Chapter 1 The Scent Of A Woman

• "D*mn it. Can't you drive?" Enrique Walters shouted at a car parked just ahead of him as he massaged his aching leg after an unexpected fall.
• He was furious, not because of the pain from his leg injury, but because all his possessions were now scattered across the ground after he had carefully secured them to his food bike.
• It was two in the morning, the usual time for Enrique to pack up his modest food stand. Every day, he would stack his grill racks, ingredients, tables, and stools into a small pyramid on top of his food bike before heading home. As he passed through the narrow, dark alley that day, which hadn't seen the glow of a street lamp in ages, blinding headlights suddenly appeared around the corner, blinding Enrique. Before he could react, he heard the screeching of tires and felt himself and the food bike toppling over.
• He had barely finished cursing out the driver when he heard the car's engine being switched off. To his discomfort, the headlights were left on, making it impossible for Enrique to open his eyes. He struggled to make out the figure of a person getting out of the car.
• Enrique shielded his smarting eyes from the headlights and crawled to his feet. At the same time, he scolded, "Could you turn off your headlights? Do you even know how to drive?"
• "Ah... Sorry. I'm really sorry," the woman apologized in a remorseful voice. She got back into her car and switched off the headlights.
• With the glaring headlights gone, Enrique relied on the dim illumination from a nearby residential area to get a better look at the woman. She was quite tall, although he couldn't distinguish her features in their current surroundings. However, he sensed that the woman had a good figure and probably a decent appearance. At least, the shape of her face was rather attractive, and she emitted a lovely, refreshing scent, which Enrique had noticed the moment she approached him.
• "Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?" the woman asked hastily, her panic palpable.
• As Enrique rubbed his bottom, he couldn't help but grumble, "Oh dear lord... she looks so nervous. No wonder I got hit. Wouldn't be surprised if she just got her license."
• If the surroundings were better lit, he would have seen the woman frowning in response.
• "Do you need to go to the hospital? I can call an ambulance now if you do," she asked again.
• "Nah, I don't need an ambulance. I'm not that fragile. It's just a fall; no big deal." As Enrique spoke, he bent down to pick up his half-smoked cigarette and continued smoking it.
• His actions deepened the woman's frown. She instinctively fanned the air around her before repeating her apology. "I'm really sorry. I was in a rush. I thought there wouldn't be anyone on this road at this hour, so I was speeding a little. Again, I'm very sorry about that. I hope you'll accept my apology. If there's nothing else, then I'll go ahead and leave first."
• After her heartfelt apology, she turned and hurried back toward her car.
• Seeing the woman's hasty retreat, Enrique yelled after her, "Hey, hey, what's all this?"
• "What? Was there something else?" she turned around and asked.
• "What do you mean? Are you just going to leave after crashing into my stuff? I'm telling you, if I go to the police now, they'll consider this a hit-and-run incident. You'd do well to consider the consequences," declared Enrique furiously.
• The woman sounded rather angry as well as she retorted, "I'm not trying to flee the scene. I got out of the car to check on you, but you're the one who said you're fine. That's why I'm leaving. Be more reasonable, won't you?"
• Indignantly, Enrique fired back, "What? Are you calling me unreasonable? Yes, my body is fine. Don't worry; I'm not trying to scam you. I just fell on my butt and hurt my leg. It hurts a little, but it's nothing serious. Even if it is, I'll consider it bad luck. Now, listen here. I'm not asking you to pay for my medical expenses, but what about knocking over my food bike? Look! The food bike's dented here, and my stuff is all over the floor. I don't even know which of these are still working. It's only fair for you to compensate me for the damage, right?"
• Before Enrique could further elaborate on his list of grievances, the woman interrupted and said, "Fine, I'll compensate you for all of that. I was driving too fast, didn't brake in time, and hit you. Hence, it's only fair that I compensate you for my mistake. Why don't you calculate your losses—both emotional and physical—and I'll reimburse you."
• Her offer surprised Enrique. He asked, "Do you mean everything?"
• "Yes, everything. Give me a number. How much should I pay you?" she asked anxiously.
• Enrique assessed the woman as best he could given the dim circumstances and asked, "You don't have a driver's license, do you? Or were you driving under the influence?"
• "I know what you're thinking, but I promise I have a valid driver's license, and I didn't drink any alcohol before driving. I'm just in a hurry to compensate you because I urgently need to leave. If the traffic police get involved, and then the insurance company, we won't be going anywhere tonight. I don't have time to waste. So, tell me. How much are your losses? I'll pay you back right now," she explained coldly.
• He switched on the flashlight on his phone and assessed the extent of the damage to his items. "You don't have to reimburse me for all of this. I'm not going to take advantage of you. Just pay me for anything that's broken. There's a dent here on the food bike; I can probably get it fixed for two hundred. Oh, this one's probably broken. Let's see. Fifty, and this one's about twenty..."
• Impatiently, the woman cut Enrique off and insisted, "Just give me the total. Any amount. I'm really pressed for time."
• "Hey, woman, why are you rushing me? I'm the one asking for money, not you. Why are you more restless than me?"
• "Please, I beg you, just name a price. I'm really in a huge rush. Three thousand! Is that enough?" she asked anxiously.
• "No, I don't need three thousand. I was raised with a modern mindset to be a logical and sensible individual. My teachers always taught me to be—"
• "So how much do you expect me to compensate you, then?" the woman snapped impatiently at Enrique.
• Finally, Enrique assessed the damages from the crash and replied through gritted teeth, "Five hundred. At the very least. You won't be allowed to leave until I receive a penny less."
• "Fine. Five hundred it is. I'll give you five hundred." The woman hurriedly went back to her car and began searching for something.
• Still in a sour mood, Enrique grumbled under his breath, "Oh God, what terrible luck I've had today. Everything has been going wrong, and now I have to repack everything again." He bent down and started picking up all his belongings from the ground to reload his now-dented food bike.
• While he was busy packing up his things, the woman stepped out of her car and approached him. She hesitated before saying to Enrique, "Um, I'm really sorry, but I forgot to bring my wallet with me."