"Hey umm.. You don't have to do this if you don't want to." I fidgeted. There was confusion in his eyes as he ran over what I just said. I continued on about how I wasn't intentionally forcing him into this and the fact that I might be in the way of his quest to seek for courtship. There were like other girls out there he might want to take a chance with . On went my endless muttering till he started laughing again like the ignorant guy he was.
He offered me his arm after he recovered from his laughing fit as I fumed at him, confusion overcame my frustration as I gave in and linked my arm with his.
"What's wrong ? I think we make a great pair since apparently you're a trouble magnet and according to you, I'm a trouble seeker." I couldn't resist hitting him on the shoulders for that. But he just brushed it off and continued on " Besides, can't you see the match making war going on inside? I'm too young to die." I scoffed at that.
*cough* "not young" *cough* , He gave me a glare which I returned with a cheeky grin.
"C'mon old man, we gotta report for duty." I said as I dragged him indoors by the arm while ignoring the fact that he was probably glaring holes into my back by now. Perhaps I really read the whole situation the wrong way.. my bad then. Since the misunderstanding was cleared up, I felt so much more light hearted now.
He offered me his arm after he recovered from his laughing fit as I fumed at him, confusion overcame my frustration as I gave in and linked my arm with his.
"What's wrong ? I think we make a great pair since apparently you're a trouble magnet and according to you, I'm a trouble seeker." I couldn't resist hitting him on the shoulders for that. But he just brushed it off and continued on " Besides, can't you see the match making war going on inside? I'm too young to die." I scoffed at that.
*cough* "not young" *cough* , He gave me a glare which I returned with a cheeky grin.
"C'mon old man, we gotta report for duty." I said as I dragged him indoors by the arm while ignoring the fact that he was probably glaring holes into my back by now. Perhaps I really read the whole situation the wrong way.. my bad then. Since the misunderstanding was cleared up, I felt so much more light hearted now.
My heels clicked as we made our way insides, passing under the glistening chandelier in the grand hall . Aunt Amy should be here somewhere ..probably basking in the glory of having such an "amazing" niece. Not far from my sight, Someone was signalling me to go over to that group of women. Yep.thats her alright.
"Looks like you're up for auction." Chase nudged me,seemingly amused by the situation. I ignored him and set my gaze at the evil hag beside my aunt making him look there as well.
"Pray tell,would you be the highest bidder or should I put you up for auction as well ?" Chase contemplated for a while and replied
"The latter is no different than commiting suicide now don't you think?" I didn't get to give him a reply as we neared the group of ladies arm in arm . We simultaneously flashed a smile at the group and let my aunt do all the introductions.
"What a lovely pair, fantastic performance earlier.I shall love to see both of you dance again,reminds me of my younger days." Exclaimed one of the ladies with a bonnet. "Well of course, Kate here has been taking classes since she was a child after I talked her mother into it. " claimed aunt Amy. I simply nodded while reminiscing the times when I was forced to attend dance lessons even with two streams of tears down my face.
"Which reminds me, We need to take pictures for the charity album. Ohh! There's the photographer over there. Wait here while I go get him." exclaimed aunt Amy whilst she yet again disappeared into the crowd. Sigh.. Why does she do this every time? She left us to fend for ourselves against a bunch of old ladies who'd sink their teeth in the moment they know our relationship status.
"My, my. Young man you have a great eye. Make sure this young lady is yours to keep." yep, there comes the first attack.
Continued with other successive attacks which we simply defended with a nod and thanks. But the boss level monster of the game has just arrived, the hag dressed in her blinding black sequined dress made her move.
"Chase, Your performance was great! do you think you can teach me how to dance later? I'm sure I'll get the hang of it if you teach me. " said the hag with her usual annoying voice with a hopeful tone whilst she completely ignored my existence.
I couldn't help but picture them both dancing together, the look of discomfort in Chase's face as the hag "unintentionally" gets closer to him than needed with a contented face. I smirked with the picture in my head and with a failed attempt, tried to cover it as soon as possible before Chase catches me laughing at his mishap.
Probably tired of getting harassed, Chase pulled me nearer to him by the waist all of a sudden which made me stumble into his side. If not for his firm grip, I'd probably end up on the floor.
"I'm sorry, I already made a promise to accompany this lovely lady here for the whole night. It would be bad to break a promise , no?" He replied in the most gentleman-ly way possible making it look like I'm the culprit for messing up the hag's chances with him.
Under normal circumstances a normal girl would be blushing due to such close contact with a man but hell, I wasn't a normal girl by any means. I was too busy plotting on how to murder the hag and perhaps give Chase a lecture about treating me like a soft toy.
"Its okay DEAR, I suppose just one dance wouldn't hurt . I'm the selfish one for keeping you all to myself. " Chase went slightly pale at my reasoning.
"But SWEETIE, A promise is a promise. I'm a man of my word. Besides, I'm the selfish one who can't bear to see you dancing with anyone other than me."
This may look like some everyday lover's quarrel to the others but from our perspective..
THIS.MEANS.WAR.
The "lovers quarrel" was cut short with the presence of aunt Amy and the photographer. The hag reluctantly retreated but I doubt she is anywhere close to admitting defeat . Aunt Amy instructed the photographer to take pictures of the both of us and later including Uncle James and her as well.
"C'mon sweetie, It's gonna be a waste for charity if you don't put a smile on that pretty face of yours for the picture." "Oh gee,thanks for being so concerned for charity dear , the world would need a lot more pictures of us to be a better place." I exclaimed and both of us simultaneously flashed a smile at the camera in amusement.
After the picture-taking session,we made our way to the dining area for some snacks and to escape the wrath of the evil old hag whose been eyeing Chase the whole evening and glaring at me every chance she gets.
"Ya know Hun, She's pretty desperate for you. Even stalked us all the way from the main hall to sneak a peak... scratch that. openly ogle you from the next table. Careful, She might even knock on your door tonight." I bluntly stated as I took a bite out of my chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream. "Tch,troublesome woman. Don't worry darling, I don't open my door just for anyone." He continued while ignoring the hag's attempt to catch his eye every time he looks at my direction. ( She chose to sit behind me, how convenient for her.)
"hmmn.. really? how fascinating. I'm totally interested in your affairs with hags dear." And another bite out of the cake. Gawd... melted chocolate oozed out from the center. I feel so lucky for managing to get the last piece of chocolate cake to even care about the war going on between tables. That sense of contentment vanished as Chase ate the last bite of my cake out of my fork to ward off a group of elderly women looking for a son/daughter-in-law from our table.
"Oh dear, what an adorable scene.Young lady, that cake looks absolutely delectable.Of course not as delectable as this young man here. Where did you get it? " Said the elderly woman humorously.
"So sorry to tell you this madam, but unfortunately this is the last piece from the dessert section. I have no idea where this young man came from as well. Perhaps he too, was from the dessert section?" The group of elderly women roared with laughter at my statement and joked about heading for the dessert section for more delectable "goods". As soon as they left, I crossed my arms and leaned back and glared at him. "You owe me lots of chocolate. And ice cream too." I know it was unreasonable but hey, anything to cover up that embarrassing statement of him coming from the dessert section earlier. I was expecting him to start ranting on how it was unreasonable that he should get me treats but instead he nodded and agreed. "Hmmph.. I still won't forgive you for taking the last bite of my cake." Yep. Me being unreasonable due to the sudden flustered feeling. Perks of being a girl huh?
"Kate, the president wants you by her side for the closing ceremony now." Guess who interrupted our lovely conversation over a cake? Yep. You guessed it. My aunt's evil secretary. Perhaps one can't really dodge the inevitable huh? I got up from my seat and bid farewell to my date for the night.
"Duty calls,thanks for putting up with me old man." I joked with gratitude.
"No big deal. Till we meet again troublemagnet." I'm sure he was slightly annoyed by the "old" statement but heh, "Till we meet again trouble seeker."
I tailed behind the hag as we left the dining area to aunt Amy's whereabouts. The hag kept a steady pace to keep a distance between us. Seems like someone is a bit on the jealous side tonight. If it weren't for the crowd we were in, she'd be clawing me if not less to stay away from her prey--Chase the golden bachelor. The event ended with fireworks and me rushing around making sure everything is in order while Aunt Amy thanks everyone for coming at the exit.I didn't see Chase after that but I suppose he left early to set up booby traps in front of his room for the hag. Who knows? I'd do it if I were him.
My day officially ended when I stumbled into my hotel room barefoot and free from the killer heels. I practically sprawled on my ridiculously comfy bed the moment I got in. I was like that for I don't know how long till I finally convinced myself that I needed a shower really bad to actually get up from bed.
Frustrated with myself for being such a good and lazy kid, I reluctantly got off the bed . And that was when I noticed a package on the table. Was that there before? I don't recall. Taking a closer look at it, I notice the box looked damn classy. With gold inscriptions and sapphire blue casing. Next to it, was a note.
"Which reminds me, We need to take pictures for the charity album. Ohh! There's the photographer over there. Wait here while I go get him." exclaimed aunt Amy whilst she yet again disappeared into the crowd. Sigh.. Why does she do this every time? She left us to fend for ourselves against a bunch of old ladies who'd sink their teeth in the moment they know our relationship status.
"My, my. Young man you have a great eye. Make sure this young lady is yours to keep." yep, there comes the first attack.
Continued with other successive attacks which we simply defended with a nod and thanks. But the boss level monster of the game has just arrived, the hag dressed in her blinding black sequined dress made her move.
"Chase, Your performance was great! do you think you can teach me how to dance later? I'm sure I'll get the hang of it if you teach me. " said the hag with her usual annoying voice with a hopeful tone whilst she completely ignored my existence.
I couldn't help but picture them both dancing together, the look of discomfort in Chase's face as the hag "unintentionally" gets closer to him than needed with a contented face. I smirked with the picture in my head and with a failed attempt, tried to cover it as soon as possible before Chase catches me laughing at his mishap.
Probably tired of getting harassed, Chase pulled me nearer to him by the waist all of a sudden which made me stumble into his side. If not for his firm grip, I'd probably end up on the floor.
"I'm sorry, I already made a promise to accompany this lovely lady here for the whole night. It would be bad to break a promise , no?" He replied in the most gentleman-ly way possible making it look like I'm the culprit for messing up the hag's chances with him.
Under normal circumstances a normal girl would be blushing due to such close contact with a man but hell, I wasn't a normal girl by any means. I was too busy plotting on how to murder the hag and perhaps give Chase a lecture about treating me like a soft toy.
"Its okay DEAR, I suppose just one dance wouldn't hurt . I'm the selfish one for keeping you all to myself. " Chase went slightly pale at my reasoning.
"But SWEETIE, A promise is a promise. I'm a man of my word. Besides, I'm the selfish one who can't bear to see you dancing with anyone other than me."
This may look like some everyday lover's quarrel to the others but from our perspective..
THIS.MEANS.WAR.
The "lovers quarrel" was cut short with the presence of aunt Amy and the photographer. The hag reluctantly retreated but I doubt she is anywhere close to admitting defeat . Aunt Amy instructed the photographer to take pictures of the both of us and later including Uncle James and her as well.
"C'mon sweetie, It's gonna be a waste for charity if you don't put a smile on that pretty face of yours for the picture." "Oh gee,thanks for being so concerned for charity dear , the world would need a lot more pictures of us to be a better place." I exclaimed and both of us simultaneously flashed a smile at the camera in amusement.
After the picture-taking session,we made our way to the dining area for some snacks and to escape the wrath of the evil old hag whose been eyeing Chase the whole evening and glaring at me every chance she gets.
"Ya know Hun, She's pretty desperate for you. Even stalked us all the way from the main hall to sneak a peak... scratch that. openly ogle you from the next table. Careful, She might even knock on your door tonight." I bluntly stated as I took a bite out of my chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream. "Tch,troublesome woman. Don't worry darling, I don't open my door just for anyone." He continued while ignoring the hag's attempt to catch his eye every time he looks at my direction. ( She chose to sit behind me, how convenient for her.)
"hmmn.. really? how fascinating. I'm totally interested in your affairs with hags dear." And another bite out of the cake. Gawd... melted chocolate oozed out from the center. I feel so lucky for managing to get the last piece of chocolate cake to even care about the war going on between tables. That sense of contentment vanished as Chase ate the last bite of my cake out of my fork to ward off a group of elderly women looking for a son/daughter-in-law from our table.
"Oh dear, what an adorable scene.Young lady, that cake looks absolutely delectable.Of course not as delectable as this young man here. Where did you get it? " Said the elderly woman humorously.
"So sorry to tell you this madam, but unfortunately this is the last piece from the dessert section. I have no idea where this young man came from as well. Perhaps he too, was from the dessert section?" The group of elderly women roared with laughter at my statement and joked about heading for the dessert section for more delectable "goods". As soon as they left, I crossed my arms and leaned back and glared at him. "You owe me lots of chocolate. And ice cream too." I know it was unreasonable but hey, anything to cover up that embarrassing statement of him coming from the dessert section earlier. I was expecting him to start ranting on how it was unreasonable that he should get me treats but instead he nodded and agreed. "Hmmph.. I still won't forgive you for taking the last bite of my cake." Yep. Me being unreasonable due to the sudden flustered feeling. Perks of being a girl huh?
"Kate, the president wants you by her side for the closing ceremony now." Guess who interrupted our lovely conversation over a cake? Yep. You guessed it. My aunt's evil secretary. Perhaps one can't really dodge the inevitable huh? I got up from my seat and bid farewell to my date for the night.
"Duty calls,thanks for putting up with me old man." I joked with gratitude.
"No big deal. Till we meet again troublemagnet." I'm sure he was slightly annoyed by the "old" statement but heh, "Till we meet again trouble seeker."
I tailed behind the hag as we left the dining area to aunt Amy's whereabouts. The hag kept a steady pace to keep a distance between us. Seems like someone is a bit on the jealous side tonight. If it weren't for the crowd we were in, she'd be clawing me if not less to stay away from her prey--Chase the golden bachelor. The event ended with fireworks and me rushing around making sure everything is in order while Aunt Amy thanks everyone for coming at the exit.I didn't see Chase after that but I suppose he left early to set up booby traps in front of his room for the hag. Who knows? I'd do it if I were him.
My day officially ended when I stumbled into my hotel room barefoot and free from the killer heels. I practically sprawled on my ridiculously comfy bed the moment I got in. I was like that for I don't know how long till I finally convinced myself that I needed a shower really bad to actually get up from bed.
Frustrated with myself for being such a good and lazy kid, I reluctantly got off the bed . And that was when I noticed a package on the table. Was that there before? I don't recall. Taking a closer look at it, I notice the box looked damn classy. With gold inscriptions and sapphire blue casing. Next to it, was a note.
To Miss Troublemagnet,
Chocolates as promised for compensation for the
last bite of cake. Don't worry,I still owe you lots of chocolate and ice cream.
I'll clear my debt in time (if I happen to be in the dessert section)
Sincerely, The Trouble seeker
What on earth arghhhh... Part of me is annoyed for being teased and the rest of me is like "CHAWKLEEEET!!!"OMG HE GAVE ME CHAWKLEEEEEEET." I can't deny the fact that I was overjoyed by the gift , perhaps overjoyed was an understatement . My mind wandered to Chase the trouble seeker? Not bad. Not bad at all. I actually look forward for the ice cream and chocolates from him in the future, the hag would probably assassinate me if she knew but hey, chocolate is to die for. I retired to bed that very day feeling over the moon after packing the box of chocolate into my rucksack. Till we meet again old man. Till we meet again.
