Dinner

A bright morning with rays of sunlight mirrored from the floor to ceiling windows of the tallest building in the city. Zero woke up early, vibing a clear and positive aura. Always looking sexy with just blue sweatpants and his disheveled black hair. Not to mention his hard chest, lean waist and his jaw-dropping 8-pack ripped abs with peeking V cut. Hmm, perfect!

Advancing towards the kitchen counter with his phone and laptop. He grabbed a glass of water and chugged it. Since it's still early, he opted to check some of his emails. Scanning through his emails, he hovered the pointer on Ash profile which was sent by Frank.

"Huh? Country K? So that's why…", he said to himself, understanding the reason why he was not able to find her within the past 11 months as soon as he read her profile. He continued reading. "...and you just got back two days ago?! Lucky me!", he mumbled, smiling. "That explains why you don't know me. Better.", he added. After going through more, he decided to carry on with his workout. Ate his breakfast after and sent a message to Ash.

[Z: Good morning, babe! (wink emoji)]

[Z: Shameless, right? lol]

[Z: Have a good day! (kiss emoji)]

He then went back to his bedroom with a wide smile and took a shower. Coming from the bedroom door after taking a shower, he is already wearing a charcoal pinstripe suit with a light blue khadi shirt inside. The top two buttons were undone paired with a black cap-toe leather oxford shoes. He made his way to the kitchen counter and took his phone before leaving for work. It's obvious that he is in a good mood because of his clear and positive aura even if he didn't receive any reply from Ash. His morning schedule is packed with meetings while he will only have one in the late afternoon. That will be his routine until Friday.

Days passed quickly and it's already Friday. Ash hasn't started working yet in the past few days because her office is currently being renovated. She just stopped by everytime Sam needed further assistance while Nari already began to shadow Clara's work. The three best friends planned to meet up late in the afternoon for their shopping. They will be visiting Green Line Supermall which is owned by Sam's family. Specifically, Green Silhouette - a luxury dress shop managed personally by Sam's mom, Sylvia Lee.

"Hello Aunt Sylv.", said Trix upon arriving at the dress shop. She kissed Sylv's cheeks.

"Hi darling.. Sam's in the VVIP walk in closet No. 1. Where's Ash, by the way?", Sylv asked.

"Thanks Aunt. She'll be here within a couple of minutes.", Trix answered, walking towards the area. "Hey bish!", Trix said when she saw Sam checking on black dresses. They kissed each other's cheeks. "Will you be choosing black?", she added.

"I'm still looking.", Sam replied, focused on checking the designs. They heard her mother welcomed Ash.

"I'm so excited for this.", Ash declared upon entering the room. She kissed Sam and Trix afterwards. "Let's get started.", she said. Sam and Trix only let out a laugh. They all tried different kinds of gowns for a couple of hours.

"Okay… I'll keep this plum purple gown.", said Trix, smiling.

"It suits you.", Sam seconded. "Mine will be this black with silver design.", she continued.

"Great choice b*tches! I'll take this red ombre gown.", Ash replied with a wink.

"Oh wow! You will all look stunning.", said Sylv, entering the room with a bottle of wine. "Though your company's 1st anniversary will be held next week, let's have a toast today ladies! Just one glass each.", she continued, then poured each of their glasses. "Cheers to more years!", she added. Clank!

"Cheers!", replied by the three.

After their glass, they all settled the bill then entered Greenfoot shoe salon just right across Green Silhouette. Selected and tried a bunch of heels then paid for it. Once satisfied, they chose to have an early dinner. They picked Green Cuisine restaurant, also owned by Sam's family. It has private rooms, one of the reasons they wanted to dine here. In the private room, all three have their own drinks. They ordered their food and just waited to be served.

Ring! Ring! Ring! It's Trix's phone. A call from her fiancé.

"Hi hun! How's work?", Trix said as soon as she tapped the answer button, smiling while blushing.

"Hey, sexy! Have you had dinner yet?", Brad asked from the other line.

Trix glanced at Sam and Ash before answering. "We're waiting for it to be served. Why don't you join us? I'll let you meet my best friends.", she responded.

"I'd love to, but I'm with the guys right now. Can you ask your friends first if it's okay for us to join?", Brad said, hesitating.

"Oh wait…", Trix muted the call. "Do you want to meet my fiancé right now with his friends?", she asked Ash and Sam, smiling.

"Oh fiancé and friends.. Suuure! I'm excited.", replied Sam while giggling.

"I'd love to meet him. Go ahead! We'll just order more food then.", said Ash. She pressed the button then ordered additional dishes as soon as the waiter came in.

"They're excited to meet you, hun. Your friends are welcome too. I'll just send you the details.", said Trix excitedly.

"Great! We'll see you then. I love you!", replied sweetly by Brad.

"I love you. See you! Mwah!", responded Trix while smiling. Ash and Sam just exchanged glances as they also smiled.

"So who's with your fiancé?, curiously asked by Sam.

"The 'hot guys'.", replied Trix, grinning.

"OMG! Are you serious? I need to go to the restroom.", said Sam and she suddenly stood from her seat going to the restroom.

"Whoa! What's going on?", Trix said, looking at Ash with a baffled expression. Ash just let out a laugh.

"Don't worry about her.", Ash answered.

"Oh! Do you remember one of my fiancé friends that I told you about dating? You'll meet him today.", said Trix with a sly smile.

"I see. Didn't I tell you guys that I had a date last time?", Ash nonchalantly said.

"What?! You had a date?!", Trix said, surprised.

"Hmm.. Sorry. It might have slipped my mind. Anyways, it's kinda complicated. We'll talk about it soon.", she explained.

"Fine. As long as you tell me. I don't wanna be left behind again, just like months ago.", replied Trix, pouting. She was the last one to know about the one night stand from months ago, but she doesn't know who the guy was.

"I'm sorry about that. It won't happen again.", Ash said with a smile. Right then, Sam emerged from the door - looking fresh.

"You look pretty in every way, bish!", Ash said to Sam.

"Thank you…", Sam replied, waving her hand playfully. Ash and Trix just laugh.

Ring! Ring! Ring! This time it's Ash's phone. Her grandfather.

"Let me just take this. I'll be back.", she said then left the room. Trix and Sam just nodded in approval. She went straight to the restroom.

"Oh, they're here.", Trix said while tapping on her phone. After a few minutes, the door opened. Three gorgeous guys emerged. Trix comes forward and kisses Brad. Brad smiled and wrapped his right hand on her waist.

"Trixie Anders?", Nich said with his mouth wide open in shock.

"The one and only, she's my fiancée. Hun, this is Nicholas Schuck.", introduced Brad.

"So nice to meet you.", said Trixie, smiling. Nich's still in shock.

"Nich? Brad?", asked by a voice behind Trix, it's Sam. "Wait… how?", she said, bewildered.

"Sam?", said Brad and Nich at the same time. They're surprised.

"Wait… what's going on?", asked Trix, confused.

"Let's take a seat first.", said Brad. They all took their seats. "By the way, this is Frank and Frank, she's Sam.", he continued. The two smiled at each other and politely nodded.

"So what happened? Why do you guys know each other?", questioned Trix. Sam started to narrate what happened at Pyro and that she was drunk that night. That's the reason why she was not able to meet them, though Nich saw her. Trix lips only formed an 'O' after hearing the story.

"Someone's missing, where's Zero?", asked Sam with curiosity.

"He's on a call.", Frank answered. "Speaking of…", he trailed while glancing at the door. There, Zero walked with all his glory inside the room. Sam's eyes widened not just because of Zero but the person who came in right after him, it's Ash! 'OMG!', Sam said to herself, but so did Frank.

Zero raised an eyebrow upon seeing Sam but he noticed that she's looking behind him. He paused and looked back. Right then, he saw the most alluring woman for him, he was captivated. She's wearing blue high waisted boyfriend jeans with white sweetheart bustier crop top under a brown blazer and a pair of nude round toe platform slip on high heels.

"What are you doing here?", Ash asked, stopping her tracks. She was a bit surprised.

"Dinner.", he casually replied.

"Hmm… okay.", Ash said, then was about to walk past him but Zero caught her arm.

"You haven't called or text me since the day we met? ", he asked, whispering in her ear. She can feel his hot faint breath on her ear down her neck. She turned to face him. Smiled while looking up to him.

"We don't have anything to talk about. Besides, I know you're busy and I am too.", she calmly answered.

"Oh, we have a lot to talk about, baby.", he replied with a smirk. Ash just stared at his hand that's currently gripping her arm then back to his face.

"Let go, for now. We can talk later.", she instructed. Zero let go of her arm and followed behind her towards their table.

"Oh… will you look at that? The goddess Ash!", said Nich, stood on his seat then pulled the chair on his right for Ash to sit.

"Thank you, Nich.", she said, then sat on the chair. "Goddess? You're exaggerating.", she scoffed. Zero followed her and sat on her right.

"Your beauty is heavenly, Ash! Just that face of yours is so mythical.", Nich said with bright eyes.

"Thank you but I don't like the 'mythical', because they don't exist. Let's just stick to the fact that each of us is unique.", she explained, then smiled at Nich. Zero smirks while listening to their conversation. 'That's my baby. Smart!', he proudly said inside.

"You're unique unique then.", Nich replied, smiling. She just sighs in defeat.

"I guess you already knew each other. So, I was the only one?", said Trix, pouting. The others just laughed while Brad caressed her hand.

"Hi Zero!", Sam greeted him and he nodded in response. "Let's eat for now. I'm already starving.", said Sam and started to dig in.

"Yes, me too.", agreed Nich.

Ash also started eating. She can feel Zero's piercing stare on her right since they are seated next to each other, but ignored it. Grabbed her glass of wine and drank from it then resumed eating again. Their table was quiet until they finished eating.

"I'm still trying to process everything. I can't believe that you're Brad's fiancée.", Nich said to Trix while shaking his head.

"In the flesh.", Trix replied confidently. "By the way, Zero, do you remember when we hung out at Rooftop?", Trix asked.

"Hmm… why?", Zero replied.

"It's Ash that I'm talking about.", Trix said. "Both of you look good together. Do you agree guys?", she continued while grinning. The others raised a thumbs up, smiling. Ash did not react. Zero just took a gulp from his glass then straightened on his seat.

"Maybe we're meant to be together.", he said looking at Ash while smiling. Frank softly coughs while Ash choked from her drink. Zero tended her right away, passing her a glass of water.

"Are you okay?", he whispered only for the two of them to hear. Ash just nodded.

"She doesn't have a boyfriend, you might wanna know that.", added Trix, grinning.

"You never know.", Zero said, staring at Ash.

"Oh she doesn't. If she does, then it might be you. Physically, your height, face and body is everything Ash's epitome.", Sam confidently said.

"Chill, girls.", Ash said, stopping her friends from saying things further. Sam and Trix just laughed. Zero was delighted upon hearing what Sam said.