos really went overboard," he murmured, looking to his side to see Allie.
"Yeah... I feel out of place inside a car like this, like I don"t belong..." she half whispered. Making Noah see himself in her place not long ago.
"Don"t worry about that. Now you own the largest ice-cream store in all of Eyrin, which has a B-Rank Blessed from the Khan Family as a spokesperson. You belong here," he said, making her turn at him with eyes and mouth wide.
"Eh? But I... Youseff"s—" she stuttered, her mouth stuck open.
"This is a promise, nothing more, nothing less," he said with a smile, accelerating the w.a.n.kel engine and spitting out flames as he drove towards the gate. "Oh, c.r.a.p, this car has serious power," Noah said in astonishment, as he realized a half-step on the gas had made him upshift two gears out of the 8 the car had in half a second.
The panel was full of symbols and indicators, yet was extremly easy to read, like it was designed to be as complete as possible, but with function in mind, rather than vain asthetics. Despite the interior being white, the background for the panels was black and from the driver"s perspective, the front console only seemed to have white accents.
"Gorgeous, isn"t it?" he found himself asking, only to remember he had not taken Lilith this time, as he gripped the front wheel a little different. "So, Al, where do you live?"
"About that..."
After a few minutes of eery silence, the two arrived at the address she had given him. In the rundown neighborhood, a large house whose windows had long been stripped from their sills stood. "Here?" Noah asked, holding the wheel with enough force it would have broken the wheel of a cheaper car out of frustration.
Al nodded in silence, and opened her door, dissappearing into the falling apart building. Noah let himself fall onto the seat, which prombly moved back and reclined, his hands upon his face as he covered his eyes, "I should"ve known thigs had gotten this bad," he murmured, as he wondered about where Youseff had been living, and how bad she was earning to live in this kind of place. As he waited, pleople went in and out of the tenement, all oggling the car with curiosity and fear. Inside, Noah was not even noticing the pa.s.sersby, still regretting his blindness. He looked up, towards the sunroof of the car, seeing the sky. "At least I can make things right," he thought, reminding himself why he took the extra step to promise her what he did. "I should"ve been earlier... Maybe if I did, Youseff would have died happier..." he muttered.
Thanks for the reading, I"m happy to have you here :D