Liam Brandon stormed into the fitness center where a few clients were doing some workouts.
Seeing this tall and attractive figure who just appeared with an annoyed look, a lady who had been running on the treadmill machine immediately quit her fast pace and removed her face cap, feeling her heart throbbing at this rakishly handsome god.
She was lost staring at his back view which had faded away since some moment ago as she slowly got off the machine.
"Are you alright, Miss?"
Hearing these words, she snatched her gaze from the space she was lost in and then raised her head to look at the person who had just spoken to her.
"Who was that man?" she asked her instructor, who was much more taller than her.
The corner of the young male instructor's lips couldn't help but raise, "That was Liam Brandon, Miss. The gym director,"
The lady returned her attention to the direction Liam had gone through, "Why is he so cute?" she asked dreamily, removing some tendrils of her hair that clung to her forehead.
"Just so you know, Miss. My boss is married with a grown-up daughter," the teacher told her with a broad wink and her jaw dropped immediately, wide enough to fit in an egg.
"What?" she murmured, her pretty oval-shaped face squeezing into a tight frown.
The man nodded twice with a polite smile. "I'll be right back,
After saying that, he turned around and also walked off in Liam's direction, leaving the lady dumbstruck.
Arriving in his office, Liam walked around his desk and stopped at the wall behind his seat, his face showing a worse expression.
"Damn you, Liam!" he roared hysterically and hit his injured knuckles against the wall over and over again.
"Damn you. Screw you. She's your fucking daughter, you bastard!" he cursed under his breath, rushed to his desk, and began to destroy everything he could lay his hands on.
"Lord, why?! This heavy temptation is getting out of hand," he cried out uproariously, pushing back the visitors' seat across his desk and ignoring his bleeding hand.
Panting heavily with his eyes shining with unshed tears, he crouched to the floor and watched as his blood leaked to the well-tiled ceramic floor.
"Okay if I come in, Liam," this voice came to where he was squatting from the door.
The person let himself in, it was the instructor from earlier.
Sighting the topsy-turvy office, and his boss crouching on the floor. This man was confused; he wore a mixture of amusement and irritation, the muscles in his jaw twitching with both.
Taking a few steps wholly into the office, he soon caught the sight of Liam's bloodstained hand and his face grew in apprehension as he dashed to an angle in the office to grab the medical kit and then rushed up to Liam.
"What happened, Liam? How did you sustain the wound?" he asked with a worried frown while opening the bag and bringing out the gauze and disinfectant.
However, Liam remained silent and unmoved and simply looked at the man indifferently as he treated his wound.
In a matter of a few moments, the instructor was done. He stood up first and went to dispose the stained wool, returned the med kit, and cleaned the office afterward.
Liam too had managed to drag himself to his seat and buried his face in his other hand.
All this time, the instructor kept stealing glances at Liam out of the corner of his eyes and thought inside his heart that he had never seen him in such bad humor as this before.
Standing in front of his table, "Hmm hmm," he cleared his throat first and began almost immediately.
"I don't know if you are in the mood to entertain guest, Liam, but there is this woman who has been striving to meet you since on Monday that you've not been around,"
"She's waiting in the gymnastic center," the instructor informed in a good nature mood.
"No, Henry. Tell the person I'm not available," Liam replied without sparing him a glance.
Henry blinked rapidly but he didn't dare to voice a single word.
Nonetheless, he could not think of an excuse to tell the woman again. Today marked the fifth day the woman had been coming to the gym center but Liam wasn't always around and today that he was around...
Recalling the exigent on the woman's expression, "But Liam, the woman..."
Liam swiftly raised his head and gave him the look that made him close his mouth, swallowing the rest of his words from the tip of his tongue.
Somewhere around the big city, in a prominent jewelry store; there sat Mandy on a Victorian chaise in the lobby, surrounded by too much jewelry.
A trace of beam could be seen flitting behind her beautiful eyes as she readjusted restlessly, looking at the door from time to time.
Seconds later, a woman appeared at the door and strolled in with a big smile on her face.
She was wearing a white shirt and a black blazer, together with a black pencil skirt and a pair of coffee brown flat shoes encased on her feet.
Mandy rose from her seat upon seeing this woman who looked a bit older than she was, probably in her early thirties.
"Come on, Clara, show me already," she exhorted impatiently, closing up the little space between them.
Clara's face filled with laughter and the creases around her eyes deepened, "What's the rush, Miss Mandy?" she challenged lightheartedly earning a playful glare from Mandy.
"Okay, okay. You don't need to give me that look,"
With that, she brought forward her hand that was at her back all the time and stretched forth a green square box to Mandy.
Mandy snatched the jewelry box from her and then opened it immediately.
The corners of her mouth curled even more into a smile and her eyes twinkled with fascination as the crystals from the box reflected in them.
She walked over briskly to the tea table in the place and put down the box on it and then began to bring out the most beautiful gold and silver rings she had ever seen.
Fixing the ten shimmering rings on her ten fingers, she looked over at Clara with her heart in her eyes.
"This is so enchanting, Clara. I love them,"
Clara chuckled softly, "I knew you would,"
"I just wish you would tell me why you love rings so much," she added, her eyes pleading for a positive response.
Mandy just giggled as she ambled to where she was sitting earlier and grabbed her pink shoulder bag.
"So you think my love for rings is extraordinary?"
She turned back to Clara and asked with interest.
Clara lowered her head and shook her head vigorously, "No, Miss Mandy. I'm just..." she was close to sputtering, hoping she had not crossed the line.
"Come on, Clara. It's fine." Mandy moved closer to her and said with a reassuring smile.
"Anyways, my adoration for rings is just natural, stop overthinking" she put in.
Clara smiled and nodded and then gave back her black card.
"Thank you. And please, don't forget to notify me as soon as the new collection arrived, okay?" Mandy asserted, dropping the box in her bag.
"Of course, Miss Mandy. Have a nice day," Clara assured while waving at her as she walked away.
Mandy sat behind the wheels and tossed her bag in the passenger seat.
Lowering her both hands on the steering, a wide smile covered her face again, admiring the fitness of the rings on her slender fingers.
"So perfect," she kissed her fingers and kicked the engine to life.
However, she seemed to recall something while fastening the seatbelt.
Promptly, she reached out and retrieved her cell from her bag and dialed her best friend's number directly.
She connected her phone to the Bluetooth and threw it onto the central console and drove out of the parking lot.
"Hey, pumpkin," Daniella's dull voice sounded in the car and Mandy grimaced lightly as she focuses on the road.
"I need you to explain to me why you suddenly disappeared with Matthew earlier, leaving me all by myself," Mandy groused.
"Sorry, babes. I had to leave quickly to prepare myself for his arrival," Daniella defended from the other end of the line.
Mandy's face twisted into a deep frown now, "Whose arrival?" "Matthew," Daniella answered almost immediately as if she had known her next question.
"I invited him over. In fact, he just left some moments ago,"
Mandy scoffed with an eye roll, "Please tell me another joke. I mean since when did you start inviting a male friend over to your place, Ella? And not just a male but Matthew.
You and I both know that you give absolutely no damn about him. So tell me, what suddenly changed?"
There was a long silence at the other end.
"Hey. Are you there?" Mandy tested, stealing a glance at the android stereo.
"Matthew is now my boyfriend,"
Heeding these words, Mandy suddenly screeched to a halt and collided with the vehicle in front of her.
"Damn it!"