The Best Way to Warm Up
“I won’t take it off. I just thought of another way to place the jacket over you without me taking it off,”
Toby smiled as he said that.
Meanwhile, Sonia was utterly confused. “What is it?”
Toby didn’t respond to her. Instead, he lowered his head and continued to unbutton his jacket.
Soon, he had unbuttoned it completely. Then, he grabbed the lapels of his jacket and held it wide open
before turning to Sonia. “Come over here and I’ll hold you in my arms.”
At that point, Sonia instantly understood what he meant by the other solution he had figured out.
He wanted her to get into his arms, then he would wrap his jacket around her. Undeniably, this was a
great solution and it was a win-win situation for both of them. I can’t believe he actually came up with
this solution!
She chuckled as she shook her head, but she didn’t hesitate nor did she show any shyness. She then
took a deep breath and then went forward to hug him. After all, she was already feeling so cold, so
being shy was the last thing on her mind.
Toby saw her grab hold of his waist and he tightened the jacket around the both of them.
His jacket was quite big, so he could even do up the buttons after he had secured it over the two of
them.
Just then, Sonia was totally covered from head to toe by the jacket, and even her head was covered up
too. Furthermore, she had the warmth from Toby’s body surrounding her, so she didn’t feel the cold
anymore. Her originally shivering body also slowly returned to normal.
Meanwhile, Toby sensed the change in the woman in his arms and he lowered his head to nuzzle her
hair with his chin. “Do you feel better now?”
“Yeah, I do.” Sonia’s muffled voice rang out from within his jacket.
Toby heaved a sigh of relief. “That’s great.”
On the other hand, Sonia leaned her forehead against his chest as she asked, “Is Tom not here yet?”
Toby glanced toward the roadside, and there was an evident frown on his face. “No, he’s not. He said
he would come right away when we walked out of the cinema, but he’s nowhere to be seen.”
Upon hearing that, Sonia heaved a sigh. “Perhaps he has been delayed by something urgent. Let’s
wait a little longer.”
Toby merely responded with a grunt and he hugged her tighter.
Just then, the two of them stood beneath the eaves of the entrance of the cinema and they waited for
quite some time before the familiar Maybach pulled up.
Shortly after that, the car door was opened from the inside, and Tom quickly ran toward them as he
held an umbrella, with another unopened one in his hand.
He hastily bowed and apologized to Toby as soon as he arrived. “I’m sorry for being late, President
Fuller.”
“What happened?” Toby looked at him and asked sternly.
Meanwhile, Tom readjusted his glasses before replying, “As I drove the car over here from the public
car park, there was an accident on that route. That’s why I was held up slightly.”
He hadn’t meant to be late.
As soon as Toby heard Tom’s explanation, the former no longer blamed the latter. Meanwhile, Toby
said, “Hand me the umbrella.”
“Of course.” Tom then handed over the umbrella he was holding on to.
Just then, he suddenly realized something and he asked with a surprised look. “President Fuller, why
are you by yourself? Where’s Miss Reed? Did she leave?”
However, Toby didn’t answer Tom’s question. He merely reached out to take the umbrella.
This action resulted in him letting go of one side of the jacket that he had been clutching, and the jacket
was flung wide open. Consequently, the woman in his arms was revealed.
At that point, Tom’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets and he was extremely shocked to see Sonia
in Toby’s arms. “There you are, Miss Reed!”
Truth was, Tom had assumed that she had left by herself and abandoned Toby here. Never in a million
years did Tom think that she was actually wrapped inside Toby’s jacket. Turned out she hadn’t left at all.
That was because Toby was tall and his clothes were quite big too. Furthermore, it was quite dim here
so initially, Tom didn’t even realize that there was someone wrapped in Toby’s arms.
Tom had merely felt that Toby’s action of clutching tightly onto his jacket seemed quite perplexing and it
didn’t seem to fare well with his image.
However, Tom didn’t think too much about the situation as he had merely assumed that Toby had done
that because of the cold.
So this is what actually happened! Indeed, the truth always seems to be beyond one’s expectations.
However, I must say, they really know how to have fun! Just then, Tom gave Toby and Sonia a thumbs
up virtually in his mind.
Meanwhile, Sonia realized that Tom had discovered her presence too, so she no longer felt comfortable
staying in Toby’s arms.
She relinquished her hold on Toby’s waist before turning around. With a flushed face, she smiled at
Tom, her expression abashed. “Hi, Tom.”
“Hello, Miss Reed,” Tom responded with a slight smile too.
Just then, Toby opened up the umbrella and subsequently, he lowered his head to speak gently to
Sonia, “Keep holding onto me. Let’s go.”
Sonia nodded her head and grabbed hold of his arm.
Shortly after that, Toby steered her out and they moved forward to walk into the rain.
The rain was quite heavy and the large raindrops plopped onto the umbrella. It felt like the raindrops
were about to penetrate the umbrella and the water constantly flowed off the sides of the umbrella.
Just then, Sonia felt that her shoes and the cuff of her trousers were soaked. Her feet were also stiff
from the cold.
However, that wasn’t her concern at the moment, as she knew that they had to get to the car as soon
as possible to avoid the situation from worsening.
And so, they ran the whole way and finally got into the car.
Toby closed the umbrella and discarded it by his feet before hastily reaching into the compartment for a
dry towel.
Their heads and their upper bodies were dry, but their feet were totally soaked.
As such, the two of them quickly tidied themselves up as they didn’t want their feet to be soaked for
much longer. Otherwise, they would surely get sick.
“Crank up the heater,” Toby instructed Tom.
And so, Tom followed Toby’s instructions and turned up the heater to a suitable temperature.
Before long, the whole car was warm and toasty, so Sonia took her time to tidy herself up.
After half an hour, the car finally arrived at Bayside Residence.
Tom drove the car into the parking lot. After he had parked the car, Sonia attempted to open the door.
However, as soon as she placed a hand on the handle, she suddenly realized something, so she
turned around to look at the man by her side. “It’s after midnight now and the rain seems to be heavier
than ever. It’s much heavier than when we came out of the cinema, and it’s even become a
thunderstorm. There’s quite a strong wind too. How about you stay the night? It’s too dangerous being
on the road.”
Originally, they would be able to arrive back from the outskirts of town in one hour. However, due to the
increasingly heavy rain, mist, and the strong, howling wind, Tom reduced the speed of the car quite
significantly and drove carefully.
Even so, there were quite a few instances where Tom was not able to see the way clearly, and he
nearly ran into the other cars.
As such, Sonia didn’t feel at ease letting him leave right now. What if there’s an accident along the
way?
Meanwhile, Toby’s lips curved into a smile upon hearing Sonia’s suggestion for him to stay the night.
Without thinking twice, he agreed, “Sure, I’ll stay.”
His reply was so swift that Sonia started to suspect that perhaps he had been waiting for her to suggest
that.
However, she didn’t bother to delve deeper. She turned to speak to Tom, who had driven them back.
“Tom, you should stay too. It’s too dangerous. I’m quite close to the elderly woman who lives
downstairs, so I can ask her to let you stay the night at her place.”
“Uh… Are you sure that’s fine?” Tom glanced at Toby hesitantly.
Frankly, Tom was reluctant to leave too because of the dangerous conditions outside. He had driven
back very carefully and he had been very mindful to drive safely. Throughout the journey, he paid
utmost attention as he drove but even so, he had nearly gotten into an accident because of the poor
visibility.
Therefore, if he left now, it was highly probable that he would get into an accident. However, the exact
decision on whether he was allowed to stay back or not depended on his boss.
Fortunately for Tom, Toby wasn’t a mean boss and the latter also realized that it was too dangerous out
there, so he agreed for the former to stay back.
In all honesty, Toby didn’t care about anything else other than the fact that Tom wasn’t allowed to stay
the night at Sonia’s apartment.
“Thank you, President Fuller.” Tom was full of gratitude as soon as he heard Toby agree for him to stay
the night.
Shortly after that, Tom turned to look at Sonia. “Thank you so much, Miss Reed. I’m sorry to bother
you.”
“It’s not a big deal. The most important thing is your safety.” Sonia waved him off and got out of the car.
The elderly woman who lived below usually stayed by herself and she had some spare rooms. Her
house was usually devoid of human warmth so naturally, she was very happy to have someone to talk
to. As such, she agreed happily.
And so, Tom finally had a shelter for the night sorted. Meanwhile, Sonia was also at ease as she led
Toby back to her apartment upstairs.
As soon as they walked in, Toby opened the shoe cupboard to take out a pair of bedroom slippers, his
actions natural. He didn’t behave like last time and he didn’t even bother to wait for Sonia, who was the
owner of the house, to serve him. From his behavior, it was quite evident that he no longer regarded
himself as an outsider.
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