Chapter 5

I met the blind date, Zack, one afternoon.

He was leaning against the driver’s side window, lighting a cigarette but not smoking it.

He didn’t like smoking, but felt compelled to maintain an image of vice.

When the cigarette burned out, he messed up his hair and got out of the car.

I happened to witness this whole scene.

The impossibly handsome young man unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and slouched in his chair with an air of decadence.

“Hello, are you Zack?” I went over to greet him.

“Mm, and you’re… Aria?” He hesitated, as if wondering what kind of girl would have such an unusual name.

“I heard you’ve turned down a lot of people before?” I asked.

“Can’t say I’ve turned them down when I’ve never even met them,” he replied.

He suddenly smiled. “I guess that makes you pretty special.”

“What’s your take on this arranged marriage business?” he asked.

“What can I say? My life is worthless, so my family calls all the shots.”

The kidnapping incident hadn’t spread, but Zack surely knew about it.

He gave me a meaningful look. “Miss Wilson, you and I are the same kind of people.” He raised his glass, wanting to toast with me.

I pushed my glass away. “Not quite. I’d like to eat first.”

Zack paused for a moment, then rested his chin on his hand with a slight smile. “Alright then, let’s eat first.”

I sighed.

I had hoped to encounter an idiot, but instead I met someone with more schemes than a beehive has holes.