“So what did you say to him?”, Stephanie asked as she sat closely to her friend as she told her about the encounter with the handsome stranger

“I didn't say anything”, she shrugged her shoulders and Stephanie groaned as she collapsed exaggeratedly on the bed. “He left me this”, she handed her the serviette and Steph read it out loud.

“I look forward to hearing from you about that date”, Stephanie rose her upper body to look at Abigail, who nervously clenched her teeth. “Is this even for real?”, she watched as the other woman gave a short nod.

She heaved a sigh. “Don't know bout you but this looks like a creep alert red flag”, she gave a disapproving look before Abigail snatched the serviette from her and slipped it in her back pocket.

“It's not creepy. Its actually kind of sweet”, she retorted. Stephanie shrugged before they both fell back on the bed.

“So, what did he look like?”, Stephanie turned to look at her

“He was cute”

“Do you even know what cute means?”, she rolled her eyes at her

“Good looking?”, the other woman quizzed

“No. It means ugly but acceptable”, Stephanie bit her lip to avoid laughing out loud, Abigail punched her playfully on the arm.

“No, it doesn't”

“Okay, on a serious note”, Steph rose her head up, “How is he? Describe him to me”.

“He was really handsome”, she rose her hands in surrender. “He has dark, beautiful black eyes. He has this strong, deep voice-”, Abigail dozed off as she thought of him.

“Just a few minutes with him, and you're already gone”, Stephanie interrupted as she shook her head, making the tsk tsk tsk sound

“I'm not gone, okay?”, Abigail laughed as she pushed her upper body up. “He's interesting and.....different”, she shrugged.

“Are you going to agree to the date with him?”, Stephanie rose an eyebrow

“I don't know”

Ian sat still in his office, his head dropped back against the headrest as his eyes stared at the ceiling above him. Thousands of thoughts racing in his mind, but the one that stood out was with the woman he had an interaction with earlier that day. He wanted to talk to her again, to pursue her on a date, but she became occupied with the table she had to attend to. He wondered if him leaving her a message in the serviette left a bad impression on her. But it was the only thing she can take away to remind her of him and their short conversation.

The sight of her bought warmth to his heart. She was indeed a sight for sore eyes. She had beautiful features, and her bright chocolate brown eyes surely imprinted on him.

A smile crept to his face because of thinking about her, he knew that he had to see her again, soon

“Abbie, the guy sitting at table six wants you to take his order”, Tracy said as she strode to stand beside her as she cleaned the counter. Abigail's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“But, table six is your table”

Tracy shrugged. “Yeah I know, but the guy wants you, so”, she took Abigail's notepad and pen and placed them into her hands while pushing her in the direction of the table six.

“I'll look after table seven for you”

Abigail's heart skipped a beat as she saw him sitting across where she was standing. He was neatly dressed in a navy blue waistcoat with his white shirt rolled up to his sleeves. His hair was cut on both sides, with the top side slicked to the left and his face was neatly groomed. The way he was concentrating on the paperwork in front of him was so sexy she couldn't look away.

He then turned to look her direction as she walked towards him, then the side of his lips turned up in a heart-warming smile

“Abigail”, he said quietly as she stood beside him

“Hi”, she smiled warmly at him. “What can I get for you?”

“I'm still waiting for someone, so nothing at the moment”, he said as he gestured with his hand that she sits opposite to him

“Please sit”, he pleaded with his eyes, and she could see it in her eyes that she was hesitant

“It's still working hours, so I can't”, she shrugged a little, still unsure of her decision. “I don't want to get into trouble”

“I'm sure your boss will understand. Just for a few minutes”, he pursued her, and he watched her hesitated for a while.

“The customer is always right, isn't that true, Abigail?”, he rose his eyebrow, and she sighed as she slid across the booth to sit opposite him and he smiled

“Fine, just for a few minutes”

He rubbed his hands enthusiastically. “So, about that date…”

“I'm not going to go on a date with you”, she stated, her voice firm, and she could see that he was taken aback by her statement, he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing him disappointed

“Okay....”, he laughed nervously. This was one rejection he couldn't take lightly, he had just begun. “All I want is to spend some time with you and I would really appreciate it if you said yes”

“Why?”

“I want to get to know you better, surely that's not a crime”, he insisted, and she tapped her pen nervously on her thigh underneath the table. He surely noticed he was getting through to her, and she seemed to be giving his proposal a thought.

“What if I say no?”, she challenged, and he posed to think, this was working to his advantage

“Then I'll keep pestering you each and every day until you eventually agree to go out with me. You don't want to know how persuasive I can be, and I don't think you'd want to find out”, a smirk grew on his face. The sound of his voice was intimidating a bit, but she kept a firm face. She wanted to say no, but a part of her didn't want her to.

She thought for a second, battling to come to a steady decision. They were both strangers to each other, but that's how it always starts, right?

“Okay, I'll go out with you”, she said, and she saw his lips spread into a grin. “-but it's not a date”, she quicky added, but that didn't wipe the grin off his face, it was still bright. For him, it was just the beginning.

“It's not a date, noted”, he nodded in agreement. He reached out for the paperwork besides him, pulling out his business card and handed it to her.

“Text me your address. I'll pick you up at 7pm sharp”.

He couldn't be an ex-murder or some sort now could he?, she thought to herself

“Ian Parker”, she read his printed name out loud while running her thumb on the logo design in black

“In the flesh”, he nodded in agreement and her eyes rose to look at him again before her eyebrows furrowed in confusion

“Parker?”, she self-questioned while trying to make out what was really going on in her head. “You possibly couldn't be related to-”,

Before she could finish, Ms Parker walked towards them and Abigail quickly stood at her feet, dropping her eyes in embarrassment because she knew she had crossed the line

“I'm so sorry Ms Parker, I know it's still working hours-”

“It's okay”, Debby reassured before she turned to look at Ian. “You haven't been back a week, but you're already corrupting one of my best waitresses”, she said lightly and Ian laughed out loud.

“I'm guessing you two have met”, Debby looked at the pair simultaneously, raising her eyebrow suspiciously at Ian, thinking he was back on his old tricks again

“It's all my fault Auntie Debb. I managed to convince her to seat a couple of minutes with me whilst she took my order”, his eyes focused on Abigail the entire time while he spoke.

“Abbie, this nephew of mine is annoying, don't you think?”, Debby turned to face her, and she laughed nervously while tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear

“I need to get back to work”, she excused herself politely and Ian couldn't bring himself to look away even after she disappeared from sight

“I know that look”, Debby pointed a finger at him while she sat opposite him

“What look?”, he questioned, raising an eyebrow at his precious aunt

“You know how you can't help yourself when it comes to women, needing to feed this crave of yours of having to always chase after skirts”, the last thing he needed was to be reminded of his past and how he ended up doing the things he did and ended up pushing away the people who cared about him. It was something he wasn't proud of and if he could undo everything he had some, he would within a snap of a finger.

“I'm no longer like that Auntie Debb”, he saw Abigail appear from the kitchen, and he couldn't help but stare. “I like her, she intrigues me”

“Don't hurt her Ian, the poor girl has already been through a lot. If you do you'll have me to deal with”.

He laughed softly. “I promise I won't”

That afternoon, his phone beeped on his table. He pushed the paperwork in front of him aside and swiped on the screen, a message notification popped up. It was from Abigail, sending him her address. A smile crept to his lips as he tapped on the call button and swirled with his chair as he checked the time on his wrist watch. It was 4:08pm

“Hello?”, her voice answered sweetly on the other line and his smile widened

“Hi Abigail, it's me, Ian”

“I know”, she laughed, and he pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly embarrassment, not knowing what to do to himself. Of because she knew it was him, she had his number.

“Um, yeah. I'm sorry”, he laughed nervously and heard her join in his laugh from the other line.

“Now that you called, mind telling me where we're going?”

“No, I can't. It's supposed to be a surprise”.

“I don't know what to wear”, she sounded disappointed

“Just wear casual clothes, you'll still be beautiful”, he said and could feel her blush on the other line

“7pm, right?”

“Sharp”, he enunciated and she laughed lightly

“Okay, I'll see you then”, she said as they both hung up

That night, he pulled up in front of the apartment building indicated on the navigator and turned the ignition off. He took one deep breath before raising his hand to place a knock on the door. Within a few seconds, it pulled open and a brunette stood across him.

“Hi,”, he started as he couldn't shake off the feeling that he probably was at the wrong apartment, it couldn't be. He doubled checked the address before he knocked.

“I'm not sure if I got the right address, I'm looking for Abigail?”, he stuttered, he was clearly nervous. It had been a while since he picked up a girl for a dat- A day out.

“Yeah, this is the right address”, Stephanie smiled as she stepped aside, inviting him in, and he walked inside. He took a moment to study his surroundings, for an apartment, it had that homely feel to it. He turned to look at the young woman who opened the door for him.

“I'm Ian, Abigail's date”, he extended his hand for a handshake, and she took his hand in hers.

“I'm Stephanie, Abigail's friend and apartment mate”, she said, and he laughed at the humor in her voice as she spoke, she seemed polite.

“She'll be done in a minute”, she gestured he sits down on one of the couches, and he thanked her

“Can I get you something to drink?”, she asked, and he politely declined.

“I'll go tell her you're here”

Abigail heard the door open and close as Stephanie leaned on the door with her arms crossed. “You lied to me”, she deadpanned as her lip curl in a scowl as Abigail finished applying mascara on her already long lashes.

“What are you talking about?”, she asked as she tied her hair into a messy bun

“You said he was good-looking. The guy in the next room is another definition of a handsome specimen. He's gorgeous!”, Stephanie exclaimed and Abigail laughed and turned to look at her.

“What do you think?”, she struck a pose so that Stephanie could tell her how she looked. She was dressed in her dark blue demin jeans, a long sleeved light grey sweater and white sneakers.

“You look beautiful”, Stephanie said as she swirled her around. “Now come, we don't want to keep the hunk waiting”, she said as she dragged her out of her room.

“Wait, Emily-”, Abigail wanted to turn to walk to Emily's room, but Stephanie continued dragging her

“She's fast asleep and if she needs anything, I'm here”, she stopped as they both came in sight and Ian stood up as he saw her

Abigail smiled nervously as he walked towards him and Stephanie was right, he really looked handsome, even more that he was in his casual clothes. He was wearing black jeans, a white polo shirt and also in white sneakers.

He opened his arms wide for a hug as she approaches him, and she obliged by wrapping her arms around his neck and his arms circled around her waist. He pulled her in for a tight hug, and she gasped for a moment of losing her breath. His strong spicy musk cologne was intoxicating but now that she was this close, she turned putty in his hands.

“You smell nice”, he said close enough that she was the only one that heard him, and he released her, “and you're beautiful”

She felt her cheeks redden as she dropped her eyes on the floor

“Thank you”

“Are you ready to go?”, he asked, and she nodded her head as they looked into each other's eyes

“Okay, it's Ian right?”, Stephanie chipped in on the moment, Ian turned to look at her and nodded

“I want this young lady back here no later than 1am, are we clear?”, she warned as put on a motherly tone, and he chuckled before nodding his head again. Abigail simply just rose her eyes.

“Yes ma'am”, he saluted. “Anything else?”

“Have fun”, she said as Ian held the door for Abigail

“I'll make sure of that”

“but don't have too much fun”, she warned again as they laughed

“Pleasure to meet you, Stephanie”, Ian said as they stepped out

“Pleasure to meet you too. Enjoy okay?”, she held onto the door.

“Okay”, they said in union and Stephanie closed the door behind them

When they got to the car, he opened the car door for her, and she thanked him as she got in. “So, where are we going?”, she questioned again as he turned the ignition on, and he chuckled before shaking his head

“You'll see”