Derek Brandon buried his head into his huge and wide palms on the table opposite Mr. Wright, visibly upset about the whole situation.

“You’ll have to do this, Derek. Mr. and Mrs. Donovan are already looking forward to your effective lesson for their daughter,” Mr. Wright sounded convinced, a smile stretching at the side of his lips.

Derek then lowered his hands on the table and looked at Mr. Wright’s face, shaking his head in disagreement.

“I can’t do this, uncle; I just don’t like that girl one bit. Moreover, didn’t you warn me off her, telling me to avoid her like she’s some kind of leper?” he threw down the gauntlet, hating himself to be trapped in this position.

“Who would have thought Karina will take a liking to your lesson, Derek? It never crossed my mind, so you wouldn’t blame me,” Mr. Wright defended himself.

Derek snorted, “That bitch doesn’t like the lesson. She’s only looking for a way to torment me, don’t you get it?”

A tired sight left Mr. Wright’s lips, “You’re not agreeing to this assignment because of Karina but for her old parents. Please Derek,”

Derek repressed his lips to a tight line, his hands balling into fists on the table.

“They are willing to pay any price as they are too excited to learn that Karina is willing to take a private lesson on her most hated course,”

Derek could only scrunch up his nose in disgust. The more he listened to Karina’s name, the more fury he felt inside his stomach.

He opened her mouth and then closed it.

“Don’t sleep on this huge opportunity, son. The double payment will definitely go a long way and you know that” Mr. Wright chirped in, giving him a knowing look.

*

Staring outside from the transparent barricade of the ice cream shop, her turquoise eyes evolving dolefulness as Derek’s words kept replaying in her head from time to time.

“Your appearance makes me sick to the stomach, Miss Donovan,”

“Looking at you right now makes me feel nauseous and I might even puke if I stay closer to you,”

A squeezing pain shot through her chest each time these words resounded in her head but what she didn’t understand was that, why was it hurting so much?

Was it because Derek appeared to be the first man to raise his chin high in confidence at her?

“Hey, sexy,”

This deep masculine voice cut off her trance and she looked up to see a man in suit smiling down at her as he took his seat opposite hers.

Obviously, he was the same man she had been waiting for.

“Karina Donovan, right?” he confirmed and Karina just bobbed her head with a tight smile on her lips that disappeared almost immediately.

“Whoa… My Dad had told me that once I set my first on the most beautiful lady in the place, then she’s Karina,” he bantered.

“I had thought he was only kidding but now I see that he was right all along. Permit me to say you’re pretty, Miss Karina,” he put in, having his heart in his eyes.

Karina didn’t reply to his words, only staring onward with an endless coldness in her eyes.

“Oh, my bad. I’m Matthew Nelson. I don’t know if you remember that we met a few times during our childhood days. You know before your Dad emerges as the president, you all attended one of my dad's companies’ openings. I think it was his fabric company, do you remember? ” Matthew finished in one breath and Karina couldn’t help the disappointment that flashed across her eyes.

It took all the will in her to stop herself from retrieving her earphones and then input them into her ears.

This widened forehead man was one hell of a talkative. Who talked this much on his first date?

“I doubt if you can remember that night. You were so young then, you know,” Matthew said with a laugh in his voice, not aware of the indifference in Karina’s eyes or maybe not paying heed to it.

“Anyways, why did you decide we meet in an ice cream shop out of all places? Anything special about this place?” Matthew wondered, his eyes roaming over the classic ice cream shop.

“Do you like ice cream? What flavor do you like most? Vanilla? Chocolate?”

Karina closed her eyes for a second and opened them again.

“Banana,” she uttered a word for the first time, exhaling a disgusting sigh.

“Well, I don’t take ice cream and I don’t think I like it. So why do you like ice cream, banana flavor especially?” he asked with interest in his eyes.

At this rate, Karina didn’t know when the thought of Dave Shaw crept into her mind as she would definitely choose him over this loquacious man in front of her right now.

After what seemed like twenty minutes later, Karina was now sitting in the back seat of her Ferrari, heading back home.

She couldn’t be less glad when Matthew received an important call and left immediately, even right before they could dig into the ice creams they had ordered.

The drive was gentle and slow and again, she was preoccupied with her own thoughts as she looked out the window and watches every single thing her eyes could catch.

The car suddenly made a U-turn and her eyes caught Derek walking in the pedestrian lane. Her eyes dimmed and her forehead crinkled.

She was thinking so much about his words which resulted in her hallucination- That was it.

But then, she looked closely at the rearview and truly saw him; beaming and holding the lady walking beside him hand.

“Stop the car,” she commanded grimly.

The driver glanced back to look at her and wanted to say something.

“I said stop the car. Do you want to get fired?” she bellowed, shooting the middle-aged man one of her dangerous looks.

Right then, the car screeched to an abrupt halt and she got out of the car immediately, walked toward the lane, and stood there until Derek’s gaze came in contact with hers.

She swept the features of the lady he was holding tightly; a brunette and round-shaped face. She was dressed just casually, a pair of black shorts and a pink round tee.

She looked beautiful. Karina admitted inwardly but she couldn’t understand why she was staring straight on.

“You would have been swimming in money at least enough to get you a ride by now if you hadn’t turned down my offer, Lecturer Derek,” Karina had a deep sneer edged at the corner of her mouth when talking.

Derek stared at the redhead and turquoise eyes standing in front of him; the short yellow sundress she was wearing almost matched her skin that screamed nothing but perfection.

“Who’s is it, Derek?” Penelope asked curiously.

Derek looked back at his sister’s face and managed to squeeze out a smile because seeing Karina again had almost ruined his good mood.

“It’s no one, baby. Let’s go,” he exhorted and began to walk away, brushing his arm against Karina’s as he passed.

Watching him walk away without pronouncing any word to her, not only that, he even said it was no one. Does that mean she was invisible?

Karina turned red as a beetroot and even became worse when she watched Derek bent and carried Penelope on his back.

Her face was flushed because of anger, looking like a well-cooked shrimp.

______

Karina stared back at her own reflection in the mirror, not blinking until the door clattered and Irene entered.

“How are you, sweetheart?” she asked cheerfully, striding closer to where Karina was standing.

“Tell me, baby. How was the date? Do you like him? Does he like you too?” Irene beamed, holding Karina’s arms.

Karina forced a smile onto her face. Looking at her mother happy, the corner of her lips couldn’t help but upsurge.

“Oh my, you liked him at first sight, don’t you?” Irene’s smile became radiant and her wrinkles deepened as she smiled.

“He doesn’t seem like a bad kid even though he talks too much,” Karina blurted her opinion, turning around and headed to her bed wearily.

Irene laughed as she followed her daughter's pursuit.

“His father seems like that too but he is a nice man, Karina”

Irene sat down, “Tell me. Did you both reminisce about your childhood memories?”

A sigh left Karina’s mouth. She really didn’t want to talk right now or maybe talk about Matthew but she didn’t want her mother to get suspicious of her gloomy mood.

And in the end, she would find out the reason behind her mood.

Taking off her earrings, “You know I don’t remember much of our times together, mom,”

“Yes, I know. But don’t worry; you’ll get along soon,” Irene ascertained, her brown eyes twinkling.

Karina didn’t react as she bent and took off her black suede heels.

“By the way, your biology has finally accepted to become your private tutor,” Irene announced and Karina’s head instantly shot up, blinking at her mother.

“Are you being serious, mom? I mean, how did you know?

Her eyes had suddenly lit up.

“From Mr. Wright of course,” Irene said and Karina couldn’t help the bright smile that built on her lips.

“You seem so delighted about the news, Karina. Is that how much you’re willing to know biology now?” Irene asked with a broad smile.

The smile on Karina’s face remained undiminished as she said absentmindedly, “I’m willing to learn from him as much as I’ll be teaching him,”