Chapter 3 Goal 1

Vivian raised her eyebrows and turned her head to look behind her. Then she turned back to Amity, asking. "Which of them is he?"

Amity lifted her finger and pointed. "The guy in the green shirt. He's sitting with his back to you."

Turning around again, Vivian squinted her eyes at her muscular back and light brown hair.

"Who's that?" Jaime felt someone looking at him so he turned around. He saw a girl quickly turn away from him. He frowned and said to his close friend Clinton. "There's some girl."

"I think she's looking at me." His friend smiled shyly, resting his chin on his hand. "She kept looking over here."

Jaime laughed. "What do you think? Why don't you go talk to her? You said she participated in the economics club's charity fundraising event, right?"

"Should I?" Clinton raised her eyebrows then put her fork down. "I bet you I can get her phone number along with her name and address."

"I'll give you fifty dollars if she lets you take her home," Jaime said.

"Ok. Don't forget what you said," Clinton announced then pushed her chair back and stood up.

~~~~~

"I think... you've been caught," Amity whispered. Vivian felt her eyebrows twitch, glancing back, she saw the tall guy - who had talked to her earlier - walking up to their table.

Suddenly turning back to Amity, Vivian panicked. "What should I do?"

"I don't know, but I need to go back to study. Goodbye." Amity shot Vivian a smile and hurriedly rose from her seat after nodding to Clinton and disappearing out the door.

Vivian should leave too. Deciding to leave the unfinished food behind, Vivian turned to grab her bag and prepared to stand up, but the tall man was already standing in front of her. She looked up. Giving an awkward smile, Vivian embarrassedly forced her to greet him. "Uhm... hi."

"It looks like your friend just left." He says. "Can I sit here?"

No, she said quietly but eventually nodded and watched him take Amity's seat. Vivian felt her face heat up a bit. To hide her embarrassment, Vivian took her soda, brought the straw to her mouth, and looked around wearily. Suddenly all the noise around her came to life and she became more tense as well.

"We met a few minutes ago, do you remember?" He asks. "My name is Clinton. What about you?"

Vivian felt her inner self shrink. She's not ready to talk to a guy right now. She replied softly. "Vivian."

Clinton smiled softly in response. "Hi, Vivian."

She nodded slowly.

"Vivian." He said then chuckled. "Your name sounds great. Are you a student at X university?"

"Uhm... I... no."

"Oh. Are you attending the charity fundraising event? I saw you were at the event just now." He reminded.

Vivian shook her head. "I... I was just with a friend."

"So that's it. If you're not a student at X university, then... which school do you go to?"

He's obviously prying into her personal life. The same recurring questions she had received for most of her life. For example, what school do you go to? Who are your parents?

Why should she be embarrassed? There's nothing to be ashamed of. She has done more than her share of living responsibly, growing up and raising her younger brother to be a good person. Even though she was only twenty-three years old, she felt like she was old before her time. Compared to him, she could be his mother.

Shaking off her embarrassment, she spoke frankly to him. "I went to work. I didn't go to school."

"You went to work?" He repeated in surprise. "Can I ask where you work?"

Deciding that there was no harm in sharing the information, she replied. "Domino Pizza Store."

"A pizza place. I know that place." He said, nodding.

Vivian looked back at him. "It's late, I have to go." Standing up, she added. "Nice to meet you, uhm... Clinton."

Jumping up from her seat as fast as a bullet, she surprised him, he said hastily. "How about you give me your phone number? I want to know that you got home safely."

Seriously, does he think she's stupid? Give your phone number to a stranger you just met a few minutes ago. Vivian wanted to mock him but she forced herself to calm down, instead, she smiled innocently.

"Sorry, but I don't use the phone," Vivian said.

He couldn't hide the disappointment and surprise in his voice. "So, let me take you home, okay? It's already dark anyway, it's not safe for a girl to go out alone at night."

It was only eight o'clock, he was already too worried. Vivian thought to herself, she looked at him with empty eyes. She was startled when he told his friend. "Jaime, are you finished eating? I'll go first."

Attention attracted, Vivian quickly turned around and saw the guy wearing the green shirt that Amity had pointed out earlier turning his head towards them. First, she took a breath. Second, she stares. Next, she was immersed in the handsome guy, feeling a light shine above her head.

"I'll go with you two, I'm bored anyway, I don't want to go home yet," Jaime said then paid for the drinks and food before standing up. Vivian looked from the side and saw that he was a head taller than her.

"Vivian?" Clinton called, she turned around and saw he had pushed open the door and gone out.

Great, she said to herself, they'll take her home. She doesn't know how lucky she is tonight to have two handsome guys take her home. Clinton was exaggerating, but if she didn't agree, wouldn't it be a waste of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? And Vivian never wastes an opportunity.

Stepping outside, she and the two guys walked down the street, under bright lights. It was hardly dark, the light was still imprinted on the sky. Vivian walked beside Clinton, discovering that her head only reached his shoulder. Jaime walked silently beside his friend on the other side much to her disappointment.

In her head, Amity's voice rang out.

"He is the only son, he will most likely inherit the company along with the millions of dollars in assets his father has earned."

Inherited millions of dollars and a big company.

That doesn't sound bad at all. Something flashed in Vivian's mind, and she suddenly found it very appealing: money and Jaime were a source of money she could spend endlessly.

From the corner of her eye, she glanced at Jaime once more before snapping awake as Clinton waved his hand in front of her eyes. He was such a troublemaker, she thought, for interrupting her train of thought.

Pretending to smile, she asked. "What's going on?"

"You said you work at Domino Pizza?" He asks.