Chapter 5

• I felt my throat dried up so I had to swallow and looked away from him.
• "Don't worry my friend doesn't mind. By the way, what do I call you?" Paula turned her eyes at the man.
• "Abel."
• I threw him a glance and thankfully he motioned to a waiter. Before he could turn his eyes back to me, I looked away again. Paula lightly kicked my foot for the second time. She narrowed her eyes at me but she immediately smiled with her teeth showing when Abel 's eyes were back at us.
• "Do you ladies want to order anything else? It's on me except booze of course, " he said with a grin.
• We just shook our heads in unison. Paula said thank you but I didn't. He said something to the server before his attention was back to us.
• Just chill Camilla. You have no plans to play with fire- I advised myself.
• This man was too good-looking to just flirt with. However hurt I was with what Parker did, I won't retaliate by coming on to this hot as hell stranger.
• "Since my friend here seems to have become so silent, Abel can you please tell me how did you know each other?" Curiosity and excitement were evident in Paula's voice.
• This time I couldn't take my eyes off him as a sexy grin appeared on his lips again. I wanted to shake my head to clear it.
• Goodness Camilla! Stop acting like a school girl! - I scolded myself.
• He leaned his back and crossed his arms on his broad chest. My eyes went down to his arms. Through the material of his obviously very expensive shirt, I could see his muscled triceps and biceps. I immediately looked at his eyes again and tried hard to hold the stare because I didn't want him to notice how he was affecting me.
• "We bumped into each other twice," he drawled and I saw his eyes glinted for a moment or two.
• Paula appeared to be unconvinced. She had a small frown.
• "Are you a friend of her family? Maybe you met each other at some gatherings," she told him but she was looking at me. Her eyes were twinkling.
• I almost uttered a sound of frustration. Her matchmaking scheme was obviously up. Abel shook his head.
• "Well only a few people call her Millie."
• I almost raised one brow when his eyes became half-slits.
• "Including her boyfriend of course," he said dryly.
• Now it was my turn to kick Paula's foot when she giggled. She winked at me before turning to Abel.
• "As far as I know my friend here is single. Not unless she's hiding something from me, are you," she teasingly looked at me again.
• "Of course not!" I found myself saying.
• She smiled wider. "You see Abel? Only two of her cousins call her that and her grandmother."
• He cocked one eyebrow as if not believing what Paula said.
• "Christian is my cousin."
• I wanted to reprimand myself again. It was as if my mouth had it's own mind. I didn't know why I had to tell him that right after telling the two of them that I was single. Why didn't I just let him think what he wanted to think about Christian anyway? I felt the need to take my eyes off him. I picked the cup and drank some of the black coffee. I might not be tipsy but I didn't want to say anything more that I was supposed to, in front of this hot stranger.
• "Sir, here are the drinks."
• We all looked at the server. He put a glass with amber liquid in front of Abel and two glasses each for me and Paula. He thanked the waiter.
• "I hope you like alcohol-free passion fruit martini. That's safer than what you were having a while ago," he said with a chuckle as he took his glass and drank half of its content.
• I felt relieved when Paula started to ask him casual questions. At least he didn't have to keep on looking at me with those deep blue eyes which had the tendency to make me lose my equilibrium . I roamed my eyes around as they chatted. Female eyes were checking Abel out. If the situation were different, I would have felt giddy attracting his attention. But the fact was Parker and I were still together and we were going to talk really soon. I didn't need any distractions. A problem couldn't be solved by adding another problem.
• Don't be stupid! He's not interested in you! He just approached the table to mock you! Remember he warned you not to hit your body against him again because he thought you had alcohol? He even ordered a cup of joe for you for crying out loud! I told myself and just finished off the black beverage.
• He was probably just killing time talking to us and here I was, thinking that he actually liked me. Well that was really funny coming from a girl with a low self-confidence. I felt that my issue with Parker was clouding my mind. Yes that was the culprit.
• "Here's my friend's business card. You can check his equipment. If you want, we can go with you there. Oh here's my card too. Just call me," I heard Paula said to him as she handed him two cards.
• Just then someone's phone started to ring.
• "I'm sorry I have to get this," Abel said.
• I mouthed, "What was that?" to Paula but she just smiled and winked and sipped some of the non-alcoholic martini.
• "Okay I'll be there," came Abel's voice. He ended the call. "I have to go now. Thank you for the recommendation Paula. I'll call your friend the day after tomorrow," he then excused himself and got up from the chair. He took out his wallet and left some paper bills on the table. The money was too much for what we had ordered but I was sure that he had money to burn. I didn't want him paying and was about to say something but Paula said thank you to him. I just released a sigh and turned my head to raise my face so I can look at him. He was gazing at me with that sexy grin again.
• "I would appreciate if you two lovely ladies come see the equipment with me. I'll phone you since Millie didn't give me her business card," he said to Paula but I knew he was mocking me by the tone of his voice.
• "I don't have to give you my card," I said in an expressionless voice.
• He might affect me in some ways but I won't let him make fun of me whenever he felt like it.
• I almost put down the cup on the table with a bang when he chuckled and bowed at me. "Whatever you say Millie."
• "Abel you can call her Camilla," Paula interrupted and I glared at her.
• "Camilla."
• I quickly turned my angry eyes at him again when he said my name. He was nodding his head and his lips twitched upwards to one side.
• "Yes, you look more like a Camilla. I like it. I really like it. I will definitely see you around Camilla," he drawled.
• Before I could react he was gone.
• "Oh my goodness girl! A threat never sounded so sexy and exciting!" Paula whispered giddily.
• I heaved a sigh and massaged my temples. Deep inside me, I felt that Abel would play an important part in my life soon.