Caleb and Aiden took it upon themselves to act like Audriana’s parents, giving him tips and telling him to treat her with care and all, he was getting bored of the talks and didn’t know when he was looking at Audriana as she talked to Sofia.
Sofia said something to Audriana then to the man she came with before kissing him on the cheek and leaving with Audriana. His brow furrowed at that.
‘Where is she taking her to?’ his eyes followed them till they left the hall.
“Are you even listening to me?” Aiden said, shaking his shoulder lightly. “You have been looking at Audri, are you really sure she hasn’t charmed you?” Aiden wriggled his brow at him.
He just rolled his eyes at him, Aiden snickered.
“I totally understand why you will be smitten by her, like who wouldn’t? I remember when we used to date, man! She got me at the tip of her finger” Dimitri looked at Aiden and frowned at the new revelation.
“You were a couple?” Aiden nods and Dimitri doesn’t like it one bit.
***
“Audriana, you have some explaining to do,” Sofia said as they kept walking in the hallway.
“What sort of explanation do you need?” she asked confused as to what needs to be explained.
“We will talk later” she opened the door by her right.
It was a hall but not as big as the one where the party was hosted, there wasn’t much decoration there, it was just simple. It looked like some ancient decoration with a bit of a modern look. There stood a red-haired man who had his hands in his pocket, his back was facing them and he had to turn around when he heard the door open.
He was wearing a black-rimmed glass, his hair was neatly styled. He had a blue suit on, a white shirt, and a light blue tie, he was wearing a black shoe and removed his hand from his pocket. He was wearing a smile.
“Hi” he waved at them
“Philip” she whispered his name.
“Sorry I told Sofia to bring you in here, I would have come inside bu-” he was interrupted when she gave him a hug.
“I will be outside if you need me,” Sofia said and went out of the room.
“I am so sorry about the other day, Philip… really sorry. I never want to hurt you” she sniffed, feeling bad for the last time they met.
He smiled knowing fully well Audriana will never intentionally hurt someone. He wrapped his arm around her and rubbed comforting circles on her back.
***
He has been looking at the door where Audriana and Sofia left fifteen minutes ago.
‘Really dude? Fifteen minutes? You’re definitely keeping tabs on the girl?’ his inner mind tells him but he ignores and takes a look at his watch again.
“Miguel, that’s like the fifth time you’re looking at your watch, are you bored already?” Aiden asked when he came from the bar after flirting with a blonde. Dimitri ignored him and took a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter.
Aiden took a sip from his drink and looked around, then a smirk formed on his face.
“You’re looking for her?” he wriggled his brows at Dimitri.
Dimitri frowned and looked at his friend who was smirking at him. He didn’t like that smile and wanted to wipe it off with a punch. That was the same teasing smile he got when he was in love with her and he doesn’t want anything that would make him remember her.
“Who?”
“Who else will I be talking about than Audriana,” he said and came closer to him “Look Dimitri, I know me giving relationship advice is useless but it’s okay to feel, it’s okay to lov-”
“I do not want to hear that word again,” he said dangerously low.
“Chill dude, I am just saying” Aiden began walking away from him then remembered why he came in the first place and turned to him “Just in case you are looking for your bride, I saw her walk out of the building with a red-haired” Dimitri’s eyes shot to Aiden in a flash “former lovers I guess” he muttered the last part with a smile.
Dimitri gulped the whole of his drink in one go, turned to put it on a table, and walked away from Aiden with angry steps.
It better not be true.
***
They walked outside the building and towards the parking lot. There was a slight space between them as they walked side by side and smiled at each other when their skin brushed against each other.
“I am honestly sorry,” Audriana said for the nth time that night, feeling the need to apologize.
“You need to stop apologizing, Audriana… it’s totally fine,” he said turning to face her when they got to his car. “Yes I was hurt by what you told me but you are my friend and your happiness matters to me”
‘Even though it hurts me’ he wanted to say but instead, he smiled and she smiled also.
“I want you to be happy and if this guy will give you happiness then so be it,” he said and held her hand in his. “Just know I am here for you always, okay?”
She nodded at that and they shared a hug. Suddenly she felt a pull and she was behind someone, she looked up at the man that stood in front of her and knew who it was.
“What are you doing with my fiance?” Dimitri growled at Philip
“Woah dude, I was just talking to my friend,” Philip said, raising his hand in surrender and taking two steps back.
Dimitri just looked him down for some minutes, contemplating whether to hit this strange man he saw with Audriana.
First, it was Audriana knowing his cousin and bestie and the fact that she and Aiden were an item bothers him a lot. Now this red-haired?
“Let’s go” he held her hand and dragged her along with him inside the building.
“Dude” Philip said and began walking towards them but Audriana turned her head and shook her head.
“Let me go, you can’t just come here and take me like that” she tried to wriggle off of his hold but he wouldn’t bulge. He kept walking, tagging her along “Let me go,” she said and in a flash, he turned and held her both arms bringing her close to himself.
‘What are you doing Dimitri?’ his inner thought asked him but he ignored it
“Let you go? To where? It isn’t even an hour we were declared engaged and you are already showing your real self” he spoke angrily. He doesn’t know why he was angry, but he didn’t like what he saw when he came out of the building.
It wasn’t clear what he was saying, she frowned and tried to wriggle out of his hold again but could not.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, looking into his eyes.
He raised his head and let out a humorous laugh then looked back at her, admiring her clear skin and beautiful face. Damn, he was so tempted to kiss her, since he set his eyes on her. He was curious about her, wanted to know what made her special and different from all the flings he had in the past. She looked innocent and inexperienced. But it’s the one with the innocent look that is always guilty, right?
“Like you don’t know what I am talking about, the least you could do is respect the fact that we are getting married soon and not go around doing your daily routine of flirting with different men,” he said in one go, her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed.
“You idiot” she managed to free her left hand and raise it to give him a slap when he held her hand just in time and brought his head down to hers and captured her lips in a kiss.
They both froze, but he was quick to recover and moved his lips against hers slowly.
Soft. Sweet. Lovely.
Those thoughts ran through his mind as he put his hands on her hips and brought her closer to deepen the kiss. It was much better than he imagined and it drove him crazy.
She was still frozen at what he just did, she couldn’t think well, her head was just blank trying to understand what in the world was going on. It took some time before she began to kiss him back, her hands on his chest, his hands on her hips. She could feel her heartbeat so fast.
Perfect. Savouring. Mind-blowing.
Now she believes him. He is indeed a good kisser. Never has she been kissed in such a manner. But who is she kidding? This is her first kiss. He was her first kiss and she loved every bit of it.
Then she felt a squeeze on her ass and let out a groan, she drew one of her legs back, and with one hard blow, she kneed him down there and pushed him away.
“Ouch,” he yelped in pain as he went down cradling his crotch. He felt the pain shoot up to his head.
“You jerk, don’t you ever touch me again,” she said and began walking away. She then realized where she was and turned to look around, thankfully no one was around to witness what just happened so she looked down to see Dimitri still rolling on the floor holding his crotch with pain written on his face.
Serves him right. She was tempted to leave him there but she just can’t, she is feeling guilty for that hard blow but he deserves it. He can’t go around bossing her and saying hurtful words to her then kiss her like he just did.
‘But you loved it’ she ignored the thought and took her phone from her purse to text Sofia.
When she sent the text she went to help Dimitri up.
***
No one knew she was there, but she was. It has been years since they saw each other, it has been a long time since she saw him and here he is announcing his engagement to some lady.
Her red hair was tied up in a ponytail, she had a red skimpy dress on that hugged her slender body tightly, she held her heels in her hand and a cup of champagne in the other, how many had she had for the night? Thirteen?
She staggered her way out of the hall outside, she hugged herself as the cold breeze brushed her skin harshly.
“I would have brought my jacket, damn it,” she said and continued walking towards the parking lot to her car.
When she was a foot or two to her car she tripped on something and fell forward hitting her car door in the process.
“I hate you” she spat with venom lacing her voice “I hate her. I hate him. I hate everyone” she was breathing hard “I lost them and I am not keen on losing him now. I will get you back Dimitri, I will get you back no matter what.” she states and looks at herself in the reflection of her car.
She looked like a mess, her lipstick was smeared on her lips to her jaw, her green eyes had lost their glow and were replaced with a pair of cold ones, she let her lips curl in a smirk before letting out a crazy laugh.
‘This is not the end’.