Romance Counselor

Chapter Five: Romance counselor.

Outside the house, it was raining cats and dogs, she walked under it despite having low tolerance to cold.

 At worst she’d catch a cold, then overwork herself till she sweats out and gets better. Tears rolled down and she sucked it in.

Remembering that she’d be the wife of a CEO, she ran out of the rain and inside a café.

She shouldn’t look sickly for her wedding but look expensive and materialistic. She didn’t even know where to buy quality things.

 She indulged herself in hot coffee till she received two texts on her phone at the same time. One was her sister asking if she was accepting Sir Damien. The other was Winx also asking if Sir Damien was really getting married to her.

 Arya ignored all and switched of her phone.

Across her table, in the café, a man in a simple suit was staring at her. He tilted his head, like he was thinking of where he knew her before getting up to walk to her.

 “Hello, Miss.”

Arya dropped her cup and raised her head, seeing the cute man before her, she looked down. “Oh, hello?”

 “Are you affiliated with Anna Stark?”

She smiled, bowing down. “Yes, do you know her? I am her younger sister, Arya.” Were they so similar that her sister’s friends recognized her in one glance?

 The man smiled back, sitting besides her. “I am Dean, a friend of she and Sir Damien, we three worked on a project at university and she talked about you a lot.”

 Arya nodded, pleased. “Well, nice to meet you too, Dean. I’d have treated you to coffee but honestly I don’t have enough money, maybe next time.”

 Dean brushed the offer away with his hand. “Oh, it’s okay. But is something wrong? You look lost?”

 Arya chuckled painfully. “Do I look like someone who was about to get married?”

 She mentally pinched herself for asking a man she barely knew such question but her head was spinning and she needed to talk to someone.

 “You look like you’d need someone to talk to. I know only a few things about marriage. Wait…” Dean grinned and began dialing someone on his phone.

 Arya nearly panicked. Who was he calling to counsel her about marriage?

She had asked about marriage referring that she wasn’t ready for one, not that she needed counselling.

 A sigh escaped her lips. Maybe she should take the counselling, after all, she had never dated so didn’t even know how to act around a man.

 She didn’t know what to wear also, and if Sir Damien will be using her to convince his parents he was married, she needed to look ready for marriage.

 “Call who you are want, Dean. I’d need a professional romantic too.” she shook her head, taking a sip of her already cold coffee.

Dean nodded, then answered the caller. He took an excuse and left Arya shortly to take the call.

~~

 “Sure, on my way.” Damien answered, before hanging up on Dean. He looked at his phone and smiled.

 Since his friend, Dean knew of his love for Arya, he had been trying to pair them up. Him calling, asking him to be Arya’s romance counselor was just another third wheel moment.

 “Sir Damien, should I drop you off and go to Mr. Ernest Stark to give him more wedding details?” Butler Jim asked while he drove.

 Damien looked up from his phone. “Yes please, do that.”

 “Very well, would you call me when you want me to pick you up?” Butler Jim asked again.

 Damien thought for a while and shook his head. “Just drop me, thank you, I’d come home myself.”

 “But you’d get soaked, Sir.” The butler said in fright, looking outside the rainy sky.

 “It’s okay. Arya needs me to help her be a romantic. Let me stay with her.”

 Butler Jim grumbled under his breath, “Why help her when she’s going to be your wife?”

 Damien hearing him, smirked. “So she wouldn’t be a boring wife, Butler Jim.”

 “Oh, whatever. Will you tell her who you are then?” the Butler asked again.

 “I’d say I’m some Mr. Wade. Stop asking questions.”

 “Just be careful with women, Sir Damien, that’s all.”

 Damien sighed, the old man worried more than his mother. “Your Sir Damien would be getting married soon.” The car stopped and Damien got out. “Get used to it. Now goodbye.”

 While Arya waited for her romantic counselor, after Dean had gone, she received a text from her father. She was unwilling to open it but did, due to curiosity.

 “I forgot to add, the wedding with your husband, is any day you pick from next week. He is visiting China this week.”

 Arya pursed her lips. Sir Damien could travel around countries when he liked? If she was his wife for that temporal time, could she do the same? Is she entitled to any money he had?

 Just then the café door opened, she looked up on impulse and saw a sight that made her jaw dropped. The man she had met at the university?

 What was he doing in the café? Had he followed her? “No way he had, why would he follow me?” she asked herself.

 A handsome guy with a nice car, stalking a miserable girl like her. Only happened in those crazy books she read.

 But suddenly the guy was walking up to her, her heart jumped with every step he made towards her. It flew to her mouth when he sat besides her.

 “Is this seat empty, young lady?” his deep voice asked. She stared at his enthralling gray eyes before looking away, slurping on her coffee.

 She dropped it heavily on the table and nodded, “Yes, it’s empty. Um… do I know you?” Surely he recognized her, he had stared at her back at the university.

 “I doubt you do, I was recommended by Dean to meet you concerning relationship counseling.” He tucked a piece of his dark long hair back.

 Arya noticed the movement, watching his graceful act. She smiled when she felt she had stayed to long in replying. “Oh, yes, I am Arya.”

 “Mr. Wade.”

 She frowned that he was being formal but understood he was only doing his job. “Is this consultancy for free?”

 He smiled. “Free. Dean told me you’re a sister to a friend of his and he was sorry he couldn’t help you. Something about a marriage?”

 “Yes, I am getting married to a man I know nothing about. I think I'd be needing this class for a very long time as I’m not a romantic at all.”

 Mr. Wade smirked at her confession. “What if he is a romantic?”

 Arya frowned. How’d she know if he was? And why should she care? She only needed to play being romantic as the contracted wife.

 She shrugged. “I know nothing about him. I wouldn’t know that either.” She saw Mr. Wade smile sadly and wondered what she said wrong.

 “It’s sad you know nothing about him, I bet he is an amazing person.”

She chuckled, making another shrug, but soon got suspicious.

 She raised a brow, how’d he know if he was an amazing person? Or was he just speaking as a relationship counselor?