Do you like her?

In the evening.

Arthur and Liam went to a bar to get a drink.

music was blasting loudly from the giant subwoofers at the corners of the club.

Liam had initiated the idea of them going out because he thought Arthur must have been left depressed by the encounter with Amelia earlier.

But he was terribly mistaken. His mood did not change at all. He was just as jovial as he would usually be.

Liam was surprised. But actually, it turned out that his sleepover at Aria's place cancelled out whatever despairing feelings that should have emanated from Amelia's earlier ruckus.

"I don't believe it."

Liam lets out after a couple of minutes of staring at Arthur in a daze.

His expectations had been subverted. Arthur was not moody at all.

"What?" Arthur shrugged, taking a sip from his glass of Pina colada.

"You're not moody at all..."

A hint of surprise and confusion spread across Liam's face.

Arthur smiled and responded. "Why would I be?"

"Um, for starters, your girlfriend of over 5 years whom you just broke up with two days ago, came to your office and caused a scene, and you're telling me you don't have any feelings of sadness or despair?"

"Why should I? I broke up with her, didn't I?"

"Besides, she's the least thing on my mind right now."

Liam's look of confusion expanded the more.

"That's a lie." He rebutted.

Laim couldn't believe it. Arthur was usually an emotional person. He was soft-hearted and could get emotional over little things.

"I'm serious." Arthur defended.

"I'm not thinking about her right now."

"There's someone else on my mind."

With his elbow resting and supported by the table, he nested his chin into the Crux of his palms. He stared into the ceiling so dreamily and grinned from ear to ear.

Liam caught his infectious smile and smirked.

"ooow.... I see." He nodded gently with the smirked still glued to his face.

"Is it a lady?" He asked cheekily.

"Arthur!"

"Arthur!"

Arthur was stuck in dreamland with images of Aria's pretty smiling face bombarding his cerebral cortex.

"Arthur!!!"

He jolted back to reality frantically after the last call.

"What is it?" he asked, confused.

He didn't hear a word Liam said. He was too deep in fantasy to care about what Liam was saying.

"Oh, it's definitely a lady."

He finally pieced together what Liam was saying and responded. "Oh, right!"

"So do you remember the waiter I told you that Amelia slapped the day I broke up with her?"

"Yes, I remember."

Arthur leaned closer.

"I went to look for her yesterday, and I ended up sleeping over at her house."

"Waoh!"

"This was quick..."

"I think you should have the world record for the fastest person to move on after a breakup." Liam gave him a suspicious smirk.

Arthur seemed confused at first, before realizing the inference Liam was making.

Apparently, Liam thought he had hooked up with the lady as a one-night stand.

"No no no no no....." Arthur waved his palms across Liam's face in disapproval.

"Nothing happened between us."

"I only went there to apologise and while I was at it, we lost track of time, and because the neighborhood is not very safe, I had to sleep over till morning."

Liam looked at him derisively, like he could see the lie written boldly on his face.

"Really?" He asked sarcastically.

"You came in today grinning sheepishly for no reason. If not for Amelia's fracas, I'm sure you would have carried that creepy smile with you all day, and you want me to believe nothing happened?"

Liam refused to be so easily convinced that Arthur spent the night in a girl's house, alone, without sleeping with her.

Well, he was wrong. Nothing really happened. They only cuddled; unintentionally.

Arthur wasn't a playboy. Well... at least not yet. He has only ever been with Amelia. They lost their virginity to each other and have only dated themselves.

"I swear, we didn't do anything."

"She was very hot, though. I wanted to make a move, but I just couldn't..."

"We just met, and although we got along really well, it would have been weird to have sex with someone I just met."

Liam on the other hand, didn't think it was weird. He has had several hookups with different women before.

He wasn't so much of a dating guy. Most of his life, he has always had to work hard and study and struggle to survive, so he never had an orientation to date.

"So, do you like her?" Liam asked, raising a brow.

"Well... I don't know her too well yet, but I like her company." Arthur said, shrugging.

"Bro, if you love being with her always, then it means you like her, so make your move before it's too late." Liam advised.

"Since when did you become a relationship instructor?" Arthur asked him mockingly.

"Last time I checked, you don't even know what being in a relationship feels like."

Liam chuckled elegantly and said like he was a motivational speaker, "The coach is not always a player."

They both burst out laughing at his attempt at being a relationship counselor.

.....

The next day...

Aria arrived at Arthur's office for her interview, as they had scheduled.

Arthur opted to interview her himself.

The both of them were in his office together. He went through her CV for a few minutes before putting them on the table.

Throughout the time he was going through her papers, he was constantly nodding his head in approval of the contents of the documents.

Aria's CV was magnificent. She was a smart girl just like Arthur, thus another reason he became fond of her.

Arthur was very smart and enjoyed communicating with people who had a high intellectual capacity.

Clearly, she was going to get the job, and not just that, she was qualified to get a prominent position in the accounting department of the company. Thanks to her impressive CV.

After Arthur finished scanning through her documents, he put them down on the table and raised up his head to the same level with hers.

Her beauty was astonishing. Her dark hair complimented her beige complexion. She had a straight nose and thick, pouty lips.

She wore a fitted Ash coloured gown that calls to attention her slender busty figure that seems to do a good job of turning Arthur on.

Of course, it wasn't just her brains that made Arthur like her. Her beautiful, sexy body was part of the heart capturing process.

"This is very impressive." Arthur said, after reviewing her documents.

"Thank you very much." She replied with a warm smile.

"You're definitely going to get a wonderful position in accounting."

"Your CV is so impressive. I'm scared that you may even take away my job from me." Arthur said, over complimenting her.

She grinned from ear to ear, as her face flushed with red in timidity.

"Oh stop." She giggled.

"I'm not joking." he said.

"With such qualifications as this, I wonder why you were working in that restaurant in the first place."

A trace of sadness displayed on her face.

She sighed.

"It's complicated."

"Well, maybe you can find the time to uncomplicate it for me."

"Perhaps over lunch." he added.

"Sure. No problem."

"I would love to do that."

He stacked her documents together and bundled them up in a file. He took out the telephone and sent for his secretary.

She arrived in a few seconds.

"Here."

"Take these documents."

He handed over the file to her.

"Prepare her employment contract documents for the position of assistant accounting consultant."

"Have them ready as soon as possible." He added.

"Okay, sir." the secretary took the file and exited the office.

He stood up and said, "Shall we?"

"Where are we going to?"

"We're going for lunch."

She smiled and stood up with him.

They both walked out together to the VIP dining hall where Arthur usually has lunch, made specially for senior staff of the company. The place was beautiful and lush.

The expensive chandeliers hanging below the ceiling gave the hall an aesthetically pleasing look. The furniture there was custom made and very luxurious.

The waiter immediately walked over to their table after they sat down to serve them. He took their order, and they started chatting.