Ryder entered the bar with Herriet, parking his car outside just a few moments before another car was driving by.

The second car stopped behind Ryder's car.

"Could it be his car?" The person inside the car muttered.

A man seemed to be sitting inside the car. The person stepped out of the car and walked inside the bar.

Entering the bar, the person saw Ryder sitting with Herriet. A glass of beer was in their hands, and they both seemed to be laughing.

The person walked towards Ryder and placed their hand on Ryder's shoulders.

****

Ryder was sitting inside the bar with Herriet.

" Aren't we sitting completely opposite to how we sat last time?" Ryder asked as he remembered how they sat last time.

" Yeah, I was sitting on the right. I still remember that flirting line that you used about you getting a current when you touched me. That left a deep impression in my mind," Herriet said as she started laughing. 

Ryder smiled, embarrassed, but he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking back, Ryder saw a red-haired man standing behind him.

"Bastion? What are you doing here? Come sit," Ryder said as he patted the empty seat on his right.

"I shouldn't. I just saw your car outside. Thought that I should say hi," Bastion said to Ryder as he patted Ryder's shoulder.

"I won't disturb your date anymore. I was on my way anyway," Bastion replied as he waved his hand. He was about to turn back to leave when he was stopped by Ryder. 

"It's not a date. Let me introduce myself," he said to Bastion.

"This is Herriet. She's the CEO of ACL. I'll be working with her in the future. Herriet, this is Bastion, my best friend," he introduced the two of them.

Herriet and Bastion greeted each other, shaking each other. They both seemed very formal, though. Bastion sat beside Ryder and ordered another glass of beer. 

"I heard something about the flirting line, though. What was that about? Did my friend here use one?" Bastion asked Herriet as an amused smile appeared on his face.

"Hahaha, yeah. It was at our first meeting. Must say, it was the first time I heard something like that," Herriet replied as he laughed.

"What line?" Bastion asked Herriet with a curious look on his face. "He was so shy in university. Let me hear how my friend has grown."

Herriet looked at Ryder to see if he was fine with her sharing.

Ryder didn't oppose her telling, so she told Bastion about her first meeting with Ryder.

After hearing the whole story, Bastion couldn't help but laugh. 

"Bro, that was so corny, but it was cute. At Least you're trying. If you need pickup lines, you can always come to me," Bastion told Ryder as he stopped laughing.

"Nah, It was refreshing and didn't make me feel like he was just one of the guys who used the same everyday pickup lines. I liked that much more than I would any good one," Herriet chimed in before Ryder could reply.

Ryder didn't know what to say. Even he believed that this line was stupid as a pickup line, but it wasn't a pickup line at all. It was his genuine reaction after he felt an electric current in his body. However, Herriet didn't believe it. Who would even believe that anyway?

Ryder opened his lips to say something when he heard a blast outside.

Standing up, shocked, Ryder looked behind. He ran towards the exit to see what it was. Did they again blow up the city? Those people shouldn't be in the city now, according to his tracking. How could they use the same plan as last time? He wondered as he ran outside.

Opening the door of the bar, he stepped outside. He looked to his left and saw that it was a car which was behind his car.

It wasn't the city burning but a car. There seemed to be an explosion inside the car.

"A minor terrorist attack using a car? Why would they do it at an empty place, though?" He muttered to himself when the door of the bar opened again. Herriet and Bastion stepped outside along with others inside the bar.

Bastion walked towards the burning car. 

"Wait, don't go there," Ryder told Bastion as he tried to stop him. There might be more blasts coming inside the car.

"That's my car, though," Bastion said in confusion, looking back as he stood in front of the burning car.

"Your car?" Ryder muttered at the revelation.

' Bastion couldn't be a terrorist. That means someone else placed the bomb in his car. Why? To use him or to kill him?' Ryder thought as he walked closer to the car as well.

'We need to know what kind of bomb it was. If it was detonated using a remote, then it must be a warning for Bastion or for me since he was with me,' Ryder thought as he looked at the raging flames.

' If it was a time bomb, then there's a good chance someone intended to kill Bastion in this blast,' he thought.

"Where were you going?" Ryder asked Bastion.

"I was leaving the city for some work. You know Kane's house, right? I was going to his house," Bastion answered.

" That means if you hadn't stopped to meet me, you would be inside the car when the blast occurred," Ryder muttered with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Are you thinking that someone placed a bomb inside to kill me?" Bastion inquired. He was also starting to think that.

" Who knew that you were leaving the city today?" Ryder inquired, trying to find a clue.

" Who knew? Everyone knew. Everyone inside the club knew," Bastion answered.

" It could be one of them. We need to wait for city authorities and forensics to have a clear picture. I suggest you drop your plan to leave the city for now," Ryder suggested since it didn't seem like the right time to leave.

" That's right. Leaving the city in times like this aren't good," Herriet also suggested as she stood near them.

"You should leave him home. We can drink next time," She said to Ryder.

" You..." Ryder was about to say something, but before he could finish his words, Herriet cut him off.

"I'll take a cab. Drop him off," Herriet said, knowing what he might try to say. Ryder's car was a 2-seater, after all.

Without waiting for a response, she turned back and left. She didn't want Ryder to feel embarrassed for not getting to drop her after bringing her out.

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