Love Began with the First Meeting

Molly couldn't stop her lips from frowning as she looked at the number. Something didn't feel right about it. She figured if the person at the other end of the call had accidentally dialed a wrong number, he or she would have hung up as soon as they'd hear Molly's voice. Assuming the caller was a stranger, since Molly didn't have the number stored in her phone, who was looking to speak to her, he or she would have said something to her. However, the fact that the call fell in neither category left Molly in confusion. She placed the cellphone to her ear again, "Hello? Who is this?" As far as she could remember, all the number of her friends and relatives had been stored in her cellphone before and she hardly gave her personal number to strangers. As a result, a call from an unknown number was a rare occurrence to her.

The person on the other end of the line remained silent, but Molly knew that the person was listening because she could hear the sound of slow breathing. For some reason, Molly's instincts were telling her that the caller was a woman.

"If you have something to say to me, please speak," Molly said after subsiding her confusion. "If you don't, then I will hang... up..."

The beeping sound, which indicated that the person had hung up, interrupted Molly before she could even finish her sentence. With a puzzled expression adorning her features, Molly seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. However, it would take a lot more than a prank call to daunt her. She was no longer the coward woman she had once been. Although she still had a long way to go with self-improvement, she wouldn't run away from facing any threats that had the potential of damaging her present.

With these thoughts racing in her mind, Molly brought up Brian's number in her cellphone. But instead of pressing the call button she lingered on her thoughts for a long time. After much deliberation, she decided against calling Brian and dialed Eric's number instead. "What is it, young lady? What could be so important that you had to call me at his hour, Little Molly?" Eric answered almost immediately in a playful voice. "Are you lonely?"

Molly, however, was in no mood for his childish banter as she rolled her eyes and snapped at him, "Don't make fun of me! I don't have time for your silly jokes!"

"Cough!" Eric almost spat out the wine from his mouth when he realized how serious Molly was. Taking a sideways glance at Cora, who was playing with her cellphone, he sat up straight and cleared his throat. "Okay, seriously... Can I help you something? It's quite late." "Nothing important... I'm just curious. What did you talk to Bri about at the airport earlier today?" With her shanks hanging by the bedside, Molly lay down slowly. "Eric, I feel as though you and Bri are hiding something from me. Am I right?" she asked.

"What?" Eric put down the glass of wine in his hand on the table. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't have any reason to hide anything from you now. If you think someone's hiding something from you, it's probably Cousin Brian. But that has nothing to do with me." Eric squinted his eyes in that discomfiting way in which people preparing to sit back and watch the show unfold from the sidelines do. He dismissed her doubts and said, "All right, Little Molly, I have something important I need to take care of now. I will talk to you later. Take care!"

Without waiting for Molly's response, Eric hung up the phone.

"How dare you play tricks on Mr. Brian Long like this?" Cora asked but the expression on her face was obscured because of the dim light and her location. The only visible part of her body were her slender legs crossed at the ankles, resting casually on a tea table. "Aren't you afraid that he will make you cry when he finds out that you have misled that woman like this?"

"Oh please! If you're brave enough to chase him all the way to Dragon Island, why would I be afraid of his anger?" Eric shrugged his shoulders, as if he had no reason to be worried at all. "I think that you should worry more about yourself rather than being worried about me." With an air of arrogance, he stood up and looked down at Cora, who was sitting in the dark. "May I remind you that I won't interfere in the affairs between you and Brian, but if you hurt her, you will surely have one more enemy to look out for, and that is me." As soon as the words left his mouth, he took a step to walk outside.

Cora turned her head towards the exit slowly, when Eric's hands touched the crystal beaded curtain, and said, "If I hurt her, you will be the one to benefit from it, won't you? In that case, you will stand more chance winning her back."

Eric paused his movement. Gradually, a menacing smirk appeared on his lips and his cold eyes glinted even in the dark. An eerie sense of foreboding began to permeate the air, as he turned his head slowly to Cora's direction and said, "Thank you for your kindness." Enunciating the last word, he withdrew his cold gaze and laughed in that manic cackle of his. As his eyes turned back, bereft soul or morality, he added, "I hope I don't have to remind you again not to hurt her. Otherwise, I won't feel grateful to you." Pausing for a moment, he continued, "I am not like Cousin Brian. I won't hesitate to deal with you in whatever way I see fit. I don't have to show you mercy for the sake of anybody else."

Before long, with the clinking sound of crystal beads colliding with one another, Eric made his exit. While Cora swirled the glass of wine in her hand and took a sip, her eyes glinted ominously. Slowly, putting her feet down to the floor, she put down the glass of wine on the tea table and stood up, allowing the light to finally reveal her face.

Cora was a tall and slender figured girl, with an olive complexion and dark violet tresses longer than her back. Wearing jeans that hugged her hips nicely, a fur top that showed off her ample bosom and a pair of Doc Martens boots, she could have graced any billboard or magazine cover, but she was better than those two dimensional photoshopped models. Eyebrows like sleeping silkworms shaded her phoenix eyes. Her sharply defined nose and luscious lips could draw the attention of those who looked at her once. With the face of a goddess, nobody could take their eyes away from her.

In a rhythmic yet somewhat arrogant gait, she strutted out of the bar and went back to the royal garden. Since she was not a member of the Long Family, she was not allowed to stay at the Long Family Mansion. Night came when the scorching heat surrendered to the onshore breeze and people could be outside without needing to cover every inch of their skin. The stars came as if to welcome the hours of comfort and relaxation. People would sit, with their heads tilted toward the sky, observing the constellations and the patina of the moon. Unfortunately, none of the comforts of night could provide Cora with happiness at the moment. The fact that their previous agreement had become the reason why Brian had escaped from her was something she wasn't able to foresee. D¶¶¶¶☐☐☐☐☐☐☐