Cupid's Calling Card

Ara Within a private room in a fanciful restaurant reserved for only the wealthy sat a rather beautiful couple. Stefan was widely known as the fiance of beautiful Ara. He worked in her company and with her help as well as his ambitious attitude, became one of the largest shareholders, having his own team of staff working under him. He was handsome with a charming smile tailored to the good-natured Ara sitting opposite him. Ara was the CEO, founder and owner of the Ara group of companies. One of the largest and most famous companies in the country X. She was a curious soul and dabbled in virtually everything in the business world that caught her fancy most. It was either she owned virtually any entrepreneurial branch one could think of or she owned a share in a company with a business she was interested in. Ara was as smart as she was stunningly beautiful with mischievously twinkling eyes which drew people in. She was however, ruthless when occasion called for it or emphatic when she wanted to. "Sophie would like to bond with you, do you accept this?" a voice rang in her head, mildly startling her. She looked around and only saw the waitress whose job Stefan had taken over and Stefan—Her oh-so-sweet Stefan, who stared at her like the world revolved around her. "Did you hear that?" She asked him, "hear what?" He replied furtively, glancing around the booth. She lightly furrowed her brows in confusion, "never mind" she softly said, tilting her head sideways and smiling sweetly at him, eliciting a deep chuckle from him. "Okay" Ara muttered under her breath. "I'll take okay" the voice replied, making Ara's eyes involuntarily widen with amusement as she successfully tried to suppress a smile at the cheekiness of whoever the owner of the voice was. "This should be interesting" she thought, as she tried holding in her laughter so that she could look quite serious without snagging Stefan's suspicion. Suddenly, a butterfly flew in drawing a soft gasp of awe from Ara as she placed her index finger forward, prompting it to rest daintily on her. "This one is definitely a female" Ara mused quietly as she stared at it with beautiful almond-shaped aquamarine eyes, admiring the weird but pretty patterns etched on its body when she felt a sharp but quick pain at the tip of her finger as the butterfly suddenly pierced it with a stinger which protruded from the end of its thorax making her gasp softly. Stefan curiously frowned at the butterfly, glancing from it to her face in concern. "Sophie activated" she heard a voice ring in her head. Ara scowled lightly, glancing at the man who c****d his head at her with an eyebrow raised in askance, but she half shook her head with a small smile which brought relief to his face. The butterfly flew away with satisfaction at accomplishing its mission, preening its wings as it went. "This one is quite cocky" she thought, with smiling eyes which were brought back to focus as Stefan coughed lightly in order to get her attention. "Look who's jealous of a butterfly," she teased. "What's a butterfly when I'll definitely be jealous of our children after you give birth to them" he asked, looking wronged. She opened her mouth in mild surprise to say something but ended up shaking her head helplessly. Stefan leaned forward, tracing the contours of her face with his eyes, laughing softly at her slowly deepening blush. Anyone could tell they were so in love with the way he attentively poured her wine, helped her with more meal servings and dabbed a corner of her sauce-stained lips with a clean napkin laid on the side of their table. Meanwhile, the serving waitress watched by the side, wondering why in the name of heavens, she was assigned to them when they obviously didn't need her help, seeing as the man was attentively doing her job for the lady. She sighed in her heart and rolled her eyes at the ceiling while asking God in her heart if she was his house help, because it made no sense that she couldn't get a man like this with stars in his eyes for her idol Ara. "You're not playing fair Stefan", Ara's voice woke her up from her reverie with a mild jolt. She snuck a glance at the couple to see if she had been noticed but they were in their own world. "How so?" Stefan asked, a smile playing on his beautiful lips. "How do I fit into my wedding dress when you keep stuffing me with these delicious meals I can never say no to?" She asked with a light laugh, absent-mindedly cupping her chin in a palm, as she propped her elbow on the table. "Lord, even her every movement seems like a work of art" the waitress thought with an innocent expression on her face, least the couple noticed she was distracted. "It's my duty to spoil my wife, mi amor", Stefan smiled, lightly touching the tip of her nose with a finger. The waitress opened her mouth to say something but stopped on seeing the expression on Ara's face. Stefan slowly reclined on his chair with a playful look, a deepening smile playing on his lips. "Stefan..." Ara winced, placing a hand on her stomach and the other on her throat as she weakly tried to cough. The waitress stared at her, shock slowly registering on her face as she hurried to Ara, but Stefan casually waved her away. "Something's wrong Stefan" Ara blurted out painfully, blood spurting out of her mouth in the process. "I know" he replied, still smiling. She tried to stand up but ended up stumbling over the table and slumped to the floor coughing painfully, her face contorted in a painful and disbelieving expression as realization slowly dawned on her. The waitress looked from one person to the other, shock and confusion visible on her face. Stefan calmly stood up, buttoned up his suit jacket and smiled down at Ara's painfully writhing form on the floor. "It really shouldn't have come to this, but I can't have you troubling our peace, Ara. Which is why I'm helping you find peace in the least violent way possible. This way, we all get what we want", with that he strode away, ignoring her. "Stefan" She called out weakly to him while trying to hold back the pains wracking her body, tears flowing uncontrollably down her face as she bit back the sobs trying to find their way out. He paused at the door without looking at the waitress frozen on the spot. Her eyes on Ara and her head a jumbled mess at what she had just seen. "Get rid of the body and keep your mouth shut about this, you'll be well rewarded. If I however, find out you talked about this, you'll pay with your life". With that, he walked out and slammed the door after him. The waitress slumped on the floor beside Ara and cradled her head in her arms as she tried lifting her up, but Ara placed a restraining hand over hers and slowly shook her head. Anyone there could see how much she was unsuccessfully trying to fight back the pain and hurt she was feeling right then. "I can get you help ma'am" the waitress cried. But Ara simply shook her head halfway, her eyes drifting shut while the waitress sobbed bitterly. Her hands fell lifelessly by her side as one lone tear slid down her tear-streaked cheeks. The waitress buried her face in the curve of Ara's neck and screamed into it, the sound muffled by the dead body as she mourned her idol murdered right before her eyes. ~ Durian ~ By a small lake located in a leisure park on the other side of Z city sat Durian, a young man in his late twenties. His demeanor and fashion sense showed that he was the young master of a really wealthy family, he seemed to be in his own world and his posture as well as the air around him forbade anyone else from joining or talking to him—so it didn't seem strange that he was oblivious to the whispers about him or the glances the women sent his way. Whether he noticed or not, he wouldn't have cared either way. He was what one could call "the strong silent type", devastatingly handsome with beautifully sculpted lips that seemed to reveal that he found faults in virtually all lesser creations. His pride wasn't for nothing, however—he was the heir to the Jade group of companies which was second to none in the entire country X, even the Ara group of companies couldn't be compared to it despite being the second largest in the country. Yet with all he had in Jade, he was also neck deep in every prestigious company in the country as one of their largest shareholders—unknown to them, as well as owning independent companies in and out of the country. He was indeed entitled to his sense of self-entitlement. One could say he held the majority of the country in the palm of his hands and everyone knew it, they just didn't know how. On this particular day, he seemed to be patiently waiting for something or someone with a bit of irritation written all over his face, like he'd rather be somewhere else. Durian never waited for anyone, not his parents or his partners—as a matter of fact, he didn't know what waiting felt like. Which was why he felt restive waiting and he didn't like the feeling, not one bit. But today was an unavoidable exception. He flicked his wrist and glanced at his expensive watch a bit impatiently and subtly looked around with his eyes like a king from his throne. Sighing softly, he decided to take a stroll along the corner of the lake to take the edge off his restlessness—another kind which had nothing to do with waiting this time around. A feeling he couldn't quite explain or shake off. He was deep in thought as he walked majestically with hands in pocket like he owned the world—and everything as well as everyone else were nothing but subordinates, his cold eyes darting searchingly here and there without quite knowing what he was looking for. But something in his guts told him he was going to recognize it once he found it, and so walk he did. A little distance away from where he was, behind him, the dead body of Carmen slowly floated to the side of the lake face down—guided by the gentle current, lazily headed towards the shores of the lake as though it was nudging her towards help and, if heaven willed it—life. It twitched slightly, in a quite indescernible manner if one wasn't really paying attention—no one was. Durian suddenly stopped halfway through taking his next footstep as goose bumps sprung on his skin, sending an involuntary shiver through his body. He cautiously lifted his hands and looked closely at his arms, scowling slightly as an indescribable feeling washed over him. "Is it time?" He wondered as he flexed his hands, the cogwheels of his brain working overtime to figure out what was happening to make him feel the way he did. "Weird" he muttered under his breath as his breathing came in slow gasps like he was struggling underwater. He placed a hand on his chest and forced himself to cough, suppressing the panic that was trying to fight its way out of his chest—and before he knew it he was spewing out a large amount of water from his mouth. His brain flitted into panic mode but he forced his heart to remain calm and rational through the ordeal. "You know you can't die now, right?" His head asked, "how so?" His mind retorted. "Isn't it your mates that are dying everyday?" His mind continued. Durian mentally rolled his eyes at the absurdity of it all and forced them to go quiet, plunging himself into a state of calm. "Why is this happening now?... What is really going on?" He thought, mildly frustrated. He felt as though he ought to know, like somehow he knew, but at the same time—didn't. As if the answer was right in front of him, but he couldn't quite place his fingers on it. Still feeling weirded out, Durian slowly turned around only to find Carmen painfully trying to drag her body out of the lake, shivering quite uncontrollably as the merciless breeze from the surface of the lake washed over her. Durian's eyes widened involuntarily as he saw her. "She wasn't here a moment ago" he mused as he glanced around the near deserted lake trying to find a hint or at least figure out what seemed to be going on because he couldn't quite wrap his head around it. "It's none of my business, right?... It shouldn't be" he said inwardly as he willed himself not to move—trying to talk himself out of doing what he felt his body was trying to do, but it slowly approached her trance-like like it had a mind of its own, while he cursed inwardly at himself with all manner of self-depraved words he could think of. Carmen, wheezing and trying to hold herself upright with her elbows as she continually and painfully pulled herself out of the dark-looking murk that was the lake, squinted at Durian through half-closed eyelids as he slowly lowered himself into a crouching position before her, with outstretched arms, while his mind yelled at him to protect her immediately. She half consciously lifted a shaky hand and grabbed his outstretched arms like her life depended on it—truth be told, it did. The effort took its toll on her and she passed out again, but he caught her falling body, unable to stop himself from doing so, and carried her in his arms, heading back the way he came while staring at her pale face with an unreadable expression on his usually stoic face. Something about her seemed familiar but he knew that something had absolutely nothing to do with her face, he was oddly good with faces and that face was as strange as it was porcelain beautiful, supported by an amazing skin begging to be touched. He gave his head a quick shake to clear the haziness clouding it as he strode away from the lake and its sudden mysteriousness surrounding it that day. "I've got you, you're safe now" he muttered over and over again without knowing why, as he headed towards his limited edition car looking aloof and forbidding—same as its owner.