Chapter 4

POV: Harmony Winters

I pulled the car over at the parking lot and almost yelled in frustration after seeing the time on my phone. I was thirty minutes late to my very first real date with Sean Mateo, my boss' son and the owner of my modelling agency, thanks to the guy with anger issues that I had met at the elevator.

How was I to face him now? He was such a sweet guy, and perhaps, he’d understand why I had come late, but I still felt pretty awful about coming so late, thereby wasting the time of a very busy man. First impressions matter, and being late was not the kind of impression I was hoping to make on our first date.

My phone began to ring, and when I checked, it was he who was dialling my line. I bit my lower lip, as thoughts flooded my head considering what I was to do presently.

Deciding to brace myself up, I just ended the call since I was going to enter inside soon enough, seeing as I didn’t have any other choice. I unhooked my seatbelt, then stepped out of the car with my bag in one hand, then shut the door of the car before cat-walking into the restaurant.

After a brief moment, I saw him at the table which he had reserved for both of us for dinner that evening. He was busy with his phone, and heaving a sigh, I approached his table.

Immediately I got there, he noticed my presence, then looked up immediately wearing a broad smile on his face.

“You finally decided to bestow me with the honour of seeing you, Miss Winters,” He said, with the smile still plastered on his face.

“Hi. I am so sorry that I came late,” I apologised.

He waved his hand, brushing aside the apology. “Oh, it’s okay. It’s my fault for coming too early, you didn’t do anything wrong,” He said, then gestured with his hand for me to sit.

I drew the chair out, then sat on it, placing my bag by my side. “You’re so sweet,” I noted.

“What would I gain by not being sweet to a sweet lady like yourself?” He asked, still smiling.

I chuckled, now relaxed and relieved that all my worries and concerns had just been for nothing. Sean Mateo was a good and considerate person, and he had no issues whatsoever. At least, none that I had noticed yet apart from his deep love of business, since I was still studying him.

He called the waiter, stating that we were ready to order what we wanted to eat. On his table was a glass of water, which he had bought to pass time while he waited for me, and with the rumbling in my stomach, I couldn’t wait to have something to eat.

The waiter came to our table to take our order, with a notepad and a pen in his hand.

I looked at the menu we had been presented with, and weighed my options out of the many dishes that they had to offer.

“What do you think?” He asked.

“There are so many options to choose from, and I can’t decide,” I said, with a chuckle.

“You can order all if that’s what you want,” He said.

“Oh, no. I’m not a glutton,” I said, laughing gently.

He smiled at me, then looked up at the waiter. “While the lady still ponders over what to eat, I have already made my decision. I’ll have Cajun shrimps and Chicken Pasta,” He said.

“I guess I’ll just have the same thing, then,” I said, with a shrug of my shoulders, as I handed over the menu back to the waiter.

“You wouldn’t mind a bottle of red wine, would you?” He asked.

“You know red wine’s my favourite,” I said, smiling at him.

“Okay then. You heard the lady,” He said to the waiter, who promised to bring in our order as soon as possible before leaving.

“So, how is work?” He asked, setting aside his phone.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Stressful as usual,” I said.

“I bet it isn’t as stressful as mine. All you have to do is take pictures and bargain your price, am I wrong?” He asked, in his usual condescending manner, but I knew he meant no harm.

“Sean, it is more than just taking pictures,” I said, with a small laugh.

“You say that all the time, but I don’t get it. All you do is take pictures for various brands, so how come that is stressful?” He asked.

“Well, have you ever considered the fact that I don’t want to smile on some days and advertise someone else’s products? Also, it is tiring that I...”

“The food is here,” He said, cutting me off as the waiter stopped by our table with two trays, containing the food we had ordered for.

“They are quite fast,” I said, brushing aside the little pinch of annoyance that had embraced me with him suddenly interrupting what I was saying.

“Yes, they are. I have an eye for good restaurants,” He said, then began to dig into his food.

“As I was saying...”

“Did you read the newspapers today? The stock exchange market’s shares are on the increase, and it’s not a good time to purchase shares, which I was actually thinking of doing before I changed my mind,” He said, as he poured the wine in his wine glass, leaving mine empty.

Oh wow! That came in as a very big shock, but it was another one of those red flags that I was willing to overlook. He was intelligent, smart, business-oriented, sweet, calm, and most importantly, he was wealthy and I had his father to thank for pulling me out of poverty.

I didn’t say anything, and began to munch my food slowly.

“I changed my mind because the best time to buy is when the shares are slipping and everyone’s withdrawing theirs. What people don’t get is the fact that the stock exchange market will always be there, and just as it has risen again, no matter how low it crumbles, it will always rise. When next the market falls, I’ll purchase a lot of shares so that my profit will be tremendously high when it increases again. What do you think?” He asked, sipping wine from his glass.

“I think that it is a great idea,” I said, absent-mindedly.

“Of course, it is. Out of all four of my father’s sons, I’m the smartest and most strategic when it comes to business,” He said.

“I can see that,” I noted, now pouring myself some wine.

“So, how does it feel to be turning twenty five soon?” He asked, finally focusing back on his date.

I chuckled. “Why do you say soon? My birthday’s not till another one month and six days,” I reminded him.

“I’m aware, but as you can see, the year is running really fast. Before you know it, July will be here and you’ll be twenty five,” He said, laying emphasis on the age.

I shrugged. “When that time comes, I know I will be ready,” I said, with a small smile.

“I hope you will be. I have planned a surprise for you that day,” He said to me.

“I don’t really like celebrating my birthdays. Worst still, I hate surprises,” I told him, the smile slowly disappearing from my face.

“Well, it is not as if I demanded for your opinion on this subject. It’s my girlfriend’s birthday, and I am going to make it very special for her, whether she likes it or not,” He said, then returned his attention back to his food.

I could see that his intentions were genuine, although I would have preferred it a hundred times more if he could just respect my decisions for once and let my birthday be uneventful.

With every year that got added to my years spent living on this earth, a year also got added to the day I had cleansed the world of a pathetic soul, who was better off without soiling the earth and contaminating it more than it already was.

“Don’t you like the food?” Sean asked.

“I...I do,” I replied, looking up from my meal.

“Then, stop picking on your food, or I would assist you in eating it,” He said, jokingly.

I laughed out heartily, thanking my stars for the day I had met Sean Mateo.

He was a great guy, who could do much better by letting me speak, paying attention to me and laughing at my jokes, instead of coming up with absurd conspiracy theories, cutting me off without even realising it, and bothering me with his many business stuff that I really didn’t care about.

However, with him, I knew that my safety was guaranteed. Not only would I never suffer again, I was also not going to be treated like trash or hurt by any man. People say that everyone has their flaws, and even though being with someone who referred to me as “Miss Winters" and was always so serious about life could be exhausting at times, it was way better than being stuck with a psychopath, who could kill you because of the slightest mistake.

A memory of him flashed through my mind, and I found myself twisting the fork in my hands, as I tried to act and remain normal. It was almost four years now, and as the anniversary of what I had done drew closer, my heartbeat raced faster with the fear that things may not just pass by smoothly like it had done in the last four years.

This year, there was this gut feeling that nudged at the back of my mind that as much as I had preferred things to remain quiet, a lot of drama was going to unfold.