Chapter One

“Don’t you want to eat first, Andricia? For Pete’s sake, you’ve been studying for five hours straight. Can you at least take a rest? It’s weekend and yet you’re still studying. Weekend supposed to be our break from school, but here you are,” Jaira complained to me. I didn’t pay attention to her and just continued to read the syllabus for our pre-finals examination. But she kept on nagging me.

“So, you don’t want to notice me, huh? What if I shout here so that you will be able to talk to me?”

“I don’t want to eat, Jai.  I’m still full. You can go home.”

“What?! You want me to go home, when I came all the way here just to visit you? You’re hurting me, Andricia Harlow!” she shouted and acted like she’s really hurt. I closed the syllabus and look at her with a poker face expression.

“I didn’t tell you to come here and visit me. You just came here unannounced. I thought you’re my best friend. You should know already that I’m still studying even on weekend,” I answered. She pouted her lips and begged me again. “Please? Let’s eat outside. You always don’t have any time to hang out with me because you’re busy on studying in school. That’s why I want to hang out with you at least during the weekends. I’m your one and only friend, so don’t lose me.”

“You can find someone who can be your friend too. Don’t focus on me too much. I know that I’m not fun to be with and I admit that I’m boring to be with, because I’m too busy in studying. We’re graduating this year; I must study well so that my parents would be proud to me. This is the least that I can do so they won’t force me marry someone soon,” I explained.

“Oh? They will marry you off?”

“It’s possible because I am from a high-class family. Business is everywhere. I’m just preparing for some possible scenarios that might happen in my life, not now but soon.”

“Hmm… But I still don’t care! We have to eat outside or else I will tell your parents about this plan of yours. You choose,” she threatened me. I just rolled my eyes. It’s my mistake for telling her about that. “Fine! Let’s eat. But I will be back home after two hours. Are we good now?”

She jumped in excitement when she heard what I have said and nodded. “Sure! We will just be going to eat, don’t worry!” I put my blazer jacket on me and got my wallet. Jaira came here with her car, so I won’t be going to use my car. We went outside and I sat to the passenger’s seat. “Where should we eat?” I asked her.

“You will know later. It’s a secret!” She started to drove her car away from our house. I glared at her. “Don’t try any funny things, Jaira. I’m warning you.”

“I told you, we will just eat!”

It’s already five in the afternoon. I haven’t had my lunch yet, so I’m feeling hungry right now. When I’m studying, I don’t feel anything. I’m just really focused on what I’m reading and reviewing, I don’t care about my surroundings. That’s why I love quite places, which will be my room. After twenty-minutes of driving, I glared at Jaira once again.

“Why are we stopping in a bar, Jaira?”  I asked seriously when she parked her car in front of the bar. “Hey, can’t you read properly? It’s a bar and restaurant! They served a tasty and delicious dish here. That’s why I went here with you to try if their dishes are delicious or not. It’s my treat!”

Since we’re already here, I just shook my head, and we went outside of her car. She held my hand and pulled me inside the bar and restaurant. The ambiance of the restaurant on the first floor is good and relaxing. The bar is on the second floor. I think it’s not a typical bar with a dance floor or such. It was like a bar for rich people. There’s not many much customer here, so it’s somehow quiet.

“I must say that you chose a nice place to eat, huh,” I complimented Jaira. She smiled as we sat on the table beside the glass wall. “I already thought that you would love this place, that’s why I kept it as a secret.”

The waiter gave us the menu and we chose some dishes that we want, and I also ordered some dessert. We talked for a bit then later, some guys went over to our table. I don’t care about their presence, so only Jaira looked at them. I just got my phone and scroll on my social media accounts.

“Hi, Andricia! I hope you would like our small gifts for you.”

“I made an effort just to do this and gave this to you.”

“Please accept my gift for you, Andricia.  I really like you because you’re so genius and beautiful.”

“OMG. They are from our same university. How come you knew that we will be here?” Jaira asked the three guys in front of our table. They put their gifts in the table. I looked at them with my boring face. I saw three big gifts that was put in boxes and there are also letters on the top. The hell! I looked at their faces and they are not my style. They are too boring to flirt with. They are actually nerds, and I am out of their leagues. I can’t flirt with those kinds of men.

“We saw your I*******m story earlier that you will come here, so we immediately went here too after preparing our gifts for Andricia. We can’t approach her in the university because we don’t want to bother her while studying, so we came here instead,” one of the guys answered.

“I don’t want to accept all of these gifts, you can go now,” I rejected them immediately. I don’t want them to think that they will stand a chance to me just because of these gifts. I don’t have any interest in men like them. Well, I don’t want to be committed to any relationship too. I just want to study and graduate as the summa cum laude. I don’t want to get distracted. But I still have fun sometimes when I’m in the mood. I’m flirting with some men that were my type and then I love playing with men’s feelings. They were taking me seriously when I started to flirt with them. But in the end, I will dump them easily when I got bored flirting with them. That’s what men means to me. They mean nothing but my toys that I can play with when I’m bored or want to have fun. 

“But---”

“Oohh, my best friend is really heartless. You heard that boys, right? You can go now so we can eat peacefully,” Jaira said. The guys walked out without taking the gifts that they gave for me. I looked at Jaira, “You can have them, if you want.”

I received so many gifts and love letters in our university, but I ignored and rejected all of it. I don’t want to accept anything to those men. So Jaira was the one who benefits from those gifts. Our ordered arrived and we started eating. She talks about many things, and I just listened to her. Until we finished eating, I thought we will about to leave. It’s already seven in the evening.

“Hey, hey! Since we’re already here, why don’t we take a look on the bar upstairs? I am just curious what the bar looks like.”

“You can go there alone. I will just wait you in your car.”

“You will let me go there alone? It’s a bar, Andri!”

“You’re right, it’s a bar. So why do you want to still go there? I don’t want to enter that kind of place now, so let’s just go home. I am not in the mood to go inside a bar. You know me, Jaira. I have separate time when I’m studying and want to have some fun.”

“Pleaseee? I really want to see what their bar looks like. We will just take a glance of it.”

I sighed and just let her. She won’t stop forcing me, so I just let her do what she wants. We went upstairs and the guards there checked our IDs first, to see if we’re already adult or not. Fortunately, I have an ID in my wallet. After checking, we went inside the bar. The lights are dimmed and there’s a band singing in the middle. So, I’m right about this bar earlier, it was not a typical bar with a dance floor or what. Jaira pulled me and we explore the whole bar, as if we were observing the place. When we will about to go outside, Jaira stopped walking. She’s looking to a private room because the door is open a little. I also looked inside and saw a man sitting in a long couch, with his two arms extended side-by-side and there were women besides him.

It’s like the man were having fun inside. It’s my first time seeing a womanizer in real life. I didn’t expect it to be like this. A woman on his right is kissing his cheek while the man is kissing the woman in his left side. I closed my eyes and shifted my gaze.

“What are you still doing there, Jai? Let’s go now.”

“What a jerk,” I heard her murmured. Then she walked out and left me here. I couldn’t follow her immediately because I got curious for what she had said. Does she know that man inside? Why does she say that the womanizer inside was a jerk? OMG! Don’t tell me that it was Jaira’s boyfriend or something? Well, I know Jaira was talking to a lot of men every day. I think that man was also one of the men she talks to. It's possible, based on her reaction when she saw that man inside the private room. Why does those women want to work on that kind of job? There are many jobs available in this world, but they are settling with that kind of job in which they satisfy men.

 Since I got curious and I think my hunch is right, I came inside the private room. I don’t care if I’m barging inside right now, and they don’t know who I am. Thank goodness that I still look sexy and fine with my outfit. The man stopped flirting with the girls surrounding him. He looked at me from my head to toe. I saw that there’s also a bed inside. I looked at him seriously.

Don’t worry, Jaira. I will have a revenge to this guy for your sake. I will also play with him to pay what he did to you, even though I am still not sure if he’s one of your guys.

“Who are you?” one of the girls asked me.

“Would you please go outside and stop flirting with my man?” I asked. I saw that the womanizer was shocked by what I have said. We’re strangers to each other, but I told them that. Well, I don’t care. This is for my best friend!

“Babe, do you know her?”

“Well, yeah. Go out now and I will call you back later,” the man answered. Wow! So, he will play with me too, huh? He doesn’t know me, but he told his girls that he knew me. The girls glared at me before walking out of the private room. The man stood up and locked the door. Okay… so what am I going to do now?

“I am your man?” he asked me. Uh-oh! I shouldn’t have said that! Now what, Andricia? You entered yourself in this situation. Ugh! What an idiot. I played innocent and I didn’t let him to see that I’m currently nervous. He’s a stranger to me and I don’t know what he might be able to do. But in fairness, he’s handsome and he’s definitely my type! Should I just flirt with him now?

“I’m just bored and saw this private room’s door opened. I just want to interrupt you for fun. That’s all.  Bye!”

I was about to go outside when he held my hand! OMG! What is he going to do with me? “Not so fast, Miss. Since you interrupt us, maybe you want to continue having fun with me now? We’re just the two of us in this private room,” he said in a husky voice. Oh, damn! I should get out of this room immediately before he does something bad. He’s really my style, but I don’t want to flirt with him in this kind of place.

“What do you mean?”

“You have a beautiful face, a sexy body, and an interesting attitude. You’re perfectly my style, Miss.”

He moved his body closer to me. Then he held my waist and put me to sit in the bed behind me. And he was about to kiss me, maybe thinking that I will let him kiss me, when I suddenly grabbed his collar and kicked his private part! He shouted in pain, and I immediately ran to the door. Before I could leave the room, I looked at him one last time.

“That’s for playing with my best friend’s heart, bastard!” I shouted. Then I ran away from that bar and I saw Jaira waiting for me downstairs. I immediately pulled her to go out of that place. So that the man won't be able to catch me, if ever he followed me. That was close!

I won’t ever marry a man like him. He’s disgusting to me, even though I don't know him personally. But imagining to be in love with that kind of man? A womanizer? Nah, I won’t let myself to fall in love with that kind of man