Suddenly, she looked to her right and saw the most perfect item to see at this time - a chainsaw.
✧˖°.✧˖˚▹ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ༺༄ؘ 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 11 ༄ؘ༻ₓ˚ .୧ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୭˚▹ₓ˚.✧˖°.✧
Ariani walked out the door with Jahleel and looked out into the driveway, expecting to see an average car for an average dude. However, she almost fell backwards once she saw the shiny, bright red car grinning at her in the light.
"This... this is your car?!"
Jahleel chuckled quietly and nodded at Ariani's dumbfounded face.
Ariani turned her attention to the beautiful car. "What? This is the car I want!"
"Heh, it's easy to buy, just save your money," Jahleel replied as he shifted his weight to one leg.
Ariani turned to him. "How much does it cost?"
"Just eight-hundred K," he answered. "For someone with the amount of fame you have, it shouldn't be 𝘵𝘰𝘰 pricey, am I right?"
Ariani stared at Jahleel like he was crazy but quickly changed her expression. She didn't want Jahleel to think that she was lower than him somehow!
"Hell yeah, you're right," Ariani responded. "I could probably buy this like, right now."
Now, Ariani knew she was lying straight through her teeth but didn't want to admit it. She didn't want Jahleel to feel better than her, especially after how she had planted disrespect after insult after disrespect on his name.
Jahleel grinned and crossed his arms. "Oh, really? What's your net worth?"
Ariani scratched her forehead and looked away from Jahleel's gaze. She felt nervous and uneasy whenever she tried to stare into his eyes since now that the pair were up close, Ariani 𝘥𝘪𝘥 see how unique and gorgeous his eyes were. They looked just like the planet Earth but more vibrant, which was 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 attractive to her.
𝘜𝘨𝘩, 𝘯𝘰! Ariani thought. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥! 𝘙𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘑𝘢𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘭, 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴. 𝘌𝘦𝘬! 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦?! 𝘖𝘔𝘎, 𝘈𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪, 𝘎𝘐𝘙𝘓! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘺! 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘺'𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦! 𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥? 𝘐 𝘢𝘪𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘺, 𝘢𝘮 𝘐?
"Um... what did you say? I'm so sorry."
"I asked what your net worth was."
Ariani smiled awkwardly and rolled her eyes. "Oh, um, like 50 million," she lied. "I'm quite rich, heh. What's your net worth?"
Jahleel chuckled nervously and brushed his dreadlocks away from his eyes, making Ariani close to melting into a puddle. "Oh, I don't mean to brag but..."
She braced herself for the embarrassment and humiliation that would follow his words.
"One billion dollars."
Ariani gasped. She almost choked on her saliva in shock!
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴?! Ariani thought. 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘕𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴? 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, '𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘕𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘜𝘚𝘋. 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺... 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘜𝘨𝘩, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘠 𝘖𝘞𝘕 𝘭𝘪𝘦? 𝘔𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦... 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘒. 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦! 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦, 𝘙𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘯! 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭!
Ariani smiled at Jahleel. "Wow, one billion! You must be the richest person to ever walk on this earth!"
"Heh heh, I wouldn't say 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵-"
"Just kidding, 'cause 𝘐 am!" Ariani blurted out, interrupting Jahleel. "Y'know, I ain't wanna be like, braggy and like, a show-off, so I just lied about my net worth, sorry! My net worth is actually 500 billion!"
Even 𝘈𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 wasn't comfortable with this much lies she was spewing out her mouth. She was expecting her nose to grow long and ugly any moment then.
"Um, the richest human on Earth is Elon Musk with a net worth of 250 billion...," Jahleel muttered.
"No, er, they just don't know that 𝘐'𝘮 actually the richest person 'cause I like to keep my shit private."
"I understand," Jahleel replied, still reluctant to agree with her statement. "Anyway, would you like to step in the car and drive already? I'm quite hungry!"
"Oh, course- I mean of course! Sorry for all the unnecessary chatting."
"Nah, you're good," Jahleel responded as he walked to his car.
He opened the door leading to the passenger seat and gestured his hand to let Ariani know to step into the car.
"Oh, thank you, hehe!" Ariani giggled as she smiled brightly.
Right as she stepped into the car, she instantly hid her face in her hands. 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮?! 𝘌𝘸𝘸! 𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘈𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥! 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵! 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭! 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦!
"Ma'am, are you okay?" Jahleel turned to Ariani with a look of concern on his face. "Did I say something wrong? I don't know what I did but I promise it won't happen again."
𝘈𝘙𝘎𝘏, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭? Ariani thought. 𝘙𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴! 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵.
"Oh, 𝘯𝘰! You ain't said nothing wrong, don't worry."
"Alright."
"Oh, and also, you don't have to call me 'ma'am,'" Ariani added. "Ariani is fine. Not that you shouldn't see me as a 'ma'am,' it's just that it's kinda weird for someone to call me that all the time, y'know?"
"Alright, I understand, Ariani."
"Thank you!"
Jahleel nodded.
Right when Jahleel was going to insert his key into the keyhole to start the car, Ariani took his hand softly. "Wait, have you gone to Giovanni's before?"
Jahleel shook his head.
Ariani let go of Jahleel's hand and returned her hand to her lap. "Then how will you know the way to go?"
"I usually just drive my sister and her boyfriend there like, once a week."
"Oh, okay. Sorry, I was just worried you didn't even know the way and was going to get us lost or something."
"No, of course not."
Jahleel started the car and drove out of the driveway while Ms. Rosé watched from a window, smiling.
Jahleel had been driving for some time while stealing quick glances at Ariani's beautiful face before speaking up to break the silence.
"So, what do you like to do?"
Ariani, who was originally fiddling with her fingers, turned her attention to Jahleel and smiled.
"Oh, um, nothing really."
Nothing? Really?
𝘖𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘴𝘩, 𝘐 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯' 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵! Ariani thought. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦? 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨?
Jahleel chuckled softly. "You don't like to do anything?"
"Oh, 𝘯𝘰, I was just, um, nervous, I don't know why exactly, heh heh," Ariani stammered. "I meant, I 𝘥𝘰 like to practice Tae Kwon Do!"
Jahleel took his eyes off the road for a few seconds to look at Ariani with a surprised expression. "Tae Kwon Do, wow," he replied. "That's, that's interesting. I never knew someone like you would like Tae Kwon Do."
Ariani smiled proudly because this time, she wasn't lying. Finally.
"Well, yeah, no one really expects me to like the sport."
"Are you any good?"
Ariani opened her purse and took her phone from it. "Definitely! I could show you a picture or video of me at a competition, I got a gold medal!"
"Really?!" Jahleel smiled. "That's amazing, I'm so proud of you."
𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦? Ariani thought. 𝘖𝘔𝘎, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺! 𝘙𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦! 𝘜𝘨𝘩, 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘈𝘳𝘪, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩!
"Aha, thank you, Jahleel, that means a lot," Ariani replied. "No one really ever says stuff like that to me."
"For real? Well, they should start to because there is a lot to admire about you."
"Aww, there is?"
"Of course! You're a beautiful model, 𝘈𝘕𝘋 you do a martial art! So remarkable."
Ariani smiled. She was blushing so hard from all the compliments, and the butterflies that were originally flying around her stomach had turned to moths biting at her stomach! Jahleel noticed her pink face and laughed softly.
"Um, thank you, you's so kind," Ariani said softly.
"Don't mention it," Jahleel replied. "So... you don't like to model?"
Ariani shook her head. "Oh, no; it's never been my thing. I would much rather be an actress for a martial arts movie, like Bruce Lee."
"Bruce Lee? You know who he is?"
"Of course! He's like, my favorite famous person ever."
"So you 𝘥𝘰 like sports. I never would've guessed."
"No, you're wrong," Ariani responded. "I don't like 𝘢𝘭𝘭 sports, just Tae Kwon Do."
Jahleel stopped the car to obey the red traffic light. "Hm," he said. "So, may I ask, why are you doing modeling if you don't even like it?"
"My mom forces me to. I always do everything to impress her but nothing seems to work which is why these recent months, I've just been really rude to her. We used to have a close relationship but then... she just started using drugs out of the blue."
Jahleel looked at Ariani with concern and sympathy in his beautiful eyes. "Oh, I'm so sorry for asking."
"Oh, you're good."
Jahleel felt terrible for Ariani and her relationship with her mother but he couldn't help but to be just a bit more nosy. "Is she living with you or are you living with her?"
"She's living with me. She's been clean of drugs for about a year now because of me but if she has freedom to do whatever she wants, she may get her hands on drugs once again."
"I'm so sorry that you're going through all of this," Jahleel replied as he accelerated the car once the red light turned green. "If it makes you feel better, know that if no one says they're proud of you, just know that I am and will always be."
Ariani gushed at his sweet words. "Oh, thank you so much," she said. "You might be the sweetest person I have ever met."