Chapter 6 Introductions

Bianca didn’t have many things to buy, so her list didn’t take long to get done. She stayed seated with Asher at the table, waiting for him to be finished so she could clear the dishes and prepare to go to the supermarket.

“I am going out after I’m done here,” she informed Asher.

“Are you going to the supermarket?” He asked. “I’m going with you,” he added when he saw her nod to his question.

“Then you better be ready when I’m done,” she answered. She was thinking about the time she needed to conserve. The way to her work is nearby, but the way to the supermarket is in the opposite direction and farther. She still has some designs to finalize before handing them over to her immediate boss by Monday.

“I’ll be quick, wait for me, okay?” he hurriedly went to his room and took a quick shower, just like he said.

It was almost the end of spring.

He came out with khaki half pants and a white half-sleeved, top-buttoned collared shirt.

He was fascinated at what he saw she was wearing. It was like they had talked about what to wear. She was wearing white half-pants and a khaki sleeveless collared blouse. Her straight all-black hair was down from her bun earlier. She was looking at a fashion magazine while sitting on the sofa waiting for Asher. When she heard his door open and close, she couldn’t take her eyes off from what she was reading, so Asher was already by her side when she put the magazine down and stood up. Asher realized she was too tall for a girl. She was just in her flat shoes, but he was no more than just a few inches taller than her. He stands a hundred and seventy-six centimeters, but he can guess she is above a hundred and seventy. With her slim body, she was really tall. And she wasn’t flat-busted either. She wasn’t wearing anything revealing right now, but what she was wearing earlier when she had her breakfast showed him most of what could be seen about her figure. And damn! It’s such a shame he cannot do the same things he did with Nikita to Bianca. Not if he still wants to live because even if he calls for help, he is worried he might already be dead when they arrive if he piss her off again. She is feisty! Her parents must not be too worried about her being out on her own. Worried, but not so much. Or she won’t be here in a foreign land, away from home where her parents stay.

“Let’s go!” she simply said, not noticing their clothes. Or she didn’t mind.

Asher was worried she would send him back to his room to have a change, he loved the feeling of them being mistaken as a couple, but he was sure she wouldn’t tolerate such things. But he did not say anything when she decided to go.

His house is a villa with seventy-five square meters of land, fifty square meters in size of the house, fifteen for the front garden, and ten square meters for the backyard and its garage at the back. The land could have been made into a huge sum of money when developers wanted to buy the area, but Asher’s mom stubbornly declined even when her husband tried everything to pursue her. As a result, their villa remained while the whole surrounding had turned into huge pillars of buildings around it from an aerial view. Down below, it wasn’t so obvious as there were roads front and back leading in two different directions.

Bianca chose this house to rent for its convenience and economic benefits, but another is that it reminds her of her home. She grew up in a villa, too. While Asher’s yard has a flower garden, which is visited weekly by a gardener during weekdays, although Bianca had never seen nor known any of them, her home’s yard is filled with giant jars of homemade traditional Korean condiments.

But Bianca did not know about the backyard. She only knew the front one. She was walking out to the front gate when Asher held her by her wrists to lead her the way.

“We’re going this way,” then Asher walked with his back to Bianca.

“Uhhhh!” she abruptly stopped walking.

“What?” Asher was confused. She did not pull her wrist back, so he thought it wasn’t about his hand holding her. He looked back at her to check what could be wrong.

“Why are you…? Why do we look like…?” Bianca’s words were not complete, but Asher understood what she was talking about. She was swaying her free hand’s pointer finger to him and her alternately.

“Why am I wearing this? And why do we look like what…?” Asher teased her, but he also did not want to be too vocal about his thoughts and get on her bad side again. He started walking again. He kept his hold of her.

Bianca was still frowning now that she had gotten to realize what she was about to ask. They look like a couple wearing a set of matched clothes. Although they have their colors up and down opposite, they still match. As if it was part of its design. She was thinking about changing her clothes, but she didn’t have much time anymore. They were already out.

“Whatever! Where are we going? Why to the backyard?” Bianca gave up and asked.

“The car is parked there,” he felt her trying to pull her hand from his hold, but he did not let go. “Stay close. There is a Doberman on the side. Fierce one, I tell you,” Asher kept walking. Bianca looked around. She saw a doghouse but no shadow of a dog. She doubts his words because she had never heard any bark the whole time she stayed in the house. And who could be feeding it? “I will introduce you to him later as the house owner had ordered it to be fed, but since I will be home only during weekends, you will have to do the task when I am not here,” Asher added.

“What? I never heard anything about that?” Bianca argued. Not that she doesn’t like dogs, but she is pretty scared of the big breeds. She used to have the smaller breeds for her pet way back home, but she had never tried big ones, especially Doberman. They kinda look scary to her.

“It was because you didn’t have to. Nikita had it covered. Don’t worry. She’s kind,” Asher was still talking when Bianca grabbed his arms and hugged him from behind.

“Ahhhhhhh, Omma!” [Mom!] She muffled her screams on his back as she pressed her face to him.

Asher tried to look back at her as she suddenly made him immobile with her free hand wound on his chest and her face to his back. She was frozen. Not moving, not even breathing, he thinks. Then he heard a low growl…

“Luna! Good dog!” Asher chuckled as he turned around to let Bianca hide from the Doberman. It has been his pet for about eight years now. His mom’s gift for his eighteenth Christmas since birth. He wanted to have another one when his pet from his toddler years had to be taken down due to old age. They live in a villa, so they wanted to have a doorkeeper, aside from ADT services. He had Luna when she was just a newborn pup. He practically raised her as his daughter when she was little. They slept together and were almost inseparable when he was at home. But she grew so fast and big while Asher became busy. They had to be apart when her master went to work, and they met every weekend. Whoever Asher introduces to her. She never attacks when they come to feed her. But anyone stranger to her will end up in the hospital if she gets a hold of them.

“This is Bianca, Bianca, this is Luna,” Asher introduced the two like they were both humans.

Bianca peeked from behind Asher, and she calmed down when she saw the scary-looking all-black Doberman sitting down on the pathway.

“Hey, Luna! You scared the hell out of me!” Bianca pouted. But she was now flattening the portion of Asher’s clothes where she crumpled due to her tight hold earlier.

“Luna, say sorry,” Asher ordered, petting the dog with its tongue out gleefully.

The dog barked softly, then bowed its head. Bianca was astonished how the scary-looking dog could be meek with her actions as she obeyed her master’s orders.

“You won’t scare me again, right?” Bianca feigned upset.

The dog seemed to answer humbly with another soft bark. Bianca was entertained. Luna seemed intelligent, as expected of their breeds.

“Good, I might deliberately forget to feed you if you dare,” Bianca warned as if she was talking to humans as well.