Under the Gray Willow Tree

Chapter 17

I stared at the phone in my hand as if it were a living organism. I was dumbfounded. Is this some sort of sick joke? Is this... Is this the same person I think it is?

Gray stole a glance at my frozen figure from the driver's seat; worry flashed in his eyes. "Are you alright? Is anything wrong?"

I shook my head to deliberately tell myself to snap out of it. I pressed the black button of his iPhone 3G. "Yeah. I'm alright. Nothing's wrong. No need to worry."

"Okay," he replied calmly, and continued to focus on driving.

This is impossible! I must be dreaming. I must be dreaming. I must be dreaming. But I'm not, I'm very sure of it.

I thought he made sure to break off all contact with that guy. And I thought he actually did! Apparently not. I was just too naïve to see that. And the reality of this trip? It's all just a big fat lie. It's all just a trap to get me to wherever it is he wants to take me to in Brooklyn.

And he only agreed because it was part of the plan. Or maybe, that is the only reason he agreed. And that's what made his job a whole lot easier. Because I am very stubborn and persistent about things, and I want to do the impossible and risk a lot of things at the same time.

I could just pretend that I did not see that message, but it's not really that easy as many may think. I will still remember it, no matter how vaguely, in my head. No matter what, the memory of this will always be in my head.

I am not going to fall into this trap of theirs. Yeah, just keep telling yourself that and maybe, one day, it'll come true, a voice in my head nagged at me. I sighed softly. That voice is right. I have already fallen into this trap since long ago.

Somehow, in the middle of the trip, I ended up playing Angry Birds Rio. And after that, I ended up sleeping for the rest of the trip. I was so bored until that extend, imagine that! The reason? Do I even need to tell you? Fine, I will.

There is nothing to do at all in a moving vehicle, especially a moving car. Trust me, it is very true. If gadgets weren't invented yet, and if I could die of boredom, I would easily be dead by now.

I felt the car pull to a stop, which dragged me out of my thoughts and into the reality around me. I stretched my arms a little and stifled a yawn. The car door swung open, not of its own accord, of course – if it was, I would be screaming my head off by now – and I felt a gush of wind hit my face.

I got out, my heels clicking against the tarred road. I closed the door loudly behind me. "So, where are we headed to?" I asked, choosing my words as carefully as possible so that he wouldn't get too suspicious.

He grinned – making me feel a tad bit uncomfortable – and grabbed my hand. Our fingers interlaced immediately. We walked down the cement pavement of the city.

He kept silent, not bothering to answer my previous question, which was internally killing me. Why is he keeping the suspense? Did he not hear me? Or is he just deliberately ignoring me...

"So, where are we going?" I asked again, prompting him to answer the question.

And once again, he either did not hear me ask my question, or was deliberately ignoring me. Why? Why is he building this suspense? He knows that I am not one for both mysteries and secrets, yet he is keeping this a mystery from me.

Maybe he's afraid of my reaction.

"Where are we going?" I repeated, sounding a little annoyed this time.

He smirked at my question. So, I'm guessing, he did hear me and that he's going to answer me now. And it turned out that I was right.

"We are going to one of the main offices."