IT'S JUST A CONTRACT

✨Zailah's POV✨

"So, where are we headed?"

"what do you mean where are we headed? You're the one who invited me out"

"If this is how you treat someone you're trying to win over can assure you you're going to die alone in a dilapidated cottage in the middle of nowhere" she says looking up at me with a half glare.

I chuckle lightly sticking a stray strand of hair behind her ear and respond,

"is that so?" she doesn't say anything and just continues to glare at me from the top of her eyes

"You have nothing to worry about then, this isn't a date, its more a way to get to know you better. A date with me would be far more extravagant and detailed, nothing spontaneous."

"right now I'm studying you, your every taste and dislike, your hobbies and everything that makes up the person that is Alyssa Brookes, all of it. So please look forward to our date"

"Now, can you take me to your favorite place to eat"

He turns away and heads towards the car without saying a word, when don't move after she takes a few steps she whips around and asks

"aren't you coming"

"course I am" she whips around and walks to the driver's seat and says something to my driver before settling down in the back seat. After what seems like a five minute drive we arrive at a three story building. As soon as we step in every staff who see's her offers her a warm smile which of course gets me curious. We make our way up to the first floor where we're ushered to a window seat before we even say anything. Once we're seated I can't bite down on my curiosity anymore so I ask,

"Do you own this place"

"tshh, no?! why?"

'you react like its an absurd idea, like you don't own and run one of the biggest hospitals in sundown city' I think to myself.

"Well I asked because every staff member we came across treated you warmly"

"Oh that? There's a reason for that."

"really?"

"mhm"

"indulge me"

She takes a sip from the cup of water they had offered us after we placed our orders and begins to speak

"so around the time I became a regular here, i came in one day to grab a quick dinner before heading back to my apartment. That night there was a customer causing a scene because a waitress slapped him for groping her, he kept throwing things around after the manager threatened to call the police on him claiming his cousins husband was a high ranking police officer n sundown city and what not, so I dunked a bottle of red wine over his head."

"Did he do anything to you?" I ask a small frown forming between my brows

"he tried to hit me but I flipped him and then proceeded to lie that I had a video of what happened on my phone and threatened that I'd spread it on the internet if he ever so much as came near this building again"

"I always knew you were feisty, but this? This is a whole new level"

"I mean I'd just found "the place" there was no way I was gonna let some crusty ass human who obviously wasn't properly loved growing up ruin it for me"

Let out a hearty laugh enjoying the scenario even though I wasn't present at the time.

"Why do you love this place so much though?"

"The right question is why would anyone not love this place? There's downstairs a café that serves literally every type of coffee and smoothie there is, they even take special requests, the first floor, being where we are right now, is a restaurant and their meals are always and there's a bar on the second floor and they a great collection of both exquisite and rare wines. So you tell me who wouldn't love this place?

Just then our meal arrives and as were about to dig I drop one last sentence,

"If I were present the day of that incident I think I'd have fallen head over heels for you. And I'm not just saying that"

She doesn't give a response but I can see her cheeks slightly turn red.

"I'm asking this out of pure curiosity so don't get mad okay?" she gives me a "what's she up to now" look but continues chewing on her food

"You've never been hit on have you?" she almost chokes on her food. I lean back in my seat and place my hand over my mouth In an effort to stifle my laughter but she still catches onto it and shoots me a glare. I don't stop though.

"You were the type who always had her head in a book and so never made any friends or even had time for relationships, weren't you?"

🌺

We finish our meal and while the waiter is taking care of the bill I ask Alyssa if she cleared up her schedule at work and she says he didn't really have much to do today either way. Once the bill is taken care of I ask her to wait for me as I head to the bar. I purchase a bottle of white wine and a bottle of whiskey. For the final touch I all Kris and ask him to meet me there with my Mercedes-AMG SL-class, two wine glasses and a container of sliced fruits 'This should pair well with the sunset' I think, a proud smirk forming on my lips. I head to the car and once I get there I dismiss the driver and usher Alyssa to the passenger seat, she seats down and asks,

"Why did you dismiss the driver?"

"I want to take you somewhere"

"Where?"

"Somewhere really pretty"

"that's not a very clear answer"

"You'll see when we get there that it's a very decent answer" she opens her mouth again to say something but I lean towards her and fasten her seatbelt , I feel her stop breathing and when I pull away she begins to hiccups. I have to bite down on the inside of my mouth to stop full grin from forming on my lips and she turns towards the window in embarrassment and stays that way the entire ride.