1 Inheritance

AJ was trying not to look as disinterested as he felt. But as he watched the neon lights flashing on the gyrating bodies on the dance floor below, he had to admit that he was as bored as a fish in a bowl! The only positive thing that he could think of was that the loud music bursting from the speakers around him mercifully blocked out his friend's continuous prattle.

But the friend in question was not to be ignored so easily. Snatching the glass of whiskey from AJ's hand, Noel growled," AJ! Do you think I don't know your tactics? Let me remind you of something! We are not here tonight for you to drink and ignore me! But to find you a wife."

AJ looked at his agitated friend and drawled over the music, "With how nervous you are, one would think that it was your inheritance that was at stake instead of mine. If you think I am going to find a wife from the women down there who are more interested in maintaining their looks and hunting for a rich man to pamper them, then that IQ of yours is a waste. I have no intention of becoming anyone's sugar daddy."

Noel looked upwards as he prayed for patience before speaking. "Well unless you are going to produce a wife or girlfriend out of thin air in the next two days, you are going to have to find a woman somewhere! And knowing your 'unwavering faith' in the institution of love and marriage, I don't think you are going to find the kind of woman your grandfather wants you to have anytime soon!"

His friend, unfortunately, remained impassive. AJ continued looking at some dark corner behind Noel as if it was the answer to all his questions. Irritated at the music and his silent friend, Noel screamed over the music, "AJ! Are you going to tell your grandfather that you are gay?"

That earned him a lethal glare but no words still, thus giving him the courage to continue, "AJ, isn't it better to hire a wife who knows that you will leave her once your inheritance is secure? It would be like any employee-employer relationship! I did suggest finding a woman from the staff, those women are beauties with brains, but you refused that as well! And now look at the beautiful women around you! They are the cream of the crop around here! The hottest, sexiest, most stunning you will find! If you need a pretend wife, why not go for someone you can sleep with? And then, when you are done with her, it will be easy to get rid of her! She will enter the marriage knowing that she is going to earn a nice income from it! It's not as if you would get into a marriage without a prenup. How is it different from any other agreement?"

Noel was still ignored by his friend though.

Exasperated, Noel almost pulled out his hair as he growled, "Fine! Lose your inheritance for all I care! Hand it to that she-devil who has been making our lives hell for the past decade! I don't know why I am so worried when you cannot care less! It's not like the solution to your problem is going to come land in your lap! But if that's what you believe then good luck with your fantasy!"

And yet unexpectedly, what happened next, shocked Noel so much, that he was pretty sure, his jaw had landed on the floor like one of those cartoon characters his nephew liked to watch.

The most beautiful woman he had ever seen, literally 'landed' in his friend's lap! Surreptitiously, Noel pinched himself to make sure he was not hallucinating. What had just taken place?

Noel: "o"

AJ looked into the green eyes of the woman, no, the young girl who had come out of nowhere and was now sitting on his thighs, like they were her personal couch.

She was stunning. He was no stranger to beautiful women but this girl was too beautiful. The only make-up he could see was on her full lips were covered with a bit of gloss. Her dark hair framed her face while her shoulders were left bare enticingly. To him, she seemed like an innocent little fairy who had wandered into the mortal realm albeit a bit drunk. And there was a certain familiarity to her looks that he could not place.

Without much thought, he simply placed a hand on her small waist to support her as she swayed a little. Her warm breath blew over his shoulder while her voice enthralled him, as she whispered near his ear, "Take me from here, please."

Meanwhile, Noel was still trying to recover his senses. He should have asked for the 'she-devil' to die a moment ago if he'd known his words would come true. That would have been so much better and solved their problems.

"Umm, excuse me, miss...It is not good to just come and sit on someone..." Knowing his friend's temper and hatred for unwarranted touch, especially from women, Noel tried to extract the drunk beauty from his friend. Confused, she turned her head and stared at him while leaning even closer to AJ as she asked," Why not? He is very comfortable."

Noel: ".."

Never before had Noel felt so speechless before. He tried to gauge if his friend was going to kill the woman any minute but found the man's face showing distraction as he stared at the girl intently

Unexpectedly AJ stood up, holding the beauty in his arms and spoke," We need to leave now..."

The woman smiled up at AJ as if she had met her prince charming or even her knight in shining Armour, but Noel knew that she had thrown herself at a wolf... The poor drunk lamb was going to die soon.

Watching his friend walking out, Noel quickly got over his small bout of pity and chased them. He wasn't going to miss the show! Maybe he could even help the poor girl later and score a 'goal'. She was too alluring and beautiful! On second thought, no wonder AJ had hightailed from here. He never was one to miss an opportunity.