There was nothing special about her. She was just a normal girl getting out of a not so normal car. Since he had nothing important to do at the moment he just looked at her out of boredom but what intrigued him was when he saw her tricking the driver and getting out of the restaurant. He instantly thought what was that girl up to. Then he saw her helping a poor woman and her daughter by buying them clothes and food. He was more and more intrigued by the girl. She didn't mind getting her pretty dress spoiled or wrinkled by kneeling down and helping the lady.
As far as he knew, women from his social circle were always very particular about their appearance, be it at home or out of home. They were self-conscious about the way they presented themselves. But what he saw made him think otherwise about women in general.
His cold heart warmed a little, looking at her helping them. He was moved by her consideration of not treating them as beggars by just throwing money on their face but rather buy them the things that they needed for now. Then, he saw her slipping a card into the woman's hand. It seemed like she was pretty much offering her a long term help, thought and continued observing her.
He was also amused when he saw her coming out of the clothing store with a completely different avatar. She looked..... different from her previous form. Also, let's not forget his eyes almost popped out of his socket when he saw her washing her face using the water from a mineral bottle in public without any care, removing every bit of makeup from her face. That scene was something he could never forget. Not anytime soon.
He only knew women who reapplied and readjusted their make up, not someone who wiped it off completely for no reason. Then something clicked in him as the realisation hit him hard. Her changing her dress, removing her nicely done make up. Something was off. Why ruin all your hard work when you took your time in getting ready so gorgeously?
His curiosity was skyrocketing, as well as the intensity of the screws working in his brain. By now he had forgotten about the women that he was supposed to meet because now all his attention was drawn to the woman he saw across the street. He wasn't interested in the girl anywhere near attraction, nor infatuation. That would be complete bullshit if you asked him. He just wanted to know what was she up to. He then saw her strolling into the restaurant that he was seated. He frowned in confusion and asked his PA to connect the CCTV footage of his restaurant to his iPad. Yes his restaurant, any surprising gasps?
Once it was connected he watched her each and every step with hawk eyes. He was speechless when he saw her calling out his name. "Is she by any chance the women that I was here to meet?" he thought frowning at her. Yes, you guessed it right. He never bothered looking at her picture. Therefore, he wasn't prepared for his eyes to become saucers when it landed on the picture his mom had sent him. Deep amber eyes, staring right back at him. It was the same girl, who had managed to catch his attention. Well, that was the only thing she was going to catch from him because he was hell-bent on making her run away from him.
Let's get this over.
He thought and regained his cold demeanour after asking his guards to let her in.
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The waiters and waitresses threw weird glances on her way when she entered the restaurant. They looked at her warily even after her showing her invitation card. Lucky for her, she was already used to all this weird and wary glances, so they never bothered her. She made her way towards the lavish restaurant dogging and avoiding unnecessary human contact. She didn't want to catch the disease of being conceit and stuck up like the people in front of her. She didn't want their germs penetration her. This, she maintained the same distance.
She quickly reached to the stairs that led to the second floor, coming face to face with 2 men dressed in black, standing at the base of the stairs. There quirked an eyebrow at her. She cleared her throat and said " Hmm. Hi. I am here to meet Mr Benjamin Douglas Russo" she said looking at the name that her dad had messaged her 2 weeks ago. " Sorry miss we don't allow press near boss" he uttered with a stoic face that didn't give away anything. That made her eyes go wide. No, she wasn't angry. She was actually feeling the quite opposite. She wanted to laugh out loud. She actually thought they would take her for a beggar. She was amused by the way they judge her. " Jacq...this is your chance turn away, leave and never look back," she thought and was about to make a run for it.
But luck wasn't on her side this time. The moment she turned around, the men got a call from their boss's PA, notifying them to let the girl up. The guards abruptly called her before she could flee. " Ah...bummer" she muttered and followed the guards to a secluded part of the restaurant which was only filled with tables and chairs. " Strange....did he booked the entire place? What a creep?" She thought and strolled towards the table where a man sat on a chair with his back facing her.
He waved his hand motioning the guards and his PA to give them privacy. " Oh so this is the dude that I was supposed to meet," she thought and started preparing her rejection speech or being prepared for her being rejected speech. The guy stood up and turned around gracefully. There was a powerful aura that surrounded him. His looks screamed danger and power.
Something moved in his eyes when he met her gaze. However, she stood there with an indifferent look. That only made him frown in return. Looking at his frown she did a quick happy dance on her head. " This going to be way easier than I thought," she thought judging the displeased look on his face. He looked at her from head to toe comparing her to the woman he saw in the blue dress. His favourite colour. No matter how hard he tried, a small voice in his head whined at the thought of not getting a closer look of that.
The sound of her clearing her throat snapped him from whatever trance he was in. That made him push everything to the back of his mind and focus on the issue that was standing in the form of a girl. She gave him an amused look and chuckled at him, looking at the deep frown adorning his face. If this was how he was going to behave with his future wife, then the poor woman was going to have a hard time dealing with him. She already felt pity for his future wife.
She glared right back him when he glared at her for chuckling at him. Giving up, she finally rolled her eyes at him having enough of the glaring competition." Good evening Mr Russo. I am Jacqueline Valentine Knight" she finally spoke breaking the silence that was starting to get awkward. "Before you start lecturing about being punctual and all...let me tell you something," she said after taking in a deep breath. " Okay, so here it goes. I was forced to meet you. I have no interest in attending this meeting or having dinner with you. I am sure it was the same for you, judging from the way you glared at me. Sorry for wasting your time and I am sorry if I had offended you in any way. That was all I wanted to say. Nice meeting you. Have a nice dinner and all the best for finding your ideal bride" she flashed a broad smile and started moving away without sparing him a second glance.
If he was stunned while she talked. Now he was gobsmacked but he remained unfazed. Did he actually heard what he thought he heard? He wasn't prepared for something like this. Well, there wasn't any need for any preparation anyways. She did all the work without giving him any headache. What she did was pretty smooth. He could only imagine making a scene if he ever tried doing something like that. So, he had to give her that.
The guards and his PA eyed at him warily while he watched her walking away from him beaming in happiness. "Is she scheming something against me and my company? Why agree for the meeting when she wasn't interested? Is she playing hard to get?" he wondered. He closed his eyes in frustration. He was thinking about all the possibilities of her not agreeing for a marriage where he could have been a groom. As long as he knew, almost three-quarter of the women in the city wanted to have him wrapped around their finger. Then why did she rejected this arrangement? He pondered for a while thinking about all the possibilities. Finally, he decided to brush it off because it was no longer relevant to him. His work here was done and it was time for him to head home.
However, the way how she rejected him made him feel a bit uneasy. Why? Maybe because all his life he had never faced rejections before? It was him who did the rejection work not the other way around. So, this time he felt something was off and it pissed him off. Nevertheless, he maintained his poker face.
After, winding off the rest of his work he finally left home being relieved as he doesn't have to deal with this marriage talk anymore. That made him feel a bit relaxed. However, at that time he never knew how wrong he could have been.