No!

“No.”

The stern response seemed to echo in the café that had been closed and Dominic felt it cut through his ego. Jade looked serious and she wasn’t star struck like he was expecting. She turned and went to the kitchen with Sylvie hot on her tail.

“That annoying, pompous, feather brain! A date? A date? Over my dead body!” grumbled Jade as soon as she got into the kitchen.

She got a cup and started with the coffee preparations. Sylvie looked on and smiled as she watched Jade grumbled her way through a cup of coffee. She was cursing her way through the walk as well and Sylvie being the being that she was, heard every single word.

Being you ask? Well, that’s for another day.

Worried that Jade would pour a hot cup all over Dominic, she rushed back out and ran into Neil, literally. Neil looked down at the little girl who’s head almost reached his chin. Being a shifter gave Neil and all shifters a genetic boost so his build was twice that of any normal thirty-year-old.

It also meant that some functions worked better than that of the average human. This case, for example, had put Sylvie in the way of a beast.

Neil winced at force of the impact. He tilted his head and looked at Sylvie who was trying to find something to balance herself. She stretched out her hand and took hold of something trying not to fall forward. Instead, as she balanced herself, she felt her pillar tremble.

‘Do pillars do that?’ she asked herself.

Neil was in immense pain and pleasure. He looked at the oblivious lass and felt his whole world crumble as he was now aroused.

Elsewhere, Dominic was still trying to understand why Jade would say no. it wasn’t like he was ugly and neither was he poor. He didn’t get the point.

‘Not all girls are the same.’ Said Rex, his animal side and he felt some truth to these words. As he contemplated, Jade reappeared with a cup of coffee. Dominic’s men had just become background noise and spectators to the fiasco of the two strange pairs.

“Here’s your coffee. If you’d leave me your address, I will have you coat delivered after having it dry cleaned.” Said Jade as soon as she gave him the coffee.

Dominic looked at the coffee and felt himself wake up. He looked around like a lost dog and asked himself a question.

“What am I doing here? I should have left by now. Why am I dragging it out with this girl?” he looked to Jade and felt that it was silly. He had met models with hot bodies and countless beautiful women. Why would he want to mess around with a little girl like Jade?

Really, why was he so dead set on having some time with her?

“There will be no need for any for that. Here, this is for the coffee.” He said as he took out a few hundred dollars and put them on the table. He got up and looked around looking for Neil only to see Jade separating the notes causing him to scoff.

‘As expected, greedy like the lot of them.’ He thought as he shook his head.

“Hey mister, here’s your money. You paid in excess.” Said Jade as she handed back his money.

“Also, you will have to pay for hiring the café for the last hour.” She added as she turned to put the tables in order.

Dominic looked at the strange girl and felt his eyelids twitch. When had someone ever told him to pay such a thing?

“Where’s Neil? Tell him to come and settle this. We need to leave.” Dominic said as he walked towards Jade. Normally, she would step back as Dominic advanced but Jade felt like making things hard for him.  She stood her ground and didn’t move back. They were chin to chin with only a hair’s breadth between the two and their breaths were mixing and in sync. Dominic looked at the girl in front of him and felt his heart be stirred. Her siren eyes and sage pupils struck a chord in him but he didn’t understand what it meant. Every little detail of hers was in sight and he felt himself committing her face to memory on instinct.

Being so close to her, he realized that she wasn’t wearing any make up and this added to her charm as most girls her age were obsessed with make-up and he hated their caked up faces.

“A clean look for once.” He thinks with a smirk and Jade thinks that he is mocking her. She hardened her gaze and kept on staring Dominic down.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Dominic and Jade were stuck in a deadlock as they stared at each other, not wanting to back down. Jade was trying to understand his motive and she was not the only one.

“Is he trying to kiss her?”

This was the question running through the minds of his men as they watched their boss and the mysterious red haired lady. They had come for a coffee break before returning to the office but somehow, their bosses had landed on some women.

Jade stared at Dominic’s lips and wondered what would happen if she kissed him there and then. Judging by how off guarded he would be, Dominic’s reaction would be to die for. The more she thought about it, the more Jade wanted to see how he would react. And so, Jade leaned in for a big smooch that might just ignite their passion. Dominic saw this and instinctively closed his eyes.

The whole room was filled to the brim with the tension of the two and Dominic’s men found themselves antsy with anticipation, waiting for the kiss. Jade looked at Dominic who had his eyes closed and couldn’t help but feel like laughing.

‘What is this guy, a teen?’ she thought as she held back her giggles, only for her trembling shoulders to give her away. She broke into wild laughter that had Dominic opening his eyes immediately as he couldn’t just ignore it. His men on seeing this tried to hold back their laughter but their red faces and shaking were a dead giveaway.

Dominic, embarrassed, was trembling in rage as he thought of the mockery that Jade had put him through.

“Neil!!” he shouted as the pressure around him dropped, spreading across the entire room.

As shifters with animalistic sides, Dominic’s men knew when a predator was around and would naturally try to hide from one as prey. They immediately shut their mouths and tried to turn invisible so as not to catch his attention.

Jade on the other hand felt the whole experience was weird. If only she knew what was in store for her.