It was really hard for me to keep this smile on my lips. I felt so frustrated and angry, but well, I just had to keep pretending to be fine with this craziness.
“Is she your girlfriend?” The oldie in front of us asked Ryan that question.
Ryan and I glimpsed at each other, and he laughed weirdly. “Oh, yeah. She is. We only began dating recently.”
He had his arm wrapped around my waist, my hip locked to his body. The moment he called me his “girlfriend”, I curled my arm around his waist as well, pinched him from behind. He flinched a little, his jaw clenched. If this cost my job, then so be it! Why would he tell such a lie?
His girlfriend? Yuck!
“You’re such a beautiful couple,” the old man remarked, grinning so hard to the extent I could spot his missing canine tooth. “Hopefully, my son will have a pretty woman like you someday.”
I feigned a smile. “Oh, good. Hopefully.”
“I’ll see you both around, okay?” The man added, then walked past us, still smiling.
Immediately, I snapped myself from Ryan’s grip, glared up at him. “Sir, what was that?” I spoke in a whisper. “Why would you lie to him? My gosh, you’re doing nothing but ruining my reputation!”
He scoffed, kept his hands in the pocket of his pants, smiling and paying attention to those who were walking in front of us, though I knew the corner of his eyes were on me.
“If you need some money for that, I’ll pay you. It’s not a big deal,” he sputtered.
My jaw dropped. Did he think I was a cheap woman? How stupid of him.
Grunting, I curled my arms around my chest, looked away. I wished I could just leave here.
“Hey, Ryan.” Suddenly, a tall dude appeared in front of me. Cute, he really was.
His hands were dug in the pocket of his Chino pants. To be honest, my eyes couldn’t resist staring at him. The bright color of his sapphire blue eyes totally grabbed my attention. Moving my eyes down to his small lips that held a smile on it, I felt my heart get warmed up. Above that smile, the pointed nose he possessed made him have the perfect charm, together with his full eyebrows that looked unreal.
My eyes followed the movement of his eyelashes. And, it suddenly felt like everything around me was in slow motion. The slow beats of the cool music drifted into my ears, and involuntarily, I smiled.
“Hey.” His cool, slow and soft voice made me drool for him more. “You’re okay?”
Abruptly, my brain jerked back to its position. I blinked like a lost idiot, realizing that I was still in my tracks. The only sound around me was the cool sound of the violin, which meant there were no slow beats of drums. Good Lord, I had been imagining things.
I looked down in embarrassment. This was the reason I needed to have a boyfriend. When I had been dating Ralph, I hadn’t ever drooled for a man this way. How stupid of me.
“How’re you doing, James?” Ryan stretched his hand forward for a handshake.
The James guy took his hand, so I looked up. “I’m good, you? It’s been long,” he replied to Ryan.
“Yeah, it’s been long. I’m good too,” Ryan said.
They continued to talk to each other, while I kept feeling terrible that I had drooled for a man I didn’t know.
After a while, the James guy left here, which was such a relief. I turned to Ryan, still angry at him. Vicki had said this dinner would be a good opportunity to move on, but no, it didn’t feel so. I felt stupid.
“How many minutes do we have left?” I asked Ryan.
He turned to me, smirking. “Minutes? What a joke. See, I get to determine the minutes we spend here, okay?”
“Fine!” I spat out in a whisper. “Be your own date. I’m off to the bar.”
Angered, I turned around, making my way to the bar. Settling to sit on one of the high stools by the bar counter, I grabbed my phone from my purse. As expected, I had gotten a text from Vicki.
“How’s it going?” She texted.
I sighed out loud. “Very bad. I really regret coming here. That man is such an ass. Besides, I feel like an outcast. The people over here don’t seem like they come from the same world I come from,” I texted back.
Since she didn’t reply immediately, I dropped my phone on the counter, sighed again. I couldn’t wait to leave here.
“Hey.” The sound of that thick voice made me wince. I was startled.
Moving my eyes to whoever that was, I gulped on seeing the James guy standing beside me.
“Y-You?” Shit, I stammered!
“Uh-huh.” He grabbed the stool behind him, sat on it. To be sincere, I felt very uncomfortable being around him. He was smiling, but there was no doubt that he had a mischievous aim.
“Shit!” I cursed underneath my breath.
He asked the bartender for a glass of wine, and when he got one, he took a sip of it. He didn’t face me, but I knew he was paying attention to me.
“So, your name?” He turned to me, obviously trying to seem cool.
“Serene,” I replied. I also ensured that I sounded cool. Ridiculous, right?
“Nice name,” he remarked.
“Thanks.”
He dropped his glass on the counter, cleared his throat. “May I know if you’d be free tonight? Wanna taste some goodies from you. You’re a sexy pie, you know?”
Quite furious, I just scoffed. “I thought Ryan’s your friend. Why would you wanna taste your friend’s woman?”
“Trying to seem cool?” He looked away, took another sip of his wine.
I lowered my eyebrows at him. “Pardon?”
He chuckled. “Saw you staring at me. I grasped the signal immediately. So, don’t try to act like a saint. Tell me, how much did Ryan give you?”
“I find this discussion very uncomfortable,” I informed him. I was really getting furious. “Don’t be judgemental, okay? I’m with Ryan. And for your info, he didn’t pay me.”
He laughed as he looked at me, a simper on his lips. “Ryan’s my bud. I know he can never have a real babe. There’s no doubt that he paid you. And trust me, I’ll give you a better amount. I’m the CEO of Rab-fire. I’ll give you anything you want.”
“You disgust me,” I spat out.
“Seems like you’re a hard one.” He took something from his pocket, dropped it in front of me. “That’s my card. Call me when you’re ready. I’m not soft in bed, huh? So, trust me. You’ll have some fun.”
I rolled my hands in a fist. If I had a gun, I would’ve shot him already. What an idiot he was.
“You’re stupid.” I was forced to mention that. Indeed, he was stupid. Stupid was definitely an understatement.
He shrugged, and just stood up. “Will be expecting a call from you. Have some fun with my guy tonight, okay?”
With that, he turned to leave.
I felt really bad. How could anyone be that judgemental?
Enraged, I propped my elbow on the counter, glaring at myself. Where was Ryan? He had probably found someone else, and had ditched me.
“Hey there.” I looked up when I heard that familiar voice. To my surprise, it was Kenneth. He was standing by the other side of the counter, dressed like a bartender. Of course, he was the bartender.
“Oh, you.” I smiled at him.
He gave me a warm smile. “What a coincidence. I’m seeing you again. Did you come here with someone?”
I nodded. “Kind of. I had to be someone’s date tonight. He doesn’t have a girlfriend.”
“Okay. Um, you need a drink?”
“Um…” I sucked my teeth. “I’d take a—”
“I’ve been looking for you.” And then, the annoying dude appeared.
I rolled my eyes, turned to him. “Ryan, can you please be a little respectful? I’m speaking with someone.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You’re my date, not his. And so, I need you to come with me. We have to dance.”
“I said I—”
“Come here, woman.” He cut me off. He held my wrist, pulled me off the stool.
I gasped. “Are you nuts?”
He feigned a smile. “Yes, I am. I’m very nuts.”
I kept grumbling at myself, but he just pulled me to the dance floor. Soon, we joined the people who were dancing. He had his arms wrapped around my waist, while my arms were around his neck. We danced to the slow music, staring at each other.
He was smiling, I was frowning. He seemed to be enjoying this, but I despised this.
“You’re pretty,” he said. That definitely didn’t make me blush.
“Keep your comments to yourself,” I choked out.
He chuckled. “No matter how crazy you seem, you’re still beautiful.”
“What an idiot,” I mumbled.
“Heard that,” he informed me.
I gulped, and just kept dancing.
***