CHAPTER 12

"No way? You're so sly, girl!" May exclaimed when Keira told them about what she had done.

"What sly are you talking about? That's the first step… I have to make myself visible wherever he is. I'm not sly at all but a little bit calculative." Keira defended nonchalantly.

"To make it simple, May. Her first step is what you call 'STALKING'." Lana pointed out as she called for a waiter and order a drink.

Drey laughed while his neck moved slightly with the music. "Well, the question is, will he grab the bait or not? Wow, this trendy bar is so cool, I heard it's owned by the only daughter of the biggest banking company."

"Oh yeah, it's Denise Ming. She's so cool doing business on her own at a young age." May interrupted.

"So how long do we need to wait, guys?" Lana asked, going back to the topic where they left off as she looked at Keira.

"Initially, we are here to party, I just added up an extra goal you know. Well, later on, all of you will have to assist me to reach success." Keira said laughing.

She already outlined her plans on how to get Zach's attention and her first step was making sure Zach would get used to her presence at any possible ways, but of course, it must not look like as something planned or obvious.

She glanced around the area and sadly Zach was still not around, but then her eyes shone when she saw familiar faces entering the bar. It was Zach's friends Torin and Cielo, both were Lieutenants in rank.

After the exam, she finally did her own investigation about Zach and she was quite impressed. She was confident she could conquer him, but then she knew it won't be easy because of his past. But she was Keira Chan, and she might sound redundant, but the word impossible was really wiped out from her own vocabulary.

"Hmm, looks like your prey refused to get hunted," Drey blurted out laughing as he drank his beer.

Keira stood up and creased her forehead. Then, she looked at May and said, "Give me that!"

In one gulp, she drank the shot and said, "More…"

May looked at Lana and the latter nodded so May handed Keira another shot.

If Keira was with them, it's okay for her to get drunk with her trusted friends around.

Jim and John were on the other side of the table, monitoring the area, to make sure their Miss was well protected.

Keira took a total of eight glass before she smiled wickedly at her friends and shouted, "Let's get this party started!"

Lana gasped, Drey clapped and quickly stood to follow Keira who started dancing to the beat of the music inside the bar.

The lights were now dimer as the music roared the area. Jim and John were alert during this time because Keira often attracted too much attention from men. And there were bastards who were already drunk and tend to fail in getting a hold of themselves when they saw someone as alluring as Keira Chan dancing in the center.

"Damn!" John cursed as he tried to shift his gaze away from Keira from time to time.

Jim laughed out hard and teased him. "Why can't you get used to our Miss' beauty? You are always with her. You should be immune."

John's mouth twisted, "I'm a young man, Senior, and unlike you, I'm not married and with kids so it's hard for me to fight temptations like that!"

"I thought you like May? When you like someone, getting distracted isn't likely to happen, but I guess if it's Miss Keira it's really hard, nah?" Jim said, teasing his partner.

From the other side of the table, Torin was drooling hard while he watched the girl dancing at the center of the crowd.

"Cielo, when will you wear something like that?" He murmured not blinking a second.

Cielo laughed hard and looked at the direction Torin was staring.

The woman looked so hot and sexy in her head-to-toe dress that fitted well, showing her perfect curves, ripped-from-the-runaway dress with thigh-high boots pairing. The very short hem-length and shattered glass-effect laser-cut details of the mini-frock made for an in-your-face sexy, sultry vibe-enhanced by matching peep-toe boots.

"She's absolutely stunning, aye. But why does she looks familiar to me?" Cielo murmured as she stared at the girl who moved well with the music while her long black hair swayed perfectly.

"By the way, isn't Zach coming tonight?" Cielo asked as she turned back her head to face Torin.

Torin, with his mouth still open in total admiration, whispered, "I'm not sure, Cielo, but I left the card on his table. Wait, she really looks familiar…"

By that time someone shouted from the crowd.

"Ladies! Are you all here?!" screamed one of the bartenders.

"Tonight is our opening and as a part of our ritual, we will have a bid where you will get a chance to take five among of our hottest men in the crowd by bidding!" The bartender continued on his microphone.

"Shall we begin the search, ladies? In the count of three, our TAKE ME HOME segment will begin!"

The crowd inside the bar shouted excitedly as the ladies started counting.

"3"

"2"

"1"

Then, the drumming music for the search for hot men began, as five bouncers suddenly appeared and search the insides of the bar.

"I caught one!" Shouted the first bouncer.

"Here's another one." shouted the second bouncer.

"This one, ladies will surely like." shouted the third bouncer.

"Got one!" Shouted the fourth bouncer.

"There he comes!" Shouted the fifth bouncer near the door.

Keira gulped, as her eyes widened… She blinked several times at the man grabbed by the fifth bouncer...

* * * * * * * * * *

Zach was outside the entrance door ready to go inside but then he took a step backward.

He was contemplating if he should enter the bar or not. For some reason, he felt like something was strange.

Cielo and Torin messaged him to tell him that they were already inside the bar.

"Sir, are you going in? There will be a good activities soon, so please step inside while it hasn't started yet." Said the guard at the door smiling.

Zach smiled back in an awkward way and entered the main door. He could hear the screams and the music as he walked towards the door.

He got his card and placed it on the scanner. That instant the door opened and Zach was dazzled by the lights that struck directly at him, then he heard a man's shout, "There he comes!"

The man's shout was followed by the screams of the ladies inside the bar.

Zach looked astounded when a bouncer approached him.

"Congratulations to our five participants!" This time it's a woman's voice.

"I'm Denise Ming, the owner of this bar. As you can see this 'TAKE ME HOME' segment is only done once a year for charity cause because the money from our bids will go directly to the Cancer Patients organization that our bar is supporting. So, I encourage you guys, our five hot men to come here to the front and don't let down our beloved patients that will be given with so much help due to your hotness, guys…" explained Denise Ming cheerfully.

The crowd roared as each of them shouted and encouraged each man picked by the bouncers.

"What the hell is wrong with this bouncers!" Torin exclaimed. He looked so sulky while Cielo laughed out hard.

"Zach was chosen… all five men are extremely hot." Cielo stated as she shrugged her shoulders.

"And I'm not hot?" Torin blurted out irritably. He missed the chance to have a beautiful date tonight.

He was even extremely excited because he noticed that there were many beautiful ladies inside and he believed that most of them were from prestigious families too.

"Well, I guess you're not that lucky?" Cielo teased him back.

Keira was at the center of the stage and stared at Zach who walked with the bouncer at his front.

"Seriously? You choose me?" She heard Drey's voice that was continuously complaining to the bouncer.

May and Lana burst out in laughter but none of them dared to tell the bouncer that Drey preferred to date with the same sex.

"Go with him, Drey… It's for a good cause, think about how you can help others by using your face." Keira said with her eyes still fixed on Zach.

Drey scratched his head and obliged. To be honest, he was at a critical stage of his life where he couldn't decide what he preferred because he also admired beautiful women like Keira.

But that was kept to himself because he didn't want the girls who thought he was straight for men to feel awkward with him.

"Keira, will you bid for me please?" Drey pleaded but May answered in return laughing, "I will start the bid for you Drey for 1USD, how about that?"

"Darn, May, bid for 10,000 USD and I will pay you!" Drey hissed.

May stuck out her tongue at Drey before the bouncer guided him at front.

"I guess you will spend a lot tonight…" Lana murmured as she looked at the women who were obviously drooling over Zach who passed them to walk to the front.

"Well… let's see who will dare to surpass me. Tonight, I will spend enormously to help Cancer Patients, Lana. My parents will be proud of me." Keira said with her mischievous smile.

Zach tried to find Torin and Cielo in the crowd.

He was about to refuse the bouncer but then the owner mentioned that it would be for a charity cause for patients with cancer.

His father died because of cancer. And they were incapable of maintaining his hospitalization and medications during those times.

He was willing to do anything for a good cause…

"Oh… Our hot men are so good and cooperative. Thank you so much, gentlemen. I'm sure our ladies here can no longer wait to place their bids and take you home, guys!!!" Denise announced and the ladies screamed.

"Don't worry, ladies. These gentlemen before you will be scanned to prove that they are trustworthy. Give us five minutes and while we wait, we will let them introduce themselves and give you a quick peek of what they can do, so we can decide on our bids." Denise explained as she signaled her bouncers to get the fingerprints and profile for each man.

The men introduced themselves, each just mentioned their names and nicknames while all the ladies continued to scream and cheer.

Afterward, Denise began the bidding, as each profile of the five men appeared on her tablet screen.

"Wow, look at what we have here…" Denise exclaimed excitedly.

"Ladies… I believe that tonight is your lucky night because all of them are bachelors and with quite a good profession I must say. Damn, too bad I can't join the bidding!" Denise said jokingly.

"Shall we begin?!" Denise asked with a wink and all the ladies screamed...

_____

*1hr later*

"There's only two left for you, ladies. Ahmm, but wait we have a young man in here. He's 19? What the heck? You don't look 19 to me at all!" Denise exclaimed as she looked at Drey and read his profile.

The man was well built and more mature looking than his age.

"Oh, you're the only son of the well-known painter Senior Russo? Oh my… I'm a fan of your father!" Denise suddenly blurted out, which made the crowd murmur.

"He's not bad,' Cielo murmured as she drank her beer.

Torin's eyes widened. "The hell. Don't tell me you did not bid to anyone because you like that one? You like a younger man?" He exclaimed in disbelief.

Yes, the man was matured looking but he's only 19 and Cielo is 23 or 24?

Cielo chuckled and said, "Yes, Torin, I prefer young boys because they are easier to tame. You know they are still naive and..."

"Stop! I don't want to hear it anymore. You give me goosebumps all over!" Torin complained with a weary expression, which made Cielo laugh out hard.

Of course, she was just joking but she would get that boy since she was also a die-hard fan of his dad. Besides, it's for a good cause, so her money won't be wasted.

"Alright, ladies, place your bids!" Denise shouted.

"50 dollars!" May shouted and the crowd laughed because all bids on previous men started at 1,000 dollars.

Drey narrowed his eyes at May who only laughed and blinked an eye at him.

"100 dollars!" Lana shouted next. She also blinked at Drey and gave him a flying kiss.

Drey glared at them both saying silently, "I'm going to kill you two once this is over!"

"2,000 dollars!" Shouted Cielo and made Drey almost jump up from happiness for gaining his pride back.

"Look at that brute feeling so happy with that wide smile." May said laughing."

They wanted to tease Drey more but that lady who bid killed their plan.

"2,500 dollars!" Another lady shouted.

Torin felt more frustrated when he noticed that all women that were participating in the bid were all young and beautiful. Cielo was also pretty, although she's the tomboy type.

"Dude, you all should wear glasses next time you pick hot men! How come you guys failed to see this gorgeous man at your side," Torin uttered when one of the bouncers passed at him.

He twitched his mouth when the bouncer just smiled at him then shrugged his shoulders.

"5,000 dollars!" Cielo shouted.

Torin's jaw dropped when he saw Cielo's serious expression at that moment. She was exchanging glances with the other lady who was competing with her on the bid.

"7,000 dollars!" Shouted the same lady who was competing with Cielo through eye contact.

"What is this? Do you know each other?" Torin asked when he sensed that what was happening was not just because of the bid.

"10,000 dollars!" Cielo shouted with a smirk. That woman was the one who stole her first love during junior high and made her look like a stalker.

This time she would make sure she got the man!

"15,000 dollars!"

"Wow, two women fighting for our young Russo in here," Denise said enthusiastically

"25,000 dollars!" Cielo shouted with a triumphant smile. Because she knew the capacity of Sheena. She wouldn't bid pass her last bids.

"I'm richer than you now…" she murmured proudly.

Torin's knees weakened as he stared at Cielo, with pouted lips he asked, "Will you also bid that high for me if I'm the one there?"

Cielo laughed and replied, "Torin, I won't even dare to bid, even if you were the last man, dear."

"Ouch!" Torin exclaimed as he exaggeratedly touched his chest and acted as he suffered from a serious blow.

"25,000 dollars… sold! Milady, come on up here, claim your man and take him home!" Shouted Denise.

Cielo walked towards Drey and stopped when she passed by at Sheena's to wink at her and smile triumphantly.

"In your face." She mused and giggled happily as she approached Drey and pulled the latter.

"Come here, baby! Let's have fun!" Cielo shouted and Dre's face paled. Obviously, the woman was already drunk.

He felt like he was in big trouble. He looked at the girls but the woman was strong and he just ended up where she pulled him.

"What? That woman is a lieutenant at the academy?" Lana repeated when Keira mentioned that the woman who won Drey on the bid was one of Zach's friends.

"Yup, so there's nothing to worry. Drey will be fine." Keira added, as her eyes went back to where Zach was standing.

"Wow, and for our final man, he is truly impressive. One of the youngest Generals in our country, ladies! A young General!" Denise exclaimed which made the ladies scream.

Zach's face reddened in embarrassment.

'It's for Cancer Patients organization.' He kept on reminding himself silently because if not he would absolutely not participate in something like this.

"Okay, ladies let's…" before Denise could finish her words, a loud voice interrupted her and left the crowd open-mouthed.

"50,000 dollars!" Keira shouted excitedly and startled the crowd.

Denise, who was also shocked, commented, "Woah, that's quite high for a start. Hmm, seems like our young General here has a very generous admirer?"