Rosaline was shocked by her outburst.
‘What’s wrong with me? I don’t know them. I should be calling the cops for all that guy did to me earlier.’
She smiled awkwardly, trying to hide her embarrassment but frowned upon seeing the smile in William’s eyes. That made her roll her eyes.
‘Screw it! I’ve already said it out loud. Let’s just go with it.’
“Well, you can also get back together with her. Get screwed again.”
“Spend your entire life trying to figure out when NO means NO and when NO means YES. And every time you break up and get frustrated, you can ruin some other innocent girl’s evening.”
William curled his lips at the word innocent, which made Rosaline want to kick him. But she ignored him and continued.
“Or since she already told you that you broke up. Just accept it and detoxify yourself.”
Evelyn hooted at that and gave Rosaline a high-five, “well said, bro!”.
‘I have a feeling we’ll get along well.’
Rosaline smiled at that but was shocked by her thoughts.
‘Shit! I’ve to leave this bunch as soon as possible.’
“Anyway, I got to go. Please don’t disturb me again, whatever your reasoning might be. Oh, and, apology accepted.”
Rosaline sarcastically remarked, which brought Pete back to his senses.
“Oh my god! I’m so sorry.”
“I have no excuses for my behavior; I was totally out of line. I’m sorry. Promise, it won’t happen ever again. Please forgive me.”
Pete apologized sincerely and bowed slightly to show his remorse.
“Well. No harm done!” Rosaline smiled and left but not before glancing at William with puzzled eyes as she could not make him out.
Somehow, she felt she wanted to.
William’s mood improved significantly because of her puzzled look as it implied there was something between them rather than being indifferent strangers.
But he soon shook himself out of it, wondering what was wrong with him.
Rosaline went to her seat and shook her head at her friends with a frown indicating it was nothing, and they got back to their chit-chat, food, and drinks.
William and his friends got busy as well. But William could not help but glance towards Rosaline involuntarily.
He did not know what she was talking about, but he suddenly heard her laugh.
That laughter had him spellbound. He stared with interest written all over his face without any care for discretion.
Rosaline laughed like a child - full of innocence and joy. She did not just giggle, cover her face or try to be elegant.
She looked so alive when she laughed that William thought his life would be incomplete without that laughter.
Rosaline felt his gaze on her but ignored it as best as she could.
They both got teased by their respective friends but shrugged it off as nothing.
William watched Rosaline make her way to the washroom.
He involuntarily followed her, and before he realized it, he was leaning on the balcony-cum-smoking-zone between the main hall and the washroom.
Rosaline saw William as soon as she exited the bathroom.He squinted at her as she made her way back. She only glanced at him, furrowed her beautiful brows, and ignored him. Somehow, this made William smile. He walked up to her and tried to start a conversation.“Hey, got a minute?”“And may I ask why you would need it?”Her voice was cold and held clear distance and indifference.William felt awkward. He tried hard to understand why he was so bothered about the probability of her being underage. But he masked his emotions well.“Well, I just want to say sorry and thank you.” He replied confidently without any awkwardness.“It does not matter,” Rosaline said with a sigh.“Can I ask you something rather inappropriate?” William decided to bite the bullet.“Why would you ask if you already know it’s inappropriate?” Rosaline retorted with raised eyebrows. “Maybe I’m just selfish.”“...” Rosaline was speechless, and that made William smile. “How old are you?” Rosaline could see the nerv
Rosaline got up quite late, having partied till late last night.Looking at her sleepy appearance in the mirror, she thought of William. She shook her head, flattened her messy hair, and went on with her morning routine. There was a commotion at the breakfast table with her parents waiting for her. She had an uneasy feeling about it. “Good morning, people!” Rosaline said with a smile.“You guys did not wait for me for breakfast, did you?” She had hardly finished what she was saying when her father, George Dayne, slammed the local newspaper on the table. She picked it up with curiosity and saw two pictures of herself which were rather vague.One was her leaning toward Pete, and Pete’s face was unmistakable.The other picture showed her leaning toward William; even William’s back view was vague. The headline was rather glaring.“Shameless groupie steals another woman’s boyfriend!”Rosaline instantly knew that it was Supriya’s doing.As the photographs were from inside the bar that
On the other side of the city, Tom and Rita Brown also saw the news.Tom Brown and George Dayne were professors at Apex University and had been friends for over 20 years. Their families were close as well. George’s nephew, Maddox Dayne, got acquainted with the Browns while visiting his uncle and got to know Tom and Rita’s daughter Ellaria.They became childhood sweethearts and were about to get married in 5 weeks. They had known Rosaline since she was a little kid. They had thought William and Rosaline would be a good match.Both families had agreed to set them up during Max and Ria’s wedding. But seeing the news report, both Tom and Rita hesitated.‘Although we have known her since she was a child, Lina studied abroad for the last five years, and five years before that, Lina was in a hostel. God knows what she has become these years.’ ‘Maybe we should wait and see for the next few days before settling things.’“Tom, what do you think about the news?” Rita asked, obviously worried
William also chanced upon the pictures while his father was reading the newspaper. Even though it was not clear, he recognized them right away. He went to the bar, but it was closed and only had some people cleaning and preparing for the evening. He asked the available staff if they knew the girl or anyone in her group but got nothing. Getting no leads the usual way, he was tempted to investigate it himself but resisted the urge thinking she might not like her privacy to be intruded on by a stranger. In no mood to work, he went to the all-familiar Apex park by the lake.Despite its small size, Apex Park held immense charm in the city center.It had a small rock mountain with a rugged path to the top and a natural lake and stream. All of which were surrounded by dense forest. The entire area was preserved in its natural beauty, making the climb rather adventurous with fresh air, the calming sound coming from the stream, and a great view if you managed to climb on top.As luck woul
“What do you have in mind?”William was pleasantly surprised.At best, he had hoped she would be in touch to stay updated on the issue.He had not dared to wish for anything more. “Let her run amok. Make her desperate. Collect evidence. Make her believe she has won. And, then, show our hand.” ‘I just want to vent. Since that woman dared to cross me, too bad for her.I am not someone that she can use in her mind games. Since she is a bitch, I don’t even have to feel bad about venting my frustrations over my parents on her. Besides, she started it.’‘She doesn't care. It’s something else that this scandal indirectly caused that bothers her. She is just looking for an outlet. But why do I think she is hot? I should be alarmed.’ “How old are you?” William asked.“Are you kidding me?” Rosaline was caught off guard by this sudden change in topic. “C’mon. You said you were going to tell me if we meet again.”“Why are you so fixated on it?” Rosaline was curious why he would ask about her
Rosaline and William stayed quiet while watching the bustling city below the mountain.Lost in their thoughts, they did not realize how long they had been sitting there until it got too hot.“Let’s go down. I’ll take you to a nice place.” William proposed, having noticed the sadness in her eyes. “Alright!” Rosaline agreed without too much thought.They climbed down the hill, but halfway through, William stopped and started off to a path that was not quite visible, most likely a track left by some animal. Rosaline was intrigued. She had never ventured beyond the few direct trails that led to the top. The narrow path was even more rugged and harder to traverse.William had to, multiple times, support Rosaline as they moved away from the main trail. The winding path went up for a while before taking a sharp turn downhill. After a short stretch of flatland, the duo climbed uphill again.Even when focused on the path, Rosaline did not miss the lush green trees with wildflowers of mult
“What about you?” William asked.Rosaline was not sure what he was asking. “What about me?”He asked clearly. “Are you on vacation? Or in the middle of something?”“What made you say that?”“Last night, it looked like you had your entire time planned, and we kind of messed it up.” “Kind of?”“Well”“Hahaha!” William was mesmerized by her laughter.But he looked towards the pool instead to ensure she did not notice. “I finished college and will be working soon. So yeah, six weeks of break before that.” “It looks like you earned it.” “The internship and thesis wore me out. I can get a little too caught up while working. So, I wanted to give myself a break, catch up with everyone, and enjoy my brother’s wedding.” “What a coincidence! I am on a two months break. Just finishing up things before heading back to work again. Helping with Ria’s wedding.”Rosaline smiled, and they both stayed quiet for a while.Rosaline’s mood visibly improved. After what felt like forever and no time, Ro
After William explained his story, they stayed quiet.Rosaline commented after a lengthy silence, “You admire her.”It was not a question, and they both knew it.“Yes, she has both a high IQ and EQ. Even at 8, she understood me better than my family.”William answered truthfully, with a hint of self-mockery. “I always knew my EQ was low. Supriya taught me how pitifully low it was. I took psychology classes after that incident. I guess I just admire smart people in general.”He shrugged. “Unfortunately, her personality is quite terrible. But most importantly, she lacks a moral compass or a bottom line.”“I doubt there’s anything she would not do to get what she wants. Combine her lack of morality with her natural intelligence, which she must have honed over the years; she becomes scary.”William gave his emotionless analysis. “What do you think we should do?” Rosaline asked, looking at him intently.“I was too busy to do anything about her when she fussed around Pete and others. And