The Meeting (Part One)

Precious POV

Coming to New York has always been my dream. And now, that I'm here, I just can't believe it. It's even more beautiful than I thought. I stood outside the airport, looking around for a taxi to take me to the apartment, my best friend and I will be staying.

My name is Precious Ifeoluwa Dare. I'm a 23-year-old Nigerian and am here for my master’s degree program. I wouldn’t consider myself as short, with my 5’4” stature, that’s not short, right? Anyway, I have a coffee skin color with long black hair courtesy, of my mother.

The sound of my phone ringing snapped me out of my thoughts. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the caller ID, allowing a small groan to come out of my mouth as my mom's name flashed on the screen. Sighing, I picked up the call and kept walking. 

"Hello, Mummy" I greeted softly, as I used my shoulder and ear to hold my phone, so I could get my luggage off the pavement. 

"Precious, how are you? Have you landed yet? How's the place? How's Funke?" I rolled my eyes as she kept throwing questions at me. 

"I'm fine, mummy. Yes, I have landed and no, I'm still waiting for a cab" my voice conveyed my excitement even though I was a little bit jet-lagged.

"Okay then dear, call me when you settle down, bye" I nodded even though she couldn’t see me and smiled at her care. 

I love my mom, I do but sometimes, she could be a handful. I kept my gaze on the walking path, and I see someone coming at me while looking at his phone, and knowing that this person could hit me, I moved to lean over to the edge of the pavement. 

"Okay Mom, ..." Before I could finish my call, I suddenly bumped into the person, I was trying to avoid even after trying to go through the other way. I'm left shocked. How the hell, did he still hit me? 

A sting from my arm made me tear my gaze off the person I hit, as I looked at my arm to inspect, where the pain came from. 

"Aaaah, my arm" I squealed out in pain. My arm is drenched in hot coffee and I could feel the pain registering in my mind. I looked back at the guy that bumped me and he was telling me to watch where I'm going.

Angry at this person's lack of shame, no furious, I stomped over to where he was and stood in front of him. I suddenly stopped for a moment and gasped at how handsome he looked. I am a girl, and I do appreciate God's work, so I pretty much can't be blamed. He was about 6'2, with dark brown hair which contrasted with his bright blue eyes making them look almost electric. His build wasn't that slender but had the right time of muscles even through his suit.

He snapped his fingers in my face making me remember why I was here. Anger filled my features as I spoke in the calmest almost icy voice I could muster.  

"Uhm, excuse me, where do you think you’re going, after pouring hot coffee on me without so much as an apology? Who does that? Now, look at my arm" I pulled my arm which has already started showing the sign of burns on his face but I’m just left confused as he stared at me like I’m not worth his time.  

"Listen, you should have watched where you were going. Now if you'll excuse me, I have important things to do" his voice was deep which complemented his look but his face held no emotion. 

So, he was a part of the arrogant guys’ club, right? Well, look buddy you got another thing coming. He was about to leave when I called him back.

"Hey" I shouted out ever so sweetly. He looked back at me confused when he saw me coming toward him. I positioned myself in front of him, and knowing he wouldn’t see it coming, I rubbed my soaked skin on his white shirt.

"You should at least clean up your mess, right? So, this, is what you get for pouring coffee on me without saying sorry" I said sternly while cleaning my drenched arm all over his suit. Turning my gaze back to his face to see his expression, I'm once again left confused as he looked at me with a small smirk. 

Wait, was he amused?

"Aaargh, arrogant brat" I mumbled and turned to leave when I heard Abbey call me back. That's right, his nickname is Abbey... Arrogant but beautiful eyes.

Hey don’t judge me, I simply love his electric blue eyes, you can't blame me. I'm so used to the normal Nigerian black-eyed guys, that seeing this is like a whole new feature. Turning my back, I looked at him, with a questioning gaze. 

"Yes?" I questioned sharply but he was still looking at me with that amused expression and I'm left shocked by his next words.

Okay, I think, shock is my new emotion.

"I'm sorry," he said in his deep baritone voice. Now was that so, hard? My eyes flickered to his, only to see the sincerity in them, however, the sting from my burning hand caused me to flinch and take a step back.

Great, how am I supposed to carry my suitcase now? Still, in my world, I saw his finger-snapping in front of my eyes. I looked up at him angry, at his interruption.

Oh, he has been talking?

"What were you saying?" I answered with annoyance seeping from my tone while he just sighed.

"I said, let me take you to the hospital, it's clear your arms burning and it's gonna start hurting you" I rolled my eyes at him. Was he bipolar or something? How can he change expressions so fast?

"Are you bipolar?" he looked taken aback by my words but replaced them with a blank look. I shook my head and didn’t give him a chance to speak.

"Anyway, I'm not going anywhere with you," I said, and almost turned my back to him.

"But your arm" he insisted still looking at my face. He did look extremely handsome.

Rolling my eyes at my intrusive thoughts, I smiled at him and shook my head. This guy was something and I didn't want to stick around to find out what it was. 

Maybe, it’s the change of environment? 

"I'll put some disinfectant on it" I turned to leave but he called my attention yet again.

"What" I yelled in frustration. Why won't he just let me leave?

"I insist, the hospital is just a few blocks away. C’mon let me take you, I'll pay the bills" I thought about it for a few minutes and it's true, my skin is really sensitive and I don’t handle pain very well but it was still a long way before I get home. 

Before I could even decide, he grabbed my second arm and pulled me towards the car and telling me to enter. Groaning, I entered the car, hating this helpless situation. He entered the car and took off driving. We sit in silence until he decides to break it.

"What's your name?" he asked, with genuine curiosity lacing his tone while I kept blowing air on my arm to get the pain to lessen, so, I don't answer him.

"I said I'm sorry. My name’s Ethan, Ethan white. You must have heard of me" he said with a certain level of pride, that ticked off his arrogant nature. I scoffed, looked at him, and then did something completely irrelevant. I stuck my tongue out to him. 

"Ooh, I have heard of arrogant guys like you" he looked surprised at both my words and action, maybe because I don't know him. 

Who was he anyways? It's not like it's a big deal. Right?