Chapter 4 Pros and Cons

• [JANE]
• I can't believe I agreed to what she wants. Ugh! I didn't have a choice or else my dad would still push me to date that arrogant, rude guy—Nicholas. Nicholas Terranova is not nice at all. We have the same surname but we’re not related. Tho, I wish we were so that my dad won’t push me to date him. If you think he's some guy who is respectable and has a good character. Well, you're totally wrong about that. He's the worst and I would never want to be with him. Imagine, he's the one who asked my dad so he could date me in exchange of them investing in our company.
• Honestly, I'm already contented with what we have right now but my dad has many plans and one of them is to extend our business to other countries. We own the biggest telecommunication company here in the South Korea. I just couldn't believe my dad would sell me in exchange of the investment from Nicholas' family. He told me, "It's just a date and Nicholas' family is influential and he is a great guy". I can only roll my eyes whenever I remember that. How can I tell my dad that I'm not into guys?
• Ever since I was in high school, I only liked girls. I turned down the guys that would want to court me back then, but I never outed myself in my family, although my mom already had a hint before, but she never confronted me about it. My mom died when I was young. That was the saddest part of my life. She told me to always follow what can make me happy because life is short. You don't know what's going to happen in the following days or years, and that's what I'm doing now. I won't tie myself with Nicholas. I can always make excuses to my father, just to avoid him, and I think Khali Luciano can help me with that.
• Let's make a checklist, shall we?
• 1. She's a girl, I don’t like guys (check)
• 2. I don't know her family background but I think she's pretty rich, given that she owns a Lamborghini Huracan which costs more than two hundred thousand dollars. (check)
• There's no way that a typical dealer in a casino could own such car. I am positive that she is someone with an excellent family background.
• 3. She's cute (check)
• Okay, she's hot and so attractive; and yes, she has that kissable lips; and she definitely smells nice. Fine, she's perfect.
• 4. My dad knows her. Based from what she told my dad that she's a potential investor. That proves that she's really not just a casino dealer. (check)
• 5. She cares about me. I'm not assuming but I can feel it. I mean, why would she cover up for me from my dad? Right? (check)
• I'll be with her for a week. I just don't like the idea that I'm her slave, but it’s the only better option I have. Oh shit! Did I just call off the deal about her being mine and now I'm her slave? It’s like she got a reverse UNO card! It must be the headache that made me decide that stupid thing! Fucking stupid, Jane!
• I face-palmed myself while I'm lying on my bed.
• "Oh my God! Why?!" I yelled my heart out, feeling disappointed with myself. Suddenly, I was startled when someone barged into my room. It's my best friend, Reese Posie. Her real name is Reese Fatico. Unlike me, she has a choice in what to do in her life. She's a food critique and even though she eats a lot, it never fails to amaze me how she could maintain her Victoria Secret model body. It's still a mystery for me.
• "Jane! Oh my god! I was so worried about you! Where have you been?" She started crying while hugging me tightly. Oh, I forgot to tell her I'm already home. After that much unexpected morning, very awful one, Khali drove me here to my flat. I find her arrogant at times but I can still sense that there's something interesting about her. I'm not interested in her romantically, totally not interested in her. What happened earlier was just lust, I think. Maybe it’s just an effect of that drink I had last night. A guy just offered me a drink, and I really thought it's just a Martini but I just felt ecstatic afterwards. It felt like everything was floating and I could laugh at anything, everything was funny for me. I didn't know what happened next. I just woke up on that unfamiliar bed and then, boom! I am now Khali Luciano's slave. I shouldn't have called off that deal. It's really a bad decision.
• "I'm sorry, I forgot to inform you that I’m already here, but don't worry, I'm okay. I just met this weird girl who happened to be a dealer in that casino. And now, I don’t know what I’m gonna do!” I whined and covered my face with a pillow. I just want to tear up right now.
• "What do you mean? Hey, girl! Tell me, what happened?” Reese tried to pull the pillow from my face and I was just left gawking at the ceiling.
• "WAAAH! Reese! What am I going to do?" I sniffled when I felt the lump on my throat. I really hate it whenever I make bad decisions.
• "Jane, I wanted to help you but I'm so confused right now. Mind telling me what's going on?" She snapped her fingers on me and raised her brows.
• I sat up and paused to think for a bit. I sucked in some air, trying to focus where to start.
• "Okay, here's what happened. So, we went to the casino, right? And then, you left me on one of those slot machines, which by the way I enjoyed playing, but that's not the point"
• "Yeah? Go on", she said. I cleared my throat before continuing.
• "So, this average looking guy offered me a drink which I thought was safe because, I thought he's someone who gives drinks to the players or something"
• "Girl, what are you? You're not a 12-year old girl! Don't accept drinks from strangers!" Reese exclaimed.
• "I know! I'm sorry. Okay? I really thought it's just a normal drink. Then, I started getting dizzy and I felt so high. My memory was so blurry but I can still remember some fragments, like I went to a table and I played a card game. I don't even remember how I played it. I just placed my bets and then I remember talking to the dealer, like making some deals with her. It's really horrible that I don't know exactly what I told her, then I don't know what happened next. The last thing I knew is I woke up on a bed, and it turns out that one of the dealers of the casino brought me there and—“, I was cut off by Reese’s sudden gasps.
• "Holy Moly! Did he rape you? Or what?! Oh my God! I’m sorry Jane!” I closed my eyes not wanting to hear her speculations.
• "Hey! Girl! Chill! Relax! Let me finish first. She didn't rape me, okay?" I tried to calm her down.
• "She?!" She exclaimed again. I swear to God! Remind me why is she my best friend?
• "Yes it's a she. Now, she's the dealer that I talked with, back in the casino yesterday, and she covered me up from my dad—“
• "Oh! She's nice", she cut me off again but I was trying my best not to roll my eyes on her. I just glared at her.
• “Is she hot?", She asked.
• "She's—ahm—so-so.", I answered with a shrug.
• "Girl, you never stutter when you are judging someone. That girl must be really hot!" She smirked at me and I just sighed.
• "Okay, she's hot. Let me finish first!” I raised my voice and she laughed at me.
• "Okay, Jeez! Go on", she said.
• "So, it's crazy because I made a deal with her that if I win that round, then she will be mine and if I lose, I'll give her a million dollar", I paused when I didn't get an exaggerated reaction from my best friend. I’m not expecting anything but it’s weird.
• "Go on, I'm listening", she said.
• "Okay? And then I won"
• "She must be really hot", she muttered, not sounding surprised.
• "I'm sorry, what?” I furrowed my brows.
• "You won't be offering a million dollar cash to her or even being yours if she's not hot. Girl! You're so picky! You even rejected the hottest volleyball player in our school back then!" She said while opening a pack of chips. She was talking about Jasmine Catena, the captain of volleyball team way back in High school.
• "Jasmine is hot, yes, but I don't like her. I really didn't feel anything for her, okay?" I told the blonde who's now munching her chips.
• "Okay, point taken. So how hot is this dealer?" She shoved some chips again to her mouth which is a little bit distracting, especially the sound she creates by munching them.
• "She's hot and I think she's not just a dealer in that casino. She owns a very expensive car, and her apartment is just like those bachelor's pads that you would see in the movies. It's expensive, and yes she's hot", Reese snorted and laughed at me.
• "Now, I know she's really that attractive because you said 'hot' many times, so what's the problem?" She asked.
• "Well, it wasn't really a good morning for both of us, especially to me because she told me I humiliated her in front of those people in casino, which I really don't understand. Because I won, and that means she's my girl now. Hello~ didn’t she find me attractive? I'm Jane Terranova! What's embarrassing about that?!" I yelled but Reese just stayed munching and looked up, thinking.
• "Hmmm. Let's see. You beat her, right? That means, you hurt her ego. Plus, if you were high that time, then you didn't look like a hot CEO”, she pointed at me and I just blinked a few times.
• "She wouldn't save me if I'm not attractive", I smirked confidently, then she took back her hand, curling her mouth as she rethinks what she had said.
• "Touché, so what happened next?" She asked.
• "I told her that I'll pay her whatever damage I caused her. She didn't want money, she wants me to be her slave"
• "Oh my God! What?!" Reese gasped out but then she took some chips again. How come this girl be eating at this kind of situation?
• "Yup. Ugh! I shouldn't have taken back the deal. Now, I have to stick with her for a week. But, on the bright side, I can find an excuse not to date Nicholas, and I can think of other reasons after that", I clapped my hands together. I consider it as a compromise.
• "Okay, fair point, but that means you're going to be her slave. What exactly the things she wants you to do? Is she going to make you clean her whole house? Are you going to be her maid? Oh my god! You don't even know how to wash your clothes!" Reese said, it’s rather insulting but she’s right. But I can a make a way to learn.
• "Hello~ there’s an app called Youtube. I can search it there, plus I don't think she needs me to do that for her. She seems like someone independent and everything in her room was organized. She looks like a perfectionist, too. Let's just see in the following days", then she gasped again, but eventually got choked with the chips she was munching. How many times she would do that? I patted her back and handed her a bottle of mineral water sitting on my bedside table. She quickly chugged it down and breathed out in relief.
• "Thanks. Oh my God! What if she wants you to be her sex slave!?" That made my eyes widen. How come I didn’t see that coming?
• "What?! Oh no! No! That's not going to happen! Never!" I refused to believe that.
• "But what if?! What else would she want from you? She doesn't need your money, she doesn't need a maid. That means, she wants your body! Holy Moly!" She covered her mouth and mine just twitched in annoyance and disgust. I can picture out those women being tied and gagged while being fucked. Holy cow! NO!
• “NO! If that's what she means of a slave, then no! Never!”