SARAYA’S POV.
I entered the first class cabinet with Evan, when my eyes settled on someone familiar.
My heart raced at the thought of boarding the same flight and the same class with him. I was finding it hard to believe my eyes.
I wanted to ignore him but I decided against recalling how he had helped me the last time.
I turned to Evan, “go have your seat, I want to talk to someone.”
Evan nodded his head and went to have his seat. I walked towards Dominic and stood few inches away from him. “Is this another coincidence, or you’ve made up your mind to be following me now?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as he locked eyes with me.
Dominic flashed that charming smile of his, eyes twinkling. “Believe it or not, this is exactly why you should start believing in fate,” he said, pointing to a seat right behind me.
I took my seat but couldn’t help but laugh softly. “Fate, huh? And what are the chances we keep running into each other like this?”
“Saraya, chill. We don’t even have each other’s contact info.” He pointed out. “Why should I be stalking you?” He shrugged his shoulders. “That is illegal, you know?” He added.
I nodded. “Good, you know stalking is illegal.”
“Speaking of your contact, what about I have it for real?” He asked. “That way, I’ll pull a call across to you to know where you are and possibly try avoiding your path.” He teased jokingly.
I gave him a playful look. “Is that your subtle way of asking for my number?”
He leaned back in his seat, looking relaxed. “Maybe that’s the universe’s way of telling us we should fix that.”
“I would be very happy if you obliged me,” he added making a cute face.
I hesitated for a second, then stood up on my feet. “I’ll think about it,” I said, folding my arms.
“Princess,” He joined his hands together and sprouted his hop, drawing a small chuckle from me.
“You call me that one more time, then you can forget about getting my contact.” I threatened him jokingly.
Dominic placed two of his fingers over his lips. Then I remembered something. “Sorry to ask you this but since we are always colliding, I was meaning to ask you if you met with Toby, my date, the other night you dropped me off at my place?”
“Toby?” Dominic asked, looking confused.
“Right?” I nodded my head slowly. “That was crazy of me to ask. I’m sorry.” I apologized. “Forget I asked.”
“It’s fine, prince…”
I rolled my eyes at him and the two of us laughed. “You don’t listen, do you?”
“I’ll listen to you henceforth.”
“So tell me, why are you heading to Brisbane?” I asked.
Dominic nodded casually. “Business as usual.”
I raised an eyebrow. “That’s nice to know.”
“You?” He asked.
I paused for a moment, almost regretting why I had asked him about his trip. “Me? I’m off to a family funeral.”
His expression softened immediately. “I’m sorry to hear that. My condolences.”
“Thank you,” I said.
He seemed to pause for a moment before asking, “Can I come to the funeral?”
I blinked, surprised by the question. “You want to come?” I asked again not believing my ears.
He nodded. “Yes, you said it’s family.”
“It’s tomorrow morning,” I replied. “I doubt you’d be able to make it in time considering you’re traveling for business and would be very busy.”
Dominic shrugged, unfazed. “People make time for their friends. I’m sure I could swing it if you allow me.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “You don’t give up, do you?”
“Not, I don’t,” he said with a grin. “I go all the way.”
I leaned back in my seat, pretending to think for a moment, then sighed dramatically. “Fine. You win.” I reached out my hands towards him. “Give me your phone.”
“Really?” He dug his hand into his jacket and gave me his phone.
“Don’t get too excited, Dominic. I’m only doing this because you were so persistent.”
Dominic’s face lit up as I typed in my contact info.
“I promise, you won’t regret it,” he said, his voice filled with a mix of amusement and something else-something I couldn’t quite place.
I handed the phone back to him. “We’ll see.”
I watched him saved my contact on his phone all smiles like someone who had just won a lottery game. I took a peep and saw him saved my contact with ‘My only friend’ with a heart emoji.
I scoffed and rolled my eyes over while mouthing at him.
“Alright, stop looking at me like that,” Dominic said, the smile still on his face.
“What?” I turned away quickly. “I wasn’t even looking at you.”
“Sure, you weren’t.” He looked at me straight in the eye and grinned. “If you’ve got questions, you can just ask, you know?”
I folded my arms, leaning toward him slightly. “Fine. Why did you save my number as your only friend? You barely know me.”
Dominic chuckled, his voice low but full of amusement. “Because it’s true, isn’t it? I don’t have any friend apart from you.”
I raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Tell me something else that is nothing but the truth.”
“I have staff who works under me, business partners who works with me and parents who care and loves me but friends? Nah,” he shook his head. “Not even one before you came into the picture.”
I opened my mouth in shock. “I find that quite hard to believe.”
“That is why you’re one and only friend, you should learn to trust me.”
“So what about me interests you so well to be your friend?” I asked.
“The first day, I set my eyes on you. You had this tenacity in your eyes, my soul was drowning in them.” He told me.
“Shut up!” I leaned at him trying to cover his mouth. “Who walks up to a stranger with a bottle of water in their hands to seek their friendship?”
“Me,” He pointed at himself. “Dominic Leo.”
I laughed it out. “Even at that, you don’t get to be dramatic about saving my contact.”
“Dramatic? Me? Never.” He placed a hand on his chest, feigning innocence.
I rolled my eyes. “Change it. Just put my name like a normal person.”
“No way,” he said, shaking his head. “This is personal for me. Plus, the heart emoji really ties it together and makes it look cute.”
“Cute?” I nearly choked. “Are you serious right now?”
Dominic laughed, clearly enjoying my reaction. “Relax, Princess. It’s just a joke. I can’t believe you’re this worked up about it.”
“First of all, stop calling me Princess. Second, hand me your phone.” I held out my hand.
He hesitated, pretending to think it over. “Hmm… I don’t know. What if you delete your number instead? Can’t take that risk.”
“Dominic!”
“Alright, alright.” He pulled out his phone and handed it to me.
I quickly opened his contact list, found my name, and deleted the ridiculous nickname. “There. Much better.”
He leaned over, looking at the screen. “You just put Saraya? That’s so boring.”
“It’s called normal, Dominic. You should try it sometime.”
He chuckled, leaning back in his seat. “Fine. But don’t be surprised if I change it back later.”
I sighed, shaking my head. “You’re unbelievable.”
“And yet, you haven’t walked away,” he pointed out with a smug grin.
I didn’t have a good comeback for that, so I decided to change the subject. “So, what exactly is this business you’re heading to Brisbane for?”
His expression softened, and he shrugged. “Just working here and there to put the business in shape. Nothing exciting.”
“In shape? That’s vague.”
“I’m keeping it vague on purpose. Gotta keep the mystery alive.”
I laughed despite myself. “You’re impossible.”
“And yet…” he started, raising an eyebrow.
“I’m still here. Yeah, yeah, don’t let it go to your head,” I finished for him, rolling my eyes.
Dominic smiled, but this time it wasn’t just playful. It was warm, almost genuine, and for a brief moment, I forgot how annoying he was.
“You know,” he said quietly, “I’m glad we ran into each other again. Feels like fate, don’t you think?”
“Fate?” I scoffed, shaking my head. “More like bad luck.”
He laughed, the sound filling the cabin. “Maybe, but bad luck’s not so bad with you around.”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I should go join Evan over there. “See you around.” I waved at him.