The Dinner Invitation

Storming back inside the party after her encounter with him at that balcony, Zia got bumped with Riley.

"You're finally here. Where were you for almost half an hour? Your parents were looking for you, Zi…" Riley halted by witnessing that frown on Zia's face.

"Zia, what's wrong?"

Zia opened her mouth to answer but stopped when her gaze fell on that green eyes creature entering into the hall again. His eyes were already on her which made her grit her teeth. Confused, Riley followed Zia's angry glare's direction and saw that man which widened her eyes.

"Hey! Zia, look. It was that handsome man about whom I was talking about," 

Zia's scowl deepened hearing Riley's words, especially after understanding to whom she was referring. She clenched her jaw.

"From which angle he is looking handsome to you, Riley?" Zia spat at her friend. Riley gave her a stunned look before answering.

"From each and every angle,"

Riley's answer bursted out the volcano inside Zia but Riley didn't understand it and diverted her eyes at Damien. Riley scanned him from head to toe with desiring eyes.

"Look at him. He is really a fine piece of meat. I will…"

"Shut up, Riley Hart before I fry you and your fine piece of meat in a boiling oil," 

Her outburst turned Riley bewildered. What had gotten into her best friend again? She was looking like she was about to eat someone alive.

"Zia, what insect has bitten your ass that you're behaving like this?" 

Zia scoffed at her sarcastic question.

"Hey! What happened?" Riley asked again but this time a little worriedly. Zia slightly tilted her head and found those piercing green eyes still staring at her shamelessly and even that cunning smirk was playing on his face. What a perverted piece of creature?

"Demon," she seethed out, glaring at him, turning Riley more confused until.

"Nothing happened," Zia told her and Riley decided to drop that topic for now as Zia's parents were waiting for her.

"Okay let's go then. Your parents are looking for you as it's time to cut the cake," Riley informed, earning a nod from Zia and then both the girls left from that place together.

…………..

Closing her eyes, Zia made her birthday wish in front of her birthday cake but as soon as she opened her lashes again, her eyes straight met with those emerald orbs again. Now he was standing in front of her cake. What was wrong with this man? Why was he wandering around her like her shadow? She gawked at him through the flames of those burning candles.

"Now blow the candles," her mother's voice gained her attention. Zia smiled at her mother and nodded. She blew the candles and everyone started clapping and wishing her. 

She cut the cake and fed her parents first and then proceeded towards Dylan who reciprocated her action of feeding the cake to her and after that pulled her into a hug. Zia beamed when Dylan placed a kiss on her temple but this time, she didn't know why she felt a bit exposed, like that gaze was penetrating her being and she knew exactly whose gaze but she decided to ignore it because it shouldn't matter to her.

She fed the cake to Riley and Dylan's parents with a smile and everyone continued to clap. Zia was smiling at everyone, ignoring someone really very specific because she didn't even want to look at him anymore but her fate had totally different plans for her. Zia saw her mother extending a little tray of a cake's piece to her.

"Go and give this to Damien, Zia. He is also like a part of our family now," her mother whispered to her in a gentle tone.

Zia wanted to curse her fate for that but ended up being an obedient daughter. She grabbed that tray from her mother's hand and turned around to search for him and yeah….he didn't leave unfortunately. He was still here. 

She scoffed to herself and walked towards him. Damien was sipping from his wine's glass while talking to a man when he noticed that presence approaching him. He tilted his head and saw her coming towards him. Dismissing that man, he put his sole focus on her.

"Mum told me to give this to you," she didn't try to hide her annoyance from him. Now he was far away from getting respect from her after his behaviour and words towards her on that balcony.

His gaze filled with amusement as he travelled his eyes down and looked at that piece of cake in that tray. She waited for him to take it from her but what he did turned her more angry.

He took a very tiny amount of cake from that piece and extended it towards her mouth. She was sure she was going to kill him. How dared he try to do it after what happened between them at that balcony? Her hands were aching to shrug his hand away from her mouth but when she noticed so many people around them, she dropped that idea and slightly parted her mouth hesitantly.

By staring into her sapphire eyes, she felt him placing that piece of cake inside her mouth but his fingers didn't dare to touch her, not even grazed at her skin. She slowly started chewing and expected him to eat now but her eyes widened whereas her heart froze when she saw him licking his fingers a bit with which he fed her. His action felt too irrational but she didn't know why her cheeks started heating up all of a sudden, especially enduring that way he was gazing at her but she immediately shrugged her thoughts away and turned around to leave but his words halted her.

"Happy birthday, mi vida," 

Again he called her that but why was it giving her those unknown sensations like her heart was about to explode? What kind of insanity was that? She looked here and there to check if someone had heard them but to her luck, everyone was busy.

Zia slightly stretched her head and found him smirking at her. She gritted her teeth before growling at him in a low tone.

"It's Zia Alcazar for you, Mr Damien Karlson," she warned him and then stormed away from there and he just gazed at her disappearing in that crowd once again.

………

""I know I have said this many more times before but I am proud and blessed to call myself Zale and Celia Alcazar's daughter. You both are my entire world and I love you both so so so so much," Zia said to her parents while clutching their palms in her. Her birthday party ended and all the guests left. She finally headed back to her room with her parents.

Her parents kissed both sides of her temple.

"And we are blessed to have our Zia in our life. She made Zale and Cia's love complete," Her father, Zale, uttered, making both the girls smile.

"Okay now sleep. It's already very late and you have your important lectures tomorrow, so sle…" her mother's words halted when her eyes fell on Zia's nails which were filled with some kind of dried up crimson thing.

"Is it blood, Zia?" She asked worriedly, gazing in between her daughter's nails. Zia gulped but immediately shrugged her hand and lied.

"It's not blood, mum. It's my lipstick and after eating the cake, my lipstick got smudged and when I tried to scratch it away it got in between my nails. That's why," she turned the situation in her favour because she couldn't afford it if the truth came out that it was really the dried up blood of that demon. It would bring chaos between both the families which she didn't want.

Her parents believed her and her mother wished her while caressing her tender cheek.

"Okay then….good night and once again, a very happy birthday, Zia," 

She smiled at both of them as her father wished her too and after that, they left her room and closed the door behind them.

Zia darted her eyes down at her nails and immediately his mysteriously gloomy green eyes started flashing in her mind. It annoyed her badly but then she noticed his dried up blood in between her nails. It was little but still…she might have hurted him very badly that was why her nails got stained with it but what bothered her even more that he didn't even react to it a bit like he was not capable of feeling anything. 

She mentally scoffed and then remembered his words and actions which shove her to that conclusion he deserved it and next time, she would slit his throat if he even dared to do that to her again. 

Zia was totally busy in making different plans in her mind about how she was going to kill him next time he was going to get closer to her but then something struck her mind. Did she just want to see him again? Her eyes widened at that mere thought. She shrugged his thoughts away from her head immediately and why instead of remembering those sweet moments which she spent with her love, Dylan…she was recalling those terrifying moments which she spent with that green eyed weirdo?

Next day, Zia went to her college as usual and attended her classes but Riley constantly asked her about what happened to her last night that her mood turned so off suddenly. 

"Tell me, Zia or else I won't be able to sleep another night because of the growing curiosity inside my tummy?" Riley pouted like a kid. Both the girls were sitting in their lunch cafeteria.

Zia rolled her eyes at her and finally gave up to her continuous rants. She told Riley everything that had happened at that balcony between him and her.

"What? That handsome fucker tried to assault you?" Riley turned angry after hearing everything. Zia sighed.

"Well technically he didn't even try to touch me and instead I was the one who attacked him physically with my nails so…" 

"So you are the assaulter here," Riley completed her words, earning a glare from Zia.

"Keep your mouth shut, Rey. That wasn't an assault. He deserved that for his unusual and creepy behaviour," she defended herself. Riley chuckled.

"But in all of this, we can't deny the fact that he is steamingly hot and his actions make him hotter," Riley grinned, making Zia lose her temper.

"Not hot but creepy and his actions make him scaringly psychotic," 

Zia laughed more at her words but Zia just narrowed her gaze at her and then started sipping from her juice can.

"But Zia, if you think that his behaviour towards you is not normal then why don't you tell this to Dylan or your dad?"

Riley's question made her stop drinking from that can. Zia exhaled heavily before answering.

"Because if I told Dylan about this then things would turn more messy between him and his brother as they both are not very good terms already and it could even create problems between their family which I don't want and about my dad, if I told him about this then I am sure…without having any second thought, my dad would shoot him in between his skull and that thing would ruin the relationship between both the families which I definitely don't want..at all," she put forward her point and concern.

"Well your concern is understandable but what if he tries to go any further? I mean what if he tries to do something more irrational?" Riley questioned her.

"Then I will make sure to kill him myself," she snapped, which made Riley chortle.

"Surely, you will. After all, you're Zale Alcazar's only heiress," she teased her which made Zia furrowed her brows.

"But on a serious note, Zia but if things got out of your hands then?" Now Riley sounded worried. Cia exhaled firmly.

"That situation won't arise because last night was the last time I met him. I am not going to meet him ever again so things will never get out of my control," she said with an assurity.

"Fingers crossed then…" Riley uttered.

After getting done with her college, she came back home where she found her parents had gone out for some work and they were not going to come back before midnight. 

Laying down on her bed, she was scrolling through her last night birthday party pictures on her phone when Dylan's call flashed on her screen. 

She picked it up instantly and answered joyfully.

"Hey…. What is my favourite person doing right now?"

His question made her giggle.

"Nothing much but was just checking our last night birthday party pictures,"

"Sounds quite boring," he teased her, chuckling.

"Yeah…yeah…I am not a damn CEO of a multinational company yet that I would be busy in doing some really very relevant things," 

Dylan chuckled at her reply.

"Okay….Miss Alcazar…. I apologise for displeasing you with my words, so mind if I invite you for dinner tonight in my home?" His words excited her.

"Actually dad called Mr Alcazar to invite you and your parents for a family dinner tonight but he said he and Mrs Alcazar are not home so my mom suggested to call you to invite you for the dinner and before my parents could do that, I decided to do that beautiful approach of inviting Miss Alcazar so that she could honoured us with her beautiful presence tonight," 

Zia chuckled at his choice of words and accepted the invitation because that was normal for her. She was habitual of living with the Karlson family from her childhood and now she had become a part of it.

"Fine…I will see you tonight then. Bye bye," she hung up the call and with a smile again started scrolling through the pictures until one picture gained her attention. Her smile dropped when she saw a picture of her and Dylan posing together but that person standing behind them at a distance was peering at both of them maliciously.

Zia zoomed the picture and gazed into those emerald eyes. What if he was going to be there for dinner? No that was not possible…she had found out that he didn't live with his parents and younger brother. Damien had his own penthouse and he lived there without his family, which made her breath in relief.

He was not going to be there for dinner or was he?