19 Battle of Words

"I think the question is...can you even afford 12 million? I had said that number casually but your reaction seems a little.....broke?" Hearing those words he felt a pang at the back of his head and a resounding sound similar to cymbals in his mind. After so many years of working and being from the family that he was from, it was the first time in his life his wealth was questioned. '12 million? She thought I couldn't afford 12 million?' That was just chump change for him but it did not mean that he would give it to any random person. Yet, this obvious logic had been seen as an inability rather than a lack of desire to.

A sneer quickly appeared on his face, "miss do you know who I am? I would suggest to end your games here, my patience is thin."

"Should I know who you are? Considering you're a man with such a fickle temper, I'm not sure its worth finding out. Your patience is being run thin by me? By a harmless young lady and a couple of words...?" It did not take a genius to see that she was mocking him but for some reason he was not overly upset about it. He almost found it amusing to see her parade so angrily in front of him and boldly insult him without fear. By the tone of her voice she truly did not recognize him but he could never be too sure. It could be an act or honesty, either did not help her situation in the slightest. Though he doubted it was an act since he had randomly chosen her but there was a sadistic part of him that wanted to see her reaction when she found out. Would she care or would she grovel like the rest of them? Just thinking about it put an evil glint in his eyes.

Her face was covered so the only two things he had to go off of were her eyes and voice. The voice was not one that he had heard before nor could he picture what type of woman was beneath the scarf. She enunciated her words clearly even when speaking fast and there was a lazy elegance to her being that made him believe she was part of the upper wealth class. Yet each of her words were similar to that of a street thug, if he did not agree with her he was poor or any other negative acronym. He could even picture her threatening a man into a long term loan with fire interest just by the way she acted in front of him. His eyebrows ruffled as he pictured her in an alley bullying people and throwing her weight around. The image was so hilarious that he could not help the small chuckle that escaped him.

Clearing his mind of the picture, he did not speak as he took a couple steps towards her in a casual manner. While he did not get angry by her there was indeed a bit of irritation inside him. After all, all of her comments were directed to prompt that response from him. He wasn't a saint and wasn't someone who was easy to 'pushover' as she so tried to. The mystery woman in front of him was indeed good with her words but the seriousness displayed in her voice was given away by her eyes. The emotions she felt were clearly displayed in them that he did not even have to doubt her intentions. There was a dark desire for chaos that took joy in egging him on and a subtle streak of dislike directed at him. He had no idea if she was someone he had met before but it seemed that the dislike was because of his actions moments ago. Using her as a medium to end the date was easy but in hindsight he had triggered another unnecessary scene.

Getting closer to her, he stopped a few inches from her and towered over her for a couple moments before speaking again. "I'm not sure what your intention is but I'm done with this conversation. You're playing with fire, I am indeed not a man with a good temper. So I would suggest you leave now and save yourself from further ruin. Out of consideration for your help I'll let this go for now but there -"

Before he could finish his sentence she had cut him off while simultaneously rolling her eyes. "But there will be no second chance. Is that it? Do you men not having anything else to say? Or is there a universal book where all of you pull your threats out of? That's a one star from me just for lack of originality, the one is being generous frankly."

'One star? Rating? How is it every time her mouth opens to speak, the most preposterous accusations come out it?' A part of him was questioning his own hearing after processing her reply. Who would even think to rate a threat? 'Did he look like a joke to her? Or was she even sane?' There was a moment of consideration as the possibility of her being mentally unsound became a legitimate concern. He looked straight into her eyes and analyzed her demeanour again to see if there were any signs. If she was insane he would just ship her off to the hospital for treatment and that would have been his payment to her. Yet the longer he looked the more he knew that she was sane, her eyes seemed intelligent and held a clarity he suspected someone insane would not have.

Crossing that out of his mind he returned to the matter at hand. It seemed that while being sane her ability to sense danger was nonexistent. He didn't pause any longer before he responded to her provocation. "Lack of originality...? So you're saying you prefer new threats, I'm sure I can do that. Especially since you asked so nicely. Let's start with you being banned from this mall and dragged out by the guards."

His words were polite but they were full of promise. Though he owed her a favour he would not stand for complete disrespect. Especially from a woman who had done it so straight forwardly and solely for the reason of angering him. Man or woman, he would not hesitate to have them thrown out of the mall. It was already lenient for him to give a warning, if it was any other person they would have already been removed from his sight.

***

Author's Corner:

*In a couple of months*

ML: So you were going to throw me out of the mall huh? Do you have the guts to do it now?

*LQ steps closer*

LQ: How about I throw you onto the bed?

ML: ....I'm leaving.