Chapter 742 Take The Front Passenger Seat
When Michelle raised her head, a handsome face came into her view. He wore a gentle smile that swept away the disappointment on her face like a warm breeze. "Leon," Michelle called, her lips curving upwards.
When the school bell rang, the children rushed out of their classroom and headed outside. From afar, Michelle could hear Kian shouting, "Boss! Your uncle and aunt are here."
"Aunt Michelle and Uncle Leon aren't married yet. They're just in love," Don replied.
"When will they get married?" Eileen asked in a soft and sweet voice. She was holding her schoolbag with her two little hands.
"I don't know. I'll ask." Don started to skip happily towards Leon and Michelle.
"Kian, Eileen, we're leaving now. Bye!" Van ran after his young brother. "Don, are you really going to ask Uncle Leon?"
"Yes," Don answered. "You told me that if we didn't understand, we could always ask. Don't you want to have an aunt?" He placed his arm around his brother's shoulder and started walking in a cool and arrogant manner. "The book says that we should let nature take its course." Van always acted more mature than children of his age.
In contrast to Van, Don didn't read much. He scratched his head and asked, "What does that mean?"
"Nothing." Van chuckled. "I want an aunt too."
"Okay, I'll ask him then." Don let go of his brother's shoulder and ran to his uncle. "Uncle Leon, when will you and Aunt Michelle get married?"
As soon as she heard those words, Michelle's eyes widened. She had no idea why these children were asking such a question. When she looked at Leon, he was just as shocked as she was, if not more. Yesterday, they asked him where their aunt was. Now, they were asking him when they would get married.
Although Leon had always thought of marrying Michelle in the near future, he didn't want everything to happen in just one night. He wanted to woo her naturally until they reached that point.
'But I guess it's okay to start thinking of it as early as now, 'he thought as a small grin started to form on his face.
"Leon, what are you smiling about?" When Michelle looked at him, his grin grew even wider. She was dumbfounded. 'What is he thinking?'
"So Michelle, when will we get married?"
The question made her heart suddenly jump, almost out of her throat. "Leon, what are you talking about?
Don't talk like that. Otherwise, people will think of it the wrong way." She could feel her knees go soft and tremble as she took two steps back. An awkward silence hung between the both of them.
Don looked at Leon, then at Michelle. "Why are they not speaking? Did I do something wrong?" he asked his brother.
Realizing what had just happened, Van let out a disappointed sigh. "Uncle Leon and Aunt Michelle aren't in love," he whispered in Don's ear. "What? So I won't have an aunt?" Don pouted his lips and started to sulk.
Michelle heard someone sigh. At first, she thought it was Leon. However, it could also be someone else since there were many people around them. Then she heard Leon say, "Well, I was just kidding."
"Oh." She thought as much. "Leon, don't make such a joke again."
He pretended not to hear her. "What did you say again, Michelle?"
"Nothing!" she answered abruptly. She thought if she denied it as soon as she could, then nothing would happen. "Nothing. I didn't say anything." Michelle lied and hid her eyes away from Leon's gaze.
"Okay." Leon nodded.
Although she wasn't able to clearly hear what he had just said, she heard the inflection in his voice, which gave her the impression that he was in a good mood.
'I must've misheard the sigh,' she thought. 'Look at that smile. He's so happy! It couldn't have possibly come from him.'
"Let's go home. Van, hold your brother's hand." Leon grabbed Van's hand and stood next to Michelle. "Let's go. And Michelle, you have to sit in the front passenger seat today, too." Her eyes widened, and her jaw slightly dropped. "What? Okay," she said hesitantly.
When they arrived at the parking lot, Leon opened the door of the front passenger seat and gestured for her to get in.
Meanwhile, Van opened the door to the back seat. "Don, get in."
"I'm your elder brother. I'll open the door for you." When it came to something that involved strength and not intellect, Don would compete for the status of "elder brother."
Noticing this, Leon couldn't help but tease him. "Don, why do you always want to be the elder brother?"
"Because I want to protect Van," Don answered with a serious face.
"You can also protect Van even though you are the younger one, you know," Michelle butted in with a smile.
"Oh, that's true." Don nodded but persisted with what he believed. "I still want to be the elder brother. Van, get in."
Van had grown used to Don's attempt to be the elder brother. He sat in first and reached for Don's schoolbag to let him in.
When Michelle got in and sat in the front passenger seat, Leon bent down, with one hand on the door, and looked at her. "You don't fasten your seat belt again. I'll do it for you then."
He started to reach for the buckle at the corner of the seat.
Given what had happened yesterday, Michelle was scared that her mouth wasn't strong enough to trap her beating heart. When it happened yesterday, she pressed her lips together so hard that they felt numb afterward. "I'll do it myself! I just want to close the door before I fasten it." She fumbled around her seat and grabbed the seat belt. Her hands were so sweaty, and her mind was somewhere else that she almost missed it. "Okay. From now on, whenever I'm the one driving, you'll have to take the front passenger seat. Okay?" Leon smiled and tapped her forehead.
Michelle concentrated on fastening her seat belt. "Okay."
"Good girl." He smiled dotingly and closed the door for her.
The engine revved to life as they slowly drove towards Stone Road.
With both her hands clutching the seat belt, Michelle turned her head and stared at Leon, who was focused on driving. Immediately, she looked away but would steal glances every chance she could get.
Even though she couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly, she knew something in him had changed.
He was still as gentle as before, but there was something different with how he expressed it.
For the next few days, Michelle would go to the kindergarten to pick up the children, and every time, she would meet Leon there. Even though they never planned to meet there every time, it was as though the reason why they went there was to see each other. Sometimes, she would overhear someone commenting that they looked like a family of four. Her smile would be so wide it would be enough to last the entire night.
It slowly started to become routine for Michelle. Leon would drive her home first, then he would drive the children back to Stone Road. However, today, it was the same routine but in reverse order.
The car stopped at the gate of the Shi family's house. Leon got out of the car while holding two children in both of his arms and walked in. While Michelle was waiting in the car, she felt her phone vibrate. Caroline was calling her.
Michelle looked at the time and saw that it was already six o'clock. She looked outside the window and noticed that it was already dark.
Recently, she had talked to Caroline and asked her for a leave from four o'clock to half past five every afternoon. Usually, the classes in the kindergarten would end at half past four, then Leon would drive her home first.
That time, she was supposed to be at work. She had promised Caroline that she would arrive at half past five and work overtime.
Since there was no foreseen traffic jam, Michelle thought she'd be able to make it. It wouldn't take even half an hour for her to arrive at her home. After Leon dropped her off, she was planning to take a taxi back to the studio.
However, she was already late by half an hour. Caroline was already calling her. When Michelle saw her name on her phone, she knew she was going to be scolded.
She took a deep breath and pressed the answer button. "Hello, Caroline. I..."
"Michelle, where are you?" Although Caroline's voice sounded calm, Michelle wasn't sure if it was a simmering type of calm, which would eventually break down into rage.
'I'll just need to admit my mistake first and apologize,' Michelle thought. "Caroline, I'm sorry. I'm still in the car. I might arrive there a little bit late," Michelle said.
"You don't have to go back to the studio. I sent you a location on WeChat. Go check it. There's something I need you to do here. Can you come in twenty minutes? Answer me on WeChat." Caroline ended the call. Michelle was used to it. After all, Caroline had always been a straightforward woman.
She checked her phone and clicked the location information that Caroline sent her. Judging from the distance, she estimated she could make it there in ten minutes.
After replying to Caroline's message, she looked into the iron gate of the Shi family's house but didn't see Leon come out. Since she had already been late earlier, she couldn't afford to be late again. So in a hurry, she got out of the car, took a taxi at the intersection, and left. She was in such a hurry that she forgot to tell Leon that she left.000000