Eight

"Who is it?" She asked Bethany.

"If I knew the answer to that question, I won't be grinning this much, Jas. So, tell me, who is he?" Bethany asked while giggling.

"How am I supposed to know? I haven't even seen the guy," she said and got up from the bed with mixed emotions… Something in her wished it was Alex who had finally looked for her and found her at Bethany’s place. She walked to the door and opened it without looking through the peephole. Jasmine was surprised to see that there was no one out there, she stretched her neck and looked into the hallway, still, she didn't see any figure. Closing the door with a frown on her face, she turned to look at a smiling Bethany.

"Beth, that is not funny. You know I need my beauty sleep."

"I said outside Jasmine, not outside the door."

"What are you talking about?"

"Okay, let me explain it in simpler terms for your tiny brain to understand. A man is waiting for you outside the building and from the looks of it, he must have been standing there for a long time. And I know this because when I stepped out to pick up my laundry, I saw him looking at his wrist watch and when he saw me coming out of the building, he immediately rushed to me and asked me if I know anyone by the name Jasmine."

There was a momentary silence in the room as Jasmine waited for Bethany to finish her story. When she noticed that she wasn't going to speak any further, she urged her along. "And then what happened?"

"What? I have to tell you everything?"

"Duh! Aren't you the journalist? Do you ever give your readers incomplete stories?'

"Okay fine. I told him that my best friend's name is Jasmine and that she is staying with me. I didn't know if he was a stalker or if you really knew him, so I asked him to wait outside whilst I go fetch you. And that is exactly what I have just done."

"So, what does he look like?" Jasmine asked, curious to know how Bethany would describe the man she believed to be Liam.

"I don't know. Girl, just go outside and see for yourself." Bethany sighed out of frustration. Jasmine laughed as she put on her shoes and left the room. Something about disturbing her best friend always brought peace to her and she enjoyed it more than anything else.

When she got outside, she saw Liam in all his glory. He was dressed in an emerald green two-piece suit with a black turtleneck and a cap toe oxford dressing shoe. His hair was neatly combed back and so were his beards. He had on a silver wristwatch that Jasmine believed to be from Ford. He looked so elegant and handsome, making Jasmine think of how lucky she really was, meeting and being friends with such a handsome man.

Jasmine walked up to him and he pulled her in for a hug. Out of excitement, Liam kissed her forehead and Jasmine blushed at the singular action. Dressed in her pajamas, Jasmine felt shy to be standing next to one of the most handsome creatures she has set her eyes on. She lowered her head to prevent Liam from seeing the shyness in them but Liam, who held her so close to his chest, could feel the trembling of her body.

Taking his index finger, he lifted her head from his chest and stared into her eyes. "What's wrong, darling?"

"Nothing," Jasmine didn't understand how he could easily sense her feelings but she loved it.

"Come on, talk to me." He insisted.

"I'm just wondering why you are dressed so formally."

"Well, that's because I'm taking you out for a dinner date," he said with a smile on his perfectly symmetrical face.

"Really? Where are we going?" Jasmine asked and she didn't bother hiding the excitement in her voice.

"Well, that is a surprise." Liam playfully pinched her cheeks as he spoke.

"Okay. Why don't you come up and wait for me while I get dressed?" Jasmine motioned to the building.

"Of course." They walked hand in hand as Jasmine led him to Bethany's apartment. She opened the door and the first thing she saw was Bethany's wide eye staring at both of them.

"Hi," she said joyfully as she continued staring at Liam. Her eyes rejected the sight of Jasmine and focused solely on Liam. It had been a while since she had seen a picture-perfect man and she wasn't going to allow her best friend to deter her from looking at him to her heart's content.

Jasmine must have noticed how uncomfortable Liam was getting. Taking Bethany by the hand, she dragged her into the bedroom and pushed her inside. She peeped through the door and said, "we'll be right back, so make yourself comfortable." And then, she closed the door.

"What the hell was that?" Jasmine said when she looked at Bethany.

"What? Don't blame me. He is so handsome and I couldn't resist staring. Who is he?"

"He is someone that wants to take me out on a dinner date and I need to get ready," Jasmine said as she searched through her closet, looking for the perfect dress to wear.

"Oh, that is so much fun."

"Yeah, and it would be better if you help me out." Bethany and Jasmine searched through Jasmine's clothes and finally settled on a black spaghetti strap, body con dress that had a knee length and they picked out Jasmine's favorite stilettos heel. Bethany helped her apply a little make-up on her face and Jasmine was set to go.

Walking out of the bedroom, Jasmine blushed when she noticed the awe-struck look on Liam's face. She walked steadily towards him, trying to control her pounding heart. Liam stood up, took her hand, and placed a soft kiss on it.

"You look very beautiful."

"Thank you," Jasmine said shyly.

"Have her back home before ten, handsome," Bethany screamed out as she watched them leave the apartment.

Liam held Jasmine's hands as he proudly walked to his car. He couldn't remember the last time he was this happy. The girl made everything in his life colorful and she wasn't even doing much. He had arrived a little bit earlier than he planned and even when he couldn't reach her, and didn't know what apartment she stayed in, he had waited for hours, constantly asking anyone that came out of the building if they knew a certain Jasmine and when he didn't get a positive response, it had bugged him how she could be living in a building and a single soul didn't know about her existence. When he had finally gotten a positive response, he was over the moon with joy. Waiting a little bit longer for the girl to go get Jasmine for him was a piece of cake and Liam hadn't been upset at all.

Opening the car door for her, he watched as she gracefully got into the car and he closed the door. As he walked to the driver's seat, he turned on the engine.

"So you really aren't going to tell me where we are going to?" Jasmine asked.

"No, it will ruin the surprise if I do," he said as he drove the car out of the apartment curb and into the city of New York. The air was silent as Jasmine looked out the window. She couldn't believe that a few days ago she was crying over a man who had dumped her without even informing her and probably made her get fired from work because she didn't show up for two days.

She looked at Liam and wondered if he would do the same thing to her. After all, he was rich and handsome just like Alex. And most importantly, he had a way with words. Her heart told her that he could never hurt a fly but her mind told her that he would kill to save his life.

She looked away from him and tried to gather her thoughts. Nothing productive was coming from looking at Liam. But one thing was sure, she was slowly getting over Alex and Liam the major reason for that.

Liam stole a glance at her and wondered what was going on in her head. She was a quiet person, but she was awfully quiet as they drove to the restaurant.

"Penny for your thought?" Liam asked as he focused on the road.

"Nothing. I'm just wondering where you're taking me to?" Jasmine said as she played with her hands.

"Wow, you are not a big fan of surprises, are you?" Liam asked with a chuckle.

"No, I am. I'm just an inquisitive person."

"I see. I wanted to wait till the end of the night but I can't anymore," Liam said as he looked around for a good place to park. When he had found a spot, he reached to the back seat of his car and brought out an object wrapped in wrapping paper and handed it over to her.

"You got me a gift?" Jasmine said with excitement as she took the present from his hand.

"Yeah. Open and see what it is."

Jasmine tore the decorative wrap in a split second and her eyes widen as she saw a phone case.

"You got me a phone!"

"Yeah. I desperately want to hear your voice before I go to bed every night and I felt you really need it, so I got it for you."

"Oh, My God!" Jasmine screamed as she threw her hands around Liam's neck. Liam had never seen her so excited, but he was glad that he was the one that brought her that much joy. Pulling away from the hug, their eyes interlocked and time stood still. Jasmine's eyes moved to Liam's lips and as Liam saw the hunger in her eyes for him, his hunger for her grew as well.