To Give And Take

CHAPTER 9

"Mr Kingston is very ponctual?"

Lucy spoke with a gentle smile as soon as she saw his black SUV that drove front of her. She had just walked out of the residence when the black conspiciouse SUV drove right in front of her, it was unclear for how long it had been here, she didn't believe it had just arrived in time.

Austin peered down at his Patek Phillipe watch and raised his head to respond calmly.

"Likewise." Short but accurate, neither arrogant nor overbearing with that ussual cool and gentlemanly demeanor. Lucy had never doubted his gentlemanly charisma so she wasn't surprised at his early and accurate arrival, it was exactly 7:00.

"Shall we set off?", Austin said without missing a single bit of her expression. The girl was dressed in a white jean with a black thin belt paired with a white cut-out shoulder top with a pair of blue and white wedge sneakers. On her right arm hung a white sling back, while her right hand held unto an apple milk drink that she had probably been sipping through a straw.

Her golden hair was styled into a water fall curled, falling down like waves, a butterfly claw clip held it from behind, while a few slightly short strands lay swiftly, slightly touching her smooth face, her make up free face didn't cause her snow white face to look dull but gave off a glowing beauty that was almost blinding. Coupled with her slender figure, she looked petite and fragile, despite it she didn't give off a helpless and weak aura.

"Alright."

Lucy immediately opened the door to the passenger sit and sat next to Austin, she didn't miss to realise that Lambert wasn't the one driving today. She knew Lambert's position in Austin's team and it definitely wasn't that of a chauffeur, personal assistant Lambert was worth morethan that.

"How long will everything take to be completed?"

Lucy asked as soon as she fastened her seat belt, this question had been in her mind since last night, but she decided against asking over the phone. It was always better to have a face to face chat with Austin Kingston. Moreover, for such a trivial matter, calling over wouldn't cause her much, but it might make her look bothersome.

"Busy ?" Austin didn't start the car engine but turned to respond with a seriouse expression. The moment he turned arround, the distance between them was reduced to a few centimeters, Lucy caught whiff of his body fragrance. It was the fragrance of forest after rain, mild and comfortable, he smelled extremely well without the slightest bit of perfume.

"No, just want to be informed."

Lucy replied without showing any expression, she didn't seem to be embarassed by the sudden short distance between them.

Austin could inhale the natural and refreshing fragrance from her body, it was thesame apple milk fragrance, but he was sure it wasn't because of the apple milk juice in her hand. Without any expression on his face, he turned away from her and prepared to start the car.

"It would take us half an hour to reach our destination, I presume we would not be spending morethan twenty twenty five minutes to get everything settled there."

His words were fluent, a explaining everything to her, but his hands were busy at thesame time, driving out of the neighbourhood with care, while Lucy listened attentively before responding.

"Then would we be visiting the first beneficiary after that"

She had read the names of the people, but she had no idea who they were, neither had Jane talked about them.

"You wouldn't mind spending more time with me, Miss Grey ?"

When she heard his cassual question, Lucy didn't think too much about it, if other girls had a bubble thoughts of a date, she would have a profound understanding considering the situation itself.

"Is the first beneficiary tough?"

"No, we might have to stay over for a night?" Lucy gasped at his words, she didn't think that she'll be making a long trip to visit the first beneficiary, she hadn't thought of it, neither had she made preparations.

"That's not called spending the whole day with you, Mr Kingston, that's spending morethan twenty hours with you. On this case, it's certain I might be spending the night with you s well."

Austin wasn't surprised at her respond, but he was curiouse about her calm expression, she still had that same cold aura, but she gave off a warm feeling. He could feel that she was still rather formal with him, yet she still had that gentleness when she spoke, it could really cause others to misundertand.

"Miss Grey is really straightforward."

"Unlike you"

When he heard her respond, Austin's lips couldn't help but curl into a smile, the smile that he had been holding back couldn't be held anymore. He had known from the first day he had met her that she was diffferent from other girls, but the more time he spent with her, the more he couldn't control his emotions.

Lucy was stunned by the smile on Austin's lips, it was a new experience to her, an experience that she very much appreciated. She had always heard a smile could change one's view of a person and add more charm to a person.

She had seen many smiles, but Austin Kingston's smile was one of those smile that was enchanting and attractive to the point of distraction. He was a beauty who could attract a lot of attention, with an advantage of his face he would definitely have any woman willing to crawl on his bed and become a w***e.

Thankfully he wasn't the type to take advantage of his merits, if not she wouldn't even want to imagine how many women he would've been led to sin.

"Miss Grey seems to de dissatisfied with me."

Austin responded, giving Lucy a quick glance before concentrating on the raod ahead of them. All through he had a black bleutooth ear piece in his ear, while controlling the steering wheel with one hand, his expression remained seriouse and focus.

This little action of his brought another cool charm to his gentlemanly charisma, but Lucy didn't let this beautiful pictures of his deviate her focus.

"To say I'm dissatisfied with you will be an understatement and an unfair treatment of inequality towards your personna."

Austin Kingston understood the meaning behind her words, Lucy had always been a straightforward person, he knew it all allong. He actually liked her straightforward habit, he had always hated others hypocritcal personality. Lucy Grey was straightforward with a conservative personality, he didn't hate this kind of traits, but loved it the most.

"Lucy, if we're going to talk about this trait of mine that you hate, then we might as well talk about your formal address towards me."

Surprised by his friendly address, Lucy raised her head to look at the man who despite haven spoken seriously still had all his focus on the road. If she didn't know best, she might have thought he wasn't the person who had spoken just now.

"You don't like it?" Lucy asked seriously with an innocent expression on her face, she had not thought that her formal address towards him was a form of respect towards him due to their age difference. She had never thought that he would not like it.

"A formal address is normal between two unfamiliar individuals, it's a kind of respect." She said it seriously without any change of expression, but it was that same expression that Austin didn't want to see. He didn't want to watch her being indifferent towards anything, not even teasing him could add any allure or waver the calmness in her eyes.

She was a challenge that he gladly took with delight.

"Do I look so old to you?"

Lucy was rendered speechless, it wasn't her intention to make him feel old, besides she really didn't think he was old. If every thirty seven year old man had a youthful face like that of Austin Kingston, then men in their twenties would be ashamed to stand with him.

"Mr Kingston seems to be in his middle twenties, I wouldn't be sure about your age if Jane hadn't told me before." She said it with sincerity, "Besides you're at your prime age, men become inured to a woman's dismissal, which ironically makes them more attractive because of an added level of confidence, that leads to better dialogue and approachability. at your age, men are considered more attractive, not old."

In other words she didn't think he was old, Austin was satisfied with this answer. He had never cared about his age, neither what others thought of him, but at this moment he realised that he wasn't that indifferent towards it.

"Mr Kingston, being formal is a form of respect ?"

Austin nodded at her respond, he agreed that formalities are a sort of basic etiquette.

"It's also considered a distant address." Austin added seriousely, his focus hadn't change, he was still driving steadily towards his destination. Despite it, he could still engage in a seriouse conversation with Lucy.

"Then, how close do you want me to be towards you?"

Lucy replied seriously, causing Austin to be once again speechless. He had clearly kicked the ball to her side, but for some reasons she was able to reverse the situation.

"What do you think ?"

That was all he could say, creating a sudden silence in the atmosphere. Lucy didn't know how to respond, so she chose to keep quiet. That was what Austin saw, but he didn't force her to speak, while he continued to drive towards their destination.

It was as Austin had earlier said, it took them thirty minutes to finally reach their destination, there was no traffic jam on the way, so Lucy estimated it might have taken them at most forty minutes to reach their destination if they been one.

Upon their arrival, Austin packed the car in the under ground parking lot and led Lucy towards the elevator. She didn't know this place, so she let Austin lead her, while she followed Austin obediently. She had been in Province C for morethan two decades, but she had never been to this area of the big lively city.

She knew that Austin didn't grow up in Province C, however he was able to drive them here without the use of his GPS.

"Have you been here before?"

Austin raised his brows at her sudden change of adress, he could tell that she was still conflicted, but he didn't have the intention of commenting on it.

"Technically, not."

He replied calmly before pressing a number on the buttons of the elevator and only walked in after her.

"Then how did you know the direction, I didn't see you using the GPS."

He had driven smoothly with a relaxed expression, which gave others the impression that he had already been there so he had already memorised the raod.

"Does memorising the map count?"

Lucy tilted her head and looked at Austin who was towering her, he was just five or six centimeters away from her, which made their difference in height very obviouse. She had always been very proud of her height, because she was taller than her peers, she was even taller than most men or slightly taller. However, in front of a giant like Austin Kingston she could only raise her head to face him.

"You memorised the entire map and could trace your destination relying on your memories."

"You don't believe me ?" Austin looked down at her.

She believed him, she even confirmed Jane's fact about her brother, there was really no comparism when it came to Austin Kingston. She felt that Austin Kingston could do a lot of things, morethan just what Jane had revealed.

"Go ahead." Austin said with an almost inaudible voice, pressing his black bleutooth ear piece with his long slender.

"Are you a versatile man ?"

Once again her form of address didn't change, Austin didn't correct her either, he wanted to see how long she would continue at this pace. He looking forward to the future even more, he wanted to witness everything with relish.

Austin leaned towards Lucy, causing her body to stiffen for a second, but she didn't move either. For the first time, Austin had watched the waver in her eyes, which pleased him a lot. They were only few centimeters apart, but Lucy didn't move, while Austin simply pressed on the elevator button behind her. He suddenly received a call from Lambert reporting the real number to him so he had to suddenly change it. Lucy was standing right in front of the elevator's button, so he had to lean towards her to reach it.

After correcting the mistake, Austin leaned back, maintaining a considerable social distance between them, with his left hand resting in the pocket of his pant.

"Are you interested in the other skills that I have?"

She was very interested, she wanted to know what else he could do apart from the other skills Jane had named. She was ready to bet that Austin Kingston had other identities that even his family wasn't aware of. Uncovering those identities were exciting and thrilling to Lucy who had an adventerouse heart with a worldview of mysteries.

"Alright."

Austin agreed and he could clearly see the light in Lucy's eyes the moment he opened his mouth to reply. She was cute, just like a child that had been presented a box of candies. He couldn't help his thoughts of wanting to tease the little girl.

"Then I'll let you discover it slowly."

Lucy looked at him with a confused expression, but before she could say a word, the door of the elevator opened. She could only quietly follow Austin behind with pouted lips, but the dissapointment on her expression was really cute to Austin who had been paying attention to her.

In a corner where Lucy couldn't see, Austin's lips had curled into a dazzling smile, it was even more dazzling than the smile she had witnessed not long. If his first smile could cause others to become sinners, then this smile could cause others to willingly fall into hell. But it was unfortunate that Lucy had missed that smile, she quietly strode behind Austin.

They came accross the secretary, Austin exchanged a few words with him before he finally stood up to accompany them after making a short phone call.

"I'll take you to the attorney's office."

Lucy was stunned, she didn't think that everything would be so easy, she thought they might have to wait on the line. However, thinking about Austin's connections, she didn't look surprised any more.

"Attorney Claude is waiting for you, please."

He gestured at them, taking a step back after knocking at the door. Austin and Lucy only walked in after receiving a confirmation from the baritone voice behind the door.

Lucy shivered the moment she walked in the office, she didn't know how Mr Claude could possibly stay in a frozen room. However, no matter how cold she was, she still maintained a calm composure.

The man sitting behind the desk seemed to be in his thirties, he had mid night dark hair that were neatly combed behind, a pair of gold rimed glasses, with a scholar aura he was elegant and composed. He didn't have a fair skin, but slightly tanned skin texture that gave him a hardworking impression. She had always thought that people like him would have snow white skin from staying all day in an air conditioned room.

"Please have a sit." He added with an even clearer and firm voice, while his eyes stayed glued on the computer screen. His hand kept typing on the keyboard without any intention of stopping, but Lucy had the feeling that each key caused the temperature to drop by a few more degrees.

The temperature in summer is ussually very hot, so she had dressed very little today, consequently her body was freezing from the cold office.

"Mr Claude, would you mind turning off the air conditioner for a while." Austin's clear gentle voice broke the silence in the cold icy office, causing Claude who had been typing to pause and finally lift his head to look at Austin. Lucy also snapped back to look at Austin Kingston who still had a calm and indifferent expression on his face. His request gave off a strong and firm tone, more like a request with no multiple choice answer.

Mr Claude was startled for a few seconds, before he finally regained his sense and replied after a cough to hide his embarassment.

"Sorry Mr Kingston, it's my fault." Without any further comment, Claude picked up the remote control and hurriedly turned off the air conditioner that was at least 25.5 degree celcius. Looking at the degrees dropping after Mr Claude's intervention, Lucy gasped in surprise. She was still calm and composed with her ussual coldness, but the surprise in her eyes were obviouse.

"Sorry for just now, my constitution is quite unique."

Mr Claude commented without stopping to look at Austin nor Lucy, he still busy adjusting the AC.

Lucy admitted that he really had a weird constitution, not everyone could sit calmly in an air conditioned office of 25.5 degree celcius.

"It's fine, but if I'm permitted to speak up, I'll advice Mr Claude to use a standard celcius of 15.5 degree celcius."

Her words were were gentle, coupled with her beautiful voice, Mr Claude who hadn't looked at their direction was suddenly attracted to the direction of this angelic voice.

He was stunned at first sight, the girl in front of him was beautiful, just like an immortal that descended the mortal world. Long eye lashes settled on her large almond eyes. Deep baby blue eyes that made one addicted and unable to extricate themselves from it. She had a snow white skin, with almost no visible pores, her skin looked so soft, just like a cotton candy.

He had seen a fair share of beautiful women and none had impressed him like her, he had almost thought that women were nothing more than boobs without brains and merely flower vases. But the girl in front of him gave him a diffferent feeling, she gave off a strong scholarly aura, with a firm and decisive.

Before Mr. Claude could continue to admire the beauty in front of him, a firm snap of a finger had brought him back from his revery. He came back to his senses, closed his fingers into a fist, coughing to relieve his embarassment. If it hadn't been for Austin's sudden reminder, he might have sank in Lucy's beauty.

"If I remember correctly, Mr Claude has a flight with 'his wife' in less than an hour." Austin reminded with a cold voice, his words firmly emphasized the word 'wife' as reminding Mr Claude that he was married. And thesame time reminding him that time was tight.

There was nothing wrong with his sentence, but Mr Claude felt an immense pressure that pressed on his chest. The aura that Austin Kingston gave off was so terrifying that he didn't dare slack off.

"Sorry Mr Kingston, I'll process everything and quickly give you and Miss Grey full rights to execute Miss Jane Kingston's will to their beneficiaries."

Without further delay, Mr Claude was done with everything, Lucy had no idea what he was doing but she knew it had everything with Jane's will and her executor. Looking at the seriouse expression on Mr. Claude's face, Lucy could tell that he was meticulouse and efficient in his work. As for the previouse scenario of Mr Claude openly sizing her up, she was used to it, it was ok as long as his gaze wasn't lecherouse and n***d with ill intentions. But it didn't mean she wouldn't be uncomfortable under such gazes, so she was thankful that Austin intervened.

"Thank you for waiting."

He favoured Lucy with a slightly quick glance and then addressed his comments to them while looking at Austin. Lucy found it rather funny, because Mr Claude seems to be avoiding a glance at her.

She knew that she wasn't that scary, but she appreciated Mr Claude's professionalism and his act of not being distracted by a beauty, restrained and respectful.

"Mrs Jane Kingston should be your sister, Mr Austin Kingston."

"Exactly !" Austin replied sincerely that same calm and collected countenance that seem to say nothing and no one could waver his calm demeanor.

"Did you know that she had an inherritance of morethan a billion dollar of which the sources are still unknown ?" Mr Claude said with bluntly but the concerned person remained collected as if Mr Claude's blunt comment had not been registered, but his respond said the contrary.

"I'm aware." The sentence was short without any further intentions of explaining, Lucy wasn't surprised. She had always known that Austin was a man of few words, if he could be given an opportunity to stay quiet the whole day, she believed he wouldn't hesitate.

"Mr Kingston, you should know that if it hadn't been for her good relations and resources, the process of executorship would have been more complicated."

Austin had an understanding expression, but Lucy didn't understand what they were talking about, she had known that Jane's inherritance was sky high, but she didn't think that it was impossible for her to be in possession of the huge sum due to her family background."

"There's no need to be worried about that, I believe that my sister had principles, she wouldn't do anything illegal."

Mr Claude took a deep breath and leaned on the desk, his hands were clasped as he looked seriously at Austin with yet a tired and helpless expression.

"Then, Vincent must have have told you the narcotic division has gotten involved in this."

Lucy frowned at Mr Claude's words and looked at Austin for more explanation, but he still had that calm and cool expression with a collected calmness that couldn't be explained by words.

She didn't understand, but she decided against interrupting their conversation, she wasn't in a hurry. She wasn't sure that Austin knew about it, because he was too calm for someone who had just heard that his sister might be involved in d**g dealing. However, the moment Austin opened his lips to speak, her eyes couldn't maintain it's calm.

"I'm aware."

Mr Claude looked at Austin with a narrowed gaze, but seeing that his expression didn't change but remained firm, with a clear perfection he lowered his gaze and sighed.

"Alright."