"Sorry for the wait," the waitress said with a polite smile as she carefully placed our drinks on the table. "Here's your order: one hot black coffee and Earl Grey tea."

However, I barely noticed the drinks being placed in front of us because my mind was too preoccupied with the conversation we had earlier, specifically the part where Allen suggested we have to act lovey-dovey just to make the whole fake lovers thing seem more realistic, especially to my father.

But...was that even necessary?

Still, the way he explained it made me second-guess myself. Maybe I was just being too stiff about the whole idea of doing romantic stuff with someone, probably because, well, I'm the inexperienced one here when it comes to those things.

Then, out of nowhere, Allen broke the awkward silence that had been growing between us as he reached for the sugar bowl and started dropping cubes into his coffee.

One.
Two.
Three.

Not satisfied, he added another.

I blinked in confusion as the pile of sugar cubes grew in his cup. What is it with this guy and all the sugar? Is he trying to turn his coffee into a dessert?

But even so, he still drank that coffee flooded with sugar, as if its sweetness didn't burn his throat at all.

Seriously, what a weird man!

And as I sat there, still watching him in amusement, he leaned back slightly in his chair, and said, "I suggest we can do the basics. If you're okay with just holding hands, then we can take it from there. No problem with me at all."

"Haaa, okay, fine," I sighed, although I tried my best to sound more comfortable with the idea, even though I clearly wasn't. "If that'll help convince my father that I'm not interested in getting married and finally make him back off, then fine. But just holding hands, got it? Anything beyond that is strictly off-limits."

"Sure, no problem," Allen said casually before taking a sip of his coffee.

As I lifted my cup and took a small sip of tea, I wonder if this ridiculous plan of mine to stop my own marriage engagement would actually work. Still, at this point, I didn't really have a choice.

Whatever happens, I'll just have to trust this man, even if there's something about him that feels a little off.

And speaking of a little off...

I just received a message from my father's assistant, telling me to head to our family's villa located in the north today.

As in, he wanted me there now, and that alone was weird enough.

The Northern Vale Villa wasn't just some vacation house owned by our family. Still, it was usually reserved for serious family meetings or big, formal gatherings. So for my father to suddenly summon me there, and on such a very short notice, was definitely out of the ordinary.

But all I could do was sigh in frustration. "What else does my father want from me this time..." I said to myself.

Then, another text came and said:

"Wear your best clothes."

My forehead immediately furrowed in annoyance upon reading the message.

Here we go again! I said to myself. Every time my father gives an order, he sounds less like a dad and more like my boss barking at me, as if I'm just one of his lowly employees. And, as usual, he can't even say things to my face. He always has to relay his messages through his assistant, like some kind of middleman, and so on.

To be honest, I didn't want to reply, but I didn't have much of a choice. If I ignored the message for more than fifteen minutes, my dad would definitely send his men here to fetch me.

Yes, my dad actually has many ways to track me, no matter where I am in the world. Don't ask how, but he does. It's not even me being paranoid here. The thing is, it already happened before, and knowing him, he wouldn't hesitate to do it again. And if his men showed up here, dressed in black like some special task force, it would definitely cause a scene.

And that's the last thing I need right now.

So, with a heavy heart, I texted his assistant back saying I was busy and had an important meeting to attend. It's a harmless lie, but I hoped that would buy me at least an hour of peace. But I had barely set my phone down and reached for my tea when it buzzed again and saw another message.

"Oh, come on..." My patience now started to fray. "Can't they let me finish this one damn cup of tea in peace?"

I grabbed my phone to make some follow-up excuses, but the new message made my face sour. This time, it says that my father knew I didn't have any scheduled appointments, and that he was ordering me to drop whatever I was doing and head there now.

My eyes widened in disbelief.

"What the fuck!" I blurted out loud enough for Allen to glance over. I even caught a glimpse of his brow raising slightly as he paused mid-sip.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

"Uh...yeah. It's just my dad. He just ordered me to go to the villa in the Northern Lands, like, right now. And he didn't even say why."

"Then, go." Allen simply answered, then he took another sip of his overly sweet coffee.

"Ugh, I don't know..." I almost sulked in my seat due to frustration and vented out, "It's always like this! He's treating me like I'm one of his assistants or something, and I am supposed to just drop everything and obey his every command..."

"Then, don't go." Allen didn't even look up as he stirred his coffee lazily, as if my father's tyranny was none of his concern.

But I frowned at him and said, "That's very easy for you to say. You don't know my father. He'll literally send people here to drag me out if I don't show up."

Then, Allen finally looked up and gave me a deadpan stare and said, "That's exactly why I said don't go." then he put down the coffee he was holding and added, "Don't you want him to get mad at you so he'll ignore you for good? This is your chance."

I just rolled my eyes and exhaled hard through my nose. "I already tried that before and it didn't end well."

Reluctantly, I pushed back my chair and stood up. Part of me wanted to defy my dad, but deep down, I knew there was nothing I could do. For now, I had no choice but to comply, just for the sake of keeping the peace and preserving what little dignity I had left.

So I said, "Fine. I should probably go now and deal with it." then I left a few bills on the table and said, "Your coffee's covered, by the way. If I've got any updates, I'll let you know right away."

"Okay," Allen replied along with a slight nod like none of this concerned him. Honestly, I had no idea how I'd managed to talk to this guy. He wasn't exactly rude, but he was very impossible to read, like I was trying to have a conversation with a very polite wall that occasionally nodded and sipped his coffee.

I let out a quiet, tired sigh, realizing how much energy I'd wasted just to keep up with him. And as I began to leave, his voice suddenly cut through the hum of the café that stopped me in my tracks.

He said...

"By the way, nice to meet you, Eric. And...be careful on your way there."

I stopped.

I didn't really expect him to say that, and yet there was something in the way he said those words that made my chest tingle in a weird way.

Am I Happy? Maybe.

Perhaps I'd been wrong about him. Maybe, underneath that exterior, Allen Flynn wasn't such a bad guy after all.