"What's going on, Rita?" Jefferson's voice was a mix of shock and confusion as he tried to make sense of her sudden kiss on his hand.
"I'm kissing your hand, isn't it obvious?" Rita replied, a playful smirk dancing on her lips. She couldn't help but tease him a little, "Can't handle a kiss from a girl, huh? Well, too late now, I've already done it. What are you gonna do about it?" She locked eyes with him, a challenging glint in her gaze, as if daring him to react.
Jefferson found himself at a loss for words. "You..." was all he managed to get out. Rita interpreted his stunned silence as a reluctance to be touched by a woman, but she didn't realize that Jefferson's mind had been catapulted back in time.
He was reliving the moment they first met, a moment that was as bold as the one they were in now.
Back then, Rita had been the same—fearless and impulsive.
Flashback
Jefferson was in the middle of a private business meeting at a club, a setting he internally grumbled about, yet he attended out of necessity.
Meanwhile, Rita, the carefree heiress, was living it up with her affluent friends.
A game of truth or dare had left her a little too tipsy, and she had been dared to kiss a stranger. She spotted Jefferson and, without a second thought, declared, "He's the one I'll kiss."
Before Jefferson could even process what was happening, Rita was making a beeline for him, her intentions clear.
He sidestepped her attempted kiss, completely taken aback.
Rita, not one to be easily dissuaded, taunted him, "What's the matter, handsome? Are you too pure to kiss a girl?" Her laughter rang out, drawing the amused attention of Jefferson's business associates and leaving him feeling publicly shamed.
Humiliated by this brazen stranger, Jefferson wanted to snap back at her, but Rita was already shouting to her friends, "I tried, but the guy's a virgin and won't play along. Still, mission accomplished!"
And with that, she sauntered away from his balcony, leaving a stunned Jefferson behind.
Flashback Ends
Now, as Jefferson's heartbeat quickened, he thought, "You dare to provoke me once more, bold girl? Not this time. I won't let you slip away again."
Fueled by the memory, he moved swiftly, pinning Rita against the wall with barely an inch separating them.
"I won't let you embarrass me again!" he declared, his voice low and intense.
"Embarrass me? When did I do that?" Rita's voice was tinged with confusion as she felt Jefferson's warm breath on her skin, sending a tingle through her.
"Oh, so you've just wiped it from your memory, huh, Rita? Maybe I should jog it for you!" Jefferson's words were heated as he began to tug at her shirt with determined hands.
"Stop, Jefferson! What's gotten into you? I thought you didn't like women touching you. Why are you all over me?" Rita's mind was racing, the fog of alcohol lifting as she squirmed to escape his grasp.
Jefferson's lips were on her neck now, and the intensity of his actions left no doubt in Rita's mind that things were escalating fast. "Hold on, hold up! Jefferson, aren't you into guys? Don't you have a thing for Neo? Why are you kissing me? I'm not Neo!" Rita's voice was a mix of panic and disbelief as she tried to push him away.
"First, you call me a virgin, and now you're calling me gay? I've had it, Rita! I'm gonna show you the answer with what I do, not what I say!" Jefferson's voice was a growl, his teeth clenched as he pressed his kisses more fervently.
"Sorry, really. If I did something before that ticked you off or annoyed you, I'm sorry. But just... just stop for a second, look at me. I've only known you for a few months!" Rita's plea was earnest, her eyes wide as she begged for a moment of clarity between them.
Rita's urgent words seemed to hit the brakes on Jefferson's heated moment, and he hesitated, creating a sliver of space between them. Rita didn't waste a second. She shoved Jefferson back with all the strength she could muster and bolted for the bathroom. With a quick twist of the lock, she was safe inside, her heart pounding against her ribs.
On the other side of the door, Jefferson stood frozen, his mind a whirlwind of emotion. He didn't chase after her; instead, he was left to question his own actions, wondering how he had lost control so completely.
Inside the bathroom, Rita's tears had stopped, and her mind was clearer than it had been all night.
She huddled on the floor, her back against the door, trying to piece together the evening's wild turn of events.
It was now glaringly obvious to her that Jefferson was not gay, but a man with typical desires.
"I cannot endure with the thought that I am going to live with him in the future, as he is like a ticking bomb waiting to explode!"
"I shouldn't have drunk with him!!"
Rita murmured to herself repeatedly and gradually, she went silent.
Now, the question gnawed at her again—why had he chosen to marry her?
Then, a fragment of their conversation echoed in her mind, a clue that seemed to link the present chaos to a past she hadn't fully remembered.
"He said I called him a virgin three years ago? But three years back, I was still the wild, carefree Ross girl..." The realization began to dawn on her, connecting dots she hadn't seen before.
Rita's mind raced as she tried to recall the details of that pivotal night three years ago—the night her life took an unexpected turn.
She remembered being at the club, surrounded by her so-called friends, the air thick with the scent of expensive perfumes and the clinking of glasses.
They were playing truth or dare, a game that seemed innocent enough until it spiraled into something more for Rita.
She was dared to kiss a stranger, a challenge she accepted without a second thought, fueled by the reckless abandon that characterized her life as the Ross family's wild child.
As the memory grew clearer, she realized with a jolt that Jefferson was that man—the stranger she had brazenly approached that night!