On a seemingly ordinary summer day, timid Alice Gardner crosses paths with Kai Anderson, a notorious figure in their small town. As serendipitous encounters bring them together, they find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other, driven by a mutu...
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"What the fuck?!"
Tamara exclaimed at the other end of the phone.
The two were walking down the park after what occurred. Kai had both hands on the back of his head, the upper half of his body leaning back ever so slightly, exuding this laid-back vibe. He had his lips pursed as he kept shooting glances at the girl who was on her phone.
"I can't, for the life of me, process that shit! I just found out that that guy is—was, 'cause I'm not letting this slide—my Dad's business partner!"
Alice was quiet as she let her friend speak.
"And they had the audacity to set me up with a predator! Is that their plan? Marry me off to some old freak? Are they fucking crazy?!"
"M–Maybe they didn't know?"
"Bullshit!"
It took minutes for Tamara to calm down, and when she did, she apologized wholeheartedly for dragging Alice into the mess. She told her friend that she would settle things down first before meeting her later.
Their call ended, and the dead air between the two was filled with the rustling of trees and faraway voices of children playing at the park.
A bit ashamed, Alice decided to speak up first.
"How . . . How did you know?"
"Know what?" Kai kicked a leaf from the pavement with his lips still pursed.
" . . . Y'know."
"I worked reception at a no-tell motel before. It was a place filled with mostly girls looking for sugar daddies, something like that. The guy was a regular. He was noteworthy 'cause he kept bringing women our age—even younger—almost every week." He mumbled the last bit and continued, "And I fought with him once while working there, the reason I got fired. So yeah, I think he might've recognised me as well."
Alice was silent which made him worry.
"A–Anyways, did your friend get mad? Sorry for being a busybody. I just got pissed 'cause they set her up with a dude like that and all—"
"Sorry."
Kai stopped walking 'cause the girl beside him looked like she was about to cry.
"H–Hey . . . It's not your fault, nor your friend's! You didn't know what kind of guy he was in the first place." He wanted to reach out a hand to her, but he was reluctant. So, Kai tried cracking a joke to cheer her up instead.
"Sorry for ruining your date."
Alice shook her head and chuckled shyly, the sadness in her face slowly disappearing
