Chapter 02

10:45. He's 10 minutes late. Layla began slowly pacing in front of the coffee shop where they first met holding a cup of half-empty coffee. They had agreed to meet out front before heading somewhere else. Her impatience and addiction to caffeine prompted her to buy one within the first two minutes and decided out of courtesy and slight guilt for buying coffee, to wait outside standing, as agreed. She began tapping her foot impatiently on the sidewalk, checking her watch every few seconds. Where was he? Did he live across state? How much more time was she going to waste on this date? Her guilt was gone, now replaced with a hot burning annoyance. Perfectly matched with the weather.

She thanked the stars she decided to go for a more comfortable look than dressing up. It was partly because a part of her didn't want to take this date seriously and also because unlike most people her age who went on dates, she had her nose up in books trying to raise her grades with each passing semester. In short, she didn't know how to dress for a date since she rarely goes to one.

Asking Hadley for advice would be a nightmare. The girl would be asking questions nonstop, some that she wouldn't even know the answer too. She'd also fuss about her choice of outfit, and insist that she look like a model who just got out of a runway. It was all unnecessary attention. Besides, she planned to keep this a secret, and Hadley was busy with her own stuff was well. There was no need to bother her on these trivial matters.

Still pacing, she suddenly paused, before smacking herself in the head.

What was she thinking? Why did she agree to this in the first place? All because a tall, hot man who she spilled coffee at, in the coffee shop like some old Korean melodrama somehow bewitched her to say yes when he asked her out at the bar, they went to last night? Ugh, where was the logic! This was stupid! She was being stupid! 

Because she wanted to have fun? Bullshit! Why didn't she think this through? That guy seemed like a player; he obviously looked the part. What if he stood her up? That this was just of a joke to him as it was to her? She sighed in disappointment. Not at someone else, but at herself.

She, Delilah Victoria Reyes, a consistent Dean's Lister and the top in her class, fully admits that she at one point in her life, made stupid decision for of some abs. Well at least I'll finally have a funny story to tell Hadley, she thought sourly.

She was about to go back to the dorms and whine to Hadley about her stupidity for a little bit, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Whirling around, she was startled to see Caius. The action made some of her coffee slosh against the cup, and he caught her hand before she could make an even larger mess.

"Woah!" he exclaimed, as the coffee dangerously spilled near his shirt. Her hand trembled under his warm, steady touch.

"Do you have a personal vendetta against my shirt or something?" he joked. Lyla didn't respond, instead she stupidly stared him, as if in a trance. So, he came. All of the worry and shame that she had earlier was for nothing. It was just her being an overthinker again. They were still going on a date. She felt her heart pound against her shirt and heat creep into her cheeks. How does one go on a date with a Greek sculpture?

"I'm sorry I'm late. I had to run some errands for my dad," he apologized sheepishly. She merely hummed; her gaze trained somewhere else, still quite shaken. She finally looked at him, and felt her breath hitch.

He had donned a casual attire today a drastic change from the sinful attire he wore at the club, but to Layla's slight irritation, it didn't make him less handsome. He wore a thin, white shirt that hugged his toned body perfectly, which was tucked into black pants and some white sneakers. He gave an impression of a youthful, fresh into college student. His hair looked like he simply ran his fingers through it instead of using a comb, and his blue-gray eyes still had that same intensity when they were at the bar. So, it wasn't an illusion from the dim setting and strobe lights. She still flushed under his gaze.

He smirked when he saw her outfit. She wore a black shirt with some gray sweatpants, and black sneakers. Her hair was up in a bun and her face was bare. She looked more like she was going to a group study than a date. Still, Caius thought she looked beautiful and kinda sexy.

"Your outfit's perfect for a first date," he teased, lightly raising an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes at him. That was the least of her problems before he arrived.

"Oh please, how would I know if you'd...if I..." for once, she was a loss for words. What was she expecting really? Didn't she agree to this, thinking of it as more of a gag, and then freaking out when she thought he didn't think of it as seriously as she thought he would and leave her here? God, this man is messing up her logic. Or maybe it's the coffee.

"You, what?" he prodded, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. Layla tried to speak, but found her words too silly or made no sense.

"Just...you actually came," she finally mustered and then sighed. Pathetic. Caius blinked in surprise, clearly taken aback.

"You think I'd bail on you?" he clarified. She took a sip of her coffee, before responding.

"Look, I may not have the best dating experience in the world alright? Besides," she trailed off, murmuring the last parts that he almost couldn't hear it, "how would I know you weren't playing with me?" Caius laughed. Damn, she was cute.

"I'm not that type of person, Layla. I would never betray someone I like, like that. Besides," he eyed her drink, "I'm not the one who bought coffee without buying one for her date." 

"You were late," she shot back. He chuckled.

"What I'm trying to say is, isn't it a bit unfair for you to harshly judge me like that? I mean, isn't the purpose of a first date, trying to know the other person?" She sighed.

"I know, I'm sorry." He shrugged.

"You're forgiven. Besides you're not the only one with that first impression." She laughed, but it sounded hollow and bitter.

"God, I'm such horrible person, aren't I?" He smiled, causing a dimple to appear on his left cheek. 

"Surprisingly, no. Let's go." He then led her to a shiny, black motorcycle and hopped on to it, before looking at her expectantly. She hesitated.

"Should I change?" What if he was taking her to some fancy restaurant, and she was looking like a sack of potatoes?

"You don't have to. You look fine right now."

"Really? Cuz I could just run to the dorms real fast." He smirked, leaning forward on the fork of the bike, a mischievous look on his eyes. He cocked his neck, his adams apple bobbing before replying.

"Don't sweat it; you're the very definition of sex on sweats. Now c'mon."  She blinked. She could feel her face heating up.

"What did you just say?" He gave her a roguish grin. 

"That's a really pretty shade of red." She shot him a glare.

"Stop teasing me." He laughed, so much that he leaned his head back. So, she did notice. Layla rolled her eyes, trying not to stare at him for too long. Her cup of coffee was now empty; she decided to throw it in the trash before leaving.

"So where are you taking me?"

"That's a secret."

"You're not going to murder me, are you?"

"In broad daylight? I've got better game than that, baby."

"Should I be worried?"

"How about I drive us there, instead of us doing twenty questions?"

"Right. Fine."

"Well, should we commence our dating?" He held out his hand, waiting for her to take it. Layla sighed. 

*******

"So, for our first date...you've decided to take me bowling?" 

"Yeah. This is where I go, when I want to de-stress." He watched as different emotions flickered across her face. "You don't like it?" 

"No. It's just...unexpected."

"I'll take that as a compliment."  He sauntered off into a lane and took a ball.  He rolled it around a few times, his muscles bulging against his shirt, before looking back at her, a smirk on his face.

"Wanna bet?" She raised an eyebrow, walking towards him, their eyes never leaving each other.

"Are you challenging me?"

"Are you chicken?" She scoffed. Oh, it's on.

"Who's chicken?" He chuckled. His eyes focused on the pins, ready to strike. 

"You're pretty confident, huh?" She shrugged, watching his movements. 

"You can say I'm really good at it," she replied, remembering those times Hadley and her in their drunken state would go out bowling and all the victories she collected. "What about you?" He cocked his head, his hand preparing to strike.

"You can say, this is one of my many talents." 

"Oh? And what are those other talents?" He paused, looking back at her, seeing her raised brow and the taunting smile on her face. Unconsciously, he bit his lip, smirking back at her. He straightened up, leaning forward, their breaths mingling. She didn't flinch, staring back at him.

"Well, you'll have to find out after the first date," he murmured. Then, he went back into position, before swinging the ball into the pin.

A strike!

Satisfied with his performance, he turned around, a smile on his face.

"Your turn."  Narrowing his eyes at him, she took a ball, swinging her arm back and forth, before lunging and swinging the ball into the target.

Strike!

Caius raised his brows. This was going to be a harder victory than he thought. How fun. She turned around, a smirk on her face, daring him.

"After you."

*******

Caius won, with a mere two points. Both of them were extremely competitive which heightened the thrill and excitement of wining. It wasn't even about the game anymore; it was more so the bragging rights one would have.

Layla had to admit, she had a lot of fun, a lot more than she expected. It had been a long time since she had competed with someone who was just as aggressive as her. She may have lost, but it was only because she wasn't really feeling it and decided to give him a chance. Or so she would like to think.

Caius also had a huge smile on his face. Not just because he won, but because it had been a while since he was this pumped up on something.  It gets too boring when you're always on the top. His father had always drilled into his system to be the best, and so competition had narrowed down to almost none. Even his brother couldn't match up to him. The stress he felt earlier this morning when his dad had called him had disappeared. For once, his victory felt like something worth winning.

They both decided to have lunch at a local restaurant, both tired and spent from the activity. Their arms, back and hips hurt, and some parts of their body felt numb, but overall, it was a good experience.

With not much to do but talk and eat, they shared personal information in between their food, the conversation flowing easily between the two of them. Turns out, they had a lot things in common.

Caius's father was a CEO of a huge company and with him being the eldest son, he was passed with the heavy burden of following into his father's footsteps and turn their business into something much larger than what they are now. His parents, who were Russian had to work everything from scratch and he expected his sons do the same, which meant he didn't have the best childhood. It didn't help that his father didn't see him worthy in his eyes and instead favored his younger brother who didn't want the responsibilities of being the future. Which meant he had to work extra hard with extra pressure to get his father's approval, and inherit the company in the future. There was no room for error.

Layla on the other hand, had migrated from the Philippines with the help of her uncle who was the chairman of a successful law firm in the States. Unmarried and with no kids, he expected her to be his heir, and so from a young age she worked hard as to not disappoint her uncle and the people around him who were against the idea. His business partners had preferred he chose a boy to be his successor but he didn't listen. Besides, she was the only direct descendant from him, as she was an only child, and he didn't want the children of his cousins. This placed a lot of pressure on Layla to be outstanding and so she didn't have much of a childhood growing up and immediately picked the course her uncle wanted for her. Everything had to be perfect.

College had been some sort of a haven for them. Living quite a distance from their family, they felt like they finally had a chance to breathe and have fun. Of course, they would still be at the top of their class, but they had friends, who they bonded over and could do silly things with. Friends that weren't temporary. They were also oh-so-conveniently near a bar where they could hang out, and frat parties to go when you didn't have much to do. College was fun. Maybe their peers wouldn't understand, but then from the very beginning they had already been set from a different standard than the others. They almost seemed like aliens.

"Well I think you're still going to be CEO soon," Layla said, after drinking a glass of wine. Caius raised his brow, absently swirling his drink.

"Oh, how so?"

"You have many talents, correct? One of them should be the ability to bag the CEO position." He chuckled, as she raised her glass at him. His gaze focused on his drink, as the smile slowly faded from his face, lost in thought.

"I'm not really sure about that." Layla took a sip of her wine, her gaze focused on him. Placing her glass gently on the table, she took a deep breath.

"You should." Caius raised his head, and saw the confident look on her face. The corners of his mouth slowly lifted.

"Why?"

"Because you have to. You shouldn't disregard all the work you've done in preparation for the role. You wasted your whole life for this, you can't not be CEO. If your father insists otherwise, then take it. Usually, old rulers were replaced by being usurped by their stronger, younger enemies," she shrugged, "there's nothing wrong with that." Caius grinned. God, he loved her confidence. If his father had heard the advice, she just gave him, he'd no doubt be mad, but he'd respect the girl too. She was much more fun than he expected.

Of course, what she said was right. All his dedication for what? For his father to choose a different successor? He can't allow that to happen. He needed to be the one to take his place. He spent his whole life working for it. If his father is still opposed to it, then he'd take it by force. Just like what Layla had said.

"I have a feeling I'll be shaking hands with you in the future." She leaned back, satisfied.

"Of course. That is to be expected. You should feel special, you're my first ever client. Just come to me when you have a lawsuit." Caius cocked his head back and laughed as Layla smiled in contentment. And that ladies and gentlemen, is how you win a future chief executive as your first client. Her uncle would be proud.

"Should we cheers to that?" Caius offered, and Layla raised her glass.

"Why not?"

The atmosphere was good, and both parties were pleased of the outcome. 

Just like that, two successful heirs, clinked their glasses to their future.

*******

The motorcycle slowed down in front of the café, the engine rumbling in a low noise before it stopped. Layla hopped out of the bike, and Caius leaned back, gazing at her with hooded eyes.

"Are you sure, you don't want me to stop by your dorm?"

"No, I'm fine." Rumors would sprout its wings, and Hadley would go crazy that she didn't tell her first. She wanted to keep it lowkey.

"Good—" Layla was cut off when a ring sounded. Caius took out his phone and answered the call. "One moment." She stood silently, pursing her lips and looking at him. He was running his hand on his hair and furrowing his brow. He then went inside the café for a few seconds, before coming back out with something in his hand. "Layla?" he called her as he walked back towards his motorcycle, hunched down as he scribbled something on a piece of paper. "Hmm." She went closer to him. Interested why he called her over. "So, my friend has this research study I agreed to help him with," he slid the paper to her. "The title is Possibilities and Chances and we lack more lack more participants for the survey we hand out. Can you please help us out?" he asked her, a pleading look in his eyes. Widening them and pouting his lips. Amused, she grabbed the pen he was handing him. "Sure." "Thanks!" he grinned.  "All you have to do is write the first four digits of your phone number here," he pointed at the top of the page. She complied and jotted the numbers down. "And then write the rest of your number here," he pointed at the middle. "Divide the even numbers and multiply the odd ones."

She concentrated on her task and he had to bite his lip to keep from laughing

"Done," she said. "And then, if you turn the paper. Check the box for the yes option," he helpfully spoke out. She flipped the paper and then was about to write a check on the box with the yes beside it when she saw what was written. 2nd date? Box yes!  :) Box no:  :(

Layla chortled. She expected this, but was still surprised at the amount of creativity he had. He was definitely something else.

She cocked her head in thought, thinking deeply for a while, before taking the paper and stuffing it in her pocket. Caius blinked, clearly surprised at her move. Layla couldn't keep it anymore and laughed.

"Our first date happened because of coincidence, right?"  Caius shrugged.

"One would say it's fate." Layla sucked in a breath, 

"Then, we'll let fate decide for the next. It's only fitting, isn't it?" It was too late before Caius noticed the look in her eyes, one that was filled with mischief.

"Wait-"

"So, until we meet again, purely by chance," she took out the paper from her pocket, still facing him, as she slowly walked away, waving the paper in the air, teasing him, "this paper will be safely kept by me." She felt a thrill she hadn't experienced in a while, a different one from the bowling alley. She liked the wicked look in his eyes, the intense look he gave her, the way his blue-gray pupils darkened, like a predator sizing up his competition. Licking his lips, he gave her a smirk. Challenge taken.

"Bye." She ran off towards the direction of her dorm, not stopping until her lungs gave out, laughing like a maniac. People would think she was crazy. Maybe she was, she was on a high after all. She waited until she calmed down, before looking back. He didn't chase after her. Good. She would be disappointed if he would. He was better than that after all.

She sighed, looking at the paper in her hands. To be honest, she wasn't expecting a second date from him. But then again, she also wasn't expecting to get along with him so well, for them to be so similar in a lot of ways, to sympathize with the problems that they couldn't share with their friends, to have an understanding of one another better than their peers would. 

Having a boyfriend wasn't at the top of her priorities. Honestly, she couldn't really see a shining future for herself in the love department. But Caius...

She put the paper back in her pocket, an exhilarated grin on her face. She mustn't lose it after all.

She never met someone who was as compatible as him. Who potentially was on par with her. Someone who could keep up with her busy lifestyle, who was also determined when it came to their goals.

She'll have to put it on the test. See how well suited they are for each other. She wasn't much of a believer of fate, but she might as well have fun with it. She had a feeling they would see each other soon. On how soon it was, well, they'll have to wait and see. They've got time to figure it out. The game was on.

She walked along the rest of the way back, a smug look on her face. Hadley would surely ask her what it was all about but she didn't care. She'll have to think of a bullshit response soon, one that would quench her curiosity, like being sure she was going to score top at the exams again. Layla giggled. Of course, the real reason was much more interesting than that. For once, she finally had something to look forward too.

In the end, she was the one who played him.