â**Chapter 10**â
Madison
"So that's it? You didn't invite me to your wedding and now you're here with your husband?" Irritation can be heard from her voice as she glares at me before looking at the man beside me who can't keep his hands away from me.
"I'm really sorry Haz, I'll make it up to you."
"Anything I want?" Her eyebrows were still attached to each other but her voice softened.
"If I need to divorce him and then do it again, then I will." I said when I suddenly felt ACe gaze on me and his hold on my hand tightened.
"Really?"
"Of course not, divorcing has a lot of work to do but..." I smile at her before using my only card so she'll forgive me. "I wouldn't mind buying you The Sac Bijou Birkin if you'll forgive me." I'm certain it'll work.
That bag has been her dream since we were 18 but she can't buy it because of her father. He doesn't like spending on useless things. That's why I somehow felt pity for her. Every year for two months she'll be sent to Japan to study business even though what she likes the most is cooking and baking.
She seems to think of it before letting out a scowl. "I hate you but come here."
That's it.
I let go of Ace's hand before running to her and hugging her with a huge smile on my face.
"I miss you so much Haz."
"I miss you too bitch. But I still hate you, like 3%."
Chuckling at her, I pulled back and went back to my seat beside Ace. He's been quiet since we arrived earlier. As soon as I settled down, his hands again held mine, making me smile.
"So, this is Ace, Ace this is Hazel my best friend." I introduced them as Hazel had her arms forward to offer a handshake but he just looked at it and gave her a small nod. I can see that she's shocked by his behavior as I immediately took my glass and put it in her hand instead. "Go get me some water first while we look at the menu, I'm kinda thirsty."
Hoping she got my intention, she looked at me before smiling. "Yeah sure, I'll leave you two." with an understanding smile, she left.
My smile dropped as I looked at him. "What's that behavior Ace?"
"What?" he said confused while raising his eyebrow.
"She wants to shake hands with you."
"I'm holding your hands." he said when his thumb started caressing my hand. "Besides I'm not interested, I gave her a nod right?"
That had me letting out a scof, "If you're not interested then let's just go home, I already lost my appetite." removing his hands from me, I grab my bag and walk out of the restaurant.
I know he doesn't like socializing but can't he be more nice?
Hearing the door open, I know he's following me. I was about to walk farther when he suddenly held my hand before pulling me back to him.
"I'm sorry, Okay, Let's stay. Didn't you say you wanted to be here?"
"No, Let's just go home, I'll just tell her something came up." I said coldly while removing his hands from me but he doesn't want to.
His other arms went to my chin making me look at him as I kept looking away. "Sorry, Come on, Let's get back inside. I'll shake her hand if that's what you want."
"Ace it's not just that. She's my best friend, be nice to her." My voice now softened as I looked at him.
"Okay, I will. I'm sorry. Please, sweetheart." His hands snaked on my waist pulling me to him, I want to be mad at him but I can't. Letting him embrace me, I look up at him before sighing. "Let's get back inside."
"You'll be nice to her?"
"I'll try," he said, making me glare at him again. "Okay, I will." he held my hand while dragging me back inside, as we went back to our seats, Hazel was already there.
"I thought you two already left." she said with a smile on her face.
"I just took something in the car, btw Ace wants to say something." elbowing Ace on his arms, he looked at me before looking at Hazel.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Ace, her husband." he reluctantly brings his hand to her making her look at me confused but I just smile.
"Nice meeting you too, Hazel." confused.
"Apologize to her for how you acted earlier." I told him to make him shoot me a 'are you serious?' glare.
"I never apologize toâ" he stops on his words as I scowl at him. "Sorry."
I know Hazel notices me as she laughs. "It's fine." she leaned to me and whispered, "You got some power there bitch." as she moved back. "So what do you want to eat?"
"Just give us your best seller, and Espresso and coffee frappuccino."
"Okay, Give me 15 minutes."
****
"How's the food?" I asked while taking a sip on my drink. I never really liked coffee but Hazel makes the best coffee frappuccino.
Ace is the opposite of me in some things, like food. If I am a picky eater, Ace would just sit there and eat whatever you serve. And I know his reason, just like Liam, they don't want to hurt the feelings of whoever cooked it.
Wanna see what I'm saying? Okie.
"It's good," he said with a nod. As he looked away I poke one marble potato to his fork and dip it in the oyster sauce.
"Here, taste this, She said it's their best seller here." I lied, Bringing my hands up to feed it to him. I know he won't refuse it once I'm the one who tried to feed him. And I'm always right. He bite on it, exactly where the sauce is.
As I waited for any reaction, he just continued chewing but I saw how his jaw stopped working but forced a smile. "It's good too."
See. I knew it.
"Oh may god, Ace you're such a liar." I chuckle, making him look at me confusedly.
"Why?"
"That's good? For real?"
He just looked at me before taking his fork and taking a marble potato then dipping it on the oyster sauce. "Try it then."
Shaking my head, I smile at him while slightly leaning back, away from him.
"It's good for real, if it doesn't then I'll finish all of this marble with it." He seemed serious about it and it made me agree. Leaning back to him, I just open my mouth and wait for him to feed me.
As he did, I just slowly chew it in case i don'[t really like it but... fuck it's true. It's good.
"So? Do I need to finish all of it?" he asked while taking a tissues and gently wiping the side of my lips.
"Sureâ but I'll help you because I'm a Caring person." I know he gets what I'm saying as he chuckles. "I thought it'll be bad."
"That's why you gave it to me?"
"Uhmmâ I just wanna see if you'll react to it." I'm aware that my voice is shaking, making me laugh. "But at least it's good. New Experiment Unlocked."
"You think you can do it?"
"I do, It's just fried potato marble and some oyster sauce with soy sauce obviously. Might as well ask her."
"And why would she tell you her secret?"
"Because she wants that Sac Bijou Birkin. Everything will work for her with that." smirking at myself, he looks at me confused.
"What's with that Sac Bijou Birkin thing?" he said, sounding really curious.
"It's a Hermes Bag, it's her dream bag since we were 18. But her father doesn't let her buy it even though they have enough money. You know, we made a promise that we should be at each other's wedding , that's our biggest promise. But I broke it, so I need to pay something big."
"And that something big is a bag?"
"Guess how much it is?" I asked while mixing my pasta. I took his silence as Yes for me to continue. "2 million dollars." As those words left my mouth, he looked at me shocked.
"Do you wantâ"
"It's not really a big deal. I can buy it for myself if I want to, but as an apology gift. I'll just give it to her." Chuckling at myself. I took a fork-full of pasta.
"You're going to choke yourself." he scolded while wiping my lips again. Even with this small act of his being hopeless romantic with that cold attitudeânot to me toughâ of him gives butterflies in my stomach.
A zoo in fact.
"Waitâ speakingâ Why are you not using my card? That AmeX I gave you, I just saw it on the nightstand yesterday."
"Because I don't really need it, I still have money on my account."
"Still, use it. I named it after you so you can use it, not be a display on the nightstand."
"You're going to give me that when you're the one who's already paying for anything?"
"Why not? I'm not working just for myself. It's either you're going to use it on your own or I'll be needing to ask Zane to tell your Dada to freeze your account just for you to spend it, choose."
He's not letting me go with this.
"Okay, okay chill." Grabbing some pasta with my fork, I bring it in front of him and show him my 'hurry up' smile. "I'll use it."
"Make sure you will." He said before opening his mouth while leaning in for the pasta. Not trying to piss him off, I fed it to him immediately.
As you can see, I don't really have a problem with mouth to mouth sharing, and it looks like he doesn't either since he's been eating everything I offer him with my fork and spoon.
"Have you ridden a motorcycle before?" He asked out of nowhere, making me look at him.
"Nope, I'm scared of motorcycles. It's like, if you ride it, you're putting your life into a 50% chance of death. I would ride it if it had training wheels in it." I said jokingly while drinking my frappuccino.
"Even as a backride?"
"Uhmmmâ Once, I don't kinda remember who's driving it but I do remember that that's my first time riding a motorcycle, In Canada. Why did you ask?"
"Let's go to Harriman State Park, '' they said if you want to see the perfect sunset. You should go there, we'll drive along Seven Lakes Drive."
"We'll use your bigbike? Why not your car?"
"Because it's perfect for a night drive." he said while wiping his mouth and taking a sip on his drink. As I watch him drink it without any expression, I know I make a face as he looks at me confused. "Wanna try it?" he asked while pushing his cup to me.
"No thanks, It's fucking bitter." I started making him shrug and sip again, and that made me freaking curious. "Just a little sip."
"I knew it. Here." He smirk while giving me his glass, he already expected me to have this stupid curiousty when it comes to food. As I took his glass, he also took mine and sip on it, not minding him. I look at his drink before crinkling my nose and took a very little sip.
It tastes like charcoal, shit.
"Ewww." giving it back to him, I scowl at him. "Weird."
He just chuckled at me before sliding the plate of crepes cake to my side. If normal people would just slice through the layers of it, then I'm one of the weird one. That's why Hazel's making fun of me when she saw how I eat crepes cake.
Thinking whether he'll laugh at it or not, I raise my eyebrow while staring at the cakes.
What if he laughs or not? It doesn't matter.
Taking my fork again, I peel off the first layer and put it in my mouth. "Don't laugh." I mumble while munching.
He just stared at me before smiling. "I won't... But you look cute."
A whole damn Zoo just broke out in my stomach. Why do I feel like I'm still some high school girl who just got a complement from her crush? Gosh, we're not kids anymore. Sometimes I forget that he's 7 years older than me.
Hiding my face from him, I tried to stop myself from smiling but it's not coming off until I brought my hands up and held my lips like a duck. What kind of affection is this?
"I knew it, you already fell for me don't you?" I asked as I caught him looking at me.
"Not too fast, sweetheart."
Double kill.
****
Ace
"Wear this." I walk infront of her and hand her my spare helmet. She's already sitting on the big bike while I'm still looking for a helmet that will fit her. "Does it fit?"
I just watched her as she took it on and tried to clasped it on but she somehow can't find the lock. "Can you lock?"
Moving closer to her, I took the lock of the helmet and clasped it. I was about to pull away when I realized how close our faces are. Staring deep in her hazel eyes, and I got lost. I really did.
Slowly leaning closer, I attached my lips on hers and smiled. Just one deep kiss, and I'm good. That's all I need after this tiring week. Slowly pulling away, I caress her cheeks before kissing her nose too.
"I'll just take my jacket then we'll leave..."
"Okie..."
****
Fresh air coming from the woods, Orange Autumn trees dancing around us, a cold breeze from the lake and her arms wrapped around my waist. It feels like fucking home being in her arms.
"It's so cold." she shivers while her arms tighten around me as I can feel her chin on my shoulder.
"That's why I told you to wear a jacket, but you insist that thin cardigan."
"Because the jacket is lame, it doesn't fit my outfit." she argued and I can already imagine that cute annoyed face on her, she doesn't like being told what to wear.
Letting out a sigh, keeping my one hand in the handle, I took her hands and caressed it before putting it inside my jacket's pocket.
"Your hand is warmer." she whispered while shaking her hands in my pocket.
Chuckling at her, I shake my head and wait until we turn to the one straight road so I can also put my hand in my pocket and hold her as she wants too.
It's a good thing that it's a straight road and there's only a few people who know this road, right nowâ It's just us.
"Are you okay now?"
She chuckled at me before answering, "Much better. Is it still far away?"
"We're almost there."
She lets out a sigh and rests her head on my back. After that, she became quiet until we arrived at a small park at the top of the hill where visitors can wait and watch the sunset. The bench was facing exactly where the sun set and there's another bench facing the other side for sunrise.
And we just arrived perfectly as the sun started setting, half of it already disappeared between the trees.
"How did you even know this place?" She walked next to me and stared at the orange sun.
"I always come here."
"Whenever?"
"Whenever I feel like I need to be alone but don't want to feel lonely. Whenever I realized that I have no one aside from Jenny and Kit. Whenever I feel like the world is against me. Those times."
I couldn't see her but I could feel her looking at me.
"But you have me now too."
She said, making me look at her. She always had this genuine smile on her face whenever things were serious.
"I know. And I'm grateful for that."
"You should be." She chuckled at me before walking back on the bench. "Ahhhhâ I wish everyday could be like this."
"Like what exactly?" I took the seat beside her and lay down with my head resting on her lap.
"This. Feeling like I was always on a vacation. I suddenly miss traveling."
"Why, when was the time you went out of the country?" I look up to her but she's still looking at the sunset. From my point of view, her tits look big.
Even though it's really kinda big, not too big but not flat too.
"1 year and 7 months. The last country I went to is Italy. "
"Why did you stop traveling then?"
"Just busy, and Liam sent me to London to study business."
Nodding at her, I held her hand to my chest and also looked at the sun. While I'm not looking at her, a sudden flashback of her...
Flashback - 10 months ago
"Why are you late bro?" Zane scowled at me as I went into his penthouse. He said he's going to show me something.
"Traffic, What is it you want to show me?" I asked as I sat on the couch.
"This, he turned on the TV and showed me a sketch of a sports car, maybe it'll be his new design for his company. "It'll be a top-down car, what do you think?"
As I look through it, I can say that it's impressive. It has always been his passion.
"It looks good, but it'll be much better if you gave me a beer first? Don't you think so?"
He was about to answer when a girl came out behind him and looked at me confused, just like what I did.
Is she his girlfriend?
That's when I noticed her dark hazel eyes just like his, her brunette hair and pink lips. As he looks at her, he suddenly hits her, making her scowl at him. "What the fuck?" she stated while holding her arms that's when I noticed that she's wearing short shorts and a hoodie.
"Why are you drinking that? That's mine." He said while snatching the iced-coffee from her.
"It's mine, you already finished yours yesterday, Idiot." She stopped him flicking his forehead. "Who is he?" She asked as she tipped her chin at me.
"None of your business."
"It's my business since I live here too." she glared at him before stomping on his feet. When suddenly a load gasp left her as she over her mouth, "Waitâ Don't tell me you're gay and he's yourâ Is that why until now you're still single Zane?"
The fuck? With this face? Gay? Me? Do I look like someone who'll have things with him?.
"Waitâ Okay okay, He's Ace, My friend, My business partner, and I'm not a fucking gay, dumbass." He again hit her before introducing her to e. "This is Madison, my sister. Don't worry, she'll leave next week."
His Sister?
I look at her only to catch her already looking at me. I've seen her before, last week, On the elevator. That's because my penthouse is just in front of his.
She's pretty.
Fucking pretty.
Present
So I've met her before? That was our first meeting?