"Let go of me!"
Ariana stumbled backward when the man kicked her from behind.
Her arms flapped in the air as she urgently searched for something to hang on to when she felt a strong grip on her hand pulling her towards something.
Her cap fell off in the process as she was hit by a strong object with a pair of arms securely around her waist as she rested her hands on his chest.
When she blinked her hazel eyes open, she saw the same face of last night looking down at her with concern in his honey-brown eyes.
She wondered why her heart skipped a beat as she stared deeply into his eyes with their faces just inches away from each other.
"Are you okay?" he asked and his deep tone rang down their attached chest.
"Y-You, I'm going to sue you for this!!" the man pointed at her as he held his aching arm.
Ariana pulled away from Jared as she turned toward the man.
"Fine, here's my lawyer's card," she took out a card from her purse which was in her pocket, and dropped It on the table.
"Feel free to press any charges against me and I will be free to do the same. I'm charging you for verbal assault, slandering and why don't we add eye sexual abuse to the case?" she let out sweetly.
"A-As if you can do that!" the man spat back nervously.
"Oh, definitely, I can. See you in court, Mister," she gave him one last glare before she walked down to the manager.
"I apologize for the commotion. I'll ask my secretary to stop over and pay you for the damages," she said and patted the woman on her shoulder before she took off her apron and went towards the counter to collect her bag.
By the time Jared snapped back into reality, she had already left the cafe.
He quickly picked up her cap and ran out of the building to follow her.
"Hey, J!" Trevor called him but he paid no attention.
"Hey! Hey!" Jared called as he ran after the blonde head a few feet away from him.
When she didn't turn back and kept on walking, he added more pace to catch up with her.
"Hey, Miss, wait!" he called.
"Miss Ariana!" that seemed to pique her attention as she stopped in the middle of the pavement.
Jared closed the distance between them with a few strides as he moved to stand in front of her.
"What? If you are looking for gratitude because you saved my butt from falling on the glass, then thank you, now leave me alone," she blurted and turned to leave.
"No, wait! That's not it, you forgot this," Jared held her arm and when she looked down at his hand, he quickly retracted it.
"Sorry," he muttered as he handed her the cap.
Ariana grabbed the cap from him and walked towards a nearby trashcan before she swung it into the bin.
"Happy?" she jeered and turned around to leave.
"Hey! Um, are you alright? He kicked you-"
"Look here, Jerry, what do you want from me?! It's none of your business," she snapped.
"Jerry?" Jared frowned.
Why would she call him that out of all names?
"And also, why are you here working as a waitress? Should you be doing such work when-" he hesitated to complete his statement.
"When what? I am supposed to be hooked to thousands of machines as I fight for my life?!" Ariana scorned.
"What? No, why would you say that?"
"Listen, I am having a pretty bad day and the last thing I need is a nosy stranger meddling in my life," she let out sharply.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta go," Ariana turned around without another look as she walked away from him.
Jared stood on the pavement as he watched her leave while gritting his jaw.
Nosy stranger. Yes, a nosy stranger he was.
She didn't claim he was a nosy stranger last night when they had a pretty good time on the Gondola ride.
He kicked his foot with annoyance as he saw the last bit of her blonde hair disappearing at the end of the street.
"Jared!" Trevor called as he came running down towards his friend.
"Are you alright, man? Who was that waitress? You know her from somewhere?" Trevor asked.
"No, I don't. We're total strangers," Jared muttered before he walked back into the cafe.
"PMS much?" Trevor murmured under his breath before he followed into the cafe.