Chapter 16: One after another.
Kate's POV:
Kate gave the beautiful car one last lingering glance before turning away and walking on, only making it a few meters before she heard Humphrey speak up from behind her. "Er Kate? Where are you going?" He said as she turned back to see him standing by the car she had been admiring only moments before, putting his bags in the now open trunk. She felt her jaw drop in surprise as she stood frozen for a moment before walking back over to him, standing on her tip toes to even their heights a little more as she put on a serious expression.
"You're. Telling. Me. That this," She spoke haltingly for extra emphasis as she paused and gestured to the car before them. Humphrey leaned back an inch or so, looking a little nervous about how close she was. Or maybe it was due to her intensity all of a sudden. "Is your car?" She finished in the same manner, staring at him as though daring him to say that it was. He laughed a little as he took her sports bag from her and put it in the trunk, nodding at her question.
"Well sure. I mean I drove it here this morning." He replied, his tone and manner becoming serious to match hers for a moment. Kate held her pose for a moment before dropping back down, stepping away a little and shaking her head as she placed her backpack in the trunk with the others.
"How?" She asked him in a disbelieving tone as he closed the trunk and walked around to the driver's door and she mirrored him on the passenger's side. 'The hits just keep on coming with this guy...' Kate thought to herself as Humphrey grinned as they got in and buckled up. The interior of the car was just as immaculate as the outside and Kate couldn't help but smile as she looked around, admiring it. It was clean enough to be in a showroom despite its age and Kate felt as though she should've washed herself before getting in; she suspected it must've been worth a small fortune. Her dad had always had nice cars, but they were always the latest models, whereas this was a totally different experience.
"I hit an old lady in the back of the head with a plank outside the mall and nicked it." Humphrey said, still grinning as she turned the key and the Mustang roared to life. Kate's smile widened as he did so, hearing the car that sounded as good as it looked if that was even possible.
"Seriously though it's something of a family heirloom." Humphrey explained as he put it in gear and slowly pulled out and drove off. "My grandfather worked in the Ford factory back in 1970 and he built it new back then with my dad, by hand as much as possible. When he passed away my dad took ownership, the idea of selling it was unthinkable." As he spoke of the car's past Kate interrupted every so often with navigational directions but otherwise listened in silence, nodding occasionally.
"I used to love working on it with him every weekend before..." Humphrey's voice trailed off she looked across to see he had a pained expression. She could see that he clearly had a sad and complicated past but she didn't want to press him for details. 'Really we've only just met, I can't ask about stuff like that. Maybe when I know him better.' She thought to herself as they pulled into the housing estate where she lived.
Humphrey's POV:
I had to stop talking since I didn't trust myself not to burst into tears which wouldn't do while I was driving, not to mention I couldn't burden Kate like that; we'd only just met after all. I normally wouldn't have reacted so much but I'd been caught up in memories and had stumbled upon the incident a little suddenly, leaving me unprepared. There's no way Kate could've missed the sudden stop but she didn't say anything which I was grateful for. Most people were totally tactless about it and would've pressed for details, usually unintentionally but still, I appreciated that she didn't.
We drove in silence for a bit as I turned into the estate where Kate said she lived, noticing the sign that read 'Jasper Heights' as we entered. I'd heard from Charlie that this was undoubtedly the centre of wealth west of Jasper City, perhaps even the whole city, and it clearly showed. Every house we passed was two stories high or more, with large plots of land and meticulously kept gardens. Each driveway was filled with expensive looking cars, a mixture of luxury SUV's and sedans as well as the occasional super car.
"So where abouts is your place?" I spoke up as we slowly made our way down the main street. Kate seemed a little relieved that I was speaking again as the tension faded and she smiled, gesturing a bit as she instructed me.
"Turn left at the end of this road and then it's at the end of the second right." She explained and I realised that would place her house at the very back of the estate. The houses were only getting grander as we got deeper and I was starting to get really curious as to what kind of house she lived in. I followed her instructions and soon we reached a large wrought iron gate, barring us entry from a property that was surrounded by a high beige wall. I stopped the car in front of the gate and Kate stuck her head out the window, smiling and waving at the camera next to the gate. A few seconds later the gate opened and I drove slowly along the long gravel driveway as Kate pulled her head back into the car.
"This is your house?" I asked incredulously. It was my turn to stare in disbelief as I took it all in. The driveway was made of well kept gravel, lined by evenly spaced trees on either side. Most of the area within the walled off property was grassed but dotted with gardens bordered by low hedges, each filled with all varieties of flowers and trees in seemingly every colour imaginable. Every part of the grounds was beautiful and meticulously well-kept and as we reached the end of the long driveway I could see that they continued on beyond the house. A small loop ended the driveway in front of the house with a ten meter high water feature in the middle of it. If the grounds were beautiful then the house itself was breathtaking and calling it a mansion felt like an understatement. It was two stories high and very wide, styled in a manner somewhere between Buckingham Palace and the White House. The house itself was raised slightly, a few steps leading up to the grand front entrance. There was a triple garage off to the left, another gravel road branching off from the loop and leading off to it.
After taking it all in I turned to Kate, my jaw dropped in disbelief as she smiled and nodded. She was blushing a little in embarrassment but giggled at my reaction. She looked around at her property herself as I realised my mouth was still open and snapped it shut, blushing a little myself.
Kate's POV:
Kate giggled a little at Humphrey's reaction to her house before looking out of the car, inspecting the property herself for a moment. She had always tried not to take it for granted like her parents had told her but it was difficult sometimes since she had lived here all her life. 'I suppose it is pretty impressive.' she thought to herself, making a mental note to compliment Silas and the other staffers on their continued excellent work. Humphrey was the first person outside of her main group of friends to see her house and she'd forgotten to warn him, leaving him unprepared for it, although it had been pretty funny to see his reaction to it. Speaking of Silas, who was the head butler, Kate looked up to see him open the front door and head down the steps as Humphrey pulled up in front of the house and she turned to him.
"Thanks for the lift home Humphrey, you seriously saved me. Again." She added on with a grin that he returned.
"Any time Kate." He replied, leaving the car running as they got out and walked around to the boot which he opened for her to retrieve her things as Silas approached them, bowing to them when he arrived before lifting both of Kate's bags from the trunk.
"Welcome home Miss Kate. I trust you had an enjoyable day at school?" He said with a smile before turning to Humphrey, giving him a once over. "And who's this?" He asked after a second in a tone somewhere between disappointment and disapproval which Kate didn't really appreciate.
"Hey Silas. This is Humphrey, a friend of mine from school. He offered to give me a lift after mother couldn't make it." She said in a tone that was ever so slightly frosty. Silas raised an eyebrow at Kate's attitude but said nothing as Humphrey smiled. He was either oblivious to the atmosphere he was in the middle of or was deliberately ignoring it as he smiled warmly and spoke.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, moving to offer his hand to shake but noticing midway through that Silas' hands were full. He quickly recovered however, changing the motion to place the hand over his heart and making a little bow. Kate had never seen anyone from outside the family handle Silas so well and stifled her laughter as he didn't even have time to raise his eyebrow before Humphrey had recovered, leaving him stunned before he settled on an expression of begrudging approval and grunted softly.
"I only started at Jasper High today and Kate has been very kind to me so it seemed only fair to return the favour." Humphrey continued. Kate saw his smile twitching a little as he tried to ignore her suppressed laughter to the side which only made her laugh harder.
"I see." Kate managed to compose herself as Silas spoke, looking up to see him looking at her now. "Will your friend be staying at all Miss Kate? If so I will prepare some drinks." He asked her. Kate didn't know the answer herself and turned to Humphrey, sending the unspoken question his way and a little surprised to find herself hoping he would accept. She was to be disappointed however as Humphrey shook his head, holding his hands up.
"Oh no. Thank you but I wouldn't want to intrude. Plus I need to get home." He said, looking apologetically at both herself and Silas.
"Well it wouldn't really be trouble but that's fine." Silas said, hefting Kate's bags and turning to head inside, pausing and turning to Kate for a moment as he left. "You've just missed your parents' guests Miss Kate. They're in the parlour and expressed that they wished to see you when you returned." He explained, turning back to Humphrey and giving a small bow once more.
"It was a pleasure to meet you Humphrey." He said before heading inside leaving she and Humphrey alone.