Chapter 1

"Your package, Miss Darren."

Veronica Darren raised an eyebrow, amazed. She remembered very well that she did not order anything this month. Her older sister did not send anything either, because if she did, her older sister would have told her first.

"Package? For me?"

The courier man confirmed the position of his hat. It was difficult for her to recognize the courier because the man was wearing a mask and hat that covered his face. Only his voice indicated that the courier who was currently waiting for her signature was a man. Her feelings were starting to feel bad. The way the man was looking at her also seemed strange. Should she accept the package or not?

"Yes. Please sign here,” the man handed her a pen along with the receipt form. Reluctantly, she signed the form while glancing at the man’s name tag in front of her.

Gustav. She already memorizes that man’s name. 

"Here it is. Have a nice day,” the man withdrew the form, then left. 

Hurriedly she closed her apartment’s door, looking at the package suspiciously. From its weight, it looked like what was in this box was not that heavy. Her hands holding the box were trembling, covered in a cold sweat. Swallowing hard, she walked quickly to the sofa chair and placed the box on her lap as soon as she sat down, opening the box. She was even more confused when she saw the contents of the box which turned out to be containing a pair of red high heels, with a small paper beside the shoes.

I hope you like it.

—From the person who will soon be seeing you—

She took the high heels out of the box, examining them carefully for anything else besides them. Unfortunately, she found nothing but those little paper and red high heels. Giving up, she grabbed her smartphone, sent messages to her two friends, Erna and Bianca, asking them to meet at the cafe where they usually spend their time after their class. 

Her eyes fixed on the high heels again, wondering whether to keep the high heels or throw it away. Seeing the shoes made her think of the red shoe fairy tale she had heard from the one who saved him ten years ago when she got lost in the forest trying to escape from home. She lifted the high heels, casually trying it on both prosthetic feet.

Strange. The size fit her prosthetic feet. How did the person know the size of her feet? Could it be, from a stalker? No, no. Her wind-like existence could not possibly have a stalker. It would be a different story if it was Erna or Bianca. The two friends had long been known as the most attractive type because of their appearance. Bianca Pedrosa has a handsome face for a woman, coupled with her princely attitude that attracts a lot of attention from women. Meanwhile, Erna Chen, her other friends who was a daughter of a publishing agency at Waterford City, with her cool and cool expression and demeanour, attracted anyone's attention—no matter what gender they are. In a way, if she stood beside his two friends, she would become dust. Just like that.

Her smartphone turned on for a moment, displaying messages from her two friends agreeing to meet her this afternoon. She glanced at it, turned off her smartphone screen and took off the high heels she was wearing earlier. Leaning her body on the sofa chair as she closed her eyes.

***

She scooped up the last bite of the chocolate parfait she ordered an hour ago into her mouth, kept glancing at the entrance to the cafe where she was now, with Erna who focused her gaze on the screen of her smartphone, playing games with her ears attached while taking a sip the second fruit juice her friend ordered. Bianca was not in sight at all, making her anxious. Where was Bianca?

"Alright, don't expect her to come. I give up on that idea the moment I arrived here, ”Erna looked away for a moment from the smartphone screen, maybe because her internet connection was unstable. "Just leave her. She must be busy with her 'harem'. You can just talk to me. Maybe I can help. "

Once again her eyes darted toward the cafe entrance before she finally took a deep breath. What Erna said was true. She forgot Bianca was the type who prioritized her 'harem' more than the two of them. Simply put, her friend always breaks her promises at every meeting. If she was lucky, she will find Bianca coming late to the meeting. She leaned towards Erna who took off the earphones she was wearing, ready to listen to her words when she heard the sound of the peaceful cafe door open widely, ringing a bell that was attached to the top corner of the door. The two of them turned towards the source of the sound to find Bianca's breathless figure running to reach their table. The woman's sweat was pouring down until she made the black shirt under her jeans jacket wet with sweat. The woman looked at the two of them in turn, clasping her hands in front of her chest after she managed to catch her breath.

"Sorry, I’m late, guys! I was stuck with my girlfriends! "

Erna stared indignantly at Bianca. "Are you apologizing or not?"

"I’m apologizing, of course! That's why I rushed here! "

"Feel guilty, huh? For what? To make us wait for an hour here like idiots? ”

It seemed that her friend really felt guilty because her friend immediately got up from her chair and took the initiative to prostrate in front of them.

"I’m really, really sorry!"

Erna leaned her head against her left hand on the table, grinning as she stretched her legs closer to Bianca's face. "Very nice. Now lick my shoes and Veronica, if you want to be forgiven by us. "

Bad habit, Veronica muttered to herself. 

"Now?"

And as usual, Bianca did not even mind Erna's bad habit at all.

She rolled his eyes, removed the parfait glass which had run out of content. “Erna, you’re too much. You better sit down now, Bianca, before your behaviour embarrasses us."

"O-oh."

She caught a glimpse of Bianca's disappointed face. Then the woman got up from her place and sat beside Erna.

“You’re too forgiving, Veronica. Occasionally just let her do it. She definitely won’t reject it. Right, Bi-an-ca?" Erna lifted Bianca's chin as she brought her face closer to Bianca, speaking in a hushed voice.

“Y-yes… that…,” Bianca looked nervous looking at Erna, until the woman's face flushed slightly, swallowed repeatedly. “I …”

“That's enough. I'm not interested,” Veronica took Erna's hand away from Bianca. “Just get to the topic. I just got a strange package sent to my apartment this morning.”

“Strange package?” repeated Bianca and Veronica, almost at the same time. She nodded. 

“You brought the package?”

Veronica opened the handbag she was carrying, took out the box she received this morning and placed it on the table. Bianca was about to pull the box closer but stopped her intention when she saw Erna's fierce gaze that snatched the box from her. 

“Let's see,” Erna opened the box, looking enthusiastic. Then his bright face suddenly became confused after seeing the contents of the box. “High heels?”

“Let me see,. Bianca finally ventured to take the shoe from Erna's hand, paying close attention to the details of the shoe. The woman's eyes brightened at once.

“Geez! This is from a famous shoe brand! You know Karl Smith?”

She shook her head, so did Erna. "What’s that?"

“One of my girlfriends mentioned this brand a few days ago, so I know a little bit about this brand. Wait a moment, I’ll show you,” Bianca placed the shoes on the table, took out her smartphone. The woman's curved fingers moved quickly on the screen of her smartphone, then showed the search results to the two of them, the website of Karl Smith that features a collection of shoes of various styles, with the price of each shoe enough to pay for her two-month apartment fee. 

“This brand attracts a lot of public interest because of their vision and mission of designing shoes that are friendly to all genders. Each shoe they sold only had fifty pairs in stock, completely exclusive. On each of their shoes, there is always some kind of code that we can check, to keep their brand authentic. Let's see if the shoes you got are really from their collection shoes or not, ”Bianca pulled her smartphone away from the two of them as she took one of the shoes, pointing the bottom of the shoe to her smartphone camera. After waiting for a while, she noticed that Bianca's happy face had turned into confused, then showed the two of them her search results.

"Nothing?" said he and Erna, almost at the same time. 

"Yes. It's really strange,” Bianca took her smartphone again, busy staring at her smartphone screen, trying to find out about the shoes after waving her hand at a waiter who was busy cleaning the table that had just been left by a visitor. "But this is real. I'm sure of it! Fake items will not have a code. This one has the code, but there is no explanation. "

“Maybe fake goods are getting sophisticated now. You know, like in China, a market that sells fake goods at low prices but the quality is almost the same as the real thing? Maybe like that,” said Erna, with cynicism.

"No! I'm pretty sure—ah, wait! There, I found it! Here!”

Bianca looked enthusiastic, showing them both the results of her search. 

Red Cinderella, a pair of shoes released only by Karl Smith this year. According to leader Karl Smith, who is until now has never wanted to show himself in public, the design was inspired by a girl he had saved. Who is the lucky woman that received this limited edition?!

After reading the article, Bianca and Erna looked at each other, nodding, rushing closed the box and pushed Veronica, forced her to put it back into the bag.

"This is bad. So, it means that you got a rare item!?" Bianca bit her thumb after placing her smartphone on the table, unable to hide the anxiety that showed on her face. “If my girlfriends find out about this, I will definitely be dead by now. You better be careful, Veronica."

“O-oh,” Still confused, she closed the zip of her bag. The waitress who had been called by Bianca came, put on a business smile on the two of them before the waitress’ smile turned into a warm smile upon seeing Bianca winking one eye at her. The anxiety she had seen on her friend's face earlier seemed to disappear at once. 

"Afternoon, Sir. May I take your order?"

Smoothly, Bianca gently pulled the waitress’ hand while kissing the back of her hand. “The arrival of an angel like you confused me.”

“C-confused?” The servant's face now blushed greatly.

“Yes, confused. I'm confused and afraid if I finish ordering, your pretty figure will soon disappear—awww!”

"This person, never learn from the experience, huh?! Showing your charm everywhere!?" Mercilessly, Erna tapped Bianca's head and twisted Bianca's ears, successfully making anyone who saw her could not stand with that. “Where was your apology earlier for making us wait here long ago!? Where!? You dregs! "

“I-my goodness, Erna! This isn’t like you saw! I didn’t intend to— "

"From other people’s perspective, they know that you're spreading charm, Moron! " Erna grabbed Bianca's hair, which was neatly arranged, brought Bianca's face closer to Erna until they were only a few centimetres apart, unable to hide her annoyance anymore. "Answer it!! Where was your apology earlier? "

“I’m already apologizing to you. Right, Vero?!”

“So, how you explain the other one? With the waitress, I mean?!” Erna waited for Bianca's answer.

“It's just like a greeting, nothing more,” muttered Bianca.

“Oh, greeting, huh? Like I believe it!" 

Bianca laughed nervously, raising her hands. Satisfied, Erna let Bianca talk to the waitress again. Bianca herself stopped throwing her rags at the waitress, returned to put on the cool face she always showed when she was silent. Honestly, Veronica did not understand why Bianca always liked to provoke Erna, as if it was like a special ritual that Bianca must undergo every time she met Erna. In fact, her friend knew very well that Erna was the type who gets provoked easily.

“Waiting for the order, Sir.”

The waitress blushed, leaving Bianca, who returned to her scattering mode, winked at the waitress. It seems that the waitress also misunderstood that Bianca was a man, considering that the only sign that Bianca was a woman was only from her identity card.

“Whatever! Do as you like! I don’t care!” Erna puffed her cheeks, ignoring Bianca who smiled slightly at Erna. “Don't forget, the one who came late pay for everything.”

“Yes, I know. I'll pay. Order whatever you want.” Bianca supported her head against one hand that was resting on the table, still focused on Erna who did not notice Bianca's gaze.

“You say it! Don’t regret it!” Erna no longer frowned, took her menu book with a happy face, as if her irritation had just vanished. “There, Veronica! She already said it confidently, so we should order the most expensive one!”

Unconsciously she laughed, seeing Erna who was so expressive. To be honest, she was also relieved to hear Bianca's offer, because in her house there was almost no food left, and the allowance that her older sister gave her was running low. She also took the menu book, looked at the list of foods that could be satisfying her stomach hungry because she only ate the parfait. If possible, she would take a doggy bag. “Lemme think.”

“Okay. Take your time. Which is the most expensive…"

Her attention was diverted from the menu book when she heard the sound of the bell attached to the entrance, giving rise to the figure of a man in a black leather jacket and white shirt with blue glasses perched on his nose, stepping into the cafe. The man's hand held the door for a few moments, while his left hand took off his glasses, looking around. The man's slender legs were neatly wrapped in dark blue jeans with rips at the knees, and dark brown ankle boots, further enhancing the man's appearance.

“Vero! Oiii!”

She ignored Erna's call. Her eyes were still locked in admiration for a man who seemed to be walking towards her after smiling in relief. 

Uh, wait. Towards her?

Her eyes flickered. Hurriedly she hid her face behind the menu book that she had been holding. Her lips were busy muttering reassuring words to herself, hoping that what she had seen just now was not real. No way that cool guy would come over to her, right?

“Yes, enough with that. The book is got in the way.”

She gasped, swallowed hard when what she was thinking earlier became real. The man did approach her, pulling the book she used to hide her face from him away. 

“This much better. Hello, Miss Veronica Darren.”

***