4. A lift from a Stranger

Just as she was still deep in thought, a car pulled up in front of her. There goes a prince charming in the driver's seat. Fang had failed to notice his presence. All she was after at that moment was how she could get to her house and have enough rest after having such a hectic day at work.

He did honk at her just for his presence to be noticed; from the way she had kept her face focused on the other side of the road, one could easily think that she wasn't aware that there was a car in front of her.

Or maybe she wasn't interested in getting into the car; to her, the driver had stopped for a purpose, which was to try to get her to her destination.

So she quickly averted her gaze before the driver could notice that she had seen him stop in front of her.

After a minute, the person in the driver's seat had to get out of the car.

"Hi, pretty!" 

Wang Fang turned to the direction the 'hi' had come from. Her mind was so occupied that she didn't respond immediately. When she finally did, she did it reluctantly!

With the way and manner in which she fixed her gaze on the road and at the same time stared at her wristwatch, it was obvious to the young man that she had been standing there for quite some time now, hoping to get a cab or expecting someone to come pick her up from her house.

"Are you expecting a ride to come pick you up?" he asked. Not minding the fact that Fang wasn't looking in his direction.

"Yeah! Not really a ride, but a cab, actually," she responded, quickly twirling her gaze to the other side.

From the tone she used, it was clear she wasn't interested in getting into any conversation with him.

The gentleman had walked to her front, thereby obstructing her from focusing her gaze in one direction. He spoke in a way that got Fang's attention to take cognizance of him.

"Isn't it obvious you can't get a cab tonight?.. Why not get in my ride and let me take you to your destination?"

She wasn't surprised to hear that from him; after all, she already knew that was why he stopped in front of her.

What was she going to do now? Was she going to turn this offer down? The young man standing in front of her wasn't looking bad or harmful after all.

"Don't worry, I will get one soon." She replied, but this time with a calmer tone and a more composed manner.

"I don't think so; I suggest you get in my car. You are a lady, and you shouldn't be standing here all alone. It could be dangerous out here, you know?" He sounded more concerned.

Dangerous?  The stranger was right, but accepting a lift from a total stranger can be more dangerous as well, especially when it's coming from a guy, even though he didn't appear harmful.

But on second thought, what if she turns his offer down and ends up not getting any cabs?

The only option that would be left then would be to go back to the hotel and spend the night there.

All these thoughts were coursing through Fang's mind.

How much she hated sleeping at the hotel when she was not on the night shift. She had no friends, and her colleagues on the night shift didn't like her at all.

Now, is she going with the option of accepting the young man's offer?

"Okay fine. I don't know you, and I think I am about to take the biggest risk of my life." She said she was not smiling.

"Trust me, you are in safe hands," he said assuredly.

She strode across the front of his car and got into the passenger's seat after he had gone to open the passenger door for her.

Now she seemed a bit relieved. She was no longer standing there waiting for a cab. But then she wasn't comfortable being in a car with a total Stranger.

They had driven for 10 minutes, and none of them had said anything to each other.

Driving was becoming boring for the Young Man. He just didn't know how to get into a conversation with Fang.

He then decided to break the silence by asking Fang her name and Family. Funnily enough, they didn't get to know each other's names all the time they talked while standing. Even though their conversation was brief and the space of silence was long,

"I'm He Jinyong," he said, and he expected Fang to do the same.

When he noticed Fang wasn't going to say hers, he decided to ask her instead.

"May I know your name?" he asked.

"Ooh, sorry. My name? My name is Wang Fang. Yours?" She responded like someone who was absent-minded.

She had asked him for his name, not knowing he had already told her his before requesting to know hers.

She was deep in thought when Jinyong said his name. She knew he said something, but she couldn't fathom what he said.

"Really? I've already said my name. I waited for some seconds to get yours, and when I couldn't get it, I had to ask you what your name is."

"I'm sorry, I was not myself; what did you say your name is?"

"Okay. I'm He Jinyong," he said, saying his name for the second time.

"Nice meeting you," Fang said, stretching forth her hand to Jinyong for a friendly handshake.

"The pleasure is mine," He uttered, accepting Fang's hand while beaming with a smile.

Fang directed him in the direction she was heading when she saw that he was slowing down his driving pace. She suspected it was a result of him not knowing where she was going, although she was not expecting him to know after all.

She noticed through the side mirror that he had been staring at her. So she lowered her head and shielded her face from his view.

Jinyong noticed what she had done and concluded that she was the shy type. He decided not to look at her again but rather focused on his driving.

As they went on, Fang Suddenly asked Jinyong to stop the car. She said it in a way that made him suspicious of her sudden action.

What could have made her sound that way? She sounded like someone who had foreseen danger ahead of them and wanted to stop it from happening.

"Stop!!" She spoke loudly, as if she were talking to someone some distance away from her.

"Are we at your residence already? Jinyong asked with a calm tone, not minding the dramatic behavior she had earlier displayed.

"Not really. But you have to stop driving; I'm getting down here. My house is just a stone's throw away from here." She replied 

"Ooh. I understand what you are trying to prevent from happening. You don't want me to know where you stay, but it's fine. Since your house isn't that far from here, you can go." Jinyong responded 

Jinyong was right about Fang not wanting him to know where she lived. That is the reason she asked him to stop driving.

They were just about 2 kilometers from her house, and immediately Fang realized that she had acted quickly.

She hated people knowing about her house, especially people like Jinyong, whom she was just meeting for the first time. The only people who knew her house and almost everything about her were her best friend Zhang Min and her ex-boyfriend Li Wei.

Zhang Min and Wang had been friends since they were kids. They grew up together in Country C.

Li Wei got to know her residence the day they planned on going out, and she had not turned up. He waited for her for hours so that they could move from there to their usual place of fun.

Since Fang was not in sight, he then put in a call to Zhang Min, who told him Fang's residential address.

He quickly drove down to Fang's house and discovered she was not feeling fine and had switched off her phone on that account.

"You are right. I don't want you to know where I stay," she responded.

"What are your reasons for that?" Jinyong asked curiously.

"Personal reasons," She answered. Not taking into consideration how her response would make him feel.

"That's fine. I just hope you are close to your house, as you claim. I don't want anything bad to happen to you." Jinyong Sounded worried

"Nothing is going to happen to me. Thanks for the ride," She said thankfully, excitedly pointing to Jinyong's car.

He Jinyong had not moved an inch from where he had been. He was trying to make sure Fang was safe and to see her out of his view before he could turn on the car and leave.

Fang knew Jinyong was still there and wondered why he was still there. She was becoming uncomfortable. She had the feeling that he was trying to know where she would stop, and that meant knowing her house.

But on the contrary, Jinyong was only there to make sure she was safe as she walked to her house. As soon as she was out of sight, he drove off.

Fang had deliberately walked past her house on the assumption that Jinyong would easily predict that was her house if she had not done that.

She stood somewhere, peeping to see if Jinyong was still there. She could still see the spot where they had stopped, although not clearly. But there was no sign of a car there.

She then walked back to her house, knowing fully well that Jinyong had left.

On getting to her house, she found her door lock opened but bolted inside. She wasn't scared, though, because her best friend had a spare key to her apartment.

"Min?" She called out loud, expecting Zhang Min to open the door from inside. When she didn't get any response, she then dialed Min's number.

Min didn't take her call.

She was almost on the verge of anger due to the day's stress coupled with getting to her house and standing outside when she was supposed to be inside preparing dinner.