"Hey! Let's go."
"Where are we going?" asked Jayde with his stupid face.
God, this guy. Even though I said it via text message, via voicemail, and a few minutes ago I just told him that I was going to have lunch with Axel at a seafood restaurant. But that stupid brain was really too slow to grasp information.
"Oh my god Jayde, haven't I told you many times that I'm going to have lunch with Axel. Come on, we're almost late.
"Are you going to take me too?"
"Of course! Aren't you my driver? Come on, you piss me off," I shouted annoyed.
Several employees who were walking around me seemed to be stealing glances several times to peek at our ridiculous fight. But this idiot is really annoying. Even though he has worked for quite a long time as my driver, he should already know how my habits have been to really hate slow people like him.
"Okay, let's go now Ms. Ivy."
Huh! My head always gets dizzy every time I talk to him. But I also can't have another driver besides him because Jayde has genuine kindness in him. Even though she was slow and stupid at times, Jayde was always there for me to listen to all of my whining about my dad's dictatorship. In fact, he always makes me his priority when I'm sad, and leaves his girlfriend who also works at my house as a maid.
My life is so sad. Even though I had wealth, a perfect physique, and a good job, I never really had any friends other than my slow driver.
"Why don't you go with Anastasia today for lunch with Axel? Don't you and your secretary always go out together on business?"
Jayde fastened his seat belt and glanced at me who was done with my seat belt. Jayde flashed a smile and nodded briefly as he saw us ready to go to my favorite seafood restaurant.
"Today we did not have lunch to talk about business. It's a little more personal. Oh, I have great news."
Jayde glanced at my face briefly while waiting for me to give him information. Ahh, why do I love to see his innocent face looking at me like that. Hahaha, I'm crazy.
"I will be betrothed to Axel."
"Are you sure that's the good news? Haven't you always been afraid of an arranged marriage?"
"Am I? But that's not the point of this talk. Do you know? dad—"
"I don't know if you don't tell me."
Tsk, this man! Even I haven't finished speaking, but he has cut me off. How could he possibly know? You stupid!
"Shut up! I'm not done talking. So I made a condition to my dad. I asked dad for more time before he decided on my and Axel's wedding date. I'm asking for one month to get to know Axel better, isn't that great?"
He should also be happy because he is a silent witness to every boring journey of my life. But from the expression on his face, he didn't seem impressed at all. Tsk, you annoying man!
"Oh that's good."
"Only that?" I asked skeptically.
"Then good luck to you. You are going to marry a rich man," he said with a straight face.
Really I want to throw his face with my seven centimeter heels right now. Even though I had spoken quite enthusiastically in front of him, his response was only that. It's really outrageous.
"You should be happy Jayde, why are you acting flat like that?"
"I'm happy for you. I just don't know how to express it." He said with a really annoying innocent face.
"Whatever! You really suck. But do you think Axel can help me get out of the shackles of my dad's dictatorship? Do you think Axel is the type of man like my dad or not?"
"I don't know. But as far as I can see Axel is a nice guy. Your decision to ask your dad for time was right. You can use the one month you have to find out Axel's true personality."
"Well… actually that's one of my reasons. But what if it turns out that Axel is a man like my dad? Old-fashioned and too superior. I'm worried that after we get married Axel will actually tell me to be a housewife at home. Ahh… I can't imagine it."
I shuddered at my own thoughts while imagining my horrible life in the future if it turns out that Axel has a personality like my dad. If that's the case, I must immediately think of a plan to cancel this match because I want to get married to break free from my dad's shackles, not to drag me further into misery like now.
"I don't know. What is clear is that Axel is not an old-fashioned man. He will lose if he squanders your potential to be a housewife."
"My dad's goal in setting us up was to merge the two companies. This is a business marriage, for God's sake!"
"We're arrived, have fun."
"Wait. You haven't given me an answer."
"Poor you." Axel grinned widely.
I immediately pinched his hard arm until he screamed in pain. Jayde's hands tried to remove mine from his body, but he didn't succeed. I am more agile than him and more cunning.
"You dare make fun of me, huh?"
"Damn it, Ivy! It hurts. Get your hands off of me."
"Humph, now give me an answer."
Jayde inched away from me until his broad shoulders were literally pressed against the windshield. He looked annoyed and scared that my fingers might pinch his skin again.
"Say."
"I think you should have other plans."
"What plan? I don't have any plans, Jayde. Even if I wanted to reject this match, I don't have any lover or male candidate to bring before dad."
"You are thinking too far. You better meet Axel now and start talking to him."
I lazily got out of the car and told him to wait at the restaurant too. I asked him to come eat with me, but at another table that was far enough from mine and Axel's so he wouldn't eavesdrop on our conversation. Sometimes Jayde would be very chatty like a woman and like to gossip about me with the rest of his colleagues at home. Or the worst, he will talk about me with his lover who is as talkative as his mouth.
-00-
"Hey Axel, you've been waiting for me long?"
I greeted Axel and acted as if nothing had happened between us. I mean I don't want our relationship to be awkward just because we've been arranged.
"Sit down Ivy. You with your... driver?" asked Axel while glancing at Jayde who had seated himself casually in one of the chairs not too far from our table.
"He's hungry." I said reasoned.
Hmm, I hope Axel understands my position quite well because I can't treat Jayde like a normal driver. I told him that Jayde is my friend, so it's only right that I treat him like one. I never fail to invite him to eat too when I'm eating at a restaurant with my clients or when I'm with Axel.
"Sometimes I feel that your relationship is more than just an employer and driver."
"Axel, that's too rude. Don't let Jayde hear about it. After all, we live in modern era, not in the era of slavery."
People often misunderstand the relationship between Jayde and I. They always thought that Jayde was my boyfriend instead of my driver because Jayde was too handsome to be a driver. Even the first time he became my driver, two years ago, I had my doubts that he actually applied for a job at my house as a driver. I thought at first Jayde was dad's business partner because he came in looking dapper with files to apply for jobs.
"Okay, that's fine. So, what do you want to eat today?"
"I don't know. How about I order your favorite food here."
"My favorite food? Grilled tuna in mushroom sauce? Alright, let's order that for lunch today."
Axel waved at the waitress to take our order. A woman in a black and white uniform soon came, looking at Axel coquettishly. Well, it's a risk to go to lunch with a good face man and have a very good career. Everyone would feel attracted to Axel, of course. Only stupid women weren't interested in Axel. That's me.
"Two grilled tuna in mushroom sauce. I'd like a hot fudge sundae for dessert and a cold beer."
"I'd like a cold diet soda and a fruit salad. Oh, and please take the man's order too."
I asked the waitress to take Jayde's order down as well. I'm so sorry for that man, since earlier I saw him keep staring at the rows of tempting food pictures along the restaurant wall with drooling dripping. Ughh... of course Jayde isn't like that, but I'm not lying about his pitiful hungry face.
"So how are things going with you today? Is everything okay?"
"What things?" asked Axel slightly frowning.
"Didn't you tell me that today you have business before lunch, how are things going?"
"Oh about that. Very smooth, don't worry. And I am happy because everything is going according to my will."
"Now I'm curious. You don't want to tell me, what exactly are you doing?"
Chatting with Axel is always fun. The man had almost the same intelligence and mindset as me, so we were very well suited for each other in business dealings and other matters beyond that. If I become his wife, maybe our life will be very enjoyable because we can exchange ideas and provide motivation to each other to cheer up our lives.
"Ivy, actually... I want to know what you think about our parents' arranged marriage."
"Which part do you want to know?"
"Do you agree or do you actually have another man you love?"
Love? Hahaha.. don't ask me about love, because I obviously don't have anyone to love right now. How will I love someone if my dad always shackles me. Men out there are afraid to approach me because they think I'm too hard to reach.
Yes, I'm too arrogant and confident. Actually it's not like that, it's just that my dad made it like that. It took effort to approach me if my dad didn't agree. And Axel was actually lucky that dad liked him, so he didn't have to make much effort to get close to me.
"To be honest right now I don't have a man I really love other than my dad. And about the arranged marriage, actually I accept it. My dad likes you, and he really hopes that I will marry you someday. But I have asked dad for leeway to get to know you deeper for one month. Do you mind if we live all this naturally for one month. Well... let's just say we're currently dating before we finally decide to get married."
I saw that Axel didn't seem to mind my idea because his facial expression looked very calm, and after that he just nodded his head smiling at me. So it looks like we're officially dating now.
"Deal, I don't mind that."
Axel suddenly shook my hand and treated me like when we were about to sign a business contract. Well, it's a risk if I date a CEO who only deals with tenders, tenders, and tenders every day. This shouldn't be a problem, but somehow my heart actually wants something more than this.
"Thank you for giving me a chance. First of all what do you want to do as my lover?"
"Holding your hand." Axel grinned.
"Ooh, okay. You may hold my hand."
I was a little awkward when Axel held my hand then squeezed it gently.
Do people also do this on dates? I don't know how people should date because I have zero experience with this.
"Honey. May I call you that?"
"Of course. That sounds sweet, doesn't it?" Axel glanced coquettishly at me.
My face blushed for a few seconds. I cupped my palms against my cheeks and tried to shake off the nervousness I felt.
"Easy Ivy. No need to be nervous."
"Oh yeah, I was really nervous. By the way, have you ever been on a date before?"
"I have. But that was so long ago. Three years ago I guess. We split up because she had to continue her studies in Melbourne, while I started to get busy taking care of the family company. So in the end we chose to go our separate ways."
I nodded my head slowly while listening to his past story. I think this will be interesting, and I probably won't take long to fall in love with him. Well, hopefully Axel is the right man and will really become the man on the white horse to save me from the shackles of my dad's dictatorship. Hopefully!