The Rejected Alpha's Counselor

Chapter 6 Negotiation

Ara’s POV

Ara can feel the way Nick looks at her somehow changes after she praises his trick. The way he looks at her is no longer condescending but is filled with emotion too complex to be analyzed. She sees a flicker of light appearing in Nick’s eyes, an unnoticeable blush across his cheek and a hint of smile on his lips.

The change is so abrupt that it is confusing and terrifying. Ara leans back a little, pretending to stretch her legs. She also lowers her head to avoid eye contact. She has been used to being ignored by others, and she cannot bear the sudden scrutinizing, not to mention being watched by a pair of sapphire eyes. They are as blue as the sky and as mysterious as the ocean. Ara cannot help but steal a glimpse at Nick from the corner of her eyes. Not until then did she realize that the man sitting in front of her looks quite attractive. Sitting in the swivel chair, Ara cannot tell how tall Nick is, but his height must be above average because she can always spot him among their colleagues. Then she notices he wears a white T-shirt today with a pair of black trousers. His dressing is simple and neat without any decorations, which happens to be her taste for clothing. The longer Ara watches him, the more confused she becomes.

She wonders why a young bachelor with such good appearances and a decent job needs an counselor to find a girlfriend. Theoretically, if Nick announces that he is looking for a romantic relationship, there would be hundreds and thousands of girls out there willing to give it a try.

So what stops them? There must be some reasons. Does Nick want to stay single? Ara quickly rules out this possibility——if so, why would he participate in a blind-dating program? Not to mention its registration fees are not a small number according to Ara’s research.

Ara ponders for a while and theorizes that Nick’s inability to get himself a girlfriend could result from his personality. He isn’t talkative and has an aura of arrogance, which could be the root cause of his singleness. Ara is about to produce more presumptions when Nick suddenly grabs a ball from somewhere, which distracts Ara’s attention. She focuses her eyes on Nick, seeing him throw the ball with his right hand and catches it with his left hand. It reminds her of her experience in the orphanage. When Ara broke the rules and was sent to Miss Murphy’s office, Ara would figure out a way to entertain herself. The educational lesson was very dull but Ara didn’t want to be impolite. So she would sit there obediently yet absentmindedly. Sometimes she would count numbers in her mind, while other times she would observe bugs or ants. As long as her conception of time changes, time will flow faster, and she can survive the meaningless lecture. Ara never understood the necessity to go to bed before 9 p.m. when she was a child, nor did she find this reasonable when she grew up.

Based on her observation and personal experience, Ara assumes her chat with Nick already bores the latter and this is not a good sign. So she takes action when Nick throws that ball again. Ara suddenly leans forward, snatching the ball in the air, which gives Nick a startle.

“That’s my ball.”He quickly recollects himself and gazes at Ara in agony,“I’d like to have it back.”

“Sorry but the answer is no.”Ara denies his request without any hesitation, “This is our mission. You’ll have your toy back when we finish the talk. It is crucial for the client and counselor to establish a good partnership at the beginning and I need you to concentrate on the talk. The closer we are, the more I can help you.”

“You sound like a therapist.”Nick winces, “Thank you but I don’t need your help.”

“Really? Then why did you sign up for the VIP dating program?”

Nick contemplates for a while, thinking if he should smash the table and resign or hold back his anger and tell Ara the truth. Either response doesn’t look good to Nick and he ultimately figures out a third way. With a deep breath, Nick calms himself down and lies, “I signed up for the program with an initial purpose to check if the algorithm runs well. After all, this program was designed by our company and the real practice is the best way to detect errors.”

“I see. So your participation in the program is merely a check on the procedure?”

“Correct.”Nick nods.

To a certain extent he doesn’t lie. Every cloud has a silver line and this is the only payoff Nick could see in this program. Not that Nick is an optimistic person, but he does need to persuade himself so that the procedure can carry on.

“I know why this is a red ball mission now.” Ara muses, “To establish a romantic relationship is not what interests you. Therefore, you might not be sincere in the blind dating, which will cause a sharp decline in the rate of success.”

“Great analysis.”Nick replies sarcastically, “It is good to see you understand the situation from the very beginning. ”

“But is a romantic relationship unacceptable for you? I mean, will it make you uncomfortable?”

Nick ponders on the question and shakes his head, “No.”

“Wonderful! So there is still hope!”Ara exclaims and tries to convince Nick, “I know you don’t owe me anything, but would you kindly give it a try for my sake? I really want to be a member of Moonlight and it seems that the only person I can rely on is you. ”

This is ridiculous. Nick wants to reject but cannot utter the refusal when he sees the sincerity in Ara’s eyes. He considers her words carefully. Instead of answering Ara, Nick asks, “Why do you want to work for Moonlight?”

Not expecting such a question, Ara blinks and says, “Because I want to understand people.” She hesitates and confesses, “I am not good at that. In fact, my socialization sucks. Sometimes I feel like I am an alien, shunned out by the world, desperate to find out a method to fit in the planet. I cannot understand people, especially their emotions. That’s why I chose machine learning as my major. It allows me to escape from socialization. More than that, artificial intelligence helps me adapt myself into the environment.”

“How?”

“To teach a machine to predict people’s behavior, you need to feed it untold billions of information. The more you offer, the more accurate prediction it can make.”Ara explains enthusiastically, “This is how I programmed The Moon, a device whose major function is to analyze people’s behavioral patterns to foretell their next move. To acquire those information, you need to observe people. Through learning the majority’s common behavior, you will gradually know how to act like normal people and get in the swing of things. I haven’t fully mastered the tricks and I am still working on it. But it is useful. I am much more talkative than I used to be. ”

“You don’t have to do that. To pretend to be someone else.” Nick’s expression softens and he comforts her before he realizes what he is doing.

“Thank you for your nice words.”Ara is surprised and looks at Nick intensely, trying to understand why he suddenly appears to be so considerate.

Nick feel uneasy about being stared. He squirms in the chair and clears his throat,“Do you happen to bring The Moon with you?”

“Absolutely. I treasure it more than my life.”Ara nods and gladly takes the device out and hands it to Nick.

“Why do you call it The Moon? Its shape doesn’t look like the moon.”Nick examines the delicate device whose shape is a rectangle.

“To be honest, the device didn’t have a name. I came up with it during my interview with Leslie.” Ara makes a grimace and smiles, “The company is called Moonlight and I think naming the device as The Moon is a way to show my sincerity.”

Nick smiles knowingly, “Was the trick helpful?”

“I don’t know. Leslie might have a clearer idea than me. But I never asked him, though. I got the intern opportunity and that’s enough for me.”Aura answers with a sense of pride. It occurs to her that she has answered a lot of questions from Nick yet she barely gained any information about him.

You’re the counselor and this Nick is your client, not the other way around.Time to switch the table. Ara reminds herself. She reaches out her hand and says, “May I have it back so we can continue?”

The smile on Nick falls. He focuses his gaze on the device and then on Ara’s face and eventually states, “I didn’t say I am in.”

“Procedurely, you’re already in. You signed up for that program, remember?”Ara leans forward, placing her fingers on the device. She fails to grab it back in her first attempt as Nick holds it tightly.

He is just as stubborn as her. On the one hand, Ara worries a forceful snatch will break down the device so she dares not to gather all her strength.On the other hand, however, Ara is unwilling to loosen the grip because the Moon is hers and she has every right to have it back. It is like a contest between them and the result of the first round is a tie.

“Give it back to me.”Ara warns.

“Not until I have my ball back.”

Ara thinks about the condition and nods. She places the ball on the table and pushes it to Nick. Nick grabs it and lets go of the device simultaneously.

“Thank you.”Ara says in a tone that doesn’t sound grateful at all. She lets out a sigh and proposes, “Shall we continue? I still wish to work with you. But if you’re highly against establishing a romantic relationship, reject me now so both of us don’t have to waste time here.”

If Ara had offered this alternative the moment Nick entered the room, he would gladly agree without any hesitation. However, something Ara does or says changes his mind and makes him reconsider the offer. Nick lists the pros and cons in his mind and concludes that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Thus, he ultimately gives the nod and says, “Alright. Let’s do this. What do you need me to do?”