Way Back Into Love (Essie)

She feigned a smile and swam as far away from him as possible.

He stared at her receding figure with his unblinking eyes. The waves danced but he didn't stir. He was in a daze and not even tsunami could placate him.

As soon as Essie was ashore, she began to look around for Mandy. Luckily, she didn't have to search long. Mandy was caught sitting on the beach chair, with her head bowed down. "Mandy, you misunderstood. There is nothing going on between the two of us," Essie explained in a hurry.

Mandy suddenly stood up from her chair, raised her hand and slapped her across her face. Writhing with rage, she said, "You are the most despicable person, Essie. You pretended to help me whereas behind my back you were trying to seduce him! You cheating bitch. Why did you do this to me? Did you want to prove that you are better than me? All these years, I considered you my best friend. And look what you did to me!"

In spite of the burning pain on her face, Essie grabbed Mandy's shoulder and said, "Mandy, we have played together since childhood. Don't you know who I am? If I really wanted to be with him, I would have gone ahead and done it. Why on earth would I give you hope and pull you into this? No! This isn't true. And about what happened earlier, he did it with an intention to piss you off. Guess what? It worked! You were stupid enough to fall for it."

"Why did he want to piss me off?" Mandy asked in between her sobs. If he had done it just to anger her then it meant he hated her with a passion!

Essie didn't give a reply, instead she waited for her friend to calm down. Once she saw that she had calmed down, she took a deep breath. She picked up the fruit juice from the table and handed it over. "I am not sure why he is doing it. Perhaps he knows you have taken a liking to him. He is probably playing hard to get," Essie said in a soothing tone.

Mandy opened the bottle of juice and took a sip. Still looking doubtful, she said, "Are you sure you don't like him?"

"Don't you know who I like?" Giving Mandy a glare, Essie dragged her to sit on the beach.

The anger in Mandy's heart almost died out. Yes, in the eyes of her bestie, Zac was a poor hobo. How could he compare with that rich and handsome Hanson? "What if he likes you?" Mandy asked, finally asking the question that was eating her alive.

"Before I came here, I asked him this question. It turns out he doesn't like me at all. It was silly of me to ask him such a question. I am not his type," she said with a shrug. Although Zac didn't give her an answer, she took it for a no. That's why it was believed that indecision was a decision within itself. His hesitancy meant he didn't like her.

"What! You asked him whether he likes you? How dare you!" Mandy poked her forehead, but she was in a much better mood. Knowing that Zac didn't like Essie put her mind at ease.

"You know what? It's better if we live under the same roof. That will help us avoid misunderstandings." Essie smiled again. She hoped her friend would take the offer.

Mandy was relieved. Yes, she agreed with her. If he indeed didn't like Essie, it meant she stood a chance!

After this, they apologized and made peace with each other. They didn't realize that Zac was standing not far away from them and listening to the whole conversation. He was annoyed at Essie because she had lied!

'I never said I didn't like her. How could she say such a thing!'

Zac was quite disturbed.

Although he was not an easy-going man, Essie was indeed the most pleasing girl to his eyes. Everything she did made him happy.

Mandy had stayed in the apartment with them for a week, and Zac started to go crazy. Their happy days were over. In short, Mandy's intrusion had completely cut off their normal relationship.

Essie seldom talked to him, and she spent most of her time in her studio, busily designing. She even avoided sitting close to him while having meals so as to avoid any physical contact. She didn't want to leave any room for misunderstanding.

It turned out she meant what she had said! Friendship held a lot of importance to her.

He, her nominal husband, was completely abandoned!

'No way! I have to use a stronger medicine!' thought Zac! He wasn't someone who would give up easily.

Then he took out his phone and dialed William's number. "Please find me a woman, it doesn't matter what she does. The only quality I am looking for is love for money. She must, at any cost, love money more than men."