"What do you mean you have fixed my marriage?!" Lea yelled, slamming her palm on the wooden mahogany table, glaring at her father furiously.
"Azalea Woods! Apologize to your father right now!" Her mother yelled entering the room and was stunned by her daughter's behavior.
"Did you know about this too, Mom? Dad fixed my marriage to some stranger!" Azalea shifted her gaze to her mother and inquired.
"He is a good guy and would treat you well." Her mother remarked, pouring tea for her husband and sitting down beside him.
"Every serial killer acts like a goody nice guy until he gets busted." Lea scoffed, crossing her arms and sitting down across the table.
Her mother glared at her, rolling her eyes," You are overreacting. You are the one to make a move on him, it's just natural when both parties are interested they will get married."
Once her mother answered her, she focused on her husband as they both talked completely ignoring their daughter's fuzz. Azalea huffed, speechless at her parents, sinking into the sofa furious about the arrangement. It's all caused because of him.
Three days ago…
In a high-end bar, jammed with people. A woman in a black dress sat by the counter, sipping on her drinks. Her dark wavy hair cascaded down her shoulder. Her nonchalant eyes stared at the wristwatch.
"Lea!" A voice called out from behind, grasping Azalea's attention. Lea turned her head around, her nonchalant eyes glimmered seeing her friend.
Diane waved at her friend, walking up to the counter while she tried to suppress her panting and heaving.
Azalea raised a brow, seeing her friend's overall state, "Did you run here?" She asked, sliding her drink towards her.
Diane took a seat before she gulped the whole content of the glass, "Yeah, there was some accident on the way. So I had to run from downtown." Diane explained, melting into her seat like an ice cream.
"Damn, if your boyfriend learns that his little princess had to run, he would burn this place!" Azalea made a sarcastic remark, signaling the bartender for a refill.
"If you are jealous, just say so. Also, he is no longer my boyfriend." Diane replied, blushing like a newlywed bride.
Azalea gave a confused stare, scanning her from head to toe, until realization hit her. With a stunned face, she looked at Diane's hand and she guessed it right, there was a diamond ring on her ring finger. Astonished, Azalea blinked a few times, pointing at the ring on her.
Diane smiled nodding her head seeing as she understood what her friend was trying to ask. "It was at our anniversary dinner. I thought he would never ask and I have to propose but he did." Diane spoke, her cheeks flushing into a deeper shade of red, she covered her face with her hands as she finished speaking her sentence.
"Sigh, it would be nice if you also had someone to lean on. It's all because of that jerk-" Diane abruptly stopped at her words, placing her fingers on her lips.
"It's fine. He was just a past. It's not like we dated for long." Azalea saw the hesitation in Diane's words. Her fingers encircled the rim of the glass.
A memory of the past flashed through her mind. "The moment I saw you in front of the campus building, right beside the hibiscus blooms; I fell for you. The way you laughed and so at the moment, I couldn't take my eyes off you, Lea." That was the confession she got from her ex. The dreamy feeling of being the most special person in his life until the bitter truth came to light. She was not the special one for him, but his ex. She was just a tool of revenge to get back at his ex.
"That jerk Daniel. If we had known he had such intention, I swear I would have never told you about his feelings. Ugh! Just thinking about what he did makes me furious!" Diane cursed, slapping her things in anger.
"I have already moved on from it. No need to be angry about it. Let's forget about it. It's not important anymore. I will make sure to get a more handsome, richer, and caring guy than him." Azalea remarked, raising her chin high after being proud of herself.
"It seems your wish has come true," Diane remarked, glancing at someone sitting far from them. Puzzled, Azalea turned her head just for her eyes to meet with the most beautiful pair of black eyes. Like force pulling her, she couldn't even take her eyes off the man. The mysterious dark orbs matched his jet-black eyes pulled back. Every part of his face seemed like a sculptor molded it just to be perfect.
Azalea finally took her eyes off and finished her drink in one gulp. It seemed she needed to check out her heart, after seeing him it had been beating like crazy.
"Lea, go ask his number. I think he is interested in you. He is still looking at you." Diane excitedly citied, still watching the man.
"Are you crazy? Why will I make a move? He might be looking at you." Azalea dismissed the idea before she got over herself. Last time she thought that it turned out to be completely wrong. It was better to not have hope than to break her heart once again.
"If he was looking at me, he would have returned my advances. But his eyes are fixed on you." Diane calmly answered, smiling happily.
"Stop uttering nonsense. I will go to the washroom." Azalea stood up from her chair, walking towards the direction of the washroom.
"Just say you are a coward." Diane scoffed from behind.
Azalea stopped on her pace and without sparing any glare or uttering a word she continued to walk.
***
As Azalea walked out of the washroom, a familiar figure caught her gaze. As if time froze for her she instantly froze to her place.
"Lea!" The familiar voice woke her up. Azalea glanced up to find the familiar figure walking up to her. Before he could reach her, she strolled away in the opposite direction, ignoring his calls.
"Leaa." The man finally caught up to her, grabbing her wrist from behind and stopping her from leaving.
"Let go." Lea snapped his grip away, glaring at the man. Daniel sighed, withdrawing his hand with a disappointed face.
"Let's not act like this, okay? We can talk it out. Wasn't our arrangement perfect? Then why are you suddenly acting so cold?" Daniel asked.
Azalea couldn't believe him. The audacity of the man after everything that happened. "How should I act then? Like your ex? I am extremely sorry that I can't be your ex and understand you. Listen carefully…" She took a step closer, crossing her arms and staring straight into his eyes, "...if next time you try to talk to me like this, I will call your ex first then tell her before kicking your balls." She whispered in his ears with a calm voice.
"Lea…stop acting like this. Let's go back to how we were before, no?" Daniel urged, trying to grab her hand. To avoid his touch, she took a step back when her back suddenly grazed something hard. Curious, she looked up just to find the same pair of black eyes staring back at her.
"Are you okay?" With a silvery voice like a gentle breeze on a hot midsummer night, his voice echoed in her ears, instantly taking away her breath.
"Sir." Daniel greeted the man, looking at Azalea and then at his boss curiously.
The greeting caused Azalea to gasp out of her fantasy, and grasp the situation. Suddenly, her intrusive thoughts took control over her, and with a coquettish voice, "Honey, why did you come out? I was about to return." Azalea wrapped her arms around the man's waist and glanced at him with loving eyes.
The man didn't speak, his face stiff and expressionless, making Azalea nervous. Afraid, he might deny it and walk away. Azalea tiptoed and before anyone could react, her lips were already over his.