♛

I wasn't quite certain if Jordan was just a guy of few words or if he couldn't be bothered to reply me. Though, I was leaning more towards the latter considering our back and forth messaging went something as followed:

Where are we heading?

A charity gala

Why are you asking me?

I need a plus one

Okay, formal or semi formal?

Whatever

Since he could not be bothered to answer my question, I decided to opt for a white Tom Ford cadi mini dress with a pair of simple gold stilettos. With 5 minutes to spare, I briskly brushed through my hair before stuffing a few necessities into a handcarry purse and headed downstairs.

As soon as I was out of the front door, a sleek black Lamborghini pulled to a stop right infront of me. Mentally bracing myself for a long night ahead, I thanked the doorman who opened my car door and slid into the awaiting vehicle.

Usually, I wasn't a big fan of Lamborghinis but right now, I could not be more thankful for its spacious interior. Making myself comfortable on the cool leather seat lined against one side of the car, I tried to avoid looking at Jordan who was sat opposite me.

He had his eyes closed and arms crossed, his posture uncharacteristically stiff. "Are you just going to sit there and stare at me like a creep?"

Caught off guard, I blabbered "I wasn't...doing that."

"Besides, its hard to look anywhere else when the seats are designed to face each other." I explained.

Minutes of silence went by before he finally snapped his eyes open, a smirk appeared once he took in what I was wearing.

"Your hair is down."

I glanced at him quizzically, wondering what the deal was with him and my hair.

"Yeah...I didn't have the time to tie it up."

Instead of saying anything back, he got up from his side and came over to mine.

My heart sped up when he settled down beside me, not close enough to be considered an invasion of personal space, just close enough that our shoulders touched.

"We are about to get off." He explained once he spotted the look of confusion on my face.

True to his words, the car soon pulled to a stop and a valet opened our door. Jordan headed out first whilst I followed behind him, the place we had arrived at was secluded, probably a private villa in a country club.

Too busy surveying my surroundings to notice he had already headed inside, I hurried to catch up to him.

We walked in blissful silence until we were standing infront of the door to the function hall. Abruptly, he paused then turned towards me and looped my arm loosely around his.

Sighing in dread, I tried my best to not let any signs of uneasiness show on my face as we went in.

Apparently, that did not went unnoticed by him. "You're not the only one who doesn't want to be here so stop being a baby."

"Why are you here then?"

"A long time friend of my dad is the host, he'd kill me if I didn't turn up."

"Well, why ask me? I'm sure you have other female friends." I asked.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with Veronique tonight." He stared pointedly at me and I knew this was the point where our conversation would end.

Jordan led us to the front near the stage, where two men in perfectly tailored suits stood.

"Father, uncle Ted."

"Jordan! My boy!" One of them exclaimed, proceeding to pull him into a bear hug.

To my surprise, Jordan's lips lifted up slightly into a half smile, definitely a foreign look on him.

"Who is this son? She doesn't look like Veronique." The other man, who I assumed to be his father, asked as he gestured to me.

"This is Liana, a friend." Jordan replied succinctly.

His father, who resembled a more mature version of his son was taller at about 6'3", offered me his hand and smiled warmly.

"Nice to meet you Liana."

I shook his hand firmly, "A pleasure indeed, sir."

Both men chuckled lightly, "A fine young lady you've got right there my boy." Ted remarked.

"Right, we'll be getting a drink." Jordan said, swiftly directing us to a high standing table far away from the masses.

"I need a drink."

"Go get one yourself."

"Fine, have fun sulking by yourself." I mumbled, trudging away from him.

"A drink for you miss?" The mixologist asked as soon as I sat down on a high stool along the bar.

"I'll take a shirley temple please."

"Not one to drink?"

My head whipped to the right to see an unfamiliar guy perched on the stool next to mine, a tall glass of champagne balanced delicately between his fingers.

"You don't drink?" He repeated.

"Yeah...I prefer not to."

An ombre pink drink was then passed to me and I gingerly took a sip. "I'm Zander by the way."

"Liana."

Zander lightly chortled, "You don't talk much do you?"

"Not to strangers."

He nodded understandingly, "We can change that, what's the harm? It's certainly better than sitting alone at the bar while the adults are having fun."

He was right, there was no need to punish myself any more than circumstances already did, coming here may not be of my own accord but I could at the very least make the best out of the situation. Besides, Zander seemed like a good start in that direction.

"What do you have in mind?"

He grinned, as if he knew I'd agree to it. "20 questions, ladies first?"

I took another gulp of my drink whilst I pondered over what to ask him. At first glance, he sure appeared mysterious, especially with a piercing on his right earlobe and the high strung of air that surrounded him.

Eventually, I settled for "Why are you here? Talking to me, I mean."

"You looked like you could use some great company."

"And you're hot, so what could go wrong." He'd said it with such equanimity that I hardly felt uncomfortable as I normally would.

"Why are you alone?"

"The person I came with isn't exactly someone I'd prefer to be around."

"Awful date?"

"Something like that, but not a date." I corrected.

He raised an eyebrow, "A setup by your parents?"

"No." Another sip. "Just someone from school."

"Which school do you go to?"

"St Gabriel's, hey, why is this turning into a one way interrogation?" I remarked.

He laughed and held up his hand, "I apologise, you just seem so...what's the word...intriguing."

This was the first time I had heard someone say something like that, not that I'd actually know what others thought of me. Albeit, I assumed it couldn't had been anything nice considering my track record with people.

"Coming from someone like you?" My eyes averted from the granite countertop to his.

"Why's that?" He mused, "You find me intriguing?"

Nodding my head, I continued "Yes I mean in a mysterious kind of way, similar to someone I know but different altogether."

Zander took in my words as he finished his drink before requesting for a martini.

"I'd say you and I are more similar than we thought, closed off and guarded, no?"

I traced the rim of my empty glass, finding odd comfort from repeatedly denting my index finger against the smooth edges. "Well-"

The sound of a throat clearing made us both turn around to spot a man, large in stature, standing behind as he regarded us with a stern expression.

"Zander, what are you doing here? Where is Cassandra?" The man flitted his gaze between the two of us before adding, "And what exactly are you doing with her?"

I could feel myself physically shrinking in size with the way this man was staring me down, as if I just committed a felonious act.

Zander huffed out a breath, seemingly trying to contain his rising irritation. "Dad, she's chatting with her friends the last time I saw her. Besides, she's too clingy and sticks to me better than Elmer did."

His father took a step closer to Zander and whispered harshly, "You know this is an important project for our company son, I'm not letting you mess it up so you better get that useless ass off this chair and look for Cassandra."

Zander's jaw tightened visibly and his left fist was clenched so tight the protruding green vein looked seconds away from bursting.

"Okay just let me-"

"I'm not repeating myself twice." His father warned.

Zander didn't even falter once under such an intense situation and to say I was surprised would be an understatement.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'll go after I'm finished with my drink."

His father only gave him one last hard glare to which Zander mirrored before storming off.

Instantly, the air felt lighter and I found myself uncurling my barely noticed clenched fist, subtly wiping off the excess sweat on my dress.

Zander downed his martini in one shot and slammed the cup down. "Sorry about that, my father's has always been a fucking asshole."

I cringed internally at the swear words but decided to not comment on it. "Its alright...that wasn't the worst I've experienced."

He scowled, "He just didn't want to cause a scene, it would look bad on himself."

"Maybe you should go find Cassandra." I suggested, glancing around to check if his father was watching us.

He scoffed, "God, I just can't take a break can I."

I stayed silent, not knowing what to say next and bit my lip out of habit.

"Anyways, it was nice talking to you. At least you can be assured that you wouldn't be the loser having the most terrible evening out of everyone here." He said, sarcasm lacing every word.

Offering a small smile, "Maybe it wouldn't be as bad."

He only gave a bitter smile in return and stood up, ready to walk off when an agitated voice cursed out:

"What the fuck! What are you doing here?"

♛

*offers a peace cookie* (take one before proceeding)

To my absolutely amazing and wonderfully understanding readers, know that I am extremely sorry for not updating for around 2 months T.T

There are a lot of things happening in my life that I won't mention here but thank you to those who are still sticking around, you guys have my heart🥺🥺🥺

Also, huge shoutout to @ElenaZenai for her heart wrenchingly sweet PM to me you guys are just😭😭😭

As a gift of apology, I added 200 extra words to this chappie:,))

If you are still here with me and this story, I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart💗💗💗

P.S. I will try to update more frequently from now on (🤞🏻) maybe fortnightly!!

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xoxo
xuan