Ignoring the rather posh environment of the restaurant, Isabella seated at a table where she could see a very gorgeous man sitting a few metres away from her. She felt he had looked at her, but she only misunderstood his action of admiring her.
To be clear, she was admiring the man for his wealth while also drawing parallels between him and the fictional characters she had read about and imagined.
Sadly, she read less because she couldn't afford books, but what she did know was that the man didn't seem much different from various descriptions of the male leads she had read about.
Either that or Isabella simply found the man attractive given his wealth.
Because of her problems and her preferences for guys, Isabella never had a boyfriend, like Hannah, her sister.
Psychology claimed that not having crushes on people wasn't natural, so Isabella wasn't a typical person if that were the case.
Isabella felt threatened by the surroundings, the food, the presentation, and the table, so she made the decision to carry out what needed to be finished as she thought her plan might fall apart soon.
What was the plan she had, and why did it seem to be something that wasn't made up on the spot?
Her plan was quite simple as it was ridiculous, but first, she requested to know the way to the restroom to prepare herself for what would happen next.
Isabella made sure to look as natural as she could as she made her way to the restaurant's restroom.
The moment she entered the restroom and turned to face the wall mirror, however, her heart broke as her sister's comments started to replay in her head, discouraging her from carrying through with her plans.
"Why am I doing this?" Quietly, she questioned herself, sighing after.
"What good is it?" She questioned herself again and decided to remove her makeup as she was feeling down.
This was her aim when a sudden understanding struck her as she turned to face her reflection in the mirror in front of her and opened her mouth to speak.
"After wasting so much time and money, what good is it to come to Grand City?" She stared at her reflection, pondering at herself.
"It's all about the money!"
"Yes, it's all about the money, which is why you're going to him and let him have you. You only care about the money, so go out there!" She said in a low voice, trying to convince herself that everything was fine.
"But, what if my sister dies?" She mumbled again, but this time it sounded like her voice which was naturally soft.
Even though she was aware that she shouldn't, she had to pause in a precarious scenario like hers.
"Sister may not have given this much thought before acting to take care of Mia and I. Isabella, aren't you being ungrateful?"
"No!" Shaking her head, she looked at herself.
"I'm doing it for a good cause," After convincing herself of her actions, Isabella left the restroom and stood outside while observing some women pass by.
Hannah was her sister, and she had had a conversation with herself in the morning. Why once more? She was nearing the conclusion of her plan. She can't withdraw at this point!
She returned to her previous seat, which was fortunately still vacant, and lifted her head to look at her intended target. He was sitting nearby, giving her the impression that she was acting appropriately and that he was interested in her as well, but he was actually responding to the woman who was conversing with him.
it was all in her head.
"Should I do this?" Despite all that happened in the bathroom, Isabella began to doubt herself again.
She inhaled deeply, silently reminded herself of her convictions, and turned to face a waiter about to return.
She called out, attempting to sound sophisticated, "Waiter!"
Because of how convincingly she was portraying herself as wealthy and bossy, the waiter did not notice anything weird as she thanked herself and told him what she wanted. Besides, it was easy to fake things.
Isabella wasn't expecting much until the server brought her a sheet of paper and a pen.
She turned to look at the items in her hand and murmured, "Thank you," to the waiter who gave a slight bow and walked away.
"Now what should I write?" Isabella wondered.
"I've never called a man to me before"
"Oh my God, how embarrassing! How will I write this?" She was a little lost and moaned inwardly in annoyance.
"I need to think and write like a mature woman. I shouldn't waste this paper, and I can't ask the waiter for another. Yes!"
Her countenance occasionally shifted as she attempted to write down her thoughts while appearing to be in conflict with the paper.
'Hello! This is from the lady in pink to your left. I have to say that you look fantastic tonight. Why not spend the night together? It will be worthwhile, I'm sure."
"At the Sleeping Beauty Hotel, I'll be expecting you." Isabella looked at the page and complimented her penmanship.
"Now what next?" She questioned.
"Ah, Yes!"
She then kissed the paper, leaving a signature made with her lips.
Now that she was about to call his attention to herself, her heart began to race.
What was she doing?! Isabella reprimanded her as she gave another waiter she reached out to deliver the brief message she had written to her "Target".
Isabella wasn't someone you'd describe as brave or bold. She might have begun sweating from the actions she had just done if it weren't for the restaurant's chilly environment.
She had never done this before, after all.
Isabella watched as the waiter handed the man the note while keeping her eyes fixed on the man she had identified as her target, silently praying in her heart for a lot of things.
Naturally, the handsome Mister was taken aback by the unexpected note he received, and when the waiter pointed at Isabella, he was visibly perplexed because he had seen her before but had not given her or her existence much thought; however, now that he had received a note from her, he was suspicious and curious about the note's contents, so after giving the "calm-looking" Isabella a serious glance, he turned to read the note's contents.
But when he did read the message, he laughed and put his face down to laugh even louder.
Simply put, it was really unexpected.
Despite seeing the hurt on Isabella's face when he turned to face her, he continued to laugh.
He was unable to stop since, for starters, it was one thing for a girl to flirt with you but quite another for her to actually "hit" on you.
Isabella felt depressed after witnessing his reaction.
She painfully thought, "He didn't have to laugh."
She wouldn't have chosen to do this if she had had other options. She had taken the risk because she needed the money, which only served to break her heart.
"Why is he still laughing?" Isabella continued to stare at the man who appeared to be struggling to contain his laughter as he sat some distance away from her.
He was, however, doing a bad job of it because he even managed to get a few glances from the other diners in the restaurant.
"Did I misspell anything in the message?" Isabella pondered once again as her mind began to stray.
She wondered if she had used a past tense instead of present or if the man she sent the note to was fluent in English.
She would die with shame if it was the latter.
Isabella shuddered at the thought and strode 'majestically' outside the restaurant. She had to continue doing the act at the very least given that she started it.
However, the major reason she left the restaurant was that she was still troubled by the man's reaction, which made her wish she could disappear.
After leaving the restaurant, Isabella sighed and started walking down the road in front of her.
The evening ultimately proved to be a flop. Although she had anticipated it, that did not imply she actually wanted it to fail.
Isabella felt very conflicted.
Despite the embarrassing things she had done in the restaurant, Isabella was determined to see her plans through to completion as she phoned a cab to take her to the Sleeping Beauty Hotel when she recalled that she had requested that the man meet her there in the message she had given to him.
She shouldn't accept defeat just yet. Hence, she made her way to the hotel to wait for the man there.
Whether or not he showed up would determine whether or not the evening had actually ended in failure.
"Let's wait at the hotel for him." As she moved closer to the hotel after getting off the taxi, Isabella reasoned that two hours ought to be sufficient.
There was still a chance that the man would drop by and spend the night with her, allowing her to achieve her goals.
That was all she wanted. Period!
Upon getting closer to the entrance of the relatively big hotel, Isabella saw several ladies entering the hotel on their own with the hotel staff helping with whatever luggage they could help get in.
Isabella deduced that the women she had seen must be travellers because of their clothing.
Isabella often imagined what it would be like to board a plane.
Given that it would essentially be her first time, would she throw up?
She didn't know if this was perhaps regarded as common, but she would still want to board a plane in her life even if it was only once.
And she also wished to visit Paris as it was regarded as a city of Love based on what she had seen on social media.
Isabella thought, "If I ever have a boyfriend, I would love to go there with him," but she quickly snapped back to reality.
"Come on, Isabella, you are just a girl from the slums who will always see beautiful things and crave to explore but will never be able to reach high," she chided herself as she waited outside the hotel for the man who might make her night better or worse.
She reminded herself that it was her fate and that she had to accept it as the truth.
Isabella shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind of all these dismal ideas before turning to look at her wristwatch and realising she had been waiting for more than fifteen minutes.
"Is he even coming or am I that unattractive to catch his attention?"
Her thoughts were interrupted as a car parked right in front of her. The owner approaches the opulent car and lowers the glass so she can see her face.
Isabella wasn't sure whether to be happy or unhappy when she noticed who was on the other side of the car window, but at least her efforts weren't in vain in the end.