Chapter One

"Let's meet tomorrow night," Antony said with distinction in his voice as Hannah was on her way out of his glass-encased office. Hannah turned, surprised at what she just heard.

"Does seven in the evening sound reasonable?" He said. She just stared at him. Tony sighed and picked up his smartphone from his oak office desk. He had dialed a number and brought the phone against his ear. "Mr. Cruz—"

Hannah screamed in surprise and jumped onto his office desk to reach for his smartphone. She threw it to the wall, and with such aggression, the smartphone died. She realized the results of her actions. She froze. She just held her head to try to keep herself from overthinking any further. That did not save her from the consequences, however.

Tony was amused with what he just witnessed. He held back what was surely laughter, ending up with a cool chuckle. Hannah was further annoyed even a chuckle out of him would sound "cool."

"Tomorrow night, okay?" He smiled, seeming to be very pleased with himself.

Antony Rodriguez, a handsome (devil) executive of Jupiter Group, a land development company, was not someone she should have messed with. That, she understood now. Phil, her boss, had told her and her teammates about it, and still, she had somehow ended up tangled with him.

Hannah's mind ran with wild imaginations over what favors he could want. It was interesting enough that he wanted to spend time in the evenings. A string of unpleasant ideas played in her head—and the ideas went from unpleasant to scary. She shook her head, hoping the images would disappear.

It all started when Hannah had gone to a bar party for her birthday.

"This is it, Hannah." She told herself as she took one more deep breath and scanned her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing a dress that she had longed to wear for a long time. She had buried it in the back of her wardrobe because she had been "waiting" for the right moment, which never came. This is the right moment, she thought. She took another deep breath. "I can do this."

It was her birthday. She was not going to let this day go into the drain, the way her previous birthdays did. She could barely remember the number of people she blamed for having her birthday celebrations ruined. She was going to focus on her happiness now. No more people-pleasing. She was going to party the way she wanted and find a good man to take out.

 That thought made her nervous again. One more deep breath.

"Handsome guy, smart, tall, a bit wild, but still kind and a gentleman. Yes...yes," She said, as if in a chant, with her closed eyes, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. She was ready. She smiled at her reflection and off she went, finally. Her best friend-slash-party-organizer, Christine booked her an Uber.

This friend got married a year ago, and so she was now in the phase of "wanting to share the happiness of a married life" among single friends. It irritated Hannah at first, but she realized she could use the opportunity to her advantage.

Chris was very much willing to set up a bar party for her, inviting some of their single friends and the single friends of Chris's husband. Hannah was not impressed with Chris's husband, Kelvin, but he was part of a circle with many "catchy" guys. For her, catchy would be smart, handsome, and worth the time. So yes, she liked this circle, to say the least.

Kelvin even promised to introduce her to his friend whom he described to be the most eligible bachelor among them, and his group of friends was considered the highest level among those considered to be "eligible bachelors" in their office.

Hannah ran her hands through her dress one more time as if casting a spell, hoping for good luck. She made a quick prayer in her head, Please bring me to the right guy.

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"Look at you! So pretty!" Chris exclaimed as Hannah entered the room.

"I'm sorry I'm late," she responded to Chris but her eyes had been scanning the room as if counting the number of people already there. Chris had rented a private room. Everyone in the room knew the other agenda of this event, aside from being a birthday celebration for Hannah.

There were seven other women, only three were part of their circle of friends, and eight men were at the party, not counting the married couple in the group. Chris had pulled Hannah to join their three friends. Hannah was thankful for Chris as she had always known she was not her best in crowded places.

"How is it?" Liezel asked when Chris left them.

"The guys are gorgeous" was the first thing they got out of Hannah. Her friends laughed.

"Calm down, tiger," another of their friends, Marie said. Hannah could only chuckle.

"You already have someone in mind, Marie?" Hannah had to ask, but the three were tightlipped.

Chris was thoughtful enough to lay out a program to make the mingling easier for the single people, and the flirtiness of the couple had made it seem natural for the rest of them to have some casual touching here and there.

Hannah had identified Kelvin's "eligible bachelor friend" before they were introduced. He seemed all interested in another female instead of being excited about being introduced to her. Hannah also did not find him interesting.

"You're targeting him, too?" Man at the party no. 3 spoke out from behind her. She watched the "eligible bachelor" chuckle as another female licked a trail across his cheek before downing a shot of tequila in hand.

"Not anymore," she confessed immediately. The guy beside her laughed, and she watched him with curiosity as this man was now the "eligible" guy in her eyes.

He was ticking all the points she had in mind. Handsome, good body, tall, gorgeous smile, looked witty, too.

"I'm sorry, I think there are too many more people who were introduced to me today than I'm used to. You are—?"

"Call me Tony." He said with a smile, and he extended a hand to her. Instinctively believing it to be a handshake, she extended hers, but he handed her a glass of mojito. "Cheer up."

She stared at the cocktail glass in her hand for a second before looking at his face and giving him a slight smile, which he didn't bother looking at.

"It's your birthday after all." He said.

That ticked another box in her head, one that was actually in the additional considerations section. She stared at him in awe, as the box that had never been ticked had finally been ticked.

He smiled back at her and stared back as if there was an understanding. Soon, all the people in the room, except for Hannah and Tony, went to the pool area, jumping into the pool or dancing. The other couple that remained in the room were the married couple pretending not to be intrigued by the other couple on the other end of the room.

Hannah ended up intrigued by Chris and Kelvin. Even though Kelvin was not someone she would want to partner with, he was a match for her best friend. They were not touching each other, but anyone could tell the intimacy they shared even with just their hands holding.

"You should stop focusing on what others are doing if you want a relationship for yourself," Tony told her, which triggered something in her, activating her pulse. The deepness and clarity of his voice echoed in her soul and brought her back to the present.

She chuckled. "Is it wrong to look where I can find some inspiration?"

"I understand where you're coming from, but in reality, men don't have the faintest idea what romance means," he said. "Jared is correct about you looking for a suitor instead of just to date."

She stared at him. "What's the difference?"

The corner of his lips wavered for a moment in an attempt to snicker, but her face was too serious for him to laugh.

"Are you looking to date for marriage?"

"Of course."

Tony stared back at her, now matching the seriousness of her expression. "You do know that the majority of the men in this room don't have marriage in mind yet, yes?" Tony said.

That made Hannah blink. It was like she had been in a bubble all this time, and Tony just mindlessly popped that bubble.

Hannah turned to face him, and that made Tony flinch. He straightened his jacket and cleared his throat trying to keep his composure.

"Who are you again?" Hannah said, now sounding demanding.

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"Hannah, have you finished checking the documents?"

Hannah turned her back to the person who just asked that and interrupted her thoughts. Of course, that person was now surprised as she was a superior. "Excuse me, Hannah?" 

"Ssshhhh—I'm just thinking about something, sorry."

"I would definitely give you that luxury if you confirm to me you're thinking about the documents I asked you to review," she said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Hannah looked up to meet the eyes of the "dragon lady" of the office. "Oh" was the only sound she managed to make out of her as she stared right back into the eyes of Mariza, the "dragon lady."

"Hi Hannah," Mariza smiled. "Welcome back to earth."

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