Chapter 6: Get your hands off me

Four days later, it was a Monday morning, Grace had just finished her routine Monday 7km morning run along the beach near her apartment. Although she was busy, she found that running took her mind off things and kept her fit.  She had showered and was having breakfast with her cappuccino at the Shore Café sitting in her usual seat by the window staring at the magnificent views of the water.  She had found that there really were not a lot of places in Straco City that served cappuccinos, so when she came across this café, coupled with a great view, she knew she was on a good thing and decided to make it a regular place for her cappuccino and breakfast whenever she could. As her food and coffee arrived, Sean, Sebastian, Carter, Tyra and Kiara arrived to have breakfast.  As they walked past where Grace was sitting towards the bigger table behind her, Sebastian greeted her with a “Good Morning”.  Grace looked up briefly, greeted him with a “Morning”, she also smiled at the others, briefly starred into Sean’s eyes and then continued on with her work.  ‘Looks like the man I saved doesn’t appear to have recognised me, although I’ve caught him staring at me, so maybe he does remember me. Oh dear, what if he does recognise me?  I’ll just act cool and I’ll keep my head down working on my laptop and forget about it.  It would be troublesome if he remembered’.

The last time that group saw Grace, Carter’s sister ‘Kiara’ was not with them, it was Luana (Sean’s niece) who was not with the group this time.  As Kiara and the others sat down, she whispered to them “My goodness, she really is a beauty as you described Tyra.  No wonder Sebastian and Sean are keen on her. Good Luck to you both, may the best man win.  Although from what I hear, she seems to have given you the cold shoulder Sebastian”, Kiara whispered to them.  Sebastian not ever wanting to admit defeat confidently looked and her and said “I think she secretly likes me and is playing hard to get”.  Kiara was a beautiful 25-year-old girl with black long hair, brown eyes and a slender figure. Good looking genes ran right through the Watson family as her brother Carter was also considered very handsome by the amount of admirers he had.  Kiara loved her brother’s two best friends Sebastian and Sean as if they were her own brothers, so she had the same banter with them as she did with Carter.  “Oh sure Sebastian, sure she is playing hard to get. Have you both taken into account that she may already have a boyfriend?  Girls with her looks and exceptional figure are rarely single.”  Sebastian ever the more confident out of the three men turned to Kiara, “If she does, then she will dump him for me.  I mean look at me, I have the looks and money, what more would a woman like her want?”. 

The group, then talked about other things, whilst Sean kept stealing glances at Grace.  He couldn’t help thinking that she looked familiar.  ‘Why do I feel like I’ve met her before. It’s those deep blue eyes, I’ve seen them.  Maybe it’s my imagination getting carried away because she is so stunning’.  As she had her back towards them, Sean thought she had the perfect back, gorgeous wavy and curly golden hair that reached the middle of her back. 

The group then noticed Arlo Brady come into the Café, pause momentarily and as he looked their way, he walked towards them.  Arlo was 28 years old, had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and although he was handsome, he was well known for hitting on girls. The Brady family was one of the prominent families in Straco City whose main business was investing.

As he was walking towards an empty table near the group, he saw Grace and was instantly taken in by her beauty.  He looked at her gorgeous face and then scanned her whole body.  He was instantly attracted to her.  Never being one to shy away from a pretty girl, he stopped at her table and whispered to her “Hey Beautiful, can I sit down and have breakfast with you, my treat?” Grace didn’t even look at him.  She continued typing on her laptop and answered him “No thanks, I’m finished and about to leave”.   He then leaned very close to her, stroked her face and said to her, “Not only gorgeous, but a beauty with an Australian accent.  My name is Arlo. How about I sit here with you until you are ready and take you to my place up on the hill overlooking all the water and have some fun with you.  Consider yourself privileged as I have no shortage of ladies that wouldn’t think twice at my offer”.  Grace was shocked with his direct approach.  She slapped his hand away from her face and shouted, “Mr Arlo, not in a million years, so do me a favour and buzz off.”   Arlo did not like that she not only slapped his hand away but she also rejected his offer of going to his place, so he grabbed her wrist.

Grace clearly unimpressed with his actions shouted at him “Mr Arlo, kindly get your hands off me or I will make you regret it”.  Just as Arlo was about to say something to her in response, Sean appeared and sternly said “Well if it isn’t Arlo, first you used to bother Tyra and now you are bothering this young lady”.  Although Arlo still held Grace’s wrists tightly, Grace looked at Sean and said “Mr ….?”   Sean responded, “My name is Sean Harper”.   Grace looked at Sean and said to him, “Mr Harper, thank you for your concern, but I can definitely take care of this on my own”.  She then looked at Arlo’s hands on her wrists and then at Arlo’s eyes.  Her eyes darkened and she then twitched her lips from side to side which was what she occasionally id when she was about to take action.  With anger and a raised voice, she looked directly at Arlo’s eyes and said to him, “Mr Arlo, you have five seconds to remove your hands off me and walk away before you regret it”.  Sean stood there and watched in case he needed to step in. Arlo did not take her seriously but just held her even tighter.  After five seconds, Grace twitched her lips from side to side and then lifted her arms up in a quick manner and flicked her hands and wrists down quickly which automatically released her wrists from Arlo’s hands.  She then got up, and flipped him over her back and with a big thud Arlo landed on his back and was quite shocked and embarrassed. Sean had a smirk on his face as he was satisfied with the way Grace had dealt with Arlo and at the same time everyone in that part of the café were looking at what had happened and began muttering and pointing at Arlo whilst laughing at him.

Sean wanted to help Grace and ask her if she was okay but she quickly packed up her stuff, left some money on the table to cover her breakfast and took off out of the café.  Arlo got up, dusted himself off and hobbled out of the café with an embarrassed look. ‘I’ll deal with that Aussie girl.  No-one embarrasses me like that in front of people and gets away with it’ he thought to himself.

In the café, the group were gob smacked with what they just witnessed. “She is the girl of my dreams.  She’s got some guts dealing with Arlo like that”, Sebastian remarked.  “Careful Seb, she might beat you up too”, Kiara teased. Meanwhile, Sean couldn’t help but smile at the thought of what he had witnessed. ‘She really is a fire cracker, a really intriguing girl that has piqued my interest’, Sean thought to himself.  Soon after, they all finished their breakfast and headed out.