Aura Finley

It was already afternoon and it was as if I had signed for a never-ending job. I never knew planning a wedding is soul tiring job. I mean, I had been running here and there to do something or the other since I woke up in the morning —to Kian's grinning face half lying on my bed. As a matter of fact, he woke me up, because according to him, I kept snoozing the alarm repeatedly which I couldn't remember.

He kept nagging me until I was on my feet, ready to punch him. And of course, how could have I exited the room without any Kian special remark?

Wakey, wakey, cheesesteak, or everybody will think we were engaged in some heavily sensual workout all night that's why we woke up late.

This was what I opened my eyes to. Sigh.

I hadn't been able to see him since then, he had gone for the cake tasting with the bride and groom.

I was standing with everybody else by the pool, watching some of the female guests dipping the heat away in the pool, while some took leisure time to sunbathe while sipping their requested drinks. It was an all-female guests' pool party.

Mia and Rachel were handling the catering service. Leo and Vinnie were given the bar area, Ezra on the DJ, while Joy was doing other work given by Zoya. But as of now, we all were at the bar, under the shade, taking a short break.

"You know what's the one and the only thing I don't like about my job?" Vinnie spoke as she settled herself on the barstool when an overly demanding woman went away after taking away her ordered drink from the bartender.

No one asked her, yet she replied. "Demanding guests of the clients." She took a sip of her Virgin Pina Colada.

"I mean look at the woman who walked away just now." She placed her glass on the countertop and mimicked the lady. "She was like, I want you to add two leaves of mint—just two in my Greyhound cocktail and the thinnest slice of lemon."

Vinnie took another angry sip of her drink. "Like, fuck woman, there's a menu for a reason. The bartender isn't your servant, he's not going to serve you going out of the line. And there's already grapefruit in it, what taste that thinnest slice of lemon will add? Snobs!"

She took another angry sip of her drink and continued. "Know what? Zoya even didn't want to plan this last-minute wedding. Planning takes time for heaven's sake, plus the headache of demands, but she had to agree because of Rian."

Leo leaned back on the counter as he looked at Vinnie. "What got your panty in a twist, darling? Did Joy fail to satisfy you last night?"

This earned him a smack from her. "You bastard, he's the best you can ever be."

Leo smirked. "How would you know about my abilities when we have never tumbled in bed together, Vinnie wee."

This earned him a kick and we all snickered. Leo was just...a light version of Kian.

"Y'all, know what I like about my job?" Leo then questioned, looking at no one in particular. We all raised intriguing eyebrows at him.

He pointed at the women partying crazily at the pool. "These sexy, hot chicks. They keep me alive at work."

I shook my head in disbelief while Mia commented. "Then why don't you try to make a move on one of them? I bet you'll end up whopped red."

This had Leo grunt. "Ugh, y'all are no fun. That's why I like Kian more, speaking of him, does anyone know when he'll be back?"

Everybody shrugged and I glanced at the time on my phone, which I had been doing for a long time now. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't waiting for Kian; my gaze was flicking to the entrance from time to time to see him arrive.

No matter how much I denied it, I had gotten used to his presence around me. Without him, the time seemed to run slower than a tortoise, and my mood began to turn gloomy every passing minute. And I had no clue as to why I felt that way.

A few minutes later, Leo asked Ezra to bring cartons of drinks from the storeroom. I accompanied him to give a helping hand.
When we had passed the cartons to Leo at the back of the bar, he passed them to the bartender and tossed the empty bottles in the boxes.

"Know what, Kian's back," Leo muttered as he emptied the carton. "Now, it's gonna be fun."

"Oh, is he?" For inexplicable reasons, my mood lifted and a huge smile involuntarily broke on my lips. His mention was enough to make me smile.

I was about to head out to go meet him when Ezra stopped me saying he had something to talk about. I granted him his wish and followed him over to the corner.

"What is it, Ezra?" I asked once he made sure we were hidden from the eyes of the people.

"Err, Aura..." He rubbed the back of his neck, which had me confused. "I have been meaning to talk to you about something important." 

I chuckled, lightly tapping his bicep in a friendly manner. "You don't have to ask my permission for that, Ez. I don't bite."

"Yeah," He laughed and then sighed. "Well then, don't take it otherwise. Umm, Aura..." He gazed into my eyes, seemed to be searching for something that I couldn't comprehend.

"I have developed a liking towards you, Aura." He said and my senses came to alert mode.

"What?" This was what I could say.

"I know, I know we haven't known each other for long, but I can't help it, Aura. I want to work things out between us. I...I...please say something, Aura." He pleaded when I kept looking at him completely dumbstruck.

I know when a guy as good as Ezra confesses his feelings, there must be some emotions, some thoughts running inside your head, but there was nothing. No feelings of any sort. Ezra was a good being, a nice guy, but I didn't feel anything of that sort for him. I never saw him that way.

How could have I told him I wasn't there to stay? What would he think of me when he gets to know about my profession?

Moreover, instead of thinking about what Ezra had confessed, my mind was running with thoughts of Kian. It was as if he had taken over my sense and had captured every single corner of my brain. I kept thinking about what he must be doing, and all his flirty remarks kept swirling in my head.

It was bad. Very bad. Kian's influence was taking a toll on me.

"Uh, Ezra, I'm sorry, but—"

He didn't let me complete as he held my hand. "Hey, hey, don't say no just yet. Think about it, Aura because I really like you."

The urgency in his voice and pleading in his eyes stopped me from saying anything. I knew he would end up upset anyway because I would not be able to accept whatever he wanted, I just didn't want him to feel sad right now. He would eventually forget me once my job is done because I wasn't going to meet any of them ever again.

I didn't say anything since I didn't want to give him hope, so I just nodded my head in response and withdrew my hands from his hold.

"Um, I think we should go." I offered awkwardly.

"I have made things awkward, haven't I? He laughed. "But I had to say this before anyone else could."

Wait, what did he mean by that?

"Anyway, let's get going. I'll wait for your answer."

We headed back towards the swimming pool. All of a sudden, my steps came to a halt when I saw Kian standing with a two-piece bikini-clad woman. She was one of the guests and they were standing way too close. Her back was facing me.

"Oh, it seems Kian gonna get it tonight." Ezra laughed.

I stood there, stunned, mulling over what Ezra said. Could it be true? Was Kian really going to sleep with her? Even if it was, why did it affect me? Why did it drop my heart into the pit of my stomach? Why did the thought of him sleeping with someone pained me?

He will not do it, will he?

My eyes were fixed on them, watching them get closer. But my limit of taking them lightly crossed when Kian leaned closer to her and cupped her face with his palm. While doing so, his gaze traveled to me and he winked at me.

That was it. I had seen enough.

I took slow steps backward. "Let's go, Ezra." Grabbing Ezra's hand, I dragged him back to where the others were.

Believe it or not, I was hurt.

Even though Kian was no one to me and I hated him at the beginning. Even though I accepted his flirty behavior and I didn't know him on a personal level, still I was hurt. It was as if he had broken my trust, which wasn't even there in the first place.

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Kian Turner

After being back from the cake testing, Rian called me to introduce me to her girlfriends. All the sexy ladies were giggling when I played my magic flirting card on them. Of course, I was popular amongst girls.

While I was entertaining them, I saw Gemma talking with Rachel near one of the lounge chairs. Gemma seemed to be impressed by Rachel's bold look and it appeared she was complimenting Rachel because she kept smiling at her while touching her hair and the funky bracelets that Rachel wore.

And all this was being witnessed by Mia, who was standing just behind them, fuming in anger. She had her hands clenched in fists and had her eyes narrowed at Gemma.

Whoa, that was interesting. Mia felt insecure about Rachel and if looks could kill Gemma would be dead by now for touching Mia's most precious thing in the world. Her love. Her Rachel.

I saw Mia interrupt them by saying something and then dragging Rachel away with her.

Taking it as a chance to do something for Rachel as I promised her, I excused myself from the ladies and approached Gemma.

"You have quite an effect on girls, don't you? Look at them, they can't seem to take their eyes off you." She smirked, looking at the girls behind me.

"Oh c'mon, Gemma, don't get jealous. You have a fiancé remember?" I smirked, giving her a teasing look. "And damn girl, you look hot in that bikini."

"You are hopeless, Kian." She shook her head while laughing.

"Hey Gem, I kinda need your help," I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

Her calculative gaze scrutinized me head to toe as she crossed her arms. "With what?"

"It's about the girl you were talking with a while ago. Rachel."

Gemma's face lit up at Rachel's mention. "Oh, Rachel. God, I liked her cool look. I liked her haircut and hair color. Was just asking where did she get it done. Why, what's with her?"

I told her about Mia and Rachel being a couple and how Mia wanted to smash a brick on her head.

"Oh damn, I had no clue. I think I should go and apologize to Mia." She was about to leave when I stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"You will do no such thing...for now," I warned her.

"What, why? Kian, they will end up having a misunderstanding. We don't want that, now do we?" She narrowed her eyes at me.

"No one is going to have a misunderstanding. I just to spark the fuel of jealousy inside Mia, which will push her buttons to do something she hasn't been able to find courage for." I explained calmly.

She removed her arm from my grip and gave me a suspicious look. "Wait, you are up to something mischievous, aren't you? And whatever devilish is going inside your head involves me, doesn't it?"

"Aw, you are still smart? I didn't expect that." I winked and earned a slap on my arm from her.

"Tell me what do you want from me?" She asked. Grinning, I explained to her my plan which was going to deepen Mia and Rachel's love for each other.

After listening to my plan her eyes turned wide. "No. So not gonna happen!" She hissed and tried to walk away from me, but I blocked her way.

"But Gem, you're the only one that can help." I pleaded.

She shook her head. "No Kian. I have a fiance, remember? What will he think of me if he gets to know about this?"

"Exactly, if. No one's gonna tell him and even if he gets to know, he'll be proud of you for helping someone out."

"You are making no sense here, Kian." She snapped. "What if the plan backfired? I don't want to be the reason for their breakup."

I groaned. "Gem, no one is breaking up. Trust me—well I do know you never had trust in me, but for this once, have some faith, everything will go as planned."

"Don't embarrass me by bringing up the past, let it remain in the past." She muttered, hurt.

"Gemma, I didn't mean that," I said softly. "But please try to understand. I want to help them."

Putting her hands on her waist, she averted her eyes. Then she again looked at me. "Fine, I'll do this."

Yes, I knew it. If I could have stubborn, strong-headed Aura accept Rian's offer, then Gemma was just a piece of cake.

Speaking of Aura, I hadn't seen her all day. I needed to see her, tease her.

"Thank you, thank you, Gem." I excitedly held her hands and gave them a light squeeze.

Bidding her goodbye, I went to Leo to ask him if he had seen Aura because she was nowhere in sight. My stomach flipped when he told me she was with Ezra. Hadn't Ezra been sticking with her way too much? What were his intentions?

Leo asked me to stay with him to stare at the sexy girls out there, but I needed to see Aura, so I excused myself and dashed away from there. While searching for her I reached away from the deck when a two-piece bikini-clad woman called for me.

"Yes?" I asked, frowning. If Aura wasn't on my mind, I would have flirted with her a little.

She sashayed closer to me and placed her hand on my chest. Whoa!

"You are a handsome guy, you know that?" She purred seductively, making me smirk at her efforts to please me. But what she didn't know was that I was off the market, as a matter of fact, I was never on market. But I decided to play along.

I grinned. "I have been told that countless times. However, my experience says that you are here to demand something from me? So, sexy, what is it?"

"Smart, huh?" She laughed throwing her head back making me inwardly roll my eyes at her overacting.

She rubbed her hand on my chest and inched closer, leaving almost no gap between us. "Well, Mr. Handsome, I demand a kiss from you. Will you give it to me?"

"A dare, huh?" I smirked as I bobbed my head in the direction of curious girls watching the show without blinking.

She sighed and chuckled. "Oh, you caught us. Anyway, I don't wanna lose, so help me out please?" She tilted her head, pouting.

"Well, in that case, how can I say no to a sexy lady like yourself?" I grinned and her face lit up when I raised my hand and cupped her face and inched closer to her.

She closed her eyes and I inwardly laughed at her dramatic expressions. Brushing my thumb over her cheek, I whispered,

"But my darling..." Her eyes shot open when I said that.

"The lips of this handsome guy are reserved for someone special. Sorry to disappoint you, but no, I can't kiss you."

Just then my eyes landed on Aura, who was standing just a few meters away with Ezra. Her eyes were fixed on me. Just to tease her, I winked at her, and to my surprise, instead of throwing a frosty glare at me, she grabbed Ezra's hand and dragged him away with her. While she dragged Ezra with her, I saw him look over his shoulder and grin at me, which left me bewildered.

What was that? I was waiting for her to throw profanities at me. I could have never assumed that she would not react in any way. 

Looking at Aura's disappearing figure, I lowered my hand and stepped away from the woman standing closer to me.

She gave me a little push and stomped her feet. "Ugh, You are such a player!" With that, she walked away.

I was a player? She was the one who came to me to demand a kiss. However, she wasn't of my concern right now. My mind was on Aura, wondering what had happened to her.

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