Leaving the quiet air conditioned compound, she was greeted with the usual congested streets of the city. A warm breeze, probably infested with car exhaust fumes, blew by, messing her hair up a little. Lifting her hand and adjusting the watch on her wrist so that she could get a clearer view of the time, she knew she was terribly late. She also knew that she wouldn't forgive her for being late as well. Her best friend had hated the word 'late' more than anything else in the world, no matter what reason you have – even traffic jams as bad as this one aren't considered as a valid reason. "You should have known." She would snap at her with a tone so painfully sharp. She clicked her heels against the concrete hard pavement, honey brown eyes scanning the sea of cars that edged along the black tar street ever so slowly for a free taxi, to no avail.

Just then, to her utmost horror, her phone rang, the ringtone more dreadful than the terrible harmony of the cars honking at one another. Looking at the caller ID on the display, she heaved a long sigh of relief to know that it wasn't her best friend who was calling.

"Nii-chan, I'm in huge trouble," she whined at her brother over the phone before he could say a thing.

Her brother always had a soft spot for her, she knew. She kept her fingers crossed, hoping he would come to her rescue somehow.

"Don't ask me to come to your rescue, my dear sister, because the jam is terrible on my side as well."

"But, Hotaru's going to kill me if I don't reach on time!" she covered her mouth as she attempted to scream into the phone as loud as she could without having to embarrass herself.

Upon hearing her brother giggle on the other side, she pouted. Being late on a date with Hotaru was no funny matter, heck, it was literally a death wish.

"I'll be there soon enough, anyway, I'm near where you are. I'll be there in around ten to fifteen minutes. Oh, and you owe me a meal,"

Before she could even protest, he hung up on her. She let out yet another long sigh. The fact that Hotaru hasn't called calmed her nerves down since it probably meant that she was stuck in the jam as well. She winced as another passer by accidentally knocked into her shoulder.

Minutes ticked by and her urge to yank her hair out grew stronger. The weather was insufferable and heat was practically radiating off the ground. Just when she was about to reach for her phone to pester her brother, a black BMW pulled up right in front of her. Thanking god, she stormed right to the car door and hopped in, without bothering to greet the driver at all.

The car took off, cutting through a lane before stopping due to the traffic jam.

"What took you so long? You said you were just round the corner," she asked as she rummaged through her messy bag to find that make up pouch she knew was somewhere in there.

"And who the hell are you?"