Chapter 132: Chapter 132: Maintenance Check

The smooth roar of the engine filled the car as Alexander pulled out of the villa’s driveway leaving the iron gates to slide shut automatically behind him.

He glanced at the digital clock on the dashboard.

It was early the morning sun just starting to cut through the gray horizon.

Aria was still inside likely finishing her makeup and trying to compose herself for her high-stakes meeting completely filled with him.

Alexander drove with one hand casually on the wheel his mind quickly shifting gears.

The intense heavy atmosphere of the bedroom vanished replaced by his usual cold calculated detachment.

"I skipped the University yesterday" muttered Alexander to himself, his eyes narrowing as he watched the traffic ahead

"And then there’s Serena" murmured Alexander "Shit, I’m getting paid to keep that girl happy, and I completely went off the grid for twenty-four hours"

He pulled up to a red light the car coming to a smooth halt.

Resting his elbow on the door he pulled out his phone and brought up Serena’s chat.

"Hey" typed Alexander "Sorry I vanished yesterday, got caught up in some family business outside the city, you alive?"

The response was almost instantaneous the typing bubble popping up the second the message delivered.

"Oh, look who decided to remember I exist 🙄" read the message from Serena.

"I was literally waiting for you at the cafe after class yesterday" read the next message "You didn’t even check your phone"

Alexander let out a low amused grunt his thumbs moving rapidly across the screen as the countdown for the traffic light ticked down.

"My bad, seriously" typed Alexander "It was completely unexpected and I didn’t have a charger on me, did you miss me that much?"

"In your dreams, asshole" read the response "I just hate wasting my time"

The light turned green.

Alexander tossed the phone onto the passenger seat accelerating smoothly as he navigated through the morning commute.

He let her stew for a few blocks knowing exactly how to handle her specific brand of irritation.

Serena wasn’t like Aria; she didn’t need to be broken with heavy degrading psychological games.

She just needed attention the illusion that she was important enough to distort his schedule.

At the next major intersection the traffic crawled to a stop again.

He picked up the device.

"I’ll make it up to you today" typed Alexander "I’m actually on my way to the University right now"

"Tell me what you want for breakfast and I’ll bring it straight to your building" typed Alexander "Consider it a peace offering"

There was a longer pause this time.

Serena was clearly trying to maintain her pride but the anger was already draining out of her text.

"I already ate" read the text.

"...But I wouldn’t mind an iced caramel macchiato" read the next one "With extra caramel"

"And you’re buying me lunch too" read the final message "That’s the price for ignoring my texts for a whole day"

Alexander smiled a small knowing smirk touching his lips as he put the car back into drive.

"Deal" typed Alexander "See you in twenty minutes, don’t be late"

"I’m never late" read the response "Just don’t forget the coffee ☕✨"

He locked the screen and tossed it back down.

The maintenance check was complete.

Serena was back on the hook her brief annoyance completely wiped out by a simple digital gesture and the promise of a coffee.

It was business as usual a slow easy rhythm compared to the storm he had just left behind at the villa.

Alexander adjusted his route shifting lanes to head toward the local high school instead of his own campus.

Serena was still finishing her senior year while he was already navigating university life.

The deviation would only add ten minutes to his drive a small price to pay to keep his client’s daughter completely satisfied.

He pulled into the crowded street just a block away from the high school entrance the sidewalk packed with teenagers in uniforms carrying backpacks.

He parked by the curb grabbed the iced caramel macchiato he had picked up from a drive-thru along the way and stepped out into the morning air.

It didn’t take long to spot her.

Serena was standing near the side gate leaning against the brick wall while pretending to look at her phone though her eyes kept darting toward the street.

"Your peace offering" said Alexander, stepping up to her and holding out the plastic cup

Serena snapped her head up her eyes lighting up for a brief second before she quickly forced a practiced annoyed pout onto her face.

She snatched the coffee from his hand.

"About time" said Serena "I was about to go inside"

"The traffic was a mess" stated Alexander smoothly, leaning his back against the wall next to her and crossing his arms

He looked down at her uniform a contrast to the mature raw setting he had been in just an hour ago.

"You look tired" said Alexander "Did you actually stay up doing that library research, or were you just drama-posting about me?"

"I was working, asshole" said Serena, taking a long sip of the sweet drink her irritation completely evaporating under the sugar rush

She looked up at him her gaze scanning his casual clothes.

"Must be nice being in college" said Serena "You get to just roll out of bed and drive over whenever you want, no strict schedules"

"It has its perks" murmured Alexander, a small knowing smirk touching his lips as he remembered exactly what he had been doing while she was studying "But I still have a lecture in thirty minutes, so I can’t stay long, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to report me for bad service"

"Oh, please, Your customer service was terrible yesterday" said Serena, a small laugh escaping her as she swirled the ice in her cup "But the coffee helps, you’re lucky you’re cute, Alex"

"I know" stated Alexander, completely unbothered by her teasing

He tapped the top of her backpack gently.

"Go to class" said Alexander "I’ll pick you up right here for lunch when your bell rings"

"Fine, don’t dare vanish again" said Serena, turning toward the gate with a much brighter expression her mood completely fixed 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Alexander walked back to his car sliding into the driver’s seat and starting the engine.

With Serena settled for the morning he pulled back into the traffic changing his destination to the university campus to finally start his own day.