"Bye bye~! Mommy~!"
"Mommy~! See you later~!"
Chacha and Second walked while looking back, making their teacher chuckle as she lowered her head at the twins’ parents.
"Chacha, Second, bye bye~!" Slater waved his arms wide, his face covered by a mask, and the hood of his hoodie pulled up over his head. "See you later~!"
Yet, the twins just ignored their uncle and kept their eyes on where Lola and Atlas were standing. Lola waved at them with a subtle smile while Atlas just stared.
The three of them watched until the twins entered the premises with other children and parents. Once they were out of sight, the smile on Lola’s face disappeared.
"Right!" Slater beat her to breaking the silence between them. "I gotta go!"
"Where are you going?" Lola asked, knowing they had come here together. "You can’t commute all alone."
"I’m not." Slater winked at her before he started jogging away. "Have fun, you two~!"
Deep lines appeared between her eyebrows as she watched him jump into the backseat of the car behind them. Her face twitched; she had only just realized they had an escort car. But that didn’t matter as Lola slowly turned to Atlas.
The expression on her face immediately died, causing him to raise his brows.
"You and I need to talk," she said before reaching for the backseat door and jumping in.
Atlas blinked and turned to the shut backseat door.
"This looks familiar," he whispered to himself, looking up for a moment to remember where he had seen such a scene before. The corners of his mouth curved down deeply.
This scene looked exactly how his mother would talk to his father when she was upset about something and had been holding back. Whenever that happened, his father would always look around for someone to help him, but of course, no one would dare help the guy.
****
Silence filled the car as neither Lola nor Atlas spoke a word in the first few minutes after leaving the school. She had her arms crossed while he stayed still in his spot. Every once in a while, he would give her a side-eye, studying her side profile.
Another minute passed, and her mouth finally opened. Lola faced him squarely, only to pause when he spoke at the same time.
"Baby," he said, watching her forehead knit.
Lola frowned. "Atlas, who are you—"
"Pull over to the side. I’m driving her to her office."
The confusion on her face deepened until she heard the deep voice in the driver’s seat answer. "Yes, sir."
"Ah?" she blinked, looking at the big guy—no, the giant guy—in the driver’s seat. Her eyes widened a bit, then looked back at Atlas.
"He is Baby," said Atlas, tapping her forehead mildly. "...don’t be jealous."
As ordered, the gigantic guy in a custom suit and tie pulled over to the side. When he stepped out, Lola was amazed at how humongous he was. She was so shocked that she didn’t even know how she ended up in the front passenger seat while Atlas took the driver’s seat.
"Seatbelt." His voice snapped her out of her daze, peeling her eyes from the side mirror to the driver’s seat. Atlas cast her a side-eye. "Don’t make me do it."
"Uh." Lola mindlessly reached for the seatbelt and strapped herself in. She then gazed at the side mirror again, catching Baby standing on the side of the road.
"His name is... Baby?" she asked, stupefied. "Is that his real name?"
"His real name on his government ID is Baby Boy."
Her jaw dropped as she stared at his side profile. "Who names their kids Baby Boy?"
"He said that’s not the name his parents chose, but somewhere along the line, the one registered is that," he explained coolly, focusing on the road. "He’s the one I was talking to last night."
Lola opened and closed her mouth, unsure which part she should be more shocked by. Was it the fact that she had been fuming and thinking of how to start her long speech? Or that someone as huge as that man was being called Baby.
That was not a baby at all! Rather, a BABY.
Amid her thought process, Atlas spoke calmly again.
"I thought about what you said last night," he said, eyes still on the road. "You do have a lot on your plate already."
He paused and slid his eyes to the corner where she was. "I don’t want this one to be one of the things that bother you. So, I wanted to introduce him to you."
"Oh..."
"He’s not a lover," he continued in the same tone. "If you need anything, I will send you his contact information. He’s very reliable if you need an extra hand."
That was not an extra hand. It was an extra HAND.
"Oh..." Lola pressed her lips into a thin line, puffing her cheeks in silence. She leaned back in her seat, thinking about it. "You know, you didn’t have to—"
"It bothers you," he cut her off. "I have to, if it bothers you."
Her breath hitched as she stared at the driver’s seat, feeling both horrified and touched. Lola shook her head, resisting the urge to slap herself just to make sure she wasn’t dreaming with her eyes open. The tips of her ears reddened, making her swallow the tension in her throat.
"Well, thanks." She tried her best to play it cool. "If that’s the case, then... I guess there’s nothing we should talk about. I’m just saying that there were lines I wouldn’t cross. I just don’t want someone to get hurt by this..."
She trailed off, narrowing her eyes at him. Lola bit her lip, pulling the strap of her seatbelt as she leaned toward him a bit.
"I get it that Baby is actually a name of a really big guy," she said, carefully picking her words. "But yesterday, Mr. King was with someone..."
"Scarlet," he said, looking up at the stoplight and slowing down even though it was still green. "That’s her name."
"Oh... and?"
Atlas didn’t answer immediately as he watched the stoplight until it turned red. He stopped and turned to her.
"She’s one of my people," he clarified. "She’s in charge of the security operations."
Lola’s mouth parted a bit. "Oh. Is that so?"
"Lola Young, I’m not seeing someone," he said, emphasizing each word to get his point across. "I’m single and... very available, if that is what you want to know."
"Haha! I didn’t want to know that!"
His mouth slowly curled into a very slight devilish smile, making her breath hitch. "Okay."
"That’s not okay!" she gasped. "Atlas, that’s not—you promised me that you wouldn’t misunderstand me, right?"
"I’m not misunderstanding anything."
"But you look like you are!"
"I’m not."
But Lola knew he was perceiving it the opposite of what she was telling him. So, she continued to nag him while he just nodded in "understanding." Yet despite that their eyes were smiling.