Chapter 10: 𝟴

AIMEE

"You look so hot."

I looked at myself in the mirror. I was dressed in a black tight dress with long sleeves, that reached just below my knees. It hugged my body in all the right places. It also had a slit on the left side.

I had straightened my hair and Evelin did my makeup. I really did look good.

It was Saturday and the day of the date. Kai said that we were going to a fancy bar slash restaurant. I guess this outfit would do.

Also, it was winter, so at least I would be warm.

"Wear these." Evelin showed me a pair of black heels.

I gave her a skeptical look. "My feet are going to be frozen in those shoes."

"You'll be inside anyways." She rolled her eyes and shoved the shoes in my hands.

They were normal black plumps. I wasn't the biggest fan of heels but this was a date, so I had to put up with it, I guess.

I also wanted to look good. I don't always get opportunities to dress nicely.

"Is he going to pick you up?" Evelin said while she gestured for me to sit on the vanity chair.

"Umm, no. I don't want him to know where I live. It's our first time meeting and I didn't want to just give him my address." I couldn't just believe him like that. He was a stranger after all.

"That's a good point." She started fixing my hair.

"I'm literally so nervous," I admitted. I was debating if this was a good idea or not, for the past week.

I've never been on a date with someone I've never met. It was something completely new for me.

"You'll be fine Aimee. What's there not to like in you? You're amazing. You'll see, he is going to want another date." I played with the ring on my finger. It was a gift from my grandpa for graduating college.

It was a thin silver ring with a small diamond butterfly in the center. I loved it. Favorite gift from my favorite person.

"But what if I don't like him? You know how awkward is going to be if I have to say it to him?" I was never good at saying no to people. It was a bad habit and definitely put me in a lot of uncomfortable situations.

"You'll think of something. Don't worry about it now." She squeezed my shoulders and made me put the shoes on.

My legs were shaky from all the nervousness I felt at the moment. I just hope this goes well.

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We were standing in front of my apartment's door, Evelin was telling me all the tips and tricks, I should know. What kind of conversation I should make?

I was waiting for my Uber that was supposed to be here any moment now.

After three minutes, I got a message that the Uber was here. We went outside and said goodbye to each other. Evelin went her way, while I went to the Uber.

The driver was a guy in his fifties, who started telling me about his family. How his brother didn't invite him to his nephew's birthday and so on. I swear, from all the things he told me you would think he lived in a reality tv show. But at least he was occupying my thoughts with something else.

I received a text from Kai that he was already waiting for me.

Why am I being nervous? Why am I making such a big deal out of this?

We finally arrived. I said goodbye and got out of the car.

I looked around and spotted a man that resembled Kai's picture. I guess that was him since he waived and started his way over to me.

He was dressed in black jeans, a beige turtle neck, and a dark grey coat. His dirty blond hair was cut short at the sides and longer on top. He was also a few inches taller than me.

"Hi! Aimee right?" He extended his hand and looked me up and down. It wasn't a creepy checkout, thankfully.

"I'm Kai." We shook hands. "I'm Aimee. Nice to meet you."

It was a little awkward, but not as much as I imagined.

"Let's get inside. It's cold out here." He gestured for me to go first. We entered the bar. It was really fancy. It was more of a rich people's place. I mean he was a doctor so he could afford it, I suppose.

The waitress who was a young girl, probably around twenty, greeted us and showed us to our seats.

"You look really good," Kai spoke, giving me a big bright smile.

"Thank you. You as well." I hope that was okay and not a stupid answer.

The waitress brought us the menu and left. They had all types of drinks that I'd never heard of before and different desserts.

I really didn't know what to order. I didn't know why but being under the pressure of ordering made me so anxious.

When the witness arrived at our table again, Kai looked at me and waited for my answer.

"Umm, I'll have the raspberry cocktail please." He ordered the same. The waitress took the menus and turned around, leaving us alone.

"I actually didn't expect you to say yes. To this date, I mean." Kai took off his coat.

"Yeah, me too. But I decided to give it a try." I played with the sleeves of the dress. "What made you say yes?" I found the courage to ask him something as well.

"You looked hot in the picture. Also, my mom always talked about how hard-working and nice girl you are." Oh, okay. I was expecting something else. I definitely didn't expect him to be this blunt.

He adjusted the watch on his wrist. It was similar to the one Mr. Hyde wears.

And my mind went back to him. What Rowan said, has been on my mind a lot lately. Could it be real?

I can't deny that, I had a small crush on Mr. Hyde when I first started working for him. Who wouldn't? He was kind, respectful, well-spoken, smart, and extremely beautiful.

I would always stare at him and admire him, but he was my boss after all. So with time, I had to keep my feelings and stupid crush in check. It was inappropriate. And also, I didn't want to make him uncomfortable. I started focusing on my job and pushed my thoughts about him aside.

I gave this date a chance, since I knew, that what I'd been dreaming about Mr. Hyde would never happen. I had to go on with my life.

I couldn't avoid dating forever.

"Here are the drinks." The waitress served them at our table. I said thank you and took the drink.

"When was the last time you dated?" Kai asked.

"Um, about four years ago." He hummed in satisfaction.

"What about you? Did you date a lot?" He leaned back on his chair.

"Yeah, I broke up with my last girlfriend like a month ago. My relationships never last long, but I can see you're different. You are shy and don't talk much, which is something I like a lot." Um, what? That's not something I wanted to hear. Did he think, that would make me like him more?

I did know what to answer, so I looked around while taking a sip from the drink.

While I was looking around I spotted someone.

Not just someone but Mr. Hyde.

What was he doing here?

He looked directly into my eyes. Crap. Just as I was going to put the drink down, a raspberry got stuck in my throat. I started to cough. This was so embarrassing.

"Are you okay?" Kai tried to tap my back. "Yes, thank you." I calmed down after a few seconds.

"I'll just use the restroom." I stood up and searched for the restrooms.

After I found them, I did my business and fixed my makeup and hair. Thankfully I didn't look too ridiculous. What was Mr. Hyde doing here? Just as I was thinking about him, there he was. Sitting directly opposite me.

"Okay, time to go back," I said to myself and opened the door to walk out.

I stepped out and I saw him.

Mr. Hyde was standing there. The dim light illuminated his face. He was leaning against the wall, his hands in his pockets. And he was staring at me.

"Hi, Mr. Hyde." I gave him a small wave.

He was dressed in a black shirt and black dress pants. His hair was slicked back. He looked gorgeous.

"Hey, Zaria." His strong voice echoed through the hallway.

"I didn't know you'd be here." He walked closer to me. We were a few feet apart. I had to lift my head to look at him.

"Is that you're boyfriend?" He asked, his eyes on me.

"Oh no, I'm just on a date. It's our first time meeting." Why was explaining every single detail to him? And why did I feel like I had to?

"Mhm." There was a weird look in his eyes. I didn't know what was it.

We stayed like that, looking at each other. His eyes roamed over my face and then my body. His stare made me feel butterflies in my stomach.

"Just be careful, yeah?" We were too close now. I could feel his body heat next to me.

"You should go back to your date." He whispered. He lifted his hand and brought it to my face. With his thumb, he wiped under my eye. "You had a little bit of mascara."

I blushed. Like really blushed. My face was feeling hot. The lights were dim, so hopefully he couldn't see my face get red.

"Yeah, I should go," I said with a shaky voice.

I moved from him and started walking out of the hallway.

Before I reached the door to the bar, I heard Mr. Hyde.

"Zaria!"

I turned around.

He waited for a few seconds before he spoke again.

"You look beautiful." Oh my God. What is happening? My legs felt like jelly. I hurried out of the hallway.

I went back to my seat. "Everything okay?" Kai asked and raised his eyebrows.

"Yes," I whispered and took a sip of the drink.

I was definitely not okay after what happened.

I saw Mr. Hyde going to his seat as well. There was a man sitting opposite him. But my boss's eyes were trained on me.

Please look away.

I couldn't function properly, while his eyes were on me.

Kai went on with telling me about his job and how much he makes by being a doctor. He also talked about his exes a lot. Like a lot.

He was an okay guy but definitely not for me. He asked me a couple of questions. All of them were pretty weird, like when was my first kiss, would I ever forgive cheating, would I ever consider quitting my job for a guy,...

At the end of the night, I wasn't feeling the most comfortable around him. I had to tell him that this was our first and last date.

"I think I should go now. It's getting late." I texted Evelin if she could pick me up.

He agreed and he called the waitress to pay. After he was done with that, we exited the bar.

Mr. Hyde was still there.

"Do you want me to take you home?" Kai took out his car keys.

"Thank you but my friend is coming to pick me up." I didn't have my car because I borrowed it to my parents. They were going out as well.

"So when we'll see each other again?" Now it was the hard part.

"I... I don't think this will work." I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't think we should go on another date." I was nervous. How will he react?

"Really? Didn't we have a great time?" He came closer to me. Thankfully we were still outside of the bar, so there were people around.

What should I say now?

"You're a great guy, but I'm looking for something different. I'm sorry."

"Wow, then why did you waste my time and money? Huh? You could have told me that earlier." He was dangerously close to me now.

"I'm sorry- "Before I could finish my sentence I heard Mr. Hyde.

"Get away from her. She told you no already." He walked towards us.

"Oh, so you have someone else here." Kai gestured with his hands making me flinch.

Mr. Hyde pushed him back with his hand. "I said get away from her." He said with a stern voice. His jaw clenched.

"You'll regret this." Kai looked at me and then walked away.

"Are you okay?" Mr. Hyde asked me with a soft voice. Turning me around so he can look at me.

"Yes, I'm fine thank you." I didn't know if I was fine. I didn't expect that he would react this way. I didn't think he would get that mad. I mean it was our first date and we didn't even knew each other. It's not like I promised him anything.

"Let me take you home." He said and waited for my answer.

"My friend is picking me up. She's supposed to be here any moment." He nodded and waited with me. He stood next to me and I was glad because he made me feel safe.

After a few minutes, Evelin arrived. I turned to Mr. Hyde and thanked him again.

I stepped into Evelin's car.

"You have to tell me everything. Also, what was your boss doing here as well?" I sighed.

"I will tell you everything."

Evelin started the car and we left.

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