Him & I

Kiara knew the moment she entered the restaurant, this was a mistake. Sitting in front of the senile man she regretted her mistake. She should have not agreed to this blind date her father had set up. The man was in his forties, but looked quite old. She cursed her parents for this setup. She did refuse for the blind date, but they never really cared about her opinion.

The old man had a big investment company, because of which her father wanted her to get into his good graces. Which means sending his young daughter to charm him. She felt repulsed at the thought that her own parents would consider doing this so that they can earn more profit.

Twisting the fork in her plate, she gave him a fake smile. Oh, how much she wanted to punch him. Gripping the fork tightly, she forced herself to eat the rest of the food. As he rambled on, she found her mind wandering to her plans for the rest of the evening.

She had promised Taylor that she would come for her birthday party this weekend. She had come for some work related business, and was spending her weekend here in Seattle.

Thankful to her wandering mind, she was able to pass her time while the man kept talking. When the meal was over, the best part had come. The dessert.

The waiter placed her plate in front of her, and tried not to act like a hungry animal. As she savoured her dessert, a delicious strawberry mint yoghourt parfait, she couldn’t help but feel grateful for one thing: the man had at least picked a good restaurant.

After excusing herself to go to the restroom, she was hit with a wave of frustration as she stared at herself in the mirror. Why did her father always set her up with men like this? She couldn’t believe she was wasting her time with someone so inconsiderate and self-absorbed. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm herself down before returning to the table with a forced smile on her face.

When she got back, she noticed the man grinning from ear to ear and showering someone else with compliments. Men. She wanted to punch the living shit out of the guy. As she headed towards her seat, she couldn’t help but think about how much better her evening would have been if she had stayed in her bed and watched Netflix. Nonetheless, she made a mental note to herself to be more selective about the dates her parents choose in the future.

Standing behind him, as he sweetly talked to the waitress, she smiled. “As you already seem to have plans for the rest of the day, I’ll be leaving.” She picked her purse, ignoring the shock on his face.

“Your father promised you to me, where do you think you are going?” The old man got up, clearly angry.

“Promised?” She scoffed. Her father wouldn’t do that. No, he might be greedy or money minded, but he wouldn’t sell his own daughter for some investment. That would be going too far.

“Yes princess, he promised me that if I agree to invest in his company, he would let me have you.” The old man smiled slyly. Of course these men think that women are like some object they can trade with whatever amount with whatever amount of money they throw at them. Well he was wrong.

And the disgusting name he just gave her. She wanted to pull his tongue out so he could never roll out that disgusting name from his mouth. She tried pulling her hand back but couldn’t. The more she pulled, the more he tightened his grip around her wrist. “Leave me. I’m not going to marry you, not even in your dreams.”

Everyone in the restaurant was staring at them, but none came to help. Kiara looked if anyone would be willing to come, but they all resumed their meal. Motherfuckers.

“You are. Your father said once I invest in the company, I can do whatever I want with you.” He licked his tongue which sent her wanting to vomit her lunch.

A hand out of nowhere punched him on his face. He left her hand to catch his broken nose. Blood seeped out of it, falling down. “Fuck. What the fuck?”

Kiara didn’t get any time to respond. The person who punched him stepped in front of her. He was so tall that she could hide behind him completely. When the ugly bastard stood up, he punched him again.

“When a lady says no, it means no.” A menacing voice sent an uneasy silence in the restaurant.

Kiara had forgotten about her sore wrist. She felt delighted in watching the bastard getting beaten up. A slight curve over her lips, as she tilted herself from behind the man, watching as the bastard quivered under his gaze.

Few seconds must have passed by when the manager of the restaurant came running holding a towel in his hand. Silently offering it to the man standing in front of him, who takes it without a word. Guards had also come hearing the commotion, they took hold of the bastard before he came near the man.

“We are really sorry for the inconvenience, Sir. This wasn’t supposed to happen. We will issue a black notice against both of them.”

Kiara gawked at the man, why would she be restricted to come here, it wasn’t her fault the bastard was misbehaving with her, and they could have come and helped her. None of this would have happened.

“Did you see the whole thing?” The man asked the manager.

“Ah… Yes, but we informed them to take their matters outside.”

No they did not, but Kiara held her words back.

“So you knew this man was harassing her, yet none of you did anything.”

Every worker’s eyes widened at his question. They looked at each other’s faces, not knowing what excuse to give.

“No, of course not. We didn’t know he was harassing her. We thought it was just a lovers quarrel.” The manager’s face turned red from shame.

“You are fired.” Three words and he walked right past him.

Kiara looked at his back which felt familiar somehow. He might have not looked her way, but he was the only one who stepped for her. Either to save his reputation, or the restaurant. He saved her. She walked back to her car, smiling. She will find out who he is.