"Y—y—you aren't Maya!" Nathaniel gasped as he stumbled backward, almost tripping on the strange woman's gown.
"Maya? Maya who?" The woman asked as she took a step closer to Nathaniel.
Nathaniel tried his best to get away from the woman, but her fiance quickly came up from behind, blocking his path.
"Damn, you're handsome and you look rich," the woman said as she eyed Nathaniel like a piece of meat from head to toe. "I'd leave this loser in a heartbeat if you'd take me."
"Sorry, but I have someone else." Nathaniel said as he excused himself and tried his best to escape the ballroom.
"Hey, you punk!" The woman's fiance shouted as he tried to grab Nathaniel by the collar.
On instinct, Nathaniel grabbed the man's arm and threw him forward in self-defense. The man was too stunned to do anything as he was flung across the aisle and landed on his back.
Nathaniel gasped as he looked around at the damage he had caused.
"I'm sorry," Nathaniel apologized as he looked around at the stunned faces of the guests. "I thought she was someone else, sorry."
Nathaniel didn't even bother to help the fiance. He was worried that the man would seek retribution and attack him.
He could feel the eyes of the guests around him as they watched him leave. He was just glad that it didn't seem like anyone had the presence of mind to film what had happened on their phones.
If that incident had gone viral, it would have been the end for him.
Eventually, Nathaniel managed to stumble out of the ballroom only to be greeted by a crowd of people leaving from another event.
He took advantage of this opportunity and quickly joined them as they left the hotel.
Behind him, the fiancée and some of his friends also rushed out only to be met by the crowd. Nathaniel watched from a safe distance as the man and his friends gave up and returned inside.
Nathaniel let out a sigh of relief as he found a peaceful area nearby.
He was trying to recover his composure when a conversation caught his attention.
"Maya Miller is just plain stupid!" A woman hissed as they stood behind Nathaniel, gossiping as if no one in the vicinity knew who they were talking about.
"And poor Oliver, he's such a nice guy, they've been friends for years and still she rejects him" another woman commented.
Nathaniel kept his back to them as he noticed a familiar figure approaching.
The young man looked up at him in surprise and waved. Nathaniel smiled and pressed his lips to his finger signaling him to keep quiet.
"He's actually quite a catch if you think about it," a third woman chimed in. "He's rich and well-educated, also he's loved her since they first met!"
"I heard that she kept rejecting him because of a man who left her in the middle of the night."
"What?!"
"Yeah, according to what her sister told my cousin's best friend, Maya Miller was going to marry him!" Nathaniel could hear the other girls gasp in shock.
"I hope this man could at least hold a candle to Oliver Wright."
"That's the thing, from what I've heard he was just some runaway from the city!"
"He could be a criminal!"
"Maya's sister thinks as much. She said that one night the man simply vanished and the next day the city was swarming with military and police," the first woman continued in a low voice.
Fortunately for Nathaniel, her voice was still loud enough for him to hear.
"It was because of him? They said it was routine exercises," The third woman asked.
"Routine exercises were obviously an excuse, it was a manhunt for someone that is possibly a very dangerous criminal."
"Nate!" A very familiar voice interrupted Nathaniel's eavesdropping.
Nathaniel searched for the scrawny young man that used to follow him around. To his surprise he was greeted by a tall well-toned young man.
"Jay? Jay Woods?!" Nathaniel asked in shock as the man came running up to him.
It was as if he was being given a glimpse back into the past. He didn't expect to see this person here, not after his embarrassing escapade in the ballroom of Primus Hotel.
Most of his features remained the same, Jay's brown hair was still cut short and his brown eyes still glistened in wonder.
"Nate! You came back!" Jay's voice trembled as he ran up and stood before Nathaniel.
His eyes were starting to water as Nathaniel laughed and shook his head.
'This kid is getting too emotional.' Nathaniel thought to himself as he watched Jay stop the tears from falling.
"Damn, you hit puberty!" Nathaniel chuckled.
Jay was not taller than him, but he was close. Back when Nathaniel left, Jay only reached his chin, making him truly look like a wimp in the eyes of others.
"I grew a few inches and decided to hit the gym," Jay shrugged. "Also someone had to protect Maya. She was so heartbroken—"
"Jay, do you know where my fiancée is?" someone asked Jay in a smug tone.
Nathaniel turned around to see a man in well tailored expensive looking black suit approaching them. He was clearly unhappy as he walked up to the pair with his friend.
"Did Maya actually accept your proposal this time?" Jay spat in a poisonous tone.
"This time?" Nathaniel wondered how many times this man had actually proposed and gotten rejected.
'This must be Oliver Wright, the man Maya was supposed to be getting engaged to.' Nathaniel thought as he sized up the competition.
And he was forced to admit that Oliver was actually not bad looking. As a matter of fact, he could see how Oliver would be an attractive choice to most women, but Maya was not most women. Hopefully.
He and Oliver were probably around the same height and size, but that's where the similarities ended.
Nathaniel and Oliver were like day and night, light and darkness.
Nathaniel's green eyes met with Oliver's dark piercing orbs. Where Nathaniel looked proper with his short and neatly cut blonde hair, Oliver had a wavy black mop on his head that seemed to be in disarray from the day's events.
'I guess some women just want the bad boy type,' Nathaniel concluded as he continued assessing the man approaching them.
"Shut up," one of Oliver's friends said as he glared at Nathaniel. "Who are you even? I didn't know they allowed beggars into Primus Hotel now."
"Oliver, Oliver!" a man shouted, stumbling, as he ran up to Oliver Wright. "I just got a call, Mr. De La Rue is in Arlington."
At the mention of Nathaniel's family name Oliver and his friends were sent into a panic.
"Where?" Oliver demanded.
"He's—" Before the man could even respond, several bodyguards entered the lobby of Primus Hotel.
"Mr. De La Rue!" Oliver gasped as he bowed and quickly rushed to the man surrounded by bodyguards.
Nathaniel fought down a laugh when his poor assistant stared at him in shock.
"I'm not—" Clark began to say when he spotted Nathaniel among the crowd. "Mr—"
Nathaniel lifted his finger to his lips and Clark knew to remain silent about his identity.
"Mr. De La Rue! What brings you to Arlington? Your assistant didn't tell us you were coming, had you said so we would have prepared a much grander welcome!" Oliver boasted as he spoke to Clark Thomas, the assistant.
"Sorry, but what's your name?" Clark asked as he scratched the back of his head.
"Oliver Wright, I'm the Senior Manager for Sales at DLR the Arlington Branch," Oliver boasted.
"Ah, Mr. Wright, you see I'm not Mr. De La Rue, I'm his assistant," Clark explained. "Mr. De La Rue is already in the city dealing with private matters."
As Clark spoke he couldn't help but glance at his grinning boss.
"De La Rue," Jay repeated slowly as he looked at his friend next to him. "Are you related to them? Your last name is Rue."
"Don't be an idiot." Nathaniel replied coolly as he watched the scene before him unfold.