CHAPTER 4: OF IDIOTS & HUNKS

Jessica covered her hand over her mouth as she giggled at the joke.

Julian beamed at her, happy to see her having such a good time. Believe it or not, he had met Jessica at a pub, of all places. Julian always prided himself as a gentleman. Needless to say, he never imagined he would go out with a girl he just met at a pub. But Jessica was different. She had caught his eye the moment she stepped in. He was rather taken aback that she had smiled at him while he was unabashedly gawking at her. He was totally taken by her smile, her eyes, her face, her body, her, her, everything. He couldn’t believe his luck that he had such a wonderful woman in front of him.

Jessica smiled at the beaming Julian. This guy’s not only cute, he’s funny too. She lifted the glass of wine that was in front of her towards him. Julian did the same, bringing both their glasses together with a ‘clink’.

Jessica grinned to herself as she wondered about how her friend was getting on with her ‘assignment’.

Flora wasn’t having as much luck as Jessica was though.

She was practically throwing herself all over the guy but there just didn't seem to be any response.

Even though it seemed Hayden enjoyed her company, he would always try to evade any close physical contact with her. The more he avoided her little touches, the more it irritated and annoyed Flora.

One would think she had some sort of disease by the way the idiot was acting. It only made her more determined to get the guy. Nobody spurns the advances of Flora Lau and gets away with it.

“Maybe we should go back to my place after this?” Flora suggested to Hayden.

Hayden stared at her in surprise, or you could say it was more like shock. “Yo...y...your place?” he stammered.

Flora smiled sweetly at him. “Yes, my place. Is there anything wrong with that?”

“Err...no, no. It’s just...err...well it’s not very nice. I don’t want to inconvenient you or anything like that.”

“Nonsense. It’s of no inconvenience at all.”

“B..Bu...But...”

“Come on, just for some coffee and some talk. I mean this place isn’t very conducive for conversations,” Flora gestured with her hand, reminding him of the noisy pub they were in.

Even with Flora’s cajoling, Hayden still gave pathetic excuses to get out of having to go to Flora’s place.

“Erm...it’s getting late. I really have to go. I’ve got to be up early tomorrow morning. Got something to do,” he blabbered away as he tried to twist his way out of Flora’s arms.

Exasperated, Flora released her arms around him and sighed. “Go on,” she said listlessly.

Hayden jumped up as soon as she let go. “Erm..okay. Bye.” He left in such a hurry, he was practically running out of the pub.

Flora smiled in amusement as she watched him go. She was going to do whatever it takes to get him.

With Hayden gone, she turned her attention to her surroundings. The night was still young and she wasn't prepared to let it go to waste. Then suddenly, her eyes popped open widely. The hunk that was with Jessica at their place the other day, he was sitting with a couple of his friends a few tables away from her. Flora smiled and made her move.

“Hi there. Remember me?” she asked as she placed her hand lightly on his shoulder.

He turned around and stared at her, a little confused. Then as he slowly recognised her, his frown ironed out into a smile. “Hi...yea, the shoe’s under the cabinet, next to the window seat. Right?”

Flora laughed, liking his sense of humour already. “I’m Flora,” she said as she held her hand out to him.

“And I’m Alex.” He took her hand in his and brought it up towards his lips and placed a light kiss on it. “It’s a pleasure to finally know your name,” he smiled.

Flora couldn’t help but giggle as she remembered how comical he had looked that morning.

“What?” he asked suspiciously.

“Nothing much. It’s just that I’m rather not used to seeing this debonair side of you. All I remember was a bumbling idiot who couldn’t even find his shoes,” she grinned at him.

Alex laughed at her comment. “Ah. Okay, you’ve got me. I’m not much of a morning person,” he chuckled. “And I didn’t know Jessica had a room mate. So I wasn’t expecting to see anyone there that morning.”

“But I’m glad she does and I’m glad it’s you,” he continued.

Flora smiled. Looked like she was going to have some fun tonight after all.

“Hey, how about we get out of here and go somewhere quieter?” Alex suggested.

Flora grinned. “What about your friends?”

“They won’t even notice I’m gone. C’mon,” he said as he grabbed his jacket and placed his arm over her shoulders, guiding her out of the place.

“So, where are we going?” Flora asked as soon as they walked out of the pub.

Alex grinned at her. “I was thinking...maybe coffee at my place?”