Speed Date (III)

"Good then. I can't wait to meet you, the men I invited to this event." He excitedly muttered and hung up without giving her any statement.

She scratched her head, processing what happened. At first, George was ranting when she was late and now, he was ecstatic when knowing that she was on her way to the venue. She shook her head with a smile on her face because of George before placing her phone inside her pouch. 

After a few minutes of walking, her eyes wander around to observe the place. When she looked at the opposite sidewalk, her heart thumped rapidly when she saw a familiar figure while running on the sidewalk. She stopped her track while staring at him, clenching her pouch. 

"W-what are y-you doing here?" She asked herself while staring at him, running from the other direction. 

She strived to look away but she couldn't. It was a magnetic attraction from her directly and it was something that she couldn't imagine. Seeing him here, on the same ground she was. 

She couldn't believe that it was true and so, she walked towards the familiar man's direction. However, she lost track of him and felt very disappointed for some unknown reason. 

"Maybe… It's just an imagination." She murmured and walked away. 

The man smiled far from her, staring and watching every movement she had. A stalker would never give a damn privacy to the person and he was being like that. 

He knew every move of the victims and the business, even her best friend and her son. However, one thing he didn't know was the father of her son. 

His teeth gritted as his hands clenched when remembering the past she had with her best friend. It wasn't a nice dream, for him, it was a nightmare. 

"Young master, let's get going. The meeting will start in 30 minutes." The secretary said and bowed at him. 

"I'll be around one day, Jayme. You'll see." He mumbled and walked out of the building, smiling sinisterly. 

Jayme, on the other hand, walked back to the restaurant where all the guests sat in the designated place. She was ecstatic about her best friend's effort for the speed date. 

She wasn't interested in going on a date however, seeing his friend's effort for her, she didn't help but to play along. She just sighed and walked inside the restaurant. 

George looked up to her and ran towards her direction and gave her a tight hug. He was very happy when her best friend decided to come to the party. 

She smiled widely, pushing her away from him. Then, he pulled her to one of the chairs and she couldn't believe her eyes, there were so many people around the restaurant. 

She knew some of them since they were classmates in college. She just sighed and leaned her head on the table, feeling anxious about the situation. 

"Just relax, Jayme. You'll be fine." George said, patting her shoulder. 

"I'm relaxed, George. I just don't like this party of yours." She mumbled. 

"You aren't just here, don't worry. Many women are here for the speed date so don't worry." 

George was right, there were 10 women around them participating for the speed date. It wasn't just for her, looking for a date. However, she didn't like the kind of date, and entertained as many men as possible until it matched the compatibility. 

"This is stupid." 

He laughed and walked in front of the counter. He grabbed the microphone and smiled in front of the people. 

"Thank you to the participants and our 10 women who wanted to look for a date just for 1 minute. The mechanics of the date, 10 women will entertain as many men as possible to get their compatible man for the next date." 

He smiled at Jayme and said, "This is going to be fun. Let's begin!" 

10 first batch men would be entertained by the 10 women and if they didn't like it, it would be the next batch of 10 men. It wasn't fun since there were so many guys, who were waiting for their turn. 

The other women were having fun except for Jayme. For her, it was a waste of time, smiling in front of her, asking for his personal information and that's it. She didn't like any of the men even though they were sweet and responsible, mature men. 

Jayme just sighed and kept beeping the buzzer. She was getting bored and didn't want to encounter another man. 

"Keep beeping, huh?" 

She frowned when hearing the familiar voice. She glanced at it and saw the man she met on the bench. She smiled at him and signed him to sit in front of her. 

Then, she signed George to stop the speed date to her side. George was ecstatic when she picked a man. 

"That was fast." He mumbled and stopped the speed date to Jayme's side. 

"I didn't know that I'll be seeing you here." Jaime said. 

The man chuckled and shrugged. "I told you, you'll see me again but you didn't listen."

"I didn't know that you were into this kind of date."

"I'm not actually. My brother forced me to attend this speed date for his behalf. Anyway, let's introduce ourselves first since you didn't remember me and also before we proceed with our date." He mumbled. 

She giggled and responded with a nod. "Since I'm the host, you should introduce yourself first before me." 

"Well said. Okay, I'm Alexander Buick, but my friends call me Xander. 27 years old, a civil engineer in some big company. I'm a single father of my one baby girl." 

"You are a single father? Way back in college, you were a heartthrob so I didn't know that you had a kid." 

"I don't know about the heartthrob thing but yes, I have a kid. Her mother died when she was born."

"Her mother? Are you married?" 

"No. We're almost married but she didn't want to get married and decided to maintain her single life. Anyway, that's a bit of a sad story. How about you, Jayme? How are you and Austin?"