Claire was beyond confused. She couldn't understand why Aiden seemed so adamant on what he was saying.
Sure she could see that Aiden was somewhat interested in her, but that didn't mean it would be anything more than lustful desire. A man like Aiden had an endless list of both woman and men that would die for the chance to be with him. Even if he ignored them or treated them badly, they would compete against each other if they had to just to occupy the spot by his side.
"You don't seem to have understood me Mr. Villan. I'm telling you that I'm not available." Claire stated to him as the seriousness in his face failed to waver.
"Are you married?" He asked her.
Claire was somewhat shocked by the question but nonetheless answered him. "That has nothing to do with me rejecting-"
"Answer my question." He cut her off.
The tone in his domineering voice made her shiver a bit. In the daze of her slow reaction to his order she answered. "No, I'm not." Quickly realizing she answered absent-mindedly she immediately tried to recover. "But that has nothing to do with-" She was interrupted again.
"Then I stand by what I said. If you are not spoken for, then there is absolutely no reason for me to let a woman like you reject my advances just because you find yourself to be unsuited for a romantic relationship. Especially when the advances from my part haven't even begun. So as I mentioned before Miss Collins, I'm not backing down." As Aiden retorted back at her, the man that had taken their orders earlier came out of the kitchen pushing a serving cart towards them.
They sat in silence as he placed their food on the table and left again. Neither of them moved or looked away from each other. Not even when the delicious smells from the dishes in front of them reminded them of how hungry they were.
The only thing that could be heard was the soft sounds of the violin coming from the far end of the restaurant thanks to the musician that played while giving his back to them. He had been instructed that no matter what, he was prohibited from looking at the people who would be dinning there that evening. They had gone as far as to make him wear ear cancellation headphones to avoid any eavesdropping from his part. The only reason he hadn't ruined any of the pieces he played was because of his exceptional ability and talent.
During the time they were being served Claire was dumbfounded. She didn't understand what was going on. It was normal for a man to feel insulted or even angry after being so unkindly rejected. It was a blow to their ego. Thanks to her way of speaking as well as her unsympathetic method of refusing men's advancements, Claire would always end up making more enemies than she could count. But even if it meant having more eyes look at her with disdain she didn't mind, because it also meant they would stop pestering and pursuing her.
'So why are you still being so damn insistent!?' Claire thought to herself.
As soon as the man Aiden had assigned to be their waiter was nowhere to be seen, Claire snapped out of her confused state and spoke again. Completely forgetting about her usual gentle woman act.
"What the hell is wrong with you? I'm clearly trying to draw a line between us and you still don't see it. I know you aren't stupid so why are you acting as if you have more brawn then you do brains? Or are you just egotistically ignoring me? I never would have figured you to be such a person." She whispered-yelled while her eyebrows furrowed.
"I'm not ignoring you. I simply refuse to abide to whatever nonsense you obligate yourself to live by." Aiden was over the moon. She was showing him her true character to him and wasn't even aware of it.
"Nonsense!? Really now!?" She was starting to get mad now. "So you expect me to simply comply with hypocritical, untrustworthy and egotistical men that direct their lust towards me!? Or is your ego so big that you believe that my restrictions apply to anybody else but you!?"
She felt insulted. This man that met her just recently had the nerve to call her self preservation mechanism nonsense!? Not only could he somehow make her feel as if he could see through her, but on top of that, he decided to criticize what he saw?
Aiden saw the fire in her eyes starting to burn and understood his words had been misinterpreted. He had seen how her eyes turned sad earlier when she decided to address the topic, but now he could see it easily triggered her as well. Although he felt a tinge of guilt for making her feel this way, he was too happy that she showed him another side of her to let it bother him.
But just as he was about to answer her, a loud ringtone interrupted him from speaking. He was going to ignore it until he saw the angry expression on her face morph into a worried one. Immediately after hearing it she opened her handbag and took out a small black beeper that was ringing and flashing. She abruptly stood up and started dashing towards the front exit leaving him without an explanation. He sat there confused for a few seconds before he stood up and quickly followed her without much thought.
Once he got outside he saw her talking to a man on a motorcycle for a brief moment before he sped off. He reached her as the motorcycle disappeared from their sight.
"What happened?" He asked her once he saw her face was ghostly pale.
'What the hell happened!? She was fine a minute ago!? Did that man do something to her!? I'll kill him!' He was already starting to plan the poor man's execution when she turned around to face him so fast he was afraid she would get whiplashed.
"Lend me your car!" She almost yelled at him while grabbing both of his forearms.
Seeing as her eyes were begging to him he left all other thoughts aside.
"I can take you. Just tell me where." By her behavior he knew it was something important, but opted not to ask any questions. He could see it wasn't the right moment.
"No! Just lend me your car! Please I need to go!" Her eyes were on the verge of tears while she pleaded to him.
Holding her shoulders firmly he answered her. "Claire, I can't let you drive in the state you're in. You won't be able to get wherever you need to be if you crash along the way." He calmly told her.
Claire was in such a panic she hadn't noticed she was shaking. Her eyes were starting to sting from the tears she was holding back and she couldn't think straight.
He was right. She wouldn't be able to do anything right now other than panic.
Seeing as she was gaining back her senses Aiden continued to talk. "I'll take you wherever you need to go. Just let me drive okay?" He asked her in the calmest voice he could muster.
She nodded her head agreeing with him while trying to calm herself down.
After they quickly got in the car Aiden started the engine. "Where am I headed?" He asked her as he buckled his seat belt.
"Imperial Ho-Hospital" She stuttered as she answered.