Chapter 3; The Encounter

During the ride, Elvis decided to strike up a conversation, thinking carefully about what he wanted to say. However, Javier was still on the phone with Fabby, who was reporting something to him. Elvis noticed that Javier's face was scrunched up in anger and he was clutching his right hand into a fist.

"Alright, Fabby," Javier said, ending the call and gnashing his teeth.

"Javier, is everything okay?" Elvis asked, turning to Javier.

Javier shook his head. "Daddy always wants to have his way all the time," he complained.

Elvis sighed. "Then you should involve grandpa in this before it gets out of hand," he suggested.

Javier nodded in agreement. "I think..."

Suddenly, “Aaaah!!” Elvis screamed and slammed on the brakes. "Holy fuck!" he cursed, fear visible in his eyes, as he breathed heavily.

Javier turned to him, wondering why he was freaking out; Like he saw a ghost. "What happened?" Javier asked, knowing something big must have scared him.

"Javier, I accidentally splashed mud on those ladies behind us when I sped past a pothole," Elvis explained, feeling guilty.

"And so?" Javier scoffed, not understanding why it was such a big deal.

"I splashed mud on those ladies, and all you can say is 'And so?'" Elvis mimicked him, wondering why Javier always thinks differently.

"Do I look like I care? Obviously, they were blind and couldn't see a car coming," Javier shrugged, indifferent, rolling his eyes.

Elvis stared at his best friend while unbuckling his seatbelt already making up his mind to apologize for his wrongs. He was about to step out of the car when Javier stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Were they dead or something?" Javier couldn't help but ask, not understanding why Elvis couldn't just give them some money to sort it out themselves.

"I want to apologize to those ladies," Elvis said, looking at Javier pointedly, trying to make him see the reasons.

Javier gazed at him in disbelief. "You wouldn't dare," he shook his head, glaring at him to stop him.

"Can't you see their clothes are already messed up because of me? So---" Elvis began.

Someone knocked on the window, interrupting Elvis. He turned and looked at Javier one last time before stepping out of the car, leaving him behind.

Javier shook his head, ‘If he thinks I'm going with him, he's mistaken. I don't care. He should have just given them some money and left,’ Javier thought, leaning back in his seat.

After waiting for Elvis for thirty minutes, Javier decided to go out and see what was taking so long. As he stepped out of the car, he saw Elvis in a heated argument. Walking towards them, he realized Elvis was apologizing endlessly, but the lady seemed determined not to let it go. She kept nagging.

Her clothes were indeed messed up, but Javier didn't really care about that, all he wanted was to leave instantly but all thanks to Elvis for always acting like a good Samaritan, and that always piss him off.

"Javier Reyes!" the lady beside the nagging one shouted his name, excited and surprised to see him.

Javier was a well-known business tycoon, both in and outside of New York. His company ranked among the top five most successful and wealthiest in the entire city. In addition to his attractive appearance, his unpleasant demeanor always made headlines in every magazine. However, Javier remained true to himself and effortlessly provided the media with plenty of stunts to talk about.

Thanks to Elvis, she would never have had the chance to see him, even in her next life because he was often seen only on TV, Magazine. Too bad he wasn't here to have a chat with anyone.

"Can we leave?" Javier asked Elvis in a cold deep voice, the moment he got closer. He tucked his hands into his pockets, avoiding meeting the ladies' gazes.

Elvis veered to him, "Javier, can you help me explain that it wasn't intentional?" He pleaded.

Javier turned to the nagging lady. Her friend was still giggling, while she seemed uninterested in his presence.

After a moment, Javier took out a wad of cash from his suit jacket and threw it at her before dragging Elvis towards the car. Shocking the ladies.

Natalie stood there, stunned, her legs refusing to move. She looked down at her already messed-up dress and the scattered dollar notes on the ground. Only the thought of her disappointing her client, fueled her anger the more because her gown was already in a mess. After all, she wouldn't be able to make it to the location. "The guts that man had," she sneered angrily.

She had heard so much about Javier Reyes and how rude he was. He was her long-time crush since high school, but what he did just now filled her heart with hatred.

Natalie turned to her friend, Kate, only to see her picking up the money from the ground, giggling endlessly like a child. It pissed her off to see Kate reacting in such a way. So, she yanked the money from her hand and quickly ran towards Javier and Elvis.

“Hey Mr. arrogant, stop right there.” She screamed, stopping them before they could enter the car, she stood on her toes and grabbed Javier by his suit collar, landing a brain-resettable slap on his face before throwing the money back at his face.

"Natalia?!" Kate shouted in horror. "What have you done? We're in so much trouble now!" Her voice was filled with fear, and Natalie could see the panic in her eyes, but scoffed loudly rolling her eyes.

Natalie turned her gaze back to Javier, who glared at her with bloodshot eyes. If looks could kill, she would be six feet under the ground.

"How dare you?" Javier growled, his voice cold with anger, as he felt humiliated by what she did. His fingers clenched into fists.

"Instead of you apologizing for your wrongs, it's so disgusting to think your money can pay for your mistakes?" Natalie fired back at him with a scowl on her face with so much bravery. "What do you think---"

"You are just a lunatic chasing clout," he interrupted, stepping closer to her. Before Natalie could reply back, his strong hand grabbed her neck as he lifted her off the ground.

She gasped for air, struggling to breathe under his tight grip.

"I'm going to destroy you. I promise to make your life miserable. You'll beg for mercy, but you won't find any. You started this game but I will decide its end." he growled in a deep, terrifying voice.

Kate fell to her knees, pleading. "Oh, God. Please, My Javier, let her go."

‘Your Javier? Seriously?’ Natalie thought, almost wanting to laugh at Kate's outburst, but the tight grip on her neck prevented her from moving.

After numerous pleas from Kate and Elvis, Javier roughing let go of Natalie's neck. She fell to the ground, scraping her ankles. "Ouch!" she screamed in pain, shutting her eyes.

Javier glared at her one last time before getting into his car with Elvis and driving away. Kate had to help her up from the ground as they walked back home.

"I hate you, Javier Reyes," Natalie kept mumbling under her breath. Suddenly, Kate stopped and ran back. Natalie stared after her, wondering why.

Kate ran back to pick up the scattered dollar notes from the ground before returning to Natalie.

"You're unbelievable," Natalie began. "Instead of supporting me, you took that idiot's side. And you even called him 'Your Javier.' Are you for real?" she lamented bitterly as they arrived at her mother's small apartment.

"Instead of collecting that huge amount of money for compensation and walking away, you chose to mess things up for yourself by trying to act like a superhero," Kate continued. "And the worst part is that you've gotten yourself into deep trouble. Do you think you can win over Javier? Do you think you can escape his wrath? The answer is no. I suggest you apologize to him---"

"I will do no such thing," Natalie interrupted stubbornly. "You and I both know they were wrong, so stop supporting Javier just because he's your crush," she finished, rolling her eyes.

"Can you hear yourself? Have you ever seen or heard of Javier apologizing or being nice to anyone? You know how rude and cruel he is, and yet you took the risk. Look where it got you," Kate scolded her.

"Well, I know I won't cross paths with him again. Not anytime soon," Natalie mumbled, already regretting her actions. She really hoped she would never see him again, or cross paths with him.

Kate sighed, "At least you should've thought about your sick Mom before doing anything drastic. Well, Keep hoping, okay?" She said. "By the way, make sure you call Mr. Khan and tell him we won't make it to the location today, I hope that heartless boss of ours won't deduct our salary because of our absence today." She added.

Natalie sighed, ignoring her, as she walked into her bathroom to change her clothes, but Javier kept reflecting in her head which she tried as much as possible to shrug off.