CARINA'S P.O.V.

"Tin, are you sure about this? I feel like I am wearing nothing. It's too short" I complained as I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

"What? You're exaggerating. Look at you, you're so pretty and sexy".

I looked at the mirror again.

I am wearing a fuchsia crop top which barely covered my navel, a pants which was tattered on the knee area and stilettos. I just let my curly hair down. My dangling earrings were sparkling. Christine just lent me all these since I didn't have clothes for these kinds of thing.

"Let's go" she said excitedly. I grabbed the cardigan and put it on then we went out.

***

As we entered the club, I felt like my ears were going to explode because of the loud music.

"Hey Tin, why are we here?" I asked her, almost shouting so that she could hear me.

"To have fun of course" we went to a vacant table then Christine went to the bar and order. After a while she came back with our drinks.

"What's this?" I asked her. I know it's an alcoholic drink but I just want to know its name.

"It's what you call a godfather. Its part scotch and amaretto. "She explained to me and took a sip while watching the people dancing on the dance floor. Then I saw her scrunched her eye brows.

"Hey, what's that guy doing here?" she said, talking to herself. I followed her gaze and there I saw the handsomest man I have ever laid my eyes on. I touched her arm and asked

"Who is he?"

"Wait, I am going there. Just stay here." then she got up and went to the guy who was sitting at the table near the emergency exit. He was talking to a guy. I studied his looks. He really was handsome. He was sitting there but I could tell he was tall and has a muscular body. I saw Christine hugged the stranger and he hugged her back. He just smiled at her. They talked for a bit then I saw them approaching out table. Suddenly I felt uncomfortable. I was never been good talking to strangers. Don't tell me, he was her new boyfriend?

"hey Cari, this is my cousin Regan Novell. Reg, this is my bestfriend, Carina Westbay, Cari for short." She said introducing us to one another. He was more handsome up close. His blue eyes were so intimidating. He was staring at me without emotion in his eyes. Then I heard his voice.

"Nice to meet you Miss Westbay." As he extended his hand for a handshake. He didn't even smile.

As our hands clasped for a handshake, I felt a sudden tingle ran from my spine to the back of my neck. I suddenly felt uncomfortable around him. It's not like I was scared of him. It's just his aura. The way he stared intently into my eyes, like reading my soul. He was oozing of sex appeal even if he never smiled at me. He's so tall, maybe he stood at least 6 ft plus compared to my height of 5 ft 5 inches.

I've always been uncomfortable and awkward around guys. Maybe because of what happened to me.

"Cari! Are you with us?" Christine asked me. Her eyes were teasing me.

"S-sorry...hrmm.. Nice to meet you too Mr. Novell". Then I let go of his hand.

He just nodded formally and turned to Christine.

"Chris, just go home. This place is not good for ladies like you. Especially that you don't have any guy with you." he said with an authority in his voice.

"Come on Reg! We're just here to have fun. If you want you can join us" she offered with a sweet voice and hugged her cousin.

"Sorry but I can't. I am with Bryan and we're waiting for our dates"

I just stayed there, sipping my drink while watching the two. After Christine introduced us to one another, he never looked at me as if I never existed in front of him.

"That sucks. It's been a while since we hang out together" she pouted and sat on her chair.

"I need to go. Looks like they're here. We can hung out some other day" he said without glancing at us and started to walk away. Then suddenly, he stopped on his tracks and looked back at us.

"Chris, make sure to go home at 11pm" he said and walked away.

She heaved a sigh.

"Oh that Reg! He always acts like this towards me but look at how he is flirting with those girls"

I looked at Mr. Novell and saw him kissing one of the girls who just arrived. I felt my cheeks turned red at the sight of them. Gross.

Christine got up and asked me to dance. I reluctantly went along with her. All of these things were new to me so I wanted to enjoy the experience, what's like to be a normal girl. I was not that good of a dancer but I knew that I was not that terrible either. I just copied Christine and after minutes of trying, I got the hang of hit and before I knew it, we were having fun. When we got tired, we went to the bar counter and ordered another drink.

"hey Cari, I need to visit the toilet"

"Okay, I'll wait for you here" I replied and sipped on my gin and sat on a vacant stool. I was busy watching the people on the dance floor when I heard someone. He ordered a drink and sat on the stool next to me. I could see in my peripheral view that he was staring at me. Suddenly, I felt awkward.

"Yes? What do you want?" I turned to the guy. He was handsome but I had this uneasy feeling about him. He was wearing a t-shirt and a rugged pants. He smiled at me and sipped a little bit of his drink. I saw him ogling at my breasts.

"You" he answered as if it was just a natural thing to say to someone you just met. I suddenly felt nervous and looked around me, searching for Christine but my eyes couldn't find her. I got up of my chair and was about to leave when he grabbed my arm. Suddenly the image of Jack, my stepfather grabbing my arm and forcefully dragging me flashed into my mind. Panic was all over my body. I couldn't find my voice. I tried to free my arm from his grasp.

"N-No...please! Let go of my arm" I said in a small voice. He barely heard it.

"What's wrong honey? Trying to appear coy? C'mon. We both know you're here to hook up with guys. I know your type. I am interested in you. If you want, I can pay you. I am rich you know." He bragged. He stood up, his hand still on my arm and pulled me towards the exit. My panic level rose to maximum as I struggled to get away from him. Then finally I found my voice and started screaming.

"Let go of me! I don't want to go with you! Creep!" he heard what I said and stopped walking. I saw his eyes full of rage, maybe because I called him creep.

"What did you just call me, you bitch?!" He was about to slap me when someone spoke behind us.

"Let go of that girl" I turned my head around and saw him. Suddenly, a rush of relief flowed in my chest. I thought he already left a while ago.

"What do you care dumbass? Mind your own business!" the creep spat at him and continued dragging me to the parking lot. There were few people who were already staring at us.

"Please help me!" I begged them but they just pretended not to hear me and looked away.

He opened his car and was about to deposit me inside when someone punched him on the face that he face planted on the ground. I screamed and turned to the person who hit the creepy guy. It was Mr. Regan Novell. He was with 2 guys, the one who he was with a while ago and another guy who looked like his bodyguard.

"Bastard! It told you to mind your own business!" he pulled out a Swiss knife from his pocket and tried to stab Regan on his stomach. I was beyond scared that I was crying in fear. I instinctively covered my eyes as the guy attacked him. Then for a couple of seconds, I heard someone fell to the ground and groaned in pain. I slowly opened my eyes and I saw those blue orbs intently staring into my eyes. His eyes were full of tenderness.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his eyes not leaving mine. I nodded but I couldn't control myself. I instantly wrapped my arms around him and cried. I suddenly felt his body got tensed for a little bit then he hugged me back. I felt his other hand held the back of my head and slowly touched it. As if telling me that everything is going to be alright.

"Cari! What happened?" I heard a familiar voice and saw Christine approaching us. I let go of Regan and hugged her. Then I noticed the guy still on the ground, still groaning in pain. His lips were bleeding. His knife was at least 10 feet away from him.

"Get out of here before I kill you!" Regan said through gritted teeth and clenched his fists. I didn't see what Regan did to this guy but I was impressed. He overpowered him and now the guy looked like he was beyond scared of him. The guy got up and ran for his life.

"Where the hell did you go young lady? You left your friend alone! Look at what happened to her? I already told you to go home at 11! Look at the time, it's already past twelve!" Regan scolded Christine. I could see the guilt into Christine's eyes. I hugged her tightly and whispered

"It's not your fault. That guy's the one to blame." Christine let go of me and apologized.

"I just went to the toilet Reg. I didn't know that she would ran into a creep like that" she reasoned out.

"That's what you get for being a hard headed. What would you do if one of you kidnapped by the likes of that guy? You know it's dangerous to be hanging around in a place like this" he continued lecturing her.

"Thank you for saving me. Mr Novell. I don't know what become of me if you weren't there" I said and stared to him. His eyes were full of anger and coldness when he stared back at me. I couldn't find the gentleness I saw I while ago.

"Ms. Westbay, it's your own fault that you attracted his attention. Wearing seductive clothes like that, you are practically begging for attention". What the hell. I was the victim here.

"Excuse me Mr. Novell, I came here with the intention of enjoying the night with my friend. He was the one who approached me" I didn't know where the hell did I find the courage to talk back like that. I never talked back to a confrontation like this especially to any guy. I was used on not saying my opinions. With him, I couldn't feel any fear. Yes, he could be intimidating with his looks and cold behavior but I could say that I was at eased around him. That was odd.

"Reg stop it. Cari is a nice girl. You can't talk to her like that. I was the one who invited her" I could sense a little bit of annoyance in her voice.

"Fred, drive them home" Regan told to the guy behind him and walked back inside the club.

"I hate him when he's in that mood. He is so controlling and acts as if he is my father" I heard Christine whined but my attention was with the guy who just walked away...

"I'm sorry Cari for leaving you there alone. I should've convinced you to go with me" She said in a serious tone. We were already in the car, on the way home.

"It's okay. Nothing bad happened thanks to Mr. Novell" I assured her, then I saw her eyes lit up.

"Hey, what was that scene a while ago? You were hugging each other like lovers!" she exclaimed excitedly, like a teenager.

"Oh c'mon Tin. He was just comforting me. Don't give any meaning to it"

"Well, I've never seen you hugged any guy no matter what the circumstance were, well aside from Gian of course. You were so aloof to other guys".

"You know the reason Tin. I don't need to spill it out because you know everything" I said and leaned back my head and closed my eyes but suddenly an image of his dark blue eyes popped up in my head. Why's he always on my mind? He was so cold towards me but I couldn't shake off the gentleness I saw from his eyes. It was just for a couple of seconds but I was certain I saw it. Maybe he wasn't that cold after all. I meant, he saved me earlier. I opened my eyes again and looked at the scenery outside. The street lights were so bright that made the road looked more less scary at night.

"Don't tell me you have a crush on him?" I heard her said teasingly and poked the side of my stomach.

"Me? Tin, you're crazy. I just met him a while ago. That's impossible"

"C'mon. It's just a crush. No need to be defensive like that. It's just that, I am happy. I think you're beginning to open up to other people. That's a good sign" she said seriously. I looked away and said nothing. I hope so.    

*****So I just realized that writing a story was hard, but i would definitely do my best.

Please write what you think of this story and share it to your friends :)*****

****COMMENTS and VOTES are very much appreciated :)