A Dreadful Encounter
This was the first time I experienced anything like this: sprinting bare-footed across the street. In
hindsight, I could use this as reference material for my comic.
For a moment, I forgot I was running alongside Nicholas and his pair of long legs. With every step he
took, I had to take a few more to match his pace. Very soon, I was panting madly. There were multiple
instances when I almost fell and made a fool of myself.
Fortunately, Nicholas was familiar with the ways of the street. After a few turns, we arrived at the
underground parking and hurriedly escaped on his silver Porsche. If not for his crooked chef hat and my
messy hair, it would have looked like a cool escape scene from the movies.
Back in the car, both of us broke into laughter.
“Liliana, is this really the time to be laughing? You heartless creature!” Nicholas pursed his lips in an
attempt to stifle his laugh.
“I could say the same to you! Even a superstar like you is not bothered by your ruined image, so why
would a nobody like me care?” Still panting from the run earlier, I started tidying my disheveled hair.
“A nobody? I’m afraid that won’t be the case from tomorrow.”
I paused and looked at him wide-eyed.
Nicholas continued, “There’s no need to be surprised. We’re in a digital era, after all. Forget tomorrow –
perhaps photos and ridiculous comments of us are already circulating on Twitter now.”
Oh, my. How could I have forgotten about this?
I ran through the events earlier, hoping I had done nothing to anger his fans. It then dawned on me that
not only did I hold his hands, but I even told his fans they got the wrong person! Even worse, everyone
saw how Nicholas grabbed my hands and escaped.
With each passing moment, I became more worried. We were talking about Nicholas, the superstar who
had had a clean record so far. If this incident made the headlines, his fans would never forgive me.
What should I do?
As I was lost in my whirlwind of thoughts, the car stopped. Nicholas looked at me with a faint smile. “Let’s
get off here and grab some food. I’m starving after the exercise we did just now.”
Who is the heartless one here? We could appear on the headlines at any moment, yet he was still
thinking of eating.
I let out a long sigh and got out of the car. Nicholas had taken off his chef’s outfit by that time and placed
it neatly in his backseat.
“Um…” I wanted to ask for the outfit back so that I could get my deposit. Yet, he locked the car before I
could speak any further. Guess I’ll ask later…
“C’mon. Don’t worry about being disturbed. I’ve got a private room here.” With that said, he strode toward
the elevator while I tailed after him.
Once we exited the elevator, Nicholas walked toward his private room with great familiarity. The service
staff was excited by his presence. Just as I was about to enter the room, my phone rang.
It was Dominic.
After the mad rush earlier, it completely slipped my mind that Dominic had said he would take me out for
dinner. I am guessing he must be asking for my whereabouts. In reality, I would rather not pick up his call
but I thought it was best I did not do anything to anger him.
Dominic spoke immediately, “Something cropped up, so I can’t bring you for dinner anymore. Remember
to grab food for yourself.”
Well, that was a relief. This saved me the trouble of explaining myself.
Before I could hang up, I heard a voice from the other side of the line. “Dom, the dishes are served.
Aren’t you going in?”
Putting aside how well I recognized that repulsive voice, I thought I misheard the voice from outside my
phone.
I looked in the direction of the voice. Not far off, Dominic was standing outside a room with Camille. She
was smiling seductively while holding his arms.
Hah! So this was what “cropped up”?
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