A Quartet of Desire

Chapter 3: The Rough Date

*Sean's POV*

Thank God the dinner party didn't last all night, though I wasn't thrilled to be assigned a wedding date. I'd hoped to have a couple extra months before I needed to marry Saoirse, but apparently that option had been taken from me.

"I'm just saying, it could've been avoided if you'd timed your delivery better."

I rolled my eyes at Ryan as I pulled into the underground garage under our penthouse apartment. "Look, it got us out of having to spend the rest of our evening at dinner with them, didn't it?"

"Yeah, I suppose it did," Ryan conceded.

"Yeah, you're fucking welcome," I replied as I stepped out of the car.

Ryan shook his head as he slammed the door behind him. "I don't know how you get so worked up all the time. It can't be good for you, man."

"I just need to hit the gym to blow off some of this steam. It's been almost a week since we worked out. Where else did you expect my anger to go?"

"Alright, alright," Ryan laughed as we entered the elevator. "Let's go change and work out."

I smiled at him, glad that things were going my way tonight. "Then we can go have some drinks and dance with some pretty girls."

He cocked his head at me, his eyes questioning my idea. After a moment, he nodded his head in agreement. "I suppose we might as well get a little fun in before the weddings."

"Atta boy!" I clamped my arm around his shoulder and pulled him from the elevator as the doors opened to our spacious apartment.

He pulled away from me and headed to the left as I walked off to the right. The apartment had a shared kitchen, dining room, and living room space with a second story on either side of the room. Each second level held an office, bedroom, and bathroom – essentially giving us each our own apartment within our apartment.

I stripped off my work clothes and slipped on a pair of basketball shorts and a white loose-fitting tank with both sides open most of the way down. The shirt showed off my right arm and side tattoos, which usually gave me plenty of flirty stares from the women who worked out in the building's gym. I pulled my sneakers on and grabbed my phone and earbuds, leaving my room to meet back up with Ryan by the elevator.

He was already leaning against the wall, scrolling through social media. Glancing up at me, he pressed the elevator button to call the car back up. "It looks like Henry and Mia are at that new club that opened up last week."

"The one Robbie owns?"

"Yeah, whatever it's called, it looks like a good time. Wanna go there later tonight?"

I nodded my head in agreement as the elevator stopped on the fifth floor where the gym and pool were located. We each moved to our own preferred equipment and started on our workouts.

Try as I might to focus on the podcast I was listening to, my mind wandered to the ball of fire I was set to marry in five months and nine days. Even though I couldn't stand her, I still wanted to burry myself in her body. She was exactly my type, and if it weren't for her mouth and personality, I wouldn't be so against this marriage.

The burgundy dress she wore tonight fit her curves perfectly. The halter top gave me a fantastic view of her perky boobs as she sat next to me, though I did my best to not look in her direction. Watching her leave was even better as her hips sashayed out the door.

If only our first date hadn't gone so horrible, maybe we'd be on better terms. She was only two years younger than me, unlike Claire who was four years younger than Ryan. She was still a kid in both personality and looks. Saoirse, though, she was all woman, one that I wanted to pull under me and slam into.

Her fucking mouth and fiery temper though were a huge turn off. I needed a woman who was going to not only satisfy my needs, but one who would listen to me when I gave her instructions. Short of teaching her who was in charge in the bedroom, I had no idea how to get her to obey and hold me in high regard. Saoirse wanted to argue with me every chance she got, which only pissed me off more.

I thought our first date would've impressed her as I took her to one of the nicest restaurants in all of Chicago. I dressed to the nines and flashed her my best smile as I picked her up. She had worn a bright red strapless dress and black heels to our first date, a pair of diamond earrings dangled around her flowing red locks. She was smoking hot and heads turned as we made our way into the restaurant arm in arm. There was no doubt we at least looked good together, but the evening would determine whether or not our personalities matched as well.

Pulling out her seat for her, I personified the perfect gentleman. When the waitress came by to take our order, I flashed a charming smile to her and ordered a salad for Saoirse and a steak for myself. I even called her darling to show that her position as a waitress didn't mean I would look down on her. Saoirse should've been thrilled at how kind and well behaved I was.

Instead, she narrowed her eyes and glared at me, accusing me of being a misogynistic asshole. Her tone and accusations shocked me.

I had kept my voice low as I responded, "Are you fucking kidding me, Saoirse? The hell is your problem?"

"Your actions are my problem," she had hissed back at me.

"My actions?" I asked, flabbergasted. "My actions have been nothing but a true gentleman tonight. You're the one who's acting like a bitch here."

Her fists had balled on the table as she leaned forward towards me. "So, flirting with the waitress in front of me is appropriate?"

"I wasn't flirting with her. I was showing you that I could be kind to the help," I argued back.

"The help? God, you're one of those people who look down on others because of their careers then?"

I rolled my eyes at her anger. "Don't tell me you think we're on the same level as them. There's a hierarchy in this world, Saoirse. That's just how it is."

She closed her eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath. When she opened them, she leaned back in her seat slightly. "You and I clearly don't see eye to eye on this topic, and I have no interest in being around someone who thinks they're better than everyone else."

"What are you complaining about?" I asked her. "You're going to be reaping all the benefits of being my wife, so you can't tell me you're upset about this."

"Right, the awesome benefits of eating salad while I watch you enjoy your dinner and flirt with other women in front of me," she snapped.

"Seriously, what is your problem? You're acting extremely ungrateful, and it's pissing me off. Here you've been selected to be my wife, and you don't even hold yourself in such a high regard, thinking that the help isn't below us. Look, I've taken time out of my busy schedule to take you out to the best restaurant in this city, and this is how you thank me?"

"No," she responded, fire blazing in her eyes. "I guess I should thank you properly."

With that, she had stood up and stopped a waiter on his way by our table. She snatched the slice of chocolate cake from his tray and slammed it on the top of my head before I realized what her intentions were. As the icing of the cake seeped into my blonde hair, I watched with my mouth hanging open as she stormed away from the table.

"Ugh!" I grunted as I dropped the weights down in front of me. Every time I thought of the incident it made me furious. How dare she act like such a bitch to me! When her parents made her apologize to me, I tried getting my parents to let me out of the arranged marriage. Unfortunately, they refused to budge a single bit. Instead, they insisted that we just needed a little more time to get to know each other.

I didn't need anymore time to get to know her. I knew all I needed to know about her. What I needed to do was to figure a way to get out of this engagement before April second. 

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A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope the cake incident makes a bit more sense now. Please remember to vote/comment to let me know your thoughts on the story!