Beautiful Ruins

Chapter#07

She was whistling when she entered her room, her mood was unexpectedly good. Plopping herself on the bed, she noticed that she had unread messages and missed calls from both Chub and Oliver. She didn't wanted to call them back so she just read the messages. Both were just to inform that the information she needed was sent to her email.

Her mood suddenly got even better.

She quickly opened up her laptop and checked her email. Oliver's email just included some past reports on Coleman family's business. The shadiness in it made her grin like a Chester cat but his business wasn't something she was very interested in, for her that was boring and anyway in her mind every other corporate sector some way on another made black money. Even if she used this information, it won't be as damaging.

Chub's email was what she was excited for. It was juicy, tea spilling material which Coleman was desperate to hide. Two illegitimate children, one from a long term mistress which was an open secret and other was from a prostitute which was something she could use. The child was taken away from the woman and was being raised abroad. There were also pictures which different women in bedrooms and hotels.

He really does have a lower half.

Chub had tagged them as 'wives of board members' which Ace was living for. Coleman was a well maintained man for his age unlike his board members who probably believed that keeping women satisfied with money was doing the deal except we all know, women can be such greedy creatures. So obviously those young women who was only old enough to be their granddaughters turned to a man like Coleman who not only lavished them with money but also satisfied their needs as they enjoyed the position of board member's wives.

It also included receipts of expensive gifts which were purchases under Coleman and more pictures of those women wearing them.

You never fudging gift a long lasting gift to a short term partner, you amateur! Ace cursed him in her head. The level of material he leaves behind in enough to write a book.

She information Oliver gave also had his personal email address and phone number so she simple copied the pictures and send them to him without any message. He will come begging soon enough.

With that she felt she was finally done for the day. She didn't get to sleep as much as she had planned but at least the day didn't go by as dull as she thought. She leaned back on her pillow and closed her eyes.

Once again the red ears of Daniel came into her view and her lips turned upwards in a smirk.

He really was such a cute guy and surprisingly blunt or just stupid. She also had a feeling that his friend who actually advice him would have vomited blood if he knew how well Daniel took that advice.

Once again her thoughts went to what kind of person Daniel was. Her impression of him greatly took a turn today after their walk. She found him awkward and quiet naive in many areas but being naive wasn't always a bad thing. The fact that he was open about his thought no matter how bizarre they sounded to others was very amusing for her. It has been the first time she encountered such a guy who though was very confused about liking her, said he didn't and even stubbornly refuse to like her as well. His reasons wouldn't be that hard to find. If something had happened to him in past, she can simply ask around to get to the bottom of the situation.

She haven't been asked out much before. Men were usually very afraid of her and in her past schools, she had a bad reputation. And those who had the guts were usually those who had too much confident that a girl wouldn't refuse them. Also they had no idea how to understand when a girl says no. She hated persistent men which usually men are in this age.

Now she really sounded like a grandma.

When was the last time she actually dated someone? There was a guy back in 2nd grade who everyone for some reason teased her about. She didn't even know his name. She can't say they dated because he never spoke a word to her but one day just shifted to the seat beside her. She was pretty indifferent at that age as well so she ignored his existence. Mike wasn't in the same section so she used to like reading books in her free time. Friends weren't her cup of tea. It was on a school trip when it happened, the kid probably in excitement and due to teasing of others, tried to hold her hand. She reacted harshly and not only jerked his hand away but also pushed him to glare at him.

That was the last day she ever saw that guy around her. She did hear that he moved on to someone else and she was happy for him.

Later on, it wasn't that she had something against dating. She simply had no time and she was just hella picky. She believed herself to be a free soul who refuse to be bounded by a man.

She only agreed to Daniel because she was interested in him as a person. If he had not said that he didn't wanted to like her- she would have gotten done and over with it but she liked challenges. If he believed that he can't possibility like her because he didn't know her then she can simply change that. He refuse to like her, she would make him adore her. It sounded fun.

Also she didn't really had much to lose except for time which she had a bit too much. If he ends up falling for her after all, it would be his loss. If he didn't, they can both go their separate ways.

The thought that there could be a chance she might lose her heart didn't even cross her mind.

They had agreed to keep this thing low profile which she agreed to. She didn't wanted to cause any unnecessary trouble for herself or questions. If my chance even Mike finds out, everyone in the world would naturally know as well. They will meet at 7 everyday for next two weeks for two hours. What they will be doing, she left it on him since it sounded bothersome.

The next day was cloudy and dark, a combination Ace loved. She walked to school slowly, enjoying the slow dripping of rain over herself. The first period probably had passed when she wasn't even half way. There were days like this she just wanted to walk around all day aimlessly.

She didn't hear the honk due to her headphones but noticed the black Pontiac GTO which stopped beside her figure. She lowered her head to see who it was and to her surprise it was Daniel.

"Are you running late as well? Want a ride?" he asked quietly in a very polite and formal manner.

This man was raised too right. She was actually wondering how much was it actually a ploy.

She shook her head and replied, "I am just roaming in the rain. You can go ahead."

He blinked at her and then said, "Walk straight ahead, there is a track few miles ahead which goes up the mountain. You will see the sign of it. Just keep on this road." and with that he drove away while she stared at him in awe.

What a strange alien he is. She thought. His reactions came as a pleasant surprise to her and as she walked towards his direction, she found that she was actually looking forward to tonight.

It took her about 3 hours to climb the track. Mostly because she was walking very slow and also she hated climbing but the scenery was too beautiful too miss. She wasn't worried about getting lost because the track was quiet simple and also, she was good at remembering directions. She wanted to roam around a bit and take some more pictures but it would get dark if she waited any longer and considering it took her 3 hours to go up, she still would need around 2 hours to go down and then also walk home.

She was also starving.

Actually, the junk in her bag had actually been useful for once and she nibbled on her stash of food when she was climbing but now not only her bag but her stomach was also empty.

When she finally hit the road to walk towards her home, it was getting dark. It was still around 6 pm so she wasn't in much hurry. She would need a warm bath to help her muscles but that would hardly take 20 minutes.

When she reached home, Mike was waiting in her room, going through her shelves of novels. When he saw her creep in her room, he grinned at her and raised an eyebrow.

"You were literally just suspended!"

"So?" she asked while taking her shoes off.

"Ace, if you wanna get into a good law school- you can't ruin your chances this way." Mike sighed.

"Mike, if you believe good grades and attendance gets you in good universities, you need to poop that bubble already." she said and entered her bathroom, shutting the door loudly behind.

She loved Mike but sometimes she really doubted if he had any grey brain cells.

The soak in the bath made her sleepy enough to almost call Daniel and cancel the plan but she wasn't the kind to go back on a promise and she was curious about how it would turn out. She dressed herself warmly since it was still drizzling and rushed to the kitchen to eat something. She did found leftovers from lunch which was chicken fried rice. From the smell of it, Mike made it for himself. She was suddenly not feeling as hungry anymore but just for humoring herself, she pulled out the leftover ice-cream she had bought two days back and ate a bowl.

Ice-cream, rain and cold- not the best of her ideas but she will forgive herself for it.

The time she came out on her porch, Daniel was already waiting on the street. His car was with him and he was leaning on it with arms crossed on his chest. When he saw her, he quietly open the door for her and when she awkwardly sat down- not being used to treated this way, he closed the door and went to driving side to sit.

"I forgot to ask. We can walk if you don't want to sit in the car." his words sounded awkward as he scratched his neck and Ace was suddenly very interested in how he usually acts with girls.

"Are you usually like this with women?" the words left her mouth before she could think them over.

His blue eyes stared at her, widening a bit.

"Like what?" he asked.

"This straight forward, this awkward...?"

He seemed to be thinking over the answer as his eyes moved to the front, his lips were in frown. They were really small, his lips and a bit pale, Ace noticed.

"I haven't ever been alone with a girl before so I can't say." he replied after few seconds, eyes turning back to look at her straight in her eyes.

"You mean this is your first time dating?"

His eyes widen in surprise as he blurted out, "We are dating?!"

She suddenly felt very awkward. They weren't? Isn't this what dating is? Google defined dating as two people getting to know each other on bases that they might turn into lovers. Was it wrong? Did some asshole posted wrong definition of dating.

For the first time in her life she felt heat creep up to her neck.

She turned towards him again to see her staring at her or something on her. His eyes were kind of in daze. It took him few seconds to shake his head and look her in the eyes again. To clear himself up he said, "Sorry, you are right. I guess we can call it dating."

She slowly nodded, no longer feeling awkward. He started the car probably sensing she was okay with it and started driving around. She glanced at him from time without being shy with it. The car was silent through out the drive. After about 10 minutes, they arrived in a small park which was empty of any soul.

She had noticed that he was freakingly safe driver.

"If you are uncomfortable at a place like this, we can change locations." he offered when he noticed her looking around from her seat.

She was still confused about her feeling towards his this treatment so she slowly shook her head and got out, without waiting for him to come and open her door which she had a feeling he would have if she had given him time. He was truly raised a gentleman, not something you see much at this age.

When she saw the empty swings, she ran towards them. The rain was still slow and soft so she didn't let it harbor her fun. She sat down on the slightly wet seat and started swinging slowly as Daniel followed to join her.

His gaze on her was curious.

He sat down on the other swing and softly called her name. The word was almost said in a sigh, a voice which made Ace be slightly confused about what he actually felt and how unaware he really was about his own feelings towards her.

She slowed down her pace and looked at him sitting there, unmoving in the soft drizzle. His figure somehow seemed lonely to Ace as if he was someone who was trying very hard to maintain his normality.

"Tell me you."