[Three years ago]
Melvin was seated at his favorite spot in the club with his best friends, and he listened half-heartedly to the discussions going on around their table.
He had three very close friends in his circle, and they consisted of two males and a female. Nathan, Stefan, and Ruby.
Although he was the wealthiest among them, the only thing all his friends had that he lacked was freedom.
They could all go out whenever they wanted, to wherever they wanted, without anyone breathing down their neck, but that wasn't the case for him.
Whatever he did always ended up becoming news on the first page of blogs and newsrooms. And his mother wouldn't let him go out without guards.
"Mel? Are you okay?" Nathan asked when he noticed that Melvin was neither laughing nor showing any interest in the conversation.
"I was going to ask why you have been so quiet all evening. What is wrong?" Stefan asked, equally concerned.
"Are you bored? Need me to get you an instant girlfriend for the night?" Ruby teased.
"I'm okay. Thanks," Melvin said, distracted.
"That chic has been looking this way for some time now. Oh shit! Don't look. I think she is coming over," Ruby whispered loud enough for the others to hear.
Melvin abruptly stood up and dropped a wad of money on the table to cover their bills and whatever else they wanted before looking in the direction of the lady.
His eyes locked with hers for the barest seconds before he decided she wasn't his type.
"Got to go, guys. Let's hang out some other time," Melvin said before walking away.
The young lady who had been approaching him frowned when she saw him heading outside after meeting her gaze. Had he known she was going to approach him? Kimberly mused.
"Hey! Excuse me," Kimberly called to Melvin as she hurried after him, but he didn't stop and just kept heading for his car.
The few seconds he had spent checking her out in the club had told him several things about her. She was naive and looked too prissy to be in a club.
She was dressed in an ugly loose, orange knee-length, round-necked, long-sleeved gown that didn't reveal any freaking thing about her body, and she had summed it up by wearing green-colored tennis shoes.
She would have looked like a clown, but for her hair, which was twisted into a bun on the top of her head, making her look instead like a teacher or something.
And then her glasses... Who wore glasses with such thick lenses to a club, anyway? He had no doubt that she was probably the type who got bullied in school by the class hotties for being a bookworm.
He really didn't want to be caught on any camera talking to someone dressed like she was.
"I said, excuse me!" Kimberly yelled again and took off her tennis shoes to throw at him.
Melvin turned to glare at her when her shoe hit the back of his head. "Are you crazy?" He asked, even though he was quite surprised by her rude behavior.
Her behavior was completely in contrast with the 'prissy' vibe he had gotten from her earlier.
"Are you deaf? Didn't you hear me trying to get your attention earlier?" She asked him, sounding just as angry as he was, which surprised him even more.
What right did she have to be mad at him?
"Are you mentally unstable? Do I have to respond to you simply because you want me to? I don't know you, so why do I have to talk to you? Why?" He snapped at her angrily.
She snickered as she looked at him. "So, you only have to know me before you can treat me politely? Well, I know you even if you don't know me!" She yelled right back at him as she walked over to where he was and bent down to pick up her shoes.
Melvin looked at her like she was crazy when she suddenly straightened up and flashed him a sheepish smile.
"What? Why are you smiling now?" He asked as he drew back from her and looked around the quiet parking lot.
Was she like a vampire or something and was going to attack him anytime soon?
"I'm sorry I threw my shoe at you, but I only did it to get your attention. I actually need your help," She told him with a sheepish smile.
Melvin drew in a deep breath before looking at her incredulously. "You need my help, yet you were yelling at me just now? You mean you threw your stinking shoe at me just because you wanted to get my attention for MY HELP?" He asked in disbelief.
"Fine. I apologize. I admit that I went overboard. I've been accused of being quite a melodramatic drama queen if you know what I mean," She said with a burst of nervous laughter, but Melvin simply looked at her with a raised brow as he waited for her to say what she wanted to say.
"You can throw your shoe at me if it will make you feel better," She offered, and Melvin resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"Can you just say whatever it is you want and leave? Is it money? Do you want money?" Melvin asked irritably and groaned inwardly when he sighted his friends spying on them from a distance.
She quickly shook her head, "No. Not your money."
She had spent over an hour drinking while trying to summon the courage to talk to him, but now that she had managed to approach him, she suddenly couldn't bring herself to tell him what she wanted.
"So? What do you want?" Melvin asked impatiently since his curiosity had been aroused.
Her heart hammered heavily against her chest, and she closed her eyes so she wouldn't see the expression on his face.
"I want a scandal!" She blurted out.
"A what?" Melvin asked as his eyes almost bulged out from their socket.
He wasn't sure he had heard her correctly.
She swallowed nervously and opened one eye to spy into his face. "I want a scandal. With you," She repeated, her cheeks a flaming red.