The Meeting With a Stranger

“Christ, Anna. You are so not drinking again.” Shayne entered the room with two aspirin tablets and a glass of water.

“One glass, Anna! One fucking glass, and you are already drunk as hell. This is never happening again.” Shayne grumbled.

“I feel like shit.” Anna groaned as the headache hit her hard.

“Come on,” Shayne said as she helped her sit up. Once she was up, she handed the tablet over to her and helped her swallow everything.

“I’m glad I wasn’t too drunk to get you home. Well, Dylan helped us get home, but I did find you.” Shayne rapped, but Anna was too busy to regain her body.

“Do you remember anything that happened after you left?” Shayne asked, and Anna nodded her head without thinking.

“I went to the bar to get some rest and then…and then.” She stammered as her brain went completely blank. Anna took a deep breath and decided to try again.

“I went to the bar to rest, and then I…oh my God!” Her hands clamped down on her mouth as she remembered the little scene she had put up before a strange man.

“Where did you find me, Shannie?” She asked, hoping her sister didn’t find her asking a stranger for help.

Even though Shayne was younger, she acted like the older sister. She had been that way since the incident.

“At the bar. The bartender was keeping an eye on you.” Shayne replied, and Ava let out a sigh of relief, but Shayne could sense that something was wrong.

“Why do you ask, Anna? Did you do something you shouldn’t have done?” She raised her brows and stared at her sister with her most intimidating look.

“No, no. I just…” Anna stared but was cut off by the loud ringing of her phone.

She grabbed the phone from the table and checked who the caller was, only to see that it was an unknown number. Anna gave a slight shrug, cleared her throat to eliminate her drowsiness and answered the phone.

“Hello, Anastasia Wellington speaking. How may I help you?” She was proud of how steady her voice sounded.

The line went silent for a few seconds, and then an overly familiar voice filled her ears.

“That’s the name, huh? I didn’t get to hear it yesterday.” The gruff male voice said, and Anna froze when she realised that it was the stranger from the club.

“O-o-oh, uhhh.” She stammered and face-palmed herself for being unable to form a proper sentence.

How could she when she had embarrassed herself in front of him? She could only hope she didn’t do anything worse than she remembered. She didn’t even remember giving him her number yet. It turned out that she did.

God help her!

Shayne appeared before her and mouthed the words ‘Who is on the phone?’ to her, but Anna wasn’t going to tell her that it was the stranger from the previous night.

“I…I am sorry about last night, Sir.”

“Tristian.” He corrected, and Anna bit her lips.

“Mr Tristian, I am sorry about yesterday. I was drunk and didn’t know what I was doing…or saying. I’m not usually like that.” Anna chuckled lightly at the last part, but all she heard was a hum from him.

“I’d like to help you, Miss Anastasia.” He said, and she paused to ensure she heard him correctly.

“What?”

“Yesterday, you asked me to help you get your son back.” He explained.

“I was drunk, sir. I shouldn’t have asked a stranger for help. You don’t have to.” She said, still feeling embarrassed.

“I want to help you. I’ll text you an address. Meet me there, and we can talk better. Goodbye, Miss Anastasia.” He said and ended the call before Anna could refuse.

When she raised her eyes, Shayne stared at her with her arms crossed. “Well, spill.” She said, and a whimper left Anna’s throat.

“I uh…I met him at the club and said some strange things thanks to the drink you gave me.” Anna decided that it would be a good idea to push the blame on her sister. Not that it would be a lie. None of this would have happened if Shayne hadn’t given her that glass.

Right?

“Things like what, Anna?” Shayne said and moved closer to Anna, who was close to tears.

“I think I talked about Jacob and asked him to help me.” She said.

“So?” Shayne asked with a neutral expression, one that Anna wasn’t expecting.

“So? I just told a stranger about my life!” Anna said, raising her voice a bit.

“I don’t see what’s wrong with that. Besides, he wants to help you. Isn’t that what you’ve been looking for? A miracle. This is a miracle, Anna. You have to take it.”

*

*

At precisely 4 pm, Anna was in front of D’Royals restaurant, a seven-star restaurant in Australia.

After Shayne’s speech, she decided to listen to her and accept the stranger’s help even though she had no idea who he was. A few minutes later, she got a text from him, asking her to meet him at D’Royals restaurant.

Anna didn’t know Australia so well, but she knew D’Royals restaurant, and she knew that not just anyone could get in there.

“Let’s do this, Anna.” She sucked in a breath and held her purse tightly as she approached the door.

“Your card, Ma’am.” One of the men at the door said, and she understood that they wanted to be sure she had a reservation. So, she pulled out the strange picture Tristian sent her through her phone and showed them. Immediately they saw it, their eyes widened, and they nodded.

“VVIP coming through for Mr Reyes.” One of them said into his security microphone, and immediately the door opened, and two men dressed in matching outfits walked up to her.

“This way, Miss Wellington. Mr Reyes is waiting.” He said. Anna, who was still confused with everything, nodded and followed him to wherever he was taking her.

An elevator ride and a few steps later, she arrived in a private room where the man from the club sat, looking as dashing as she remembered.

“Miss Wellington.” He said and offered her a seat, which she took with a barely audible ‘ thank you ’.

“Would you like to drink anything?” He asked, crossing his legs as he relaxed on the chair.

Something about him told Anna that he was a very…. Confident man.

And he was wealthy.

“Water would be nice.” She cleared her throat and smiled softly, observing her environment.

Tristian nodded and signalled the waiter who had been assigned to them and whispered a few things to his hearing.

“I’ll go straight to the point, Miss Wellington. I wouldn’t want to bore you.” Tristian said with a smile. If Anna hadn’t decided to fall for handsome men, she would consider kissing this fine man.

“I already said that I want to help you, but for that to happen, I need to know the details and how you can also help me. A win-win situation, I’d call it.” He said with no expression in particular on his face.

When Anna heard the last line, she almost stood and walked out of the restaurant, but he seemed to have read her thoughts.

“By ‘ help ’, I do Not mean whatever you have going on in your head. I am a man of dignity, and I am very moral. I wouldn’t dare ask that of you.” He said with a calm expression, and Anna visibly calmed down.

“Well, as you already know, my son was taken away from me.” She said, and he nodded.

“By who exactly? An ex-husband?” He asked, and she shook her head.

“Boyfriend. I cannot tell you everything, but he and his family deceived me.” Anna said and went into further detail, leaving a few parts out.

As she spoke, she saw a small flash of pity in Tristian’s eyes, one she hated.

“I want revenge on them…all of them and, of course, I want my son back. But the family is rich and powerful, which is why I have been unable to do anything up until now.” She said, and Tristian suddenly became interested.

“What family are we talking about here?” He asked.

“The Wades.” She said, and Tristian’s jaw stiffened as pure hatred filled in his eyes.