Life is full of mysteries and unexpected turns.

Never had I imagined this is where I would be standing one day. From a very young age, I had been taught to 'earn respect', in my mother's word,

''Respect can never be bought but earned''

This is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I didn't realize the entire significance of her words until recently. Being the second and the only daughter of my parents, I have always been treated with love and equality. But there were other rules imposed on me and which seemed extremely irritating to me at that time, but I now see why.

You see being the only daughter amongst the three children had its perks as well as drawbacks.

Drawbacks being; overprotective family members. Even my younger brother, Theodore, who was in his junior year in high school is annoyingly protective towards me. Sometimes I feel like I am his younger sister not older.

The chilly breeze made me shudder, moreover my blond hair locks blew in my face making me fume. I stood outside the airport, waiting for the Uber ride while talking to my beloved elder brother.

″Yep, I just landed″ I chirped in my phone. The person on the other end sighed.

″Be careful Ella″ and I am one-hundred percent sure that he is rubbing his forehead right now.

″I will″ I rolled my eyes.

″Sebastian must be home, I asked him to stay in today.″ He said, reminding me of the question I had.

″Um, Jake.″ I started.

″What now?″ He groaned.

″I actually had this question bugging me for a while?″ I stated more like a question.

″And what might that be?″ he asked mockingly, making me roll my eyes, again.

″That you have always been so protective towards me into keeping me away from 'boys' so what changed now?″ I inquired.

Jake is my elder brother who stays in New York, sharing a flat with his best friend. So, when I got my job accepted in New York I accepted the offer of living with him until I find a nice comfortable, homey place for myself.

But, him offering me to stay with him was not what caught me off-guard, what caught me off-guard was that he was going to let me stay under a roof with a boy who specifically not to overlook was his best friend. Jake never allowed any of his friends to ever cross their paths with me.

In his defense, they were all players, just like him.

And hence, he never hosted any get-togethers or parties in our home. And in school, everyone knew that Jake Oliver Brown's little sister was off-limits. So, you can guess I am one of those girls who are least experienced in boys. Not that I didn't have guy friends, I had several of them but I was never in a 'relationship' with any one of those.

No matter how much Jake despised the idea of me being friends with his mates, I was a mutual friend, they liked teasing me and talking to me. Though, no one ever dared to make a move on me. Not that I was some hot sexy bomb they always went for.

Nevertheless, in University I did have a boyfriend. We dated for three years; he was everyone's favorite. Every girl envied my position. And why would they not? He was rich; he was funny, and he was sweet and insanely handsome. That's until I got to know he had been fucking girls behind my back.

Sore topic?

Not really.

I will not say I didn't cry, I bawled my eyes out, and the agony was still there but I just managed to hide it well. He apologized, he said he had started falling for me, and that he knew how much damaged he had caused to our 'beautiful' relationship and blah, blah, blah.

Tell me something, if you ever truly loved someone would you ever cheat?

No right?

Furthermore, there was no space for cheaters in my life. He got a chance, he lost it, done.

I trusted him, I trusted him with my secrets, my life, and my everything, and what did he do? He just went and banged girls after meeting me, after muttering those soft loving words to me. I should have understood, I should have realized it the day I smelled a cheap feminine perfume from him. I assumed it was his mother's odor and so I disregarded it, just as I had ignored many of his other flaws.

But didn't he know that in the end, the truth always came out?

There was a time when I needed him, it crushed my heart and I was on the verge of calling him back but I refrained to do so.

After all, I did have self-respect.

He was also one of my closest friends cut that; he was my best friend and whatever it is; I knew I was his best friend as well.

Maybe we just ruined our beautiful friendship by dating, or maybe we were just never meant to be.

I wondered if he got tired of waiting for me to sleep with him; I was inexperienced and therefore I was conscious about my body. I feel like I made the right decision.

Which I sure did.

It's been four months since my graduation and four months since we have last seen each other. And I hope it remains that way.

″Seb is a nice guy, Ells, and I won't say he's not a player because he is. But I can trust him enough to know that he will not pick on my little sister,′′ Jake remarked, pulling me out of my reverie.

″Sure, when are you coming back?″ I asked, did I mention that he's not in town? If I didn't, then let me add, Jake went out of town for something related to 'work'. It also surprised me that he is OK with the fact that I will be living alone with a boy. Okay, that sounded wrong, but you get the gist.

″Um, I am not sure sis, I'll try to be there soon″ he sighed.

″Stop overworking yourself, you sound terrible″ I muttered.

″Will do that Sis, love you, and just send me a text when you reach the apartment, okay?″

″Sure, will do, love you too and take care″

With that, we hung up.

The Uber arrived five minutes later after the call and made its destination towards my new apartment.

I don't know why, but I was kinda nervous and anxious. After about an hour from the airport, the Uber stopped in front of a large building.

″Thank you″ I politely thanked the old Uber driver and hopped out of the car.

I walked inside the glass doors sliding my suitcase after sending a quick text to Jake that I had safely reached and stood in front of the elevator. The doors of the elevator opened with a robotic feminine voice saying,

″Welcome″

″Thank you″ I muttered, entering the elevator.

″Please click the floor number you want to go″ The feminine voice said while the doors of the elevator closed.

″11″ I muttered to myself and clicked the button.

The elevator rose. It tinged and widely opened its doors when it reached the 11th floor, I inhaled sharply and straightened my back.

″Come on″ I said to myself and exited the elevator.

″Have a lovely evening″ the robotic voice said.

″You too″ I replied and made my way towards 11D, which was on the far end of the corner.

Standing in front of the wooden door, and taking in a deep breath, I rang the bell.

''You can do it'' I whispered to myself.

I waited for five minutes, and there was no answer. So, I rang the bell again.

Still no answer.

I was about to ring the bell again but when I heard some distant footfall approaching, I dropped my hands.

The door swung wide, showing a half-naked male with his trousers dangling low on his lower waist. My gaze roved across his chest, taking in the sight of the muscular abs encrusted with glistening beads of water.

I bit my lower lip and removed my eyes from his chest and looked in the other direction.

″Can you please put on a shirt″ I said after clearing my throat and stared at my feet.

When I say I'm a novice with boys, I mean inexperienced enough in the perspective of viewing boys' abs. I noticed Jake's, but they were nothing special; in fact, I couldn't tell any difference between them. My ex's one was different though, he had abs, those weren't this honed.

′′Aren't you enjoying the view, sweetheart?" With a grin, the guy inquired. When I looked up, I was met with a strange set of ocean blue eyes that were so gorgeous that my heartbeat halted for a second. His pink plush lips were raised in a smirk, and his sharp jaws beckoned me to run my fingertips over them. He was tall and strong, with muscles bulging. He was the epitome of what it meant to be a Greek deity.

That is until he spoke the words he did. When I say I dislike, I literally mean I despise smug and arrogant males.

Hate may be a harsh term, but so be it.

′′Seen better, honey,′′ I answered with the phoniest smile I could muster. His smirk appeared to waver slightly but did not leave his face.

′′I would consider it as a lie,′′ he answered, widening his grin.

That is a blatant lie.

″Whatever″ I rolled my eyes and said, ′′My name is Arabella, Jake's younger sister. Jake must have mentioned about me?′′ I made it sound more like an inquiry. But He appeared to be taken aback.

′′If he thinks you're little, then his notion of small is incorrect,′′ he mumbled, but I still heard it.

But I didn't understand what he meant, so I let this one slide.

′′You are?′′ I questioned, lifting an eyebrow. The question seems to have stunned him.

′′You don't know who I am?′′ He probed.

′′I mean, Jake did mention your name, but it kind of slipped my mind,′′ I explained.

′′You mean you hadn't heard of me before?′′ He asked. What is this guy getting at?

″I just said Jake-″ he cut me off,

″I mean before Jake mentioned about me″ He explained.

″Am I supposed to?″ I asked, frowning; I don't know why, but I felt stupid for some reason.

″No″ he mumbled, adding, ″I am Sebastian Greyson″

′′Nice to meet you, Sebastian,′′ I said with a faux smile, extending my hand for a handshake.

″Likewise″ he rolled his eyes, but there was an amused expression on his face when he shook my hands. I rolled my eyes and entered the apartment.

While I was untying my sneakers, I felt a gush of warm air fan my lower neck while the smell of Cologne and soap invaded my nostrils.

′′I hope you have a memorable stay,′′ he said in my ears, his lips running down my neck; within a second, he was heading inside as if he hadn't just done what he just did.

That's when I realized I don't just detest him; I despise him. Allow me to use a harsh term, but this guy was aggravating!

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Author's note.

So, the first chapter is up!

What do you think about Arabella and Sebastian?

Let me know, and don't forget to vote❤