Love Is...

22. Unplanned

CHAPTER - 22

LOVE IS... UNPLANNED

"Unplanned moments are always better than the planned ones."

I was, very rudely, interrupted from embracing my laptop and living in the moment by my own phone ringing loudly. I looked at the caller id and saw 'Mike' flashing on it. Ashton still didn't seem bothered by my over-excitement and my high state of mind. But yet my manners compelled me to say, "Sorry, I've to take this one."

"Over my dead body," he replied in a dead panned tone as sarcastically as he could get.

I shot him a look that said 'You're impossible' but I was pretty sure that he didn't get it as he didn't even look my way. Rolling my eyes at him, I swiped the screen to answer my phone. "Hey Mike!" My greeting sounded way too excited even to my own ears and I blamed it on the 'Grand Comeback of my Laptop'. Ashton's head snapped in my direction and he raised his eyebrows in an annoying way. 'Sorry,' I mouthed in a sheepish manner and diverted my attention towards Mike who was laughing at my enthusiasm.

"I would have jumped from our school's rooftop upon hearing you calling my name with so much enthusiasm, Liana. But sadly, babes, you are late," he responded in a very cocky tone.

Light chuckle escaped my lips and I told him, "I always knew that you could kill yourself for me, Mike, but suicide is a punishable crime."

"Even love is a crime, Lia," he replied back in a dramatic voice, making me roll my eyes at his cheesiness.

"Cheesy, aren't we?"

"Yup." He laughed. "I want you to meet Ivy. She came back last night. Would you like to join us for dinner at my apartment tonight? Come over at six?"

A grin stretched on my face upon thinking about meeting the girl who stole lover boy, Mike's heart. "Of course, I would be there at six. Just message me your address."

"Great!" Mike exclaimed on the other side and continued, "In a minute. See you tonight."

With a grin fixed on my face, I replied back, "Yup, tonight." I cancelled the call and looked towards Ashton, who was looking ahead on the road with a tight jaw and narrowed eyes. My eyes travelled to his hands which held the steering wheel in a tight grip. "What's wrong?" I asked with slight concern.

He glanced at me with his narrowed eyes and asked, "How many more f*cking meetings do we have to attend?"

My eyebrows shot up at his sudden change of mood and I mumbled my reply, "One more for today."

"Good," he muttered under his breath.

"And one girl per day till you like one of all the options you have or the twentieth day, whichever is earlier," I continued my answer, looking out of the window towards the passing buildings.

"That's never going to happen," he replied in his cold voice, making me snap my head towards him and look at him with endless questions again swimming in my head. But he chose to concentrate on the road ahead and ignore me for the rest of the drive.

It was weird how he managed to make me feel jealous, happy, and now confused and sad in a span of merely an hour.

***********

Savannah, our next candidate, lived on the outskirts of the city and it took us one painful hour to reach her place. Her place was, for lack of a better word, a mansion. The neighborhood was quiet due to lack of houses around it. The nearest house was about half a mile away. And truth be told, the location crept me out.