MANUEL

I walked the beauty goddess over to where Adrian had parked the car earlier, and she instantly started gawking at it. Her wide-eyed expression made it look like she had just seen the most beautiful thing on earth.

“Is this your car?” she asked, her voice thick with disbelief.

“No, it’s for my friend,” I replied, keeping it casual.

“Wow, it looks so beautiful. That friend of yours must be super rich,” she said, still mesmerized.

“Wait until you see mine,” I boasted. “You’ll faint the moment you set eyes on it.”

She hissed in disbelief. “Whatever, fool. Open this damn car, and let’s go get my new phone. I have work in a bit, and I don’t have time for this.”

Is this the same girl who was just admiring the car like a starstruck fan? Mood swings, much?

We got into Adrian’s car, and I started the engine. I was just going to take her to the phone store and be done with it. The silence between us was unbearable, so I decided to break it.

“So… you haven’t told me your name yet,” I said, hoping to get the conversation flowing.

“Why do you want to know my name?” she snapped. “It’s not like we’re going to meet again after you buy my phone for me.”

“Well, I have to know your name unless you want me to keep calling you ‘Goddess’ in my head,” I said, half-joking.

She shot me an incredulous look. “Why would you call me Goddess?”

“Because you’re really gorgeous and you look like a goddess to me,” I replied, unsure if I sounded corny or sincere.

“Thanks for the compliment,” she said, trying to sound indifferent, though I could tell she was flustered, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. I couldn’t believe it—she was the first woman I’d met who seemed mostly unaffected by my flattery. That alone was worth some applause.

“Come on, please tell me your name,” I insisted. “I want to know the name of the goddess sitting next to me.”

She sighed heavily. “Why do you want to know so badly? Are you planning on using my name for something?”

“Nope. Just want to know,” I replied, shrugging.

“Fine,” she grumbled, clearly relenting. “I’ll tell you mine if you promise to tell me yours and stop pestering me.”

“Deal,” I said, almost surprised that she didn’t know who I was already.

“Okay,” she said reluctantly, “my name is Cherry Easton.”

“Wow, nice name,” I commented, genuinely impressed.

“Thanks. Now, tell me yours,” she demanded, eyes narrowing slightly.

“Alright,” I said. “My name is Emanuel Collins, but I generally go by Manuel Collins. Only people really close to me call me Emanuel. I prefer the nickname, to be honest.”

“Wait—so your name is Manuel Collins?” she asked, sounding a little incredulous.

“Yeah, that’s what I just said,” I replied, now curious about her reaction.

“So, you’re THE Manuel Collins? The Manuel Collins who owns that massive fashion empire?” she asked, her voice filled with shock.

“Yeah, that’s me,” I said nonchalantly, though a small smirk tugged at my lips.

“This is awesome! I can’t believe I’m in the car with one of the most famous men on earth!” she gushed, her tone high-pitched and excited.

I smirked. “It’s not as glamorous as you think,” I said, though I was almost 100% sure she knew exactly who I was but had failed to recognize me.

“This is incredible!” she squealed, her excitement bordering on over-the-top.

I chuckled but added, “Now that you know who I am, don’t go acting differently around me, okay?”

“Nah, that’s not happening,” she shot back. “But, uh, hope I’m not in trouble for how I acted earlier. You know, in public?”

“You’re safe,” I said, “unless someone caught that little display on camera. I’m hoping that didn’t happen.”

She let out a relieved sigh. “Alright.”

And once again, we fell into silence. It was an odd dynamic between us, but I didn’t mind it too much. A few minutes later, we arrived at the phone store, and I parked the car. We both got out, and I walked in with her. The cashier gave us a quick nod, and we made our way to the aisles.

Cherry took her time browsing the phones while I followed her around aimlessly. After what felt like an eternity, she finally made her choice. Thank God.

“So, which one did you pick?” I asked, barely containing my impatience.

She proudly displayed the phone. “This one,” she said, and I blinked at the price tag.

“You picked a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra?” I asked, my voice barely hiding my surprise.

“I thought you said to pick whichever one I liked?” she replied innocently, her face lit up with innocence.

“But this thing is expensive,” I said, staring at the price in disbelief. “$1,200? I could buy a lot more important things with that money.”

“I thought you were filthy rich?” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t that be pocket change for you?”

I exhaled sharply. “Alright, fine. Let’s go pay for it.”

We walked to the cashier, and I handed over my credit card. A few seconds later, she handed it back to me, the transaction complete.

“Thanks for shopping with us! Please come again,” the cashier said politely as we headed out.

Just as I was about to get back in the car, my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket to see Clarice’s name flashing on the screen.

“Yeah, Clarice? What’s going on?” I answered, still a little annoyed.

“Mr. Johnson is here. He said he wanted to see you,” Clarice said quickly.

“I thought he was coming tomorrow?” I said, confused.

“He said he won’t be available tomorrow, so he had to come today,” she explained.

I sighed. “Couldn’t he have called first?”

“Sorry, sir.”

“Tell him I’m on my way. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” I said, ending the call.

I turned to Cherry. “Uh, Cherry, I have to head back to work now, so I won’t be able to drop you off. Duty calls.”

She barely looked up from her phone. “Okay, that’s fine.”

“Here,” I said, pulling out a few dollar bills and handing them to her. “Take a cab.”

She counted the money, eyes wide. “I can’t accept this. It’s too much.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied. “Keep the change.”

“Alright then,” she said, still looking at the money. “Thanks for the phone and the cash. I’ll be going now. Bye!”

“Yeah, bye!” I said, waving her off. “Hope we can meet again.”

She smiled faintly. “Yeah, I hope so too.”

She headed to the side of the road as I slid into the car and sped off toward the direction of my company. I was half-expecting Adrian to be waiting there, ready to kill me for borrowing his car without permission. This was probably the perfect revenge for the way he treated me like a kid earlier in the restaurant.