Flawed Love

New Friends

TIME [11:30 AM]

At Smith Mansion...

The bungalow was big and luxurious with a vibrant garden teeming with colorful flowers at the front. In the center of garden, there stood a gazebo surrounded with water that carried itself through, under a small wooden bridge. First impressions of the house, the place looked like it belonged only to the highest tier of the society. And indeed it was.

Under the gazebo, two young men were sitting on wooden chairs.

"Bro....big bro, are you listening to me?" Jacob shouted like he was calling someone miles away from him.

Alex was sitting right next to him. He was nothing less than highly irritated with this irritating person. And that wasn't new.

"Why are you shouting like a dog? I have two ears, which are working perfectly," Alex gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Brother, did you just call me a barking dog?" Jacob said with a gloomy face.

"What'll you do if I agree to that?"

"You are a heartless brother. You don't even have any mercy on your little cute brother," Jacob said, making a sad face and pulling his own cheeks.

"Stop acting," Alex shook his head and got up to leave.

Jacob followed closely behind him like a pet dog, wagging his invisible tail.

"Brother, I want to ask you something about yesterday's party. Do you really not like that girl who was with you?" Jacob asked, still following him.

"Didn't I confirm you this thing yesterday?"

"Don't lie to me. Your reaction at that time was telling me something else. How will you explain the meaning behind your angry reaction when I said about me having a chance in her life? What was that, huh?" Jacob smirked.

" I told you that girl has a boyfriend and I was just worried about you. Knowing you, I was sure that you would definitely try to pursue her and got this handsome face of yours beaten in red and blue from her boyfriend. That anger was out of concern." Alex justified.

" Aww...." Jacob looked at his brother with teary and emotional eyes, " My brother really cares for me. I feel so touched."

But when he noticed his brother ignored his acts and going towards the car, Jacob stopped his emotional act and said, " But I still doubt you. You need to give answers of some of my questions to clear my doubts."

"Keep your doubts in your pocket. I don't mind you doubting me. I have lots of things to do and have no time to give answers and explanations to your silly questions," Alex ended the conversation and left the bungalow for the office, leaving poor little Jacob unanswered with his millions of questions.

"You are too much, big bro," Jacob smiled with a mischievous look on his face. "No worries. I'll show you that I'm your real brother and don't give up on things that easily. I won't sit back without knowing the answers." waving his hand, he went back inside the bungalow.

...

At Trio's house...

Anna and Kayara were relaxing on the couch, while Sophie was stalking the ends of the balcony talking to her father on the phone.

"Kayara..." Anna called.

"Hmm? "

"How will you do this? Do you have any plans?" Anna asked.

"No, I don't have any plan. I don't even know him," Kayara said with a straight face, "Let's know more about him. We can search his social media accounts. Maybe we will get some clue about that guy like some photos of him."

Anna nodded and reached for her laptop immediately. She started her research. After a few minutes of clicking and scrolling and rechecking, they got some answers.

"Oh my goodness, so this is Alexander Smith. I saw this handsome man at the restaurant that day. Kayara, look this is the man who stole our Sophie's heart. But sadly there is only one picture of him," she turned the laptop screen so that Kayara could see the picture.

"AHHHH!" Kayara screamed, leaning back in surprise. The scream was loud screechy one, but thankfully Sophie didn't heard it.

"What's wrong Kayara? Are you hurt somewhere?" Anna asked worriedly.

"A-Are you sure that he is the great businessman, Alexander Smith?" Kayara asked with invisible drops of sweat on her forehead.

"Yes, I'm hundred and one percent sure that he is the same Alexander, the great business man. It is a verified account and see, he has also mentioned it in his bio," Anna explained.

"So that means he is a businessman….not a bartender," Kayara murmured to herself in low voice.

"What are you murmuring Kayara? Do you know him?"

"Huu…Remember the Alexander whom I met in party?" Kayara asked.

"Yeah, that bartender who now become Sophie's admirer. And thanks to us, he don't even know that." Anna confirmed with a giggle.

Kayara pointed towards the photo on laptop screen and said, "Yes, this... these two identities are of same person. I mean... Umm.. he is not a bartender, actually he's a businessman. I met this man before. Not once, but twice. And I mistook him as a bartender and even ordered him around."

" You mean there is only one Alexander Smith in real?" Anna asked, enticing a nod from Kayara.

"Pfft... We have created one extra Alexander Smith. One who is bartender and proposed Sophie, other is this great businessman whom our Sophie likes." Anna concluded.

" Yes."

"And you ... Are you for real, Kayara?" Anna tried not to laugh, "Does he look like a bartender to you?" Anna couldn't control her laughter anyway and burst out.

"No, it's not like that. At the party he approached me when Sophie left for the washroom and was flirting with me like a p*****t. I couldn't sense any 'gentle' vibe from him as Sophie told us about him," Kayara observed.

"That's great!! Kayara, this will help us in our mission. You can talk to him about Sophie and her feelings for him! You don't have to pursue him for talks."

"No Anna, I don't think he deserves our Sophie. This man is no good." she refused to agree with Sophie's explanations about this man. And she couldn't allow Sophie to be with a flirt like him. "No, no... I'll try to convince her to forget that p*****t. I don't want our bestie to suffer because of this man," Kayara sighed and got up to head toward Sophie.

Anna held her hand and stopped her.

"Kayara, do you think Sophie, our great lady devil, would choose some bastard? Isn't she the one who's much more careful than us about matters like that?" Anna said seriously. Kayara paused for a moment. Anna was right. But her two meetings with Alexander were saying otherwise.

"But what will we do if her choice hurt her in future?" Kayara protested again.

"Oof, Kayara...I'm not saying that you have to make them partners in a day. Listen to me carefully, you are not going to talk about this with Sophie. She knew him from years and you just met him twice. You might have misunderstood this Alexander guy."

"Then how can I clear this misunderstanding about him?" she puffed her cheeks cutely, not understanding what her friend wanted to tell her.

"My cutie, it is very simple. You have to befriend him, so that you can know him, his nature and his personality better. Understand?" Anna explained to her. Anna had learnt a lot of business tactics from her father. It never hurt to use a little of it in real life.

"You mean I have to be friends with him," Kayara tried to confirm what her friend was saying and Anna nodded in agreement, "Let's make some new friends," she winked at Kayara.

"No, no, no…I can't make that meanie my friend," Kayara refused.

"Are you sure? This is the only way you can know him better," Anna narrowed her eyes.

Kayara groaned in frustration. She was trapped now, "Fine. For the sake of Sophie and her happiness, I'll do it."

After a short pause, Kayara looked at Anna and said, " Don't let her know that these two are the same person. Otherwise she will connect that proposal thing with Alexander, the business legend. And it is something near to impossible to be real."

" Okay. I'll keep that in mind. But Kayara, the man whom our Sophie liked was that same businessman. Making him fall for our Sophie? How will you make this 'impossible thing' possible?"

" I'll definitely find out some way. I have to. However, Sophie shouldn't know that the proposal was from him. It will give her false hopes." Kayara reasoned out. " Oh God!! That prank created a big mess here. " She gritted in frustration.

...