On the road, Sharon looked at Alex with a smile, but without saying a word. She seemed to be finding something amusing, and that finally prompted Alex to turn to her:
"If you have something to say, say it."
"It seems Lance was right."
Alex raised an eyebrow, because Lance was a chatterbox, at least, he could be, and that meant he said many things. Hence, he voiced his confusion, a spark of curiosity flickering in his tone:
"About what?"
"About you being soft deep inside. I didn't expect you would come to pick me up."
Not after she had seen how ruthless and indifferent he could be in the short time she had known him. That brought back to her mind the accident he had at the end of the last week, his lack of hesitation when he put himself between death and the little girl running through the intersection.
Her smile deepened, and her eyes softened.
Alex looked at her, an eyebrow raised, and his gaze peculiar, but he said nothing. Only the curve at the corner of his lips grew with amusement, something the blond missed.
Seeing that he was not inclined to continue the subject, she dropped it, and brought up something she had noticed earlier in the day:
"Marten Lenner and Sigurd Lenner, both directors of the board, they are your uncles, aren't they?"
Alex glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, then nodded:
"Hm. Second and third."
The flat answer did not bother Sharon. She went on to voice her true confusion:
"But they don't seem to like you!"
The statement was tinged with the blonde's inability to understand what, for her, was an incongruity.
"Pfft…"
Alex snorted, the laughter he tried to suppress fighting against the restraints. His subtle smile became obvious, filled with the amusement he let out now that he could not keep it inside anymore.
He glance to the side at Sharon, and complimented:
"I'm surprised you didn't say only my stiff-faced second uncle doesn't like me."
Sharon looked at him, trying to see beyond his wide smile. But she failed to see the truth, to find out whether the smile full of amusement was only a façade, so she turned back to look in front before she explained:
"Your third uncle's smile, it had something inside that did not sit well with me. It seemed sincere, but didn't seem aimed at showing his affection for you, or even his joy at your presence. So I can't tell what he is thinking, nor whether he likes you."
Alex glanced at Sharon, a whole new level of appreciation inside his eyes, maybe even a bit of respect. He looked down at her chest, to check whether it had diminished in size, before he shook his head with amusement coloring his face, and his smile even more, as he returned to looking at the road.
"Not bad. You are less useless than I thought. You might just manage to survive in Arland Group."
Sharon whipped her head to the side, her blue eyes looking at Alex in shock. Her reaction made his smile deepened, the amusement it was carrying thickening while bringing out a sense of mockery as he replied in a casual tone:
"What? Thought a single test was all it took to climb up to where you are now? Think about how many among the billions living in the world are above you on the totem pole with such a position, then think again about the power you are now able to wield. After that, you can consider the value of your position."
Sharon stilled. Arland Group, an international giant, one so heavy that a stomp of its foot could shake not just the economy around the world, but also politics, and society itself, along with many other domains one step behind those in importance.
*Ba-Dum*
That was the sound of her heart. It shook Sharon as it skipped a beat and sent tremors throughout her body. When her unfocused gaze locked back onto Alex once again, she had a different look in her eyes. She was seeing him differently.
Not to mention his reluctance to take the seat with so much power, just the fact that he had now taken it, at such a young age, and with casual confidence, made him totally different in her eyes. The image she had of him as a playboy propped up by his background only finished crumbling in her mind. Only, she didn't know yet how to build another image of him. The fog around him suddenly thickened so much it was fearsome. It thickened to the point where she found herself beyond even square one in her understanding of him.
Alex glanced at her with a casual smile:
"You are still on probation, and you will be for a good while to come. Work hard."
The words made the blonde blink back to awareness. She gave Alex one last look, then turned to the scenery outside. Silence descended in the car. In that atmosphere disconnected with the restless outside, the trip continued. However, it didn't take them to the building where Alex's apartment was.
He took a different path as he got closer, and stopped before a supermarket. Sharon looked at him in confusion, but followed suit when he stepped out. His assured steps after he locked the car told her that the stop had been planned.
She blinked in surprise. She recalled the empty fridge back home, just… Looking at Alex in his high-end suit and shoes, she couldn't reconcile her new mysterious and imposing image of him with him going to the supermarket for the groceries himself.
She breathed, and hurried to catch up to him as he stepped inside. She found him at the side pulling out a trolley, which he pushed toward her as soon as she came to his side. She looked down in surprise, then back at him.
It was not like she could not help push the cart, but his gesture had been too smooth, too deliberate. Under her gaze, he didn't pause. He turned and walk further in while dropping a single sentence behind:
"This is why I went through the trouble of picking you up. Now, let's go."
Or maybe two sentences, the second one coming as if he had expected Sharon to freeze up behind him, just like she had.
She looked at his back, then down at the trolley in her hands, before she exhaled all the air in her chest after a while. It was only then that she managed to keep her mind calm, and follow behind him, her state zen-like, unbothered by the frustrations of the worlds, or the ones caused by a certain man.