Annabella blinked her eyes, perplexity written all over her face. Nevertheless, she snapped out of it before waving her hand at him, motioning him to eat with her. The man nodded with a smile and started eating as if he had starved for days.
"So Miss Annabella, I couldn't even properly introduce myself to you. I'm Frognick."
"Cough, cough, cough!" Annabella choked on her juice and started coughing continuously. Her little face flushed red and her throat was hurting like it was burning.
"Cough!" She gulped down some water and coughed for some time before managing to stop herself eventually.
Frognick sighed. "I know my name is weird."
Annabella looked at him, shocked. 'Mister, it's actually beyond weird.'
"Who gave you such a name?" Annabella thought it through and asked what she felt was more suitable.
"It's my mom. Lots of friends, teachers even my relatives asked me to change my name. But I refused. Do you know why?" His voice turned serious.
Annabella shook her head. "I have no idea."
Frognick continued. "It's because it's a memory, a recollection from my mother before she left me. So no matter how ugly and gross it is, I still love it and cherish my name for the sake of my mother's love."
Annabella looked at him with admiration. "Why did she leave you when she clearly loved you so much?" She couldn't help asking.
Frognick sighed again. He put a slice of bread in his mouth before answering. "When I said she left me... I meant she's no longer in this world."
Annabella let out an 'Oh'. "So it's like that. I'm sorry, Mr Froggy."
Frognick chuckled when he heard her. He chewed a pancake saying, "I prefer Nicky as a nickname."
Annabella gave him a low giggle in response. "I think Froggy is better."
Frognick shook his head helplessly. This time, he was eating some Chinese dumplings. He spoke with food in his mouth which made his voice turning a little hoarse. "Imagine me being your husband and you call me 'Hubby froggy' in public. Aren't we humiliating ourselves by acting like that?"
Annabella's eyes widened in disbelief. How could she possibly accept a frog as her husband? Even so, she could just console herself by thinking that he was the Frog Prince from the fairytale and came into her life with fortune. But this frog wasn't a normal one... He was a glutton as well.
She excused herself to the bathroom and quickly escaped from him for the time being. She really didn't like that man. It wasn't only because of his greed towards food. She just realised that he wasn't her type.
After coming out of the bathroom, Annabella went to meet the manager of the coffee shop and asked, "Mmm... There was a teenage boy... He was around 17... Black hair and blue eyes... Handsome..."
Annabella's face blushed as she continued. She felt embarrassed. She couldn't understand why she took the initiative to ask about that life-ruining devil. Maybe it should be due to her massive curiosity. He always spied on her, didn't he? What happened to him now? Was he bored of spying on her?
"Are you asking about Damien?" The manager couldn't help sighing in his heart. Really! That boy's capabilities were beyond words. He could even attract older sisters. What a handsome peacock!
Annabella tilted her head. 'Oh, his name is Damien.'
"He resigned not so long ago." The manager continued, carefully examining her reactions. As he expected, the beautiful girl showed a stunned expression. She kept staring at him as if she couldn't believe what she heard just now.
"What did you say?" It seemed finally she recalled how to speak. "He resigned? But why?"
Mister manager shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know exactly. He said something like he wanted to concentrate on the upcoming exam. You know, he's still a student after all. Thus leaving this job won't be a disadvantage to him."
Annabella held the urge to roll her eyes. It wasn't a big deal to leave such kind of a job whether the person was a student or not. The manager was talking like it was the best job ever in the world.
Later, Annabella returned to her table with a heavy heart. She wished to continue talking with the manager to get rid of that frog. However, although the manager was a talkative man, he was naturally busy with work and he had to leave midway.
Annabella was surprised to see their table was empty. She blinked when she saw the small note on the side where that frog had sat. She bent slightly before picking it up to read it.
'Dear Annabella,
Sorry, Something came up and I have to leave immediately. Let's meet again ASAP until the day of our marriage, hee hee. (PS.Dunno your no. So left u this note) ♡
Yours,
Nicky. '
Annabella raised her eyebrows when she saw that heart-shaped emoji. Even that jerk John never sent a heart to her when he exchanged texts with her. She wasn't lying if she said that it was her first time receiving such an emoji from a man who appeared as her date. Unfortunately, she didn't like Frognick.
Her mom's call came up the minute she left the coffee shop.
"Hello..." Annabella called out tiredly. It was a holiday but because of her mom's torture, here she was... Going on a blind date with a stranger as usual. But this time, she didn't like her date. Not that she liked her other dates. But as for Froggy, he was clearly far away from her expectations.
"How was the date?" Once again, her mother's daily bomb came crashing down to earth and hit Annabella's head directly.
"Oh Mom, I don't like him." Came Annabella's usual answer.
Mrs Parker sighed heavily. "This child. Tell mom, what kind of a man do you want? So that I can choose a more suitable candidate."
Annabella liked her question. Holding the phone in one hand, she started strolling along the road while pondering how to answer her mother's question.
"Mmm... Handsome." She replied. The figure of the waiter boy's perfect body came into her mind almost immediately. She was surprised as she blushed. What was happening to her? Of all the men, why was she thinking about a mere teenager who didn't even become an adult yet?
"Handsome! Can you eat handsomeness?" Her mother's roar from the other side made Annabella flinch and she snapped out of her daydream in an instant.
"Why Mom? Your daughter is a beauty. Isn't it unfair if your beautiful daughter has to marry an ugly man?" Annabella asked coquettishly.
Mrs Parker shook her head, disappointed. "Sweetie," She started lecturing her silly daughter. "When you guys grow older and older... The handsomeness and beauty would fade away one day. So don't consider the outer surface. You have to think about inner beauty the most. It's the most important thing when you choose a partner to live together for the rest of your life." She paused for a moment to catch up her breath.
Annabella didn't say anything and listened to her mother like an obedient child.
Mrs Parker spoke again. "Can you understand what I'm saying? Look at your father. He's an average-looking man but I still fell in love with him. Life isn't like a fairytale world, okay? You must find someone who can love you, cherish you and protect you whether that person is good-looking or not."
Annabella let out a tired sigh. "Mom, I understand."
Suddenly, she saw a familiar figure from the corner of her eye. She quickly said something to her mother and hung up the phone before hopping over to him. Her face was brightened in delight.
It was a tall guy who had a muscular body. He had a handsome face as well. He obviously looked like the male lead from a Romance novel. It was a pity that he already had a girlfriend.
A long time ago, Annabella secretly had a little liking for him during her days at the university. However, he was surrounded by so many girls hence, she didn't have a chance to get close to him. Coupled with the fact that she was labelled as asexual, Liam, the heartthrob didn't pay attention to her despite her beauty.
"Hi Liam," She stood in front of him and greeted him with a warm and sincere smile on her face.
Liam sized the beauty in front of him up and down. He had keen eyes when it came to women. He could tell what was their purpose just with a single look. Nonetheless, strangely enough, he couldn't find flaws in her honest eyes which sparkled like tiny gemstones.
Clearing his throat, Liam asked politely, "My lady, who are you?"
The corner of Annabella's mouth started twitching and she felt ashamed for a moment. She awkwardly answered him, "I'm Annabella from Greenwich University."
"Aaah," Liam slapped his hip as he blurted out. "You are that asexual girl. Anashi! Sorry, I couldn't recognise you. I think it must be because of your beauty. You are more beautiful than the previous you."
Annabella blushed as she lowered her head. "Thank you." She exclaimed with a beaming smile on her lips.
Damien was driving his car towards his house when he accidentally saw a couple in the corner of the road, standing face-to-face and talking with all smiles and whatnot.
'Lovebirds...'
He was about to avert his gaze to the road again when he saw the girl's face. He instantly recognized her. It was the older sister who went on god knows how many dates.
Damien was suddenly so curious. Why didn't she meet her new date at a café as usual? Instead, why did they choose to meet in the street? Was she serious about this one? Why didn't she learn a lesson from the previous incident?
She was almost raped for god's sake! Why was she believing men without the slightest worries? Really! She was stupider than he thought. What a silly woman! It wouldn't be unbelievable if she fell into a trap again.