บท 1: Chapter 1
Damn! What the heck!
Of course, her friends would do this to her. "Oh, why did I even say yes?" She chastised herself for being a pushover as sweat broke out of her skin.
But she loved her two adorable friends despite their overbearing behaviors. Moreover, they promised her something she could not refuse if she won.
"Well, I will just have to prove them wrong." She silently pepped herself up while taking a stool by the bar, "Hey, there," calling the man in a black shirt with black ink tattoos decorating his arms.
"Can I have a dry martini?" She ordered, clearing her throat to sound more confident and sophisticated. But truthfully, she was far from feeling any of that.
At that moment, she preferred to be home, cuddling with her son, reading a book, or watching a movie rather than sit and drink in the smoke-filled air of the bar.
However, she could not decline her friends's request for a night out. After all, they rarely went out these past months since she had to juggle between her son and her busy work schedule.
"Better get this bet over with." It was silly as she thought about the challenge. But a bet was a bet.
"I swear, if I only looked like that, damn, I would use and abuse that body to my advantage." Her gay friend, Sasha, said a few minutes earlier as they sat at a table in the dark corner of the club, away from the prying eyes of the other patrons.
"I would not choose to hide that ass." Her friend wanted her to wear something more tight fitting, but she chose a more comfortable dress. "But I guess this works much better on you."
"I don't know what you are talking about, Sasha?" She said, pretending to be clueless.
She always considered herself as plainly simple. She was not ugly, but she was not Miss Universe material either. Her friend insisted that she had the face of an angel but in a temptress's body.
"Sasha is just jealous of your sweet, innocent, virgin look that seemed to drive men insane, that make them drop on their knees and beg for your attention." Judith, her other friend, explained to her.
She thought that was nonsense. However, by some damn luck, she had never lacked men who tried to pursue her despite her situation.
"I'm not like that." She was not sweet and innocent. But she admitted she did not just go out with a random man.
However, she was not saving herself for marriage either. She was a single mother, for God's sake. She was, without a doubt, not a virgin.
However, she would not deny wanting to meet the right guy and dreaming of the white picket fence. But she had to be picky. She did not want just any guy to become her son's father.
"But you are, Skyler." Sasha insisted, highlighting her innocent and naive appeal.
"No, I don't." She countered as she grabbed her drink and emptied the glass.
"Sorry, Sky, but yeah, you do. I have to agree with Sasha." Judith seconded their friend. "You have this damsel in distress vibe that appeared to lure men like a moth to a flame."
"Whatever!" She gave up. She knew she would not win against her friends. Still, she did not believe that she exuded that vibe.
Besides, she had always prided herself on her hard work and independence. She believed she was not weak. She did not need a man to save her.
"Ok." Sasha tapped on his chin as if thinking. Then, he excitedly gasped as if a light bulb just clicked in his head. "I want you to do a dare to prove my point."
Now, she sat alone in the bar, agreeing to test her friend's theory. But, of course, she still found it ridiculous, wishing to prove them wrong.
"Can I buy you a drink?" A man finally approached her by the bar before she could finish her first sip.
Damn! That was fast.
Oh no! She had to get rid of him before her friends insisted they were right.
"I don't think so." She immediately declined. "As you can see, I'm waiting for my date." Driving the man away as fast as possible.
Her friends wagered that in just fifteen minutes of sitting alone in a bar, she would have men lining at her feet, trying to get into her pants.
But, of course, that was outrageous.
"Please, I will give you twenty dollars if you stop bringing me free drinks." She offered to bribe the bartender after his third try of handing her another on the house, courtesy of some gentleman.
"Three minutes to go..." She tapped on her watch, willing the time to go faster.
But she could not help but wonder if her friends were correct about their premise. Did men think that she was a virgin or something like that just by looking at her?
Did men only want her because of how she looked? Well, that would be depressing. She wished to find someone who would love her for her qualities, not just her appearance.
"But does such a man still exist?" She could only wonder. After two failed relationships, she still had to find the man of her dreams.
Truthfully, she had already given up for now after her recent tragic breakup. She swore she would only focus on her son and her career.
She just wanted to bury and forget Jonathan, a lying, cheating manwhore who did not deserve her.
Could you blame her after she caught her boyfriend in bed with one of their models? That prick had the nerve to call her prude and uninteresting.
"Great! It's almost time." Two men offering to take her home and four free drinks later could not count as men swooning at her feet.
Right? Any woman must get that offer a lot in a bar like this.
"How many minutes more before your bet expires?" A man unexpectedly asked as he joined her, raising his hand to the bartender for his regular drink.
"Excuse me?" Of course, she was surprised by the question. How did he know about their bet?
She turned to look at him, curious if she might know him somewhere. Or maybe her friends sent him over to pull another prank on her. Unfortunately, he was a stranger.
Who is he?
"I overheard your friends talking about it." He discreetly pointed to her best friends, silently watching them in the corner.
"Oh! It is just a silly game." She did not want to talk about it with a stranger.
"But you see, your friends were right." He grabbed his glass and dumped half of its content into his mouth. "You're like a sheep amidst a pack of wolves."
"A temptation that could drive a man to do crazy things." He played with his whiskey, swirling it around until the ice melted. "Now, what would you like to drink?"
"What makes you think I will accept a drink from you?" She finally turned to get a good look at him.
"Because I'm not like these men. And honestly, you look like you need one." He stated without even giving her a single glance.
"A piece of advice..." He smiled as if he had found something funny. "...wear a ring." He raised his glass at her but still refused to look at her.
"A ring, ha?" Yeah, she guessed that would drive away all these unnecessary male advances.
"Ok. I'll have what you are having." She could not help but be curious about the man beside her as she dared a closer look at him.
Oddly enough, she believed something about his face screamed familiarity. But she swore she had never seen him before.
When he finally turned to look at her, she thought the world had stopped spinning, and time stood still. Suddenly, they were the only two people in the room.
Those eyes.
She believed his eyes spoke to her. It seemed ludicrous. But she felt like when he looked into her eyes. As in, he saw her.
Did he know her?
But did she know him?
"Who are you?"
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