ALL THREE OF them saw it—Soren kissing a woman at their table— and they all stopped dead in their tracks, with Maggie standing two meters from the door, Yana a meter away from the door and Misha standing with the door just behind her. Some customers had also seen the unusual scene and were also gawking at Soren and the unidentified girl. He was sitting on the chair and the girl, who was standing in front of him, was leaning towards him with one of her hands holding onto the backrest of the chair. The kiss lasted only around five seconds and the girl stood up straight afterwards and walked, with hurried steps, towards the door, leaving Soren who had an embarrassed look on his face, like he had committed a very shameful act.The girl, who was now walking past Misha at the door, was very pretty and young, looking like she was just in her early twenties. She had short black hair, wore a red tank top and white mini skirt and red sneakers. Suffice it to say that red was probably her favorit
MISHA WAS STUNNED and was speechless while looking at Soren, waiting for him to utter that he was just joking while Maggie and Yana grinned widely and Soren, he was staring back at her with a little smile on his lips, with no plan seemingly to take back what he just said, though his face was a bit red and his eyes shyly sparkled, like two small stars at the start of the night. Yes, she already inkling about that, him having a crush with him, but she had no idea he would admit it this early and in front of her friends and within hearing distance of his employees and strangers.Misha finally recovered her wits and cleared her throat and took her eyes off him. “Don’t take him seriously,” she said, gesticulating with her hand, “he’s just kidding.”“I’m not,” he said while still looking at her, the little smile on his lips not fading, a smile that if she would describe, she’d describe as hopeful—probably hoping that she would not embarrass him that moment and that she would react positivel
MISHA WAS ALREADY opening the door of the car when she noticed that Soren was holding an umbrella—she looked up and yes, it was raining, but Soren’s smile was so alluring and so bright that she noticed it first before the rain. But then, why would she notice the rain first? She was sure God made that lovely rain that afternoon for everyone but Soren’s smile, he made it beautiful just for her. The clouds were dark but Soren and his smile were little suns giving her light. She wanted to grin at that thought. It was only just then that she noticed the black pickup truck parked at the opposite side of the road. She briefly wondered why he didn’t park right in front of their house. Did he want his arrival to be surreptitious to his family? So, that inquisition affected him after all. Soren approached the car as Misha was alighting from the car and quickly positioned the umbrella above her, protecting her from the rain, not minding if he’d be the one getting wet.“Hi, Soren,” M
“I WILL DATE SOREN?” Misha asked Maggie.“Yes, so Soren won’t be able to stop us while inside the coffee shop,” Maggie replied. “Yana and I will go there unannounced.”“But will the crew cooperate?” Yana asked.“Of course, we will charm them,” Maggie chuckled. “Besides, they already know us. They saw how Soren was so attentive to us. But we won’t tell them that it’s the purse we’re investigating. We’ll think of another reason why we want to look at the footage.”“What reason?” Misha asked.“I’ll think about it. I’m sure I can come up, or Yana, or you with a reason before we go to the coffee shop.”“When will we do it?” Yana asked.“Tomorrow morning,” Maggie answered. “Before they could erase the incriminating footage.”“If Soren is guilty of stealing the purse, then, he‘d erase it immediately. Maybe he had erased it after we left the coffee shop.”“Maybe, but we’ll see,” Maggie said. “We’ll be there at ten o’ clock. He probably hadn’t realized at that time that he had to clean out the
“WHAT DID YOU see?” Misha asked Yana, not really sure whether she was prepared to hear the answer.She heard Yana sigh, and it made Misha’s heart thud against her chest. That sigh sounded like someone was caught doing something crooked. Would this be the end of whatever she and Soren had? Soren stealing her purse would prove a lot of things. He was really a kleptomaniac. Yes, she returned her purse but it was probably just an afterthought. Maybe, he thought that returning it to her would impress her, especially with the rain and his umbrella. Imagine, a handsome billionaire like him taking time and effort to return her purse when he could just call her up and tell her about so she could pick it up at the coffee shop.It would also prove that he was indeed a liar. He lied about picking up the purse from the floor. It would also prove, okay, not really prove, but it would serve as a circumstantial evidence that he was a sex addict because he would lie and invent a story just so he could
MISHA WANTED TO slap her forehead as Soren made a U-turn to make the journey to his house. What was she thinking, really? The goal was to A-V-O-I-D him. The resolution of the mystery of the purse didn’t completely change it. She really should make a statement shirt that said “Avoid Soren” and start wearing it so she would not forget it, especially at times when she was with her and he was being very charming and alluring. But it really wasn’t too late as she still could change her mind and ask him to just take her home and she knew that he wouldn’t make a fuss out it. But it would offend him, she also knew that. It would be just like telling him that he couldn’t be trusted and she was afraid that he would do something unpleasant to her while she was in his home. But she had all the rights to be wary. It was his home and he could get all the privacy he wanted for him and her there. And there were a lot of things he could do to make her submissive to all the sinful things he wanted to d
“WHAT I MEANT to say was ‘virtuous,’” she said, trying to save face when she really said the right word. She would always jokingly brag about it—her virginity— to her female friends but never to her male friends, especially to Soren, who, if he really was a naughty boy, might get the wrong impression. He might think she was teasing him or challenging him to pop her cherry. I’m, a virgin, so I would be a valuable addition to your collection, so come and get me, might be his interpretation of what she just told him, suddenly revealing to him that she was a virgin.“But are you a virgin?” Soren, smiling, asked him.She cleared her throat. “Yes.”“Admirable” he said, beaming, like he was proud of her. “Considering that in your profession, temptations abound.”“Yes, there are many temptations in my profession but I really rather that we don’t talk about my virginity.”“Of course,” he agreed, still smiling. “Questions about someone’s virginity’s never part of a slam book.” “Well, I got a f
THE MOMENT SOREN’S lips touched hers, she made what was probably the quickest and the most daring decision she had made in her whole life—she kissed him back. And what was more outrageous was she put her hand on the back of his head and pulled him closer to her, making the kiss between them deeper.Her mind was screaming in protest but her heart was hearing none of it.Soren’s kiss was passionate, eager, enthusiastic, hungry but not… perverted or debauched. No tongue action, no groping, his hands were behaved, both gently touching her hips. She was no virgin when it came to kisses and she knew that a passionate kiss involved some tongue actions and groping. The many kissing scenes she had seen in many movies would also attest to it. Or was it too early to conclude? Maybe Soren and his tongue and hands were just warming up. But a minute had passed and the kiss was still gentle. It was a pity because she thought she was ready to return whatever intensity his kiss would reach. Yes, she w