Matched by Fate: Prologue

Chapter 8

   Alphas started taking their seats and soon a man with long black hair sits down. Wow he's beautiful! He's prettier than me! "It's finally nice to meet the omega that everyone has been talking about. I'm Nick Cheong." He holds out his hand, "I'm Caroline Flores," I hold my hand out for a hand shake but instead he grabs my hand. He then pulls it towards his face. He takes a deep breath in, then licks my scent gland which makes me tremble in my chair. So suddenly! He pulls away looking pleased, "No wonder every alpha here is pining for you, your scent is incredible."
I sit there shell shocked, What just happened, he licked me! It hasn't even been a minute and he licks me! I rub the place where he licked me, "Is that so! I had no idea!" He then presents his wrist, "Well I hope I'll meet your expectations, here." I lean in and breathe in his scent, He smells really nice! A very clean scent, is that jasmine? "You seem to be taking your time with me, Do I really smell that nice?" I blush as he says that, then Erica's words play back to me. Don't let them intimidate you, you have to intimidate them. I lick his scent gland slowly and I feel him flinch, How do you like that!
   I hear him start to laugh, I look up slightly embarrassed. "What's so funny?" He keeps on laughing, "You're adorable, was that supposed to be payback?" I let go of his hand and mutter, "I guess it didn't go the way I wanted it too." He fixes himself, "So my dear, has anyone caught your eye yet?" I nod as Logan and Keegan come to mind. Ughh Keegan. "Well I at least hope to be one of your top contenders." I scoff, "Well see, so far you're not doing too well." "We have at least 7 minutes, and I've been told I'm very convincing."
   "Well, convince me." I smile smugly. All of this champagne is making me a bit more confident. So are Erica's words. He leans back in his chair, "Wonderful, but just out of curiosity, do you recognize me?" "Ummm." I lean in and squint my eyes, He's very pretty. Dark eyes, long hair, he seems familiar but. "Sorry, I don't. But I'm never good at remembering faces so I might have seen you somewhere." I sense a slight bit of irritation from him, "I see that's rare, well I may not be one of your potential suitors yet. But you're certainly one for me." A bit curious I ask him, "Are you famous? What do you do? Should I recognize you?" He smiles, "Well I would tell you but I'm not here to talk about work. I'm here to find my fated mate, just like it said in the commercial. So tell me more about yourself darling."
   I open to contest but he had a point, Besides I'm tired of getting awkward looks when I talk about my job. "Well, I'm from Pennsylvania and I moved here with my friend. I only have an older brother, but lots of cousins. I like cats, going on walks, and I like to read occasionally. What about you Nick?" He tucks stands of his hair behind his ears, "Well, I'm half-Korean but I was born and raised in New York. I'm an only child sadly, but I also like cats. I have two, one's a female black cat and the other is a male calico." I practically jump out of my seat, "You have a male calico? Aww I wish I could see!" He pulls out his phone, "Do you want to see?" I nod, "Yes please!" He smiles as he hands me his phone, there's a picture of the black cat and the calico snuggling together. "Awww! They're too cute! You're so lucky to have a male calico!" I hand him back his phone, "The black one is named Mittens and the calico is Ren." I can't help but giggle, "What's with all of the giggling?" He puts his phone back in his pocket, "I'm sorry, it's just I wasn't expecting Mittens!" He rubs the back of his neck, "It's an overused name sure, but I had mittens ever since I was a kid. And the first name that came to mind was Mittens, it's a silly name but there's no reason to be giggling so much." I let myself breathe, "It's not silly it's cute, I've always wanted a cat but my mom hated cats. I would get one now if I could but my friend Lauren is super Allergic. So maybe I was never meant to have one."
"Well maybe if we get along well enough, I'd love to have you meet them."
"Really? I'd love that!" He looks at me silently as I gush about cats and what I would do if I had one.
   I catch his gaze, then I awkwardly laugh, "Sorry, we're supposed to be getting to know each other but I'm just going on and on about cats. I need to be more self aware." He rubs my hand lightly, "I don't mind at all, I find it absolutely adorable." I blush at his words, he smiles as he leans in. Without thinking, I lean towards him, and soon our noses are almost touching. He really is beautiful, I could look at him forever. Our fingers intertwine, Is he going to kiss me? Why are we closing in on each other? Why can't I look away from him. My eyes close by themselves, I feel a hand caress my cheek, then it's pinched. "What!" He leans back into his chair smiling like an idiot, "Was I convincing?" I feel my face getting hot, I bite my lip. Damn it, I'm so naive! I sigh, "Too convincing, but I'm impressed." I rub the cheek he pinched, I hear the timer go off. He sighs, "It was fun while it lasted, I wish we had gotten more time to actually talk to each other though." I flinch as he says that, "I'm sorry." He rubs the top of my head as he gets up, "It's alright, I enjoyed seeing you like that. I hope I was able to make a good impression." I think about it for a moment then I give him a smile, "Ehh, you were alright. But you should probably go, you're holding up the line." The next Alpha is standing closely to the table, looking a bit impatient. "I'll see you again when we go on our date tomorrow, bye." I scoff, He's really confident. He waves as he heads off to the next table, and the Alpha before him immediately took his seat. I like him, he was fun to talk to and he was VERY convincing. I rub my cheek and introduce myself to the new alpha.