Louise Shelton was taken aback. Her cheeks blushed right away.
What was this man doing? Is he hitting on her upon knowing she's on the inspection team and they're assigned to the Cassanos? Louise has never met someone as straightforward as him.
She just smiled, shrugging off the remark Randall had made.
"Okay, thank you for that. Now, should we go? I still have a lot of plans to do for the inspection." Louise bowed down her head right away, but as she was going to past through, Randall stepped up, stopping her again.
He stayed in her front, and Louise sighed. Her patience was still full, but if Randall continued to do this, Louise would bawl out and it will destroy her soft but menacing image. It was one thing her mother always reminded her.
Try to be soft on the outside, but whenever you spoke, everyone will be afraid on how you exude authority.
Louise has been dealing with that kind of behavior, and it's a default. She just had to improve it. By now, as Randall come across her way, Louise has known this man is not easy to shake off.
"My eyes lay off because of you the moment I saw you inside Jeremy's office. I got surprised when I saw a commander and a fresh face like you. I'd better brace myself to ask you for dinner, because…." Randall trailed off, looking at her eyes, observing it. His eyes came down, and stared on her lips.
Louise wouldn't go insane by just a single look, but the way he stitched his words to something else, it awoken her desire to take on and hit the love.
"…I might get turned down if I ask," Randall finished.
He's daring her. Louise tilted her head to one side, and smiled sadly. Silence stretched on, and Randall waited for the magic words.
They both look at each other's eyes as Louise sighed, stating, "I thought you're going to ask. I might as well give my answer today."
Randall knew this is the card to play. Hesitation is her weakness. Some of the woman manifest for a long time, waiting for the man to make a move, and it drove them crazy whenever the guy didn't do it. It's time to hold on until she has gone insane.
"I know your answer right away. So, I'll go ahead."
Just like that, he ended the conversation with a cliffhanger. Randall didn't know what he had done, but Louise's mouth dropped right away. He walked past ahead, leaving Louise hanging in her place.
She scoffed, turning to Randall, mumbling, "So you want to play the game, huh?"
Louise fumed, her nostrils flared up, and went away, annoyed.
Randall turned in another corner, leaning his back against the wall, and exhaled.
His heart was pounding too much after he pulled off a skit. Randall isn't going to calm down if they don't run to each other again. He held his chest, closing his eyes, and clicked his tongue. "This isn't going to get good."
…
All afternoon, he checked the paperwork before delivering them to Leo's office.
All the time, Louise entered his mind, and how that skit was the first conversation they had. It made him a coward for not asking, but a defiant one on the other. Randall let go of the last paper he had to check with, and sighed.
Randall skimmed through his contacts, and called Leo.
His office was floors up, and he doesn't want to ride the elevator just to see him.
Leo picked up after the fifth ring. "Why?"
"I have done the conversation earlier. I made a move, hitting on her makes me so sad of not dealing it well. It drove me crazy, Leo." His voice was still the same, and for all he knew, his insides were screaming the way Randall was chasing a runaway to get killed.
This time, it's all about a woman.
Leo took a moment for a while before asking, "He's your first love, isn't it? She captured your heart right away the moment you saw her, Randall. It's obvious you don't like the job at first, but you don't want someone to take over and make her fall in love with someone else."
It's the best way to hide everything: by using their love bone.
In any case, the plan could still fail. If Randall doesn't let Louise bait in his hook, the things would deteriorate sooner. He had to take care of it with his hands.
"I know, I know, Leo. I was in denial for the past few days, but the moment I had known the plan would stake out, this happened. My heart couldn't stop beating for her."
Randall is worried. Things would get out of control if their emotions took over their plans. Randall was the one insisting that they shouldn't fall in love, but look at him now. His eyes itched every time he looked at another woman, and the only thing he sees was Louise.
"Now you understand what I feel, Randall. Love can't be controlled, and no matter how many times we have to fight for them, I know we can do it. I was just sad that the love of my life wouldn't be the same as yours."
Randall stood up from his swiveling chair, and looked out of the office.
Louise Shelton is a commander, and Randall is a spy. Both of them were Calvorite citizens, while Leo… is madly in love with a Telamur one. Randall knew it's complicated, but if their leader wanted to achieve love beyond boundaries, then that would mean he would stay behind his back and proved that a promise should have an action, too.
"I can't kill Zella, Randall. When the time comes that I should, I know I wouldn't be able to do it. Even a simple cut in her fingertip, it awaken my worries. I never did it for a while until Zella came."
Randall kept on listening. They have been bickering about what to do to Zella the first time Randall brought her, but Leo was playing fool that time, saying everything would be okay, and nothing would come in their way of plans. But when the tables turned around, and he had gotten closer to her, he broke off his principle.
"I thought you wouldn't fall in love, Leo. Now the one you always avoid came near on you, pinning you down, and there's no escape. I know for a fact you wanted to get out of this hell, but that would mean death for all of us."
Both of them stayed silent.
"Let's do that, Randall."
He wondered what he was talking about.
"Let's fall in love to the woman who captured our hearts."