The day of our graduation was the last time I spoke to him. Nothing more than a simple congratulations and best wishes for the future. He asked me about my future plans and I replied with a simple I have not decided yet answer.That was true to a point. I did not know what to do. But it was not completely true since Hannah and I had already decided that we’d moved to the city and live together. She had threatened Liam that he should never speak about anything related to me to Ethan that was not of importance, like my address after leaving high-school. I was glad she was looking out for me.She and Liam started dating one month after the prom and Liam turned eighteen the very next month. It turns out they were a couple in love and destined. Hannah and I shifted to the city and rented a small, cosy, affordable flat. It was a two BHK flat and we loved it. She refused to go back to her country and we both started looking for jobs till the time our results were out.I found a job as a rec

“I just got started with my writing and got such good responses, but I am afraid I can’t continue.” “What?” I couldn’t believe her. “Isn’t it your dream that you want to be the world’s best-selling writer? How can you even think of giving up so fast?” “I don’t know Zay. But I don’t have a story to continue. I don’t know how to move on with the plot, I am so lost right now.” “You will figure it out eventually, give your mind some cool air and then go back to following your passion. “I guess. Forget about me. Tell me about how your work is?” I recalled Gabriel. “Nothing interesting,” I plastered a fake smile. “Oh oh!” “What?” “That is your I have to pretend to be okay smile.” “What?” “You can’t lie to me. Spill it.” God! can't hide anything from her, can I? “Okay. I kind of like…” “Go on.” “Maybe…” “Ah ha.” “Found…” “Are you kidding me girl. Cut the suspense and say it in a complete sensible sentence.” “I think maybe I found my mate." “See, ain;t that hard to speak rig

I did not know if I should be touched or scared at his dominating nature. “Anything else you’d like to say to me before I go back to my work?” I wanted to leave that office ASAP. “What’s your age?” “I’ll be nineteen in one and half months.” I did not want to lengthen the conversation with my why do you need question. “You be twenty and we’ll be together… officially.” “What?” “You will be my partner in life and wife in papers.” “What if I don’t agree?” I retorted. “You can’t force me.” “That’s why I’m giving you a year to know and fall in love with me. Trust me, even I don’t want to take you by force, but I won’t hesitate if you leave me with no other choice.” “What if I don’t fall in love with you even after a year time? Will you really force me against my will?” “You’re stating one in a billion possibilities.” “Still you can’t deny its existence right?” “Listen Zayla." His jaws tightened and a harsh voice spoke. "I won’t repeat this again, you are my mate and so you now

“Anything else you are curious about?” he asked casually. I moved my head sideways. I couldn’t bring myself to speak. Don’t know how many more atom bombs he has yet to drop in front of me. Thanks to the waiter who brought food at that minute, I felt a little relief. He placed two plates on the table and I had never seen such juicy steaks in my life. “I am allergic to beef,” I said in my lowest voice as he started slicing the steak on his plate. “I know. This is not beef.” He knows? “How did you know?” “I am the CEO of the company where you work. I can get any employees file whenever I want to.” Rich b*st***. “I see.” I had just held my knife when he grabbed my plate and exchanged it with his. “Just eat. Leave the cutting to me.” I gave him a faint smile thanking him for his concern. I took the first bite and I was out of this world. Those meat deserved my one month’s salary. “Wouldn’t you drink something with the steak sir- I mean Gabriel?” Aren’t rich b*st***s like him s

Ten months passed by in the blink of an eye. With Gabriel, everything felt nice and he always gave me one thing to look up to. Even if it was his narcissism, our often lunch meetings or the way he always called me love, I started liking everything about him. My feelings for Gabriel started overshadowing what I felt for Ethan. Ethan protected me, he was always there when I needed someone by my side, so maybe I did not love him, maybe I liked his protection. But with Gabriel it was different, he was there even when I did not need him to be there, always irritating me, sometimes managing to make me blush and the other times he was a real pain in the a**. I was getting used to his company. He was becoming my habit, a drug I wanted to have around me all the time to make me feel alive. In the third month of our meeting, my results were out and I passed with a 91 percentile stamped on my result card. I came second in the whole high-school and Ethan came first. I joined a business under-grad