Chapter 7 7

"Oh." she chuckled, rolling her eyes as if it was a stupid question. "Those two dickheads told me a lot about you." She motioned towards Flynn and Rodrigo, who at their turn yelled: "Excuse me?!"

"I'm sorry, I meant assholes." Then she turned back at me and squealed. "Oh my god, you look so pretty."

"I told her." Ximena chimed in. "And you know what she told me? She can eat anything she wants and still have that figure."

Ellie stared at me agape. "You're kidding me."

"Nope." Ximena answered.

"Damn girl, I'm low-key jealous!"

"You should be" We all turned around to look at Flynn.

"Excuse me?" I said confused, I'm pretty sure I haven't heard him right.

"I said she should be jealous of your body. It's perfect." he repeated nonchalantly.

If my heart could jump out of my chest, it would happen right now. Did the Flynn Vasilios just compliment me? I was frozen in spot, trying to process his compliment. Ximena was the first one who said something.

"Do I smell love in the air?"

This time I turned my head at Ximena and glared at her. Really? From all the things she could've said, that's what she came up with?

Flynn coughed at the question of Ximena and turned his head to his right. "Martini, Rodrigo?" he asked instead, looking at his best friend.

Rodrigo nodded. "Yeah, yeah Martini."

And they both walked out of the living room to the bar which was on the second floor.

Ellie turned around me and faced me with excitement in her eyes.

"Oh my god!" she squealed. "You. Flynn. Are you guys a thing?"

"What? No, not at all. Why do you think that?"

She just shrugged. "Maybe, because it's so obvious."

"It's not; I think he hates my guts."

"There's a thin line between love and hate." Ellie said, giving me a wink.

"Ok El it's enough, if you want to play cupid for my brother and my best friend, do it when I'm not around." Ximena laughed uncomfortably.

"Why?" Ellie asked smirking, and then continued, "You don't like it when I match your ugly brother with one hell of a fine girl?"

"Exactly, I don't know what girls see in him."

"Okay first of all Flynn is not ugly." I said looking at both of them. Flynn is absolutely NOT ugly, in fact he's one hot specimen made out of a dozen of sexiness, hotness, and cockiness.

"Of course you will not think he's attractive Ximmy, he's your brother." Ellie said in a matter-of-fact tone, ignoring my statement.

"Anyways!" Ximena gave us a big wide smile. "Let's not talk about my brother anymore, let's go swimming." We walked out of the living room, passed the gymnasium, and we ended up outside where there was a huge pool with a bar waiting for us.

We jumped in the water, played volleyball, and after that we drank cocktail at the bar. I learned that Ellie was Rodrigo's little sister. She was twenty three years old and she was a writer and a model. Ellie was outgoing and loud, the type of friend you had to warn first before you introduce her to other people.

After a while Flynn called us, that lunch was ready. We got out of the pool and wrapped a towel around our wet body, before heading to the second floor to have lunch. I was surprised to see how much food there was. I was even more surprised to hear that everything was prepared by Rodrigo.

"Yup, my brother is a good cook." Ellie said as she sat down on one of the Rotan chairs. I sat down next to her and looked at all the delicious food on the table. There was seafood pasta with goat cheese, orange chicken, fried rice, pandan wrapped chicken wings, Lasagna, and bread roll.

"Did you prepare all this?" I asked looking at Rodrigo. This was a lot for lunch and it all look so delicious.

Rodrigo nodded. "Yup, it didn't take long. I'm used to cook."

"Where did you learn how to cook? Are you a chef?"

He laughed. "No, but I did take culinary class in high school and when I was in college I watched a lot of Giada De Laurentiis videos."

"Really?" I chuckled. "I thought you would say Gordon Ramsay?"

"Nah." Rodrigo placed a napkin beside my plate. "Giada is hot and she kept me interested in this whole cooking thing."

I laughed at his response. "But how did you learn how to make all these international dishes, because Giada is a american-italian chef?"

He shrugged. "Practice makes perfect. You see that orange chicken there? Took me two years to make it as good as the ones from Joe's Shanghai."

Flynn came out of the kitchen holding two glasses with juice. "Orange or apple?" he asked looking at me and Ximena. I took the Apple juice whereas Ximena the orange.

"Where's mine?" Ellie asked, looking at Flynn.

"Oh." Flynn said. "Your brother told me you would have water.

"What?!" she yelled and then glared at Rodrigo. "Please don't tell me you also made salad for me."

Rodrigo grinned. "Actually none of the food on the table is for you. I made Chicken avocado salad for you. Healthy and refreshing."

"Rodrigo!" she bawled, hitting her head with her hands. "I'm craving orange chicken and for your information I don't like avocado."

"Oh really?" Rodrigo provoked. "Last time I checked you were literally confessing your undying love for chicken avocado sandwich at Ashley's house."

"That was Ashley's house, you know how she is!" Ellie whined.

"Fine! You can have orange chicken, but tomorrow no junk food at all!"

"Deal!" Ellie took the bowl with orange chicken and scooped a spoonful on her plate. I decided to have lasagna and bread roll for lunch.

Chapter 7

During lunch Ximena and Rodrigo held a conversation, Ellie was so engrossed with her food, and Flynn was on his phone, probably texting one of his regulars.

When we were done we brought everything inside. We didn't have to do any dishes, because Flynn had a maid who would do it later on today.

Perks of being rich.

After we had put all the dishes in the sink, Rodrigo and Ellie went home and Ximena went to take a nap. I decided to go to the upper deck and lay down on one of the deck chairs.

I almost fell asleep when I felt a presence next to me.

A naked Flynn.

Well, not fully naked, he wore bright orange Hawaiian shorts. His upper half on the other hand was bare, which means I could see his incredible six pack and V-Line. It's not something I haven't seen before, but I couldn't resist not staring at him.

"Enjoying the view so far?" he asked leaning back putting his hands behind his head.

"No!" I replied fast, thinking he meant the view as in him.

He chuckled and said, "Pudding, what I meant was the view in front of you, not next to you."

Oh, both views were breathtaking. Wait what? Did he just call me pudding?

"Did you just call me pudding?" I was perplexed, since when did we start giving each other nicknames?

"You don't like it? I have other ones like buttercup, honey bear, or kit--"

I interrupted him. "It's okay, but I mean why pudding?"

He shrugged. "You're sweet, adorable, and confident."

"And how do you know that? You barely know me."

He gave me a mysterious smile. "That's why I'm sitting here to get to know you, duh."

As if he thinks I'm interested in a conversation. Secretly, I am.

"So," he continued. "Let us start over again, because when we met at Ximena's office I was kind of... shocked."

"Shocked?!"

I recalled him being mad not shocked. "Your definition of shocked means mad in my dictionary."

He chuckled, "Pudding that happens when I'm shocked. I yell."

I shook my head. "You're unbelievable and I say that because I already have experienced some of your unbelievable moments."

"If you refer to the bathroom and Victoria secret incidents, those weren't even close from unbelievable, pudding."

I looked at Flynn when he said that. I noticed that his eyes were closed and his dark brows were actually graceful, but currently furrowed in a frown. He looked so peaceful like this, not like the arrogant and conceited jerk he always is. He's quite nice around me lately and I wondered why? "A picture will last longer." he mumbled, a small smirk playing on his lips.

My face turned fifty shades of red. How could he know that I was staring at him?

"And if you are thinking about how I know that you're staring at me. You're eyes are burning holes in my body."

How the hell did he know that I was thinking about that? Geez. I decided to change the topic.

"So if you call me pudding, do I need to give you a nickname too?" He opened one eye and looked at me. "Do you want to give me one?"

I put on my thinking face. "What about Mr. conceited or Mr. Arrogant?"

"I suggest staying with Flynn." he muttered at my choice of nicknames.

I laughed. "Come on Flynn, you should help me choose. What do you think fits the best on you?"

He turned his head towards me. "Mh, I would say sexy, hot, Greek god, but I would prefer you calling me daddy."

"Mr. Conceited it will be then and ew, did you just say I should call you daddy?"

He snickered, "Yes, pudding. I prefer you calling me daddy."

"Ew, hell no! Gross!" I gagged. Flynn burst out laughing. "You should have seen your face when you made those gagging noises."

I shook my head. "You're a freaking CEO of a multi-billion company and here you are acting like a high school bad boy."

He shrugged at my statement. "I don't really care. I have nothing to lose and bytheway I have dedicated my entire high school and college years to become this successful, the least I can do now is have fun."

"But you got the company on a silver platter; your dad was the last CEO right? Isn't it some kind of family business, like the oldest son gets the company kind of thing?"

Flynn scoffed at the question I asked. "Silver platter? Ha, I wished. If I wouldn't bust my ass off at school he wouldn't hesitate to give it to someone else who did. It doesn't matter if it's a family business or not."

"I was just asking." I replied in defense, turning my attention back to the water. Maybe having a decent conversation with Flynn wasn't so bad after all. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

"Hey."

I turned my attention back to Flynn when he said that. "I want to show you something."

He grabbed my hand and I shivered when he did that. I never held his hand before, but it felt like my body recognized his touch, because I got goosebumps all over my body.

"What?" I asked as he dragged me towards the railing of the yacht. He let me lean against the railing as he stand right behind me. If he's trying to copy the Titanic scene I wouldn't hesitate kicking him in his balls. I'm not really a Titanic fan, the only reason I watched it was because of young Leonardo.

"From here you can see the Brooklyn Bridge, at night it is even more beautiful." he whispered in my ear as he put his hands on my waist.

"Hands to yourself Vasilios." I warned him as I playfully slapped his hands. He chuckled as he pulled his hands away from my waist. "It's Flynn for you pudding."

I rolled my eyes. "Are we going to stay till night?"

"Uhm no, my mom has a family dinner planned tonight. Did you have fun though, I mean today."

I nodded my head. "The food was good, so yeah it was fun."

He chuckled when he heard my answer. "Women and food." he mumbled. "But do you know what's even more fun?"

I was about to turn around and ask what, but before I could do that he scooped me up bridal style and walked closer to the railing.

I squealed when he did that. He is not doing what I think he's doing.

"Flynn, put me down!" I exclaimed as I was trying to fight my way out of this position, which was useless. Flynn made it seem like I was a feather in his arms.

"Do you have a dead--" before I could finish that sentence he threw me in the water.

Jerk!

..........

Jill Malik P.O.V

"I'm so glad you could make it tonight!" Ximena squealed and hugged me tightly. She looked drop dead gorgeous in her azure blue dress, it complimented her eyes. Her hair was in a messy bun and she wore a blue flower crown. She looked like a princess, but she had all the right to look like a princess tonight.

After all it's her engagement party.

Reina and I were invited to Ximena's engagement party. I was not sure if I could make it due so much work recently. Even though Ximena was my friend, I was still her employee and she expects the same from me as she does from other employees.

Hard work and dedication.

"Congratulations on your engagement." Reina congratulated Ximena. Reina and Ximena knew each other through me. They weren't really the best of friends, but they could get along really well.

"Thank you, how are you and Luca doing? I saw pictures of you guys in Daily mail." Ximena said smiling as she looked at Reina who was wearing a black chiffon dress.

Reina blushed deeply. "He's doing great... We're just..uhh friends."

"Ah, that's great." Ximena replied not really convinced by the hesitant answer of Reina.

Ximena's engagement part is held at the Manhattan penthouse. The venue was beautifully decorated and I wondered where Ximena got her wedding planner. Everything was perfectly arranged and the views from up here were spectacular.

The spacious Reception Room with elegant tables has arched windows on either side of the dance floor. There was also a beautiful bar with stained glass and oak paneling between the two doorways leading to the Ballroom.

I saw Blake coming towards us with a glass of champagne in his hand. He looked handsome in his blue tuxedo. His tousled black hair, which was thick and lustrous, was combed neatly into a man bun. It suited him.

"Hello Jill, how are you?" he asked as he extended his hand for me for a handshake.

"I'm doing well and bytheway congratulations on your engagement."

He smiled. "Thanks, hope you have a great night so far."

I nodded my head. "Yes totally, it's beautiful up here."

"It is." he agreed. We talked for a while, but then he had to proceed to walk towards a table behind me to greet more people.

I decided to get something to drink at the bar, but halfway I got stopped by the trio that walked out of the elevator.

Flynn, Rodrigo, and Ellie.

"Jill!" Ellie squealed as she ran up to me. The pink lace dress she was wearing hugged all her curves in the right places. No doubt that she will steal the spotlight from Ximena tonight.

She hugged me tightly and when she released me I saw Rodrigo and Flynn behind her watching us with an amused expression plastered on their face.

"Hello Rodrigo." I hugged him and he chuckled. Rodrigo is cute, I have to admit. That boy has the looks, but since the first time I'd met him it was clear that he didn't see me as more than a friend.

"Nice to meet you again pretty lady." He replied chuckling.

I released myself out of his hug and saw Flynn silently glaring at him. I raise my eyebrows up in confusion. What is wrong with him?

"Good evening Vasilios." I said extending my hand to him for a handshake. He looked dumbfounded at my hand. If he thinks that I forgave him for what had happened in the yacht he is so wrong.

"No hug?" he pouted.

I rolled my eyes at him.

"I haven't forgiven you yet Vasilios!" I replied flatly.

"What?!" he asked, the smile on his face disappeared. "It has been two weeks and it wasn't so bad, pudding."

"It was freezing cold you moron and I don't forgive so easily."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" he smirked. "I have sent you so many bouquets the last two weeks. Do you want more so you can forgive me faster?"

I shook my head wildly. The past two weeks he had sent me all types of flowers with a note that said 'sorry'. Even though the flowers were pretty and I didn't have the heart to throw them away, it took quite a lot of space in the living room and on the kitchen counter.

Last night Reina had to prepare dinner under a huge bouquet of Roses and sunflowers.

"Oh please don't, my apartment look like a botanical garden right now."

He laughed. "So, hug?"

I sighed defeated, "Fine, a hug."

He walked up to me slowly and pulled me closer to him wrapping his arms around me. His embrace was warm, and his big, strong arms seemed very protective when wrapped around my small body.

It wasn't like the quick hug Ellie or Rodrigo gave me. This was a real hug. The world around me melted away as I squeezed him back, not wanting the moment to end.

I always loved it when guys hugged me like this. For some reasons these hugs were so addictive and I always felt protected. It is the kind of hug I want to feel over and over again.

"Strawberries and whiskey." he murmured as he inhaled the scent of my hair.

I gasped and pushed him off me. "What did you just say?" I asked shocked.

"W-what?" he looked confused at me.

"You said something..."

He shook his head. "I think I got lost in the moment."

"You said strawberries and whiskey." I whispered. The last time I heard someone saying that about me was six years ago.

"What do you know about that?" I whispered again.

He can't be the one, can he?

..........

Chapter 8

Flynn Vasilios P.O.V

She looked like a goddess in the middle of the room. In her red satin dress she looked like the princess version of red riding hood.

Innocent, sweet, and beautiful.

Ellie ran towards her for a hug and the smile on her face was what I wanted to see every day for the rest of my life. The way her soft red lips lifted upward. The way her teeth are perfectly aligned. The warm glow her happiness gives.

Her smile is a ray of sunshine, and I am a sunburn.

When Ellie released her out of her hug she walked towards us. Her footsteps were light and timid as she slowly approaches us, watching me through her gorgeous blue-green eyes. I can only imagine what might be going through her head. Is she still mad at me?

She hugged Rodrigo and I couldn't help but feel jealous. I feel like her and Rodrigo have a really great bond and I want to have that too. Shit, I want to have more than a really great bond. I wanted her to be mine.

When it was my turn to hug she just extended her hand to me for a handshake. Really? So she's still mad at me.

"Good evening Vasilios." she said extending her hand to me for a handshake. The way my last name came out of her sexy mouth was so perfect to be real.

Since she couldn't come up with a suitable nickname for me - I didn't approve of her choice of nicknames bytheway - she decided to stick with calling me Vasilios even though I told her to just call me Flynn.

I looked dumbfounded at her hand. "No hug?" I pouted. I was disappointed to say the least. I thought she already forgave me.

She rolled her eyes.

"I haven't forgiven you yet Vasilios!" she said flatly.

"What?!" I asked, disappointed. I had sent her flowers for two weeks straight and that obviously didn't work to get her to forgive me.

I just threw her in the water, nothing bad. Except for the fact that the water was freezing cold. I hadn't really thought of that. But it was funny and it was also a good excuse to have her in my arms afterwards so she wouldn't become a human ice cube.

"It has been two weeks and it wasn't so bad pudding."

"It was freezing cold you moron and I don't forgive so easily."

Ah, there's my feisty little pudding.

I raised my eyebrow. "Oh really?" I smirked. "I have sent you so many bouquets the last two weeks. Do you want more so you can forgive me faster?"

She shook her head wildly. "Oh please don't, my apartment look like a botanical garden right now."

I laughed. "So, hug?" I tried again.

She sighed defeated, "Fine, a hug."

I grinned as I walked slowly up to her and pulled her closer to me wrapping my arms around her small body. I felt her head resting on my chest. I buried my face in her hair and inhaled her scent. It brought me back to six years ago.

Strawberries and Whiskey.