Episode 2

If the word "fun" appears as a character in a film, Bullet should be the first in line to audition for it.

He's in such a mood. His personality is like a golden retriever boy. He is the life of the party; I am not generally a morning person, but talking with him really lifted my spirits. He is really mischievous, yet he understands his limits. He frequently asks outrageous questions, and he is so honest in his testimony that his intrusive thoughts always triumph. But, beyond that, he is a gentleman with strong emotional intelligence, which makes him appear better than his attractive looks.

At first, I doubted he'd talk to me for a long time. For example, the most time he may spend chatting to me is about thirty minutes or less. However, my expectations failed me this time. And before I realized it, an hour had passed between us. And even if I still like to talk with him longer, I had to stop myself. I have work waiting for me, and an independent woman like me cannot let a man ruin her entire day's plans. A wise woman once taught me that a woman is more beautiful when she never sacrifices her valuable time for the sake of a man. Yes, that woman is my mother.

"I guess I really need to go now, Bullet. I had a meeting that I needed to attend,” I told him as I gathered all of my possessions.

After a long gaze, he surprised me with his next move.

"You only used me, and now that you have all of me, you will leave me alone… I will hunger for your touch... like a waste that was thrown into the trash can without notice." Bullet is pretending to cry. He is terrible at it, I must admit. You can't have everything, I suppose.

"Don't overreact," I laughed, and he joined in. "And please, for the love of God. Stop acting like I took your virginity!"

Those words did not sound like me. I never imagined in my life that I would say such things to a stranger.

But that made Bullet laugh even more; he flung his head back and guffawed like a child, "if I met you earlier; like way back in high school, I would bet everything I have right now that you can probably take my virginity."

"Asshole," my laugh is inevitable to stop. I know I should stop laughing now because he's getting more intrusive with it, but I can't help myself from saying, "in your dreams. If we had met in high school, you probably wouldn't have touched me. It will kill you."

"What are you? A royal princess?" He laughed so hard afterwards, as if he were a comic on a TV talk show who had pulled off the greatest joke of all time. But that made me pause.

Me? A royal princess?

Well, apparently… yes.

He appeared to detect my rapid change in mood. When he said, "You are not a Royal Princess, aren't you?" he blinked a few times and appeared pale.

That doesn't sound much like a question. He is insisting.

I attempted to bring myself back to reality, shook my head, and laughed, "Of course not."

Bullet gripped his chest and breathed deeply, "You're going to kill me! I honestly believed you were a Royal Princess. I've been monitoring you for a few minutes, and you appear so demure while you sip your coffee, as if you were trained for it."

Oh, I completely forgot about that. I often prefer to turn off that side of myself when I'm with normal people because I don't want to give them the impression that I came from a Royal Family. I loathe being a part of it, honestly. Living as a Royal Princess for half of my life is excruciating for me. It pained me for years and has left an imprint on my system. I'm doing everything I can to get it out of my head, but it just keeps winning, and I detest it!

Great, Bullet's intrusive thoughts keep winning, just like my royal etiquette!

"But yeah, by the way," he stood up, and I mimicked his move, "it was nice meeting you, Cassie."

He lends me his hand. Then we shook hands one last time. I felt his warm and soft hands again, and it was addictive. It's a good thing he was the one who brought an end to our seemingly endless shaking hands.

That was our final exchange before I began to walk out of the café. Then I walked towards the building that houses my company's office. But it wasn't until I got to the elevator that I remembered I'd never had the chance to ask for Bullet's number. I admire his attitude, and he exudes a certain feel. I suppose I'd like him to be my friend.

But the moment I arrived at the workplace, I knew it was going to be a long, tiring day for me. When I walked into my office, I was greeted with mountains of paperwork to evaluate. And I never got a chance to read it all since my business partners had already dragged me into the conference room for our scheduled meeting today.

I first forgot about Bullet as I focused on all of my current tasks. I am a hands-on business owner that prefers to have complete control over my operations. Because I believe that prevention is better than treatment. So, in order to avoid any unpleasant consequences along the line, I must protect it before it bothers me and my business partners.

No amount of cramming will ever defeat the heart of an OC company owner!

I completed all of the tasks at exactly five o'clock in the afternoon. It's just enough because it's the regular time for our staff to start going home.

"Are you done reviewing all the pending applications?" Jill, one of my company partners, asked me when she discovered that I was already shoving everything on my back. Literally, I'm just putting everything into my bag because I really want to go home and sleep early because this day has taken up all my energy.

I only nodded at Jill while I was arranging my bags. But I stopped the moment she held my arms. Then she started asking me the same question she did every day.

"Do you have any plans tonight? Let's get to the club! Let's party!"

It wasn't an offer or a request; it was a command that if I didn't obey, it would make me look like the greatest criminal on the planet.

"We accomplished mountains of tasks today. Do you still have any energy for the club?" I asked, yawning.

"Of course! You know, that party is my life!" She smiled more. She is now pulling my hand towards Shane's office. Without a knock, she stormed inside the office.

"Seriously, don't you know how to knock first before entering someone's office?!" Shane, our one friend you should avoid doing crap with because she has a sassy attitude, possibly because she is already a mother.

"Sorry not sorry!" The fearless Jill approached her and pulled her hands as well. Shane tried to escape from her, but Jill's grasp is just too strong to escape with. Before we knew it, she was dragging Shane and myself towards the exit of our facility like a shameless kidnapper!

Along the way, Shane continued to complain about Jills' disrespect. Jill, however, will always be seductive and manipulative. She murmured, mainly about all the excellent things she had done for us in the past. Those nice things will make us feel guilty if we don't support her. She even turned the tables in a way that benefited her the most. Shane simply rolled her eyes at her in defeat.

"I will escape from her once we enter the club, you should just go with me," Shane said to me quietly. We're sitting in the back seat, with Jill in the passenger seat and her driver driving for us.  

"It's okay," I muttered to Shane. "I can't leave that girl alone. You know how wild she can get when she's intoxicated. The last thing I want is to wake up tomorrow to a phone call from her, saying she's humiliated because she had a one-night stand with a stranger."

Shane laughed.

"I'd rather hear my irritating alarm tone than her voice tomorrow, you know," I said, which made her laugh even more.

"I feel you; I would choose the same," she continued, and I just shook my head and covered my face. The night is still young.

After a few moments, we found ourselves inside a familiar club, which Jill often brings us to. And, as planned, when we entered the club, Shane surreptitiously bid her goodbye before she stormed out without leaving a trace. Jill, on the other hand, has already forgotten about her because she is so busy welcoming everyone in the club as if she knew them all.

I felt like a toddler's nanny. I followed Jill a lot as if everything she will do is going to be a mess for the both of us. I made sure she wasn't going to do anything that would embarrass her but as the moments passed by, I got tired and just let her do whatever she wanted to do. I also chose to enjoy the night and drink some tequila. It was a long, tiring day, and I believe I deserved it. When I'm ready to go home, I'll go directly to my bed.

However, I attempted to leave Jill alone for a bit. I danced to the loud pounding of disco music. I'm enjoying the independence that I have right now. I was in the middle of dancing to a Taylor Swift song when I was unexpectedly interrupted by someone. My gaze was drawn to this familiar figure sitting on the bar island.

Is that Bullet?

What's he doing here?

Why does he appear to be so unhappy and lonely?