You make a first impression and people never forget it. If people want to think of me as the wacky 'Juno' lady forever, I could think of worse ways to be labeled.

- Diablo Cody

"What?! You can't do this." I shouted at Tom, my boss at the diner.

The moment I walked in the diner, Tom appeared in front of me, telling me to follow him to his office. The office where I had never set foot onto after I was informed I got the job. It was quite a shock to be in there because I had been doing my job without any tardiness as far as I could see. I had never missed a day at work, never been late at work, never caused any ruckus with the customers.

So, yeah it came out of nowhere when he informed the reason I was in that office. And currently after realising my situation, I was shouting at him and pleading him in the same breath to not be unfair.

"I can and I just did. Some of you are going to my other diner to work and others are getting fired. And you just happen to be in the other one." Tom informed me once again in his tight voice and I still couldn't grasp the news. He rubbed his forehead as if talking to me was giving him a headache. Well, he was about to get a bigger headache if he wouldn't give me a proper reason behind my firing.

I stood up straight and looked him straight at his eyes to emphasise my point. "But why? I never missed a day. I don't come in late either. Then why?" I asked him desperately. I couldn't be fired. Not when I needed the money most. I just couldn't get fired.

Oh, god. What would I do? I knew today was a bad day when I found the bank's final notice in my mailbox. They wanted my loan to be cleared within a week. Where would I get that much money within a week? As far as I could see, I lost my current job too.

Tom's rough voice brought me to back to the hell of a reality. "I don't have a choice, Claire. I had to cut out few people since I need to get this place cleared out before Mr. Sanders get this building wiped out. I need to close the diner in a day or two. I have lot of things to do Claire. Please take your things and leave."

The tone he used, the extended hand in the direction of the door showed his final decision. He wanted me to walk out, walk out of the place which was the source of my daily income but now, no longer because a Mr. Sanders stumbled upon this diner out of nowhere. Why this diner? Why not the other shops on the same street? Hell, why anything on this deserted street?

I sighed, when I realised thinking about why and standing before Tom wouldn't get me anywhere. With shaky hands, I picked up my leftover dignity with my bag from the back room and walked out of the diner without a backward glance.

After coming out, I found myself at an odd situation. Where would I go? What would I do? Everything seemed blank to me. All doors seemed closed on me. I was standing outside the diner, pitying my life. Money problems were not rare for the people in lower manhattan. Everyone had worries about their financial state and so had I.

It wasn't just the student loan though, I had a lot of due rents for the apartment I had been barely able to hold onto. If I didn't pay the rent in one month then it would be gone, vanished and then another door would be slammed onto me, closing the last hope and making me homeless.

One thing for me was clear, my life sucked big time at this moment.

Since I was busy glaring at the world beneath my feet, I failed to notice a man walking toward me until his shiny black shoes stood a few feet away from my own.

"Ms. Bishop?"

A man said. A man who had a pure manly voice with a slightly deep tone, whose voice I hadn't heard before. It sounded very appealing.

"Ms. Bishop?" That voice said again.

And the poor man must be thinking I was deaf, so not to embarrass myself further more, I quickly looked up and boy, did I get star-struck or what?

At first glance, my breath hitched. This man surely had a appealing voice but his face; my god, he had the face of a greek god. I had to crane my head up, to have a good look at him. He was tall, taller than Chloe even who was five feet seven.

Currently, the greek god was looking at me quite intently. Probably thinking whether I was mute too or not. I really needed to stop making a fool of myself.

"Yes?" My voice squeaked out, seeing a model-like guy who I believe had walked straight out of Chloe's gossip magazines. I had to clear my throat and wet my dry lips to answer more clearly. "Yes?"

The man with grey eyes asked. "Can I have a moment with you, Miss?" His eyes. Grey eyes. He had some beautiful and familiar grey eyes.

Oh, you can have as many moments as you want with me Mr. Greek god.

Oh hell, I was officially crazy. But nonetheless my common sense finally kicked in to let me know that even though this man was a good looking man, he was still but a stranger.

So, I shook my head to clear out all the earlier thoughts and crossed my hands to look intimidating. "And who are you?" And it failed because he was the father of intimidation.

The man oozed power and rich vibes. He wore a fine tailored business suit. Behind him, I noticed a bodyguard standing beside a expensive looking black car which looked like a BMW. Well whatever it was, it sure looked expensive. Even the guard looked expensive.

Who is this guy again?

I looked at the grey-eyed guy again. He had some thick dark brown hair that curled behind his ears and the nape of his neck. As my eyes travelled down, I noticed a narrow nose, a sensuous set of lips and a chiselled jaw that emphasised his handsome face more and those pair of grey eyes that were currently flickering from my top to bottom returning my inspection. Over all, I had to admit this man was an attractive guy. Hell, he was the most one at that.

He offered a handshake to me and introduced himself. "Tyler Sanders."

Stupidly, I just looked at his face then the hand, then the face again and then it clicked.

Sanders!

The freaking new owner of the building behind me, the person who bought over my source of income and suddenly, I felt anger pulse through my body.

I widened my eyes and shoved my finger at his face. "You! You--Sanders--You are Mr. Sanders!"

He tightened his extending hand into a fist and pulled it back. "Yes, I believe that's what I said."

"No..You..I..You got me fired!" I accused him, throwing caution on the street and stepping on it. The man looked taken aback but before he could utter anything, my anger toward losing a job, worries on all the payments mixed together and just exploded. "You are the one who bought this place. And my money hungry boss sold it to you just like that." I snapped my finger at him. "I have no job for you now! No job! You did this! What am I suppose to do now?!"

Three people stopped on the sidewalk and stared curiously at us. I didn't know what kind of picture we created for the onlookers but I was seething in anger and breathing quite heavily.

Mr. Sanders, on the other hand looked awfully calm. There was no movement at all. Not even a blink. Slowly, I took a step back and swallowed because I realised it was the calm before the storm. Upon my action, his eyes started narrowing on me and I knew then, the storm was going to eat me alive.

Hesitantly, I flickered my eyes to the strangers looking on us to cry for help but he turned his head and before you knew it, one look was enough for them to fled the scene.

When he faced me back, he was severely angry and appalled to had me shout at him, in the middle of a side walk. This man probably never had anyone talk to him that way. Well too bad, since I was a woman who just got fired when a big loan was hanging over her head.

I was angry, desperate and only twenty five years old. I still had so many things to do. I didn't deserve all these.

The bodyguard behind him looked tense but if he butted in, I'd probably have murder on my hands. The longer he stared, the less scared I became. Looking into his grey eyes could strike fear among anyone but right this moment, they started lulling me to serenity.

When I unexpectedly sighed, I remembered this Sanders guy made me jobless. He bought a plot for his own business gain but destroyed my livelihood.

With renewed courage, I was about to throw more vulgar words at him when he replied calmly, too calmly with tension evident on his tight shoulders. "My business with you is not about your job. I know about your loan, Ms. Bishop."

Stunned, I closed my mouth and forgot all of my previous emotions. That was not what I expected from a wealthy man when he just got yelled at, in public.

My loan.

How the hell did he know about my loan? I hadn't told anyone but my family and they weren't even aware of the real situation now. They thought, I cleared it out last year.

I tilted my head up to tell him that my loan was not his business when he said again. "And I have a proposition for you regarding that."

That made me pause. Naturally, I narrowed my eyes at him. Why did I feel like this was not a sudden thing? How did he find me? Before I could even get any answers, he started walking away to his car, leaving me standing there.

Well, this is awkward.

What was I suppose to do again? The guard kept the door to the backseat open. So, I was suppose to get in but should I? He was a stranger but a stranger who might help me now. More than ever, now was the time when I needed his help. Maybe fate was trying to tell me something.

The phrase -when God closes a door, He opens many other doors too- popped in to my head and this must be the open door for my situation. I wasn't a person who would turn to God for everything in my life but trusting in my fate and faith, I made a quick decision. Logic be damned.

Call me crazy but I slowly started walking and entered the car through the open door.

******

Mr. Sanders had decided to visit a fancy restaurant but I declined it. Either he was going to take me to a cheap, normal one where I could pay for myself or I was getting out. That was what I said to him and finally he brought me to a simple family-friendly restaurant.

We walked in together and immediately all eyes were on us or more specifically him. A man in a suit, on a hot summer day was bound to turn many heads. Looking around, I figured it wasn't just the suit. Woman were eyeing him up and down as kids do to their candies.

Well, he was a fine candy though. Couldn't blame them.

But he ignored all of it and choose a corner booth away from the curious people staring at us. I simply walked behind him, avoiding any eye contacts and hiding my face beneath my long strands of hair.

This man was a stranger. Remember a stranger.

I kept on muttering a stranger danger mantra inside my head, to not get lured by his aristocratic outlooks and forget my common sense.

He pulled out a chair for me before he sat on his seat. Well, he had manners. Impressive. I put my bag beside me and sat comfortably. After ordering drinks, he got down to business. "Ms. Bis--"

I looked up at him and said. "Claire. Call me Claire."

Wow so much for stranger, Claire; my inner voice taunted.

Well, he seemed like a gentleman and that was a good reason for us to be on first name basis. Gentlemen were short these days.

He raised his eyebrows and replied curtly. "Do not interrupt me again. I don't like interruption." I rolled my eyes at that. Who did he think he was? And here I thought, he was a fine gentleman. He continued. "And as I was saying Claire, I have a proposition for you that will benefit you as well as me."

That made me sit up straight. Right now, the man before me looked like he was on a very important meeting. The serious face, the controlled voice. He was talking to me as if I was his client. Well, I could bring out my business self too. I put on my best serious face, crossed my hands and nodded at him to continue.

"I will clear out your loan for you. All of it along with your apartment's five months due rents."

I couldn't keep the serious face because the surprise was evident on my face. How did he know about these? Well looking at him, I sensed he was freakishly rich and rich people knew everything.

Wait, what?! All of it? Cleared out? Oh, God.

But then reality slapped my face and I narrowed my eyes at him. "And what do you want in return?"

He simply looked me in the eyes and declared with a straight face. "I want you to be the mother of my child."

It was as if, hot boiling water poured down on me. I blinked a couple of times then when I registered the real meaning of what he was saying, I couldn't stop my hand from reaching over the table to meet his cheek. The sting on my palm was forgotten as I stood up abruptly, glaring at him.

"Who do you think you are? I'm not that kind of woman. How dare you?!"

Tyler Sanders slowly stood up, his left cheek started pinking up and I was briefly aware of the shocked faces from my surroundings but I was way deep in my rage to see through anything properly. "You perv--you pervert! I should have known. Rich people like you think you can get anything. Well, not me." I hissed out, snatching my bag and getting out of the booth. My eyes met his dark cloudy eyes for one last time as I added. "Stay away from me!"

Throwing the final words over him, I ran out of the restaurant as if the devil was after my ass.

I didn't stop even when the bodyguard tried to speak with me. I didn't stop when Tyler Sanders himself got out of the restaurant, shouting my name in rage. I didn't stop anywhere until I hailed a cab and yelled at the driver to just drive. Just drive to my apartment.

After reaching my apartment, I gave him his fare and sprinted to the inside of my place. I locked all doors and windows, just to be on the safe side and sat on my living room couch, cursing the whole Sanders generation. Taking deep breaths, I tried to understand his logic in it but every time I thought about it, his words replied me the same meaning.

I want you to be the mother of my child. The mother of my child. My child.

Twenty-five was really too young to be responsible for a child. Wait, why was I even thinking about it like that? He was a stranger, a stranger who wanted to have a child with me. Oh my, what was wrong with him? I didn't even know him. We never met before and he wanted a child from me? How did my life get this crazier?

There was no denying I loved kids. i really loved them but I wouldn't go out having them with just about anyone. Kids! And that reminded me of Little Ariel. She was one sweet and pretty girl. Oh her! The grey eyes were familiar because of her.

But Little Ariel was nothing like that man. That man was a full on pervert, arrogant, rude and stupid. Little Ariel was the opposite. Gosh, how I wanted a girl like her! But that never meant, I would go and have a kid with that man. Oh no. He was lucky I didn't call cops on him. That slimy bastard. Rich bastard. Rich arrogant slimy bastard!

And on that precise moment, there came loud pounding and shout from the other side of my main door.

"Oh crap."