"Well, I'm free so... I would love to."

The moment those words left my mouth, he pecked my lips one again and ran back to his table to collect his things.

"May I ask where are we going?" I asked when we sat in his car.

"Honestly, I myself don't know. I just want to spend time with you."

And just like that, butterflies in my stomach fluttered their wings at full speed causing a whirlwind in my stomach.

"What about a long drive?" He asked.

"Sure," I replied.

He nodded his head and drove into the street. He drove outside the city area, crossing the busy, active, and noisy roads. When we were in a quiet area, he lowered the speed of the car. Throughout the drive, he held my hand and kept my fingers intertwined with his. We engaged ourselves in small talks but the silence was winning the game. We didn't speak much as we both were enjoying the silent ride.

I asked him to bring me to the place where we did rock skipping as I wanted to do it so badly. He obliged and took me there. I challenged him in the game, and of course, he won. We were deeply immersed in the fun activity that we didn't know when the day passed and the sun's light changed into the moonlight.

We drove back into the bustling and never stopping, never resting city life. When we were back in the city Daniel had a craving for a burger so he stopped the car near a burger joint.

"A burger for you too?" He asked me.

"Nope! I'm not going to eat that cheesy heaven again." I shook my head.

"We're not arguing on this again." He said in annoyance. "I told you that when you're with me there's no rule for eating and no holding back." He scowled.

I stared at him intently thinking that only food has the power to change his mood from happy to grumpy.

"Oh! Come on, as if one burger will make you fat," He whined when I didn't reply to him. "I can't enjoy a burger when you're sitting beside me, drooling over my food. And mind you, I don't share my food." He said, pointing his finger at me.

I had no choice but to agree with him. He got out of the car and went to grab burgers. I stepped out of the car to take a stroll as he was taking the time to come back.

I just stepped a few meters away from the car when I bumped into someone. My mood turned bitter when I saw whom I bumped into. It was Michael, my ex.

"Oh! What a wonderful day it is. We meet again, Eloise." He grinned, showing his full set of teeth. He fucking grinned. How dare he?

I didn't want to see his face so I turned and was about to walk away when he came in front of me and blocked my way.

"Oh, come on, Eloise. It's been years. Till when you'll keep avoiding me? See, I'm a famous model now, just because of you. You know, Rick Hashington hired me for his new project. And I've heard that he wants to hire you for the same. It would be fun working with you." He smirked.

I clenched my hands in a fist and threw dragger at him. "I don't care what you have become and who you work with. And I'm for sure not going to work with Rick."

"Still feisty, huh?" He took a step towards me.

I took a step back. "Don't you dare cross your limits. You have done it before but this time I won't let you. Just fucking stay away from me. I haven't forgotten yet what you did to me. And you have the audacity to come near me after doing all that to me?" I yelled at him, keeping my voice in check in order not to gain attention.

His smirk didn't vanish, instead, it broadened. "This industry is a fucking game, Eloise. Of all people, you should know that. If you don't make a clever move, you're out. That's what I did. I had to do something to win so I used you as a pawn in the game. As if you haven't ever done it."

"I never used anyone for my own good. I'm not cheap like you." I gritted my teeth.

_____________________________________________

When I came out of the burger joint and went to the car I didn't find Eloise there. Frowning, I roamed my eyes around and found her standing a few meters away. She was talking to a man.

My frown went deeper when I saw her stiff posture. Whoever that man was, Eloise wasn't comfortable in his presence. I clenched my jaw when he took a step towards her and she stepped back. How dare he!

I placed the food bag in the car and rushed towards them. That unknown man was about to take one more step towards her but I pulled Eloise to me by snaking my arm around her waist.

"What's happening here?" I asked. I felt Eloise stiffen at my action. I glanced at her to see that she was looking at me with wide eyes.

"What's happening Eloi? Are you okay?" I whispered, keeping my eyes on her face. But before she could answer the one standing in front of us whistled.

"Great Eloise! What a catch. And you say that you don't use anyone. Don't tell me you aren't getting from him."

I glared at him. "Mind your language you—–"

"Daniel, let's go." I was about to show him his place when Eloise tugged my wrist and dragged me to the car. When we stopped near the car I removed my wrist from her hold and held her shoulders but her head was turning left and right, she was looking for something or someone.

Suddenly, her eyes went wide. "Oh, goodness, paparazzi." She surprised me by cupping my face and placing her lips on mine. I responded to her kiss almost immediately. I pulled her closer to me and flipped our position so that now her back was pressed against the car door. I grabbed the back of her head and deepened the kiss by plunging my tongue into her mouth. I tugged her lower lip between my teeth and slowly let go of her lips.

Heaving heavily, she studied the surrounding with uneasiness lingering in her eyes. I cupped her face again to make her look at me. When she did, I gave her a teasing smile.

"Don't want to be seen with me?"

She got alarmed. "No, Daniel. It's not like that. I just became anxious all of a sudden and—–"

"Hey, hey. I was just kidding." I embraced her in a bear hug to calm her down. I could feel her heartbeat which was a bit faster than usual. After a few minutes of standing in that position, I opened the door of the car and made her sit. I rounded the car and opened the door. The moment I sat on the seat Eloise started grumbling.

"Don't these people know the meaning of privacy? They don't leave us alone, we can't live a normal life. It's so irritating and, and, and Ugh!" She took the food bag and took out a box of a burger from it. She unwrapped it and started eating like she was hungry for years. But her mumbling didn't stop. She was looking outside the window; stuffing her mouth with the burger, sipping the strawberry shake, and grumbling I don't know what.

I wanted to burst out laughing but I didn't because I was enjoying the show. I got alarmed when she took out the box of onion rings from the bag. Goodness, she didn't know what she was doing and at that speed, she would eat my burger too. I acted almost immediately and grabbed the paper bag from her lap and took out my burger and started eating it.

She only calmed down when she was done eating. I too was done eating. I cupped her chin and wiped the corner of her mouth with a tissue.

"Don't blame me when you do the extra workout tomorrow because I didn't force to you eat almost everything I bought." I bit inside of my cheek in order not to burst out laughing at her surprised reaction.

Shen huffed. "I'm sorry, I ate your share too. I didn't know what came up to and I ended up eating all that."

"I would be lying if I say that I wasn't alarmed when you almost ate my share too." I chuckled. "But that's not the issue here. I want to know what happened to you suddenly that you acted like that. And who was that person you were talking to? And what about the remark he threw at you?" I asked, turning my expression into a serious one.

She looked away and fiddled her fingers on her lap. Don't tell me she's going to avoid—–

"He's my ex-boyfriend."

"Oh... Umm... Okay." Words failed to come out of my mouth. Suddenly, jealousy surged into me. I shouldn't be feeling like that because he was her past not present, still, I couldn't surpass the feeling.

I cleared my throat and sat straight in the seat but again shifted to look at her. "Umm... Do you still have feelings for him?"

Her eyes shot in my direction. "What? No! Daniel." She held my hands. "I forgot about him the day he broke my trust." She said solemnly, her eyes focused on mine. The sincerity in her voice was enough to make me relieved.

"What did he do?" I asked hesitantly. I wanted to know what that bastard did to her. She's a sweet girl, he must have done something unforgivable that made her break up with him. Consider me a jerk but honestly, I was satisfied that they broke up because now she's is mine.

She let go of my hands and sat straight. For a few seconds, she kept looking straight out of the windshield then she gave a quick glance in my direction and sighed.

"He used me to get fame." She mumbled.

"His name is Michael. We met at a fashion house party. He approached me first, we had a small conversation at the party and after that, he was seen at such kind of parties more often just to meet me. Then we decided to date each other to take things further. At that time he was sweet, caring, and loving so I decided to make everything official. My mother didn't like him but I rebelled and went against her... but little did I know that he was acting all the time." Her voice started to crack but she cleared her throat and drank water from the water bottle. I stayed quiet, observing her every move.

"At that time he was struggling to survive in the industry. I gave him a helping hand and started finding work for him. The first magazine photoshoot project he received was just because of me but apparently, that was not enough for him as he wanted bigger projects. I was trying..." She paused. "I did everything I could to bring him fame. And when he received what he wanted, he started ignoring me saying that he had work. I was okay with that because I understood him our profession was the same but he didn't stop there."

"He photoshopped some pictures which were totally inappropriate...nude photos. He used my face in those photos and photoshopped them with his and spread them on social media."

I clenched my jaw. That bastard.

"I confronted him and you know what he said? He said he did all that for both of us. To make both of us popular. I slapped him hard on his face for pulling that cheap stunt. I didn't think twice before breaking everything with him. I even filed a case against him but he had the back of some influential people who didn't let anything happen to him. To date, I don't know how the hell he got involved with those influential people. Nonetheless, all the photos were taken down but it left me devastated because many people saw those photos and... men, they started throwing cheap remarks at me."

"I ignored them but I couldn't ignore the insults thrown at me. But I never gave up, I fought and pushed every insult out of my way. I didn't let them rule me. Everything that happened converted me into a stone-hearted, arrogant bitch, that's what they call me." She chuckled humorlessly. "I set limits for everyone. I never let men cross my way but I'm a human too, it hurts."

A tear rolled down her face. I immediately pulled her in my embrace. That was the first time I saw her weak, I saw her tears.

"It hurts, Daniel. What wrong did I do? I tried to help him and what did I get in return? Betrayal, broken trust, tears, and insults? I hide it, Daniel but it hurts, it still hurts a lot." She sobbed against my shoulder.

"Shh, Eloise. Don't cry over him. He's not worth it." I mumbled, stroking her hair. "You're so strong, Eloise. I'm proud of you." I kissed her head repeatedly. That's why she always wears a poker face and pushes almost every man away.

She pulled away and wiped her face. "You called me, Eloise. That's rare." She tried to laugh. I joined her in laughing to energize her. I don't want to see her cry. It breaks my heart.

"Daniel." She whispered, looking at me. "After a very long time, I've found someone who I can trust. Please don't ever break the trust I have in you."

"Never." I again pulled her in a hug.

"I like you, Daniel." She mumbled and my heart almost stopped beating. A satisfactory smile broke on my lips and my grip automatically tightened around her. I nuzzled my face on her neck and mumbled,

"I like you too."

That's it. I needed to propose to her. I needed to make her mine, officially. She deserves respect and I will give it to her. I will introduce her to society as mine that will make them think ten times before saying anything about her.

All I needed was a mind-blowing plan that would shake everybody to the core.

____________________________________________