Stay Away

Zero didn't answer and he heard Lianne sighed.

"Zero, I'm fine," Lianne said, "And he is not as bad as he seems."

Zero frowned.

This was the first time Lianne actually was defending a guy that hit on her. One that had even kissed her!

Did this mean …?

The others, who could also hear that sweet, crisp voice over the phone, stopped whatever they were doing and turned towards Zero. As if in one voice, they all stood up and went towards Zero.

Without a word, they, too, started staring at the computer monitor.

"Fine," Zero answered Lianne.

"Stop and retract," Lianne ordered.

Zero clenched his teeth, "Noted."

"Thank you, Zero," Lianne said softly and Zero sighed, softening.

"Okay," Zero replied.

"He's harmless," Lianne assured him, "And I won't be seeing him anymore once I return to Country Tz. So you do not need to worry."

"Okay," Zero answered, more relieved now.

"You'll be there to pick me up, right?"

���Of course," Zero said.

"Great. Be my shield, okay?" Lianne said.

Zero smiled, completely assured now, "Level?"

"5," Lianne replied.

"Noted," Zero grinned before hanging up.

Being Lianne's shield meant that he was to pretend to be her boyfriend, while Level 5 referred to the level of intimacy - or PDA (Public display of affection) to be shown. 5 was the top.

With those words, Zero was extremely happy.

She wanted to kill off any thoughts and desires this Kai Sheng had and Zero would be more than happy to quash them.

He'd rather beat it out of him, but this way would do as well.

"Kai Sheng, is it?" mused Lucka, his voice low, thinking hard as he looked on at the computer. The computer monitor screen was split into several smaller screens, each screen showing different security camera feeds.

He could see Kai talking on the phone while Lianne was sitting down nearby.

"Should we inform Sir?" asked Edward worriedly.

"No," Zero said with a sigh, "Lianne will inform him herself, if she deems it important enough. Otherwise, we'll just get into trouble for 'going behind her back'."

He cricked his neck, "Anyway, she's already doing the termination move so I doubt there would be anything anymore after this," Zero said.

"But …" Zero continued, studying the computer again, "Maintain the surveillance on him. We'll keep an eye on him for a while, just to make sure."

They all pursed their lips, nodded and patted Zero's shoulder before heading back to their workstation.

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Kai was busy giving commands to Zayn about the situation at hand.

How did it come to this? Who was doing it?

They had the contract in the bag and then, suddenly, the other side withdrew?

It wasn't that it was such a huge contract that they would go bankrupt because of it - and it wasn't that the dent would be bad, but the point is, why did they withdraw at the last minute?

Things like this is something that Kai wouldn't let go.

There were too many people scheming behind his back, and hence, even something small that may not create a dent in the company (or business) was something he had to look at.

It could be the start of something bigger.

After finishing making his instructions and taking note of the situation, Kai hung up the phone and returned back to his Angel.

Not surprisingly, he was more nervous now than he was at receiving the news or having to attend some big meeting.

He had just confessed.

To someone he just met.

Whom he didn't even know the name!

He wondered about the state of his mind at that moment.

What on Earth possessed him to make such a bold move?

What if she ran away?

Thus, he was truly relieved to see that she was still sitting down at the same spot he had left her.

She was drawing again.

Half of him was happy to see that she hadn't run off (even though there was nowhere to really run, since they were in the airport terminal, waiting for the plane) … but the other part was a bit worried and upset that she didn't seem to be bothered by his confession.

Was it a good thing? Or a bad thing?

He went back to sit down next to her and casually glanced at her drawing.

And was stunned.

It …

Even though there was just a rough sketch, it really did look suspiciously like …

"Yes, this is you," Lianne said casually, making more strokes.

Then, she smiled a bit, before drawing a huge-ass sword piercing through 'him' from the back to the front, slicing through the heart.

"This is you after knowing my reply," Lianne said, closing the sketchbook.

Kai gulped.

Damn, was she ruthless.

….

But he found that amazing.

Instead of feeling upset or disappointed, he was actually happier this way.

If she had accepted easily and quickly, he might have been happy but cautious.

Lianne looked at him with her clear brown eyes, saying, "We don't know each other at all. We literally met just a few minutes ago. I am not what I seem and I don't believe in your so-called 'confession'."

"So, no to your question. You cannot woo or pursue me," Lianne said.

"However, despite my misgivings over continuing this charade, once I promise something, I don't back out of it. Since I agreed to help you in pretending to be your girlfriend, I shall do so until we reach Country Tz," Lianne told him, "But once we leave the airport terminal, we go our separate ways. I do not want my boyfriend to misunderstand."

Wait. What?

Boyfriend?

"You have a boyfriend?!" Kai gasped out, catching the most important thing.

Lianne smiled while tilting her head, "What? You never considered that possibility?"

"Well, I thought you were 14, so …"

Lianne laughed, saying "You don't know my age nor my name, yet …"

"The heart feels what the heart feels," Kay said, cutting her off, "Name. Age. All of that is not important if the heart feels that you're the one."

Lianne scoffed, not bothering to hide her disdain and disbelief at that, "Sounds nice and all that, but this is real life."

"So let me get to know you, and you can get to know me," Kai said, "Being friends is fine, isn't it?"

Lianne stared at him, telling herself in her mind … stop it. Stop it. Don't be swayed. He's dangerous. Stay away.

Stay away from this beautiful hunk of a man.

"No," Lianne replied decisively.