Love Began with the First Meeting

"How long are you going to stand there? Like forever?" Charlie asked in a low voice.

Elsa sighed and dragged herself to the table. She sat down unwillingly. She quickly gave her order and bit her lips.

"What on earth are you doing, Charlie? What's this all about?" she asked, glaring at Charlie.

Charlie took his time pouring a cup of iced coco for her and then replied gently, "What should I do to make you believe that I'm serious? I want you to be my girl, Elsa."

"Stop joking, Charlie." She thought that he was being ridiculous.

Charlie heaved a sigh and passed the cup to Elsa. He responded seriously, "I mean it, Elsa." He paused for a moment to calm down and continued, "Please listen to me. I have been more than serious ever since we met again. I know what I am doing." Before Elsa could say anything, he said in a husky voice, "I came back for you, Elsa. I came to this college for you." He had received his master degrees on both finance and economic management from Harvard. It was not necessary for him to come all the way to A city to accompany his twin sister to complete her college. Evelyn was never the reason why he had come here. With or without him, Evelyn could live a fascinating life. He had come for Elsa.

Elsa's eyes widened in astonishment, almost popping out of the sockets. "What do you mean? I don't believe you! You're here for me?" she exclaimed, almost in a mocking tone. But she felt goose bumps on her back, and her heart pounded wildly in her chest. "Yes," Charlie said without any hesitation. He licked his lips once and fixed his eyes on her. His gaze was speaking to her, imploring her to believe his words. "Elsa, I thought that you had figured that out this morning on the playground. Why do you look so puzzled now?" Elsa's face turned red in embarrassment.

She had only flung him down by accident this morning and the kiss was unintentional. To make things more complicated, some students had even taken their photos at that exact moment. She had ruined his reputation in college, and since he had a big crush on her, she had to be his girlfriend as compensation. He was making the best out of the situation.

"I-I didn't mean it, you know!" Elsa tried to explain, heat raising up on her face.

"I know," Charlie said with a small laugh. His words gave Elsa some relief. But then he went on, "I know that you didn't mean it, but you must have been pretty satisfied with what you had done." Elsa wanted to throw the cup at his handsome face. 'God, please get this man out of my sight before I kill him. Please!' Elsa screamed in her head.

But of course, God wasn't listening to her. It turned out that God was only willing to listen to Charlie. That was a truth that she would end up learning years after she started living with Charlie.

The dinner went on smoothly, regardless of what Elsa had in mind. She had multiple emotions striking her from two ends. She was depressed that her IQ was not on the same level of Charlie's. Without her even noticing, she had agreed to go out with him and had accepted to be his girlfriend. But on the other hand, she was excited that she got the chance to taste such amazing food. The limited edition chocolates, the fancy chocolate cake, the coco and all the foods she was mesmerized. As Charlie's girlfriend, these foods would be within her reach at any time, any place.

It would be a blessing for Elsa because she was obsessed about chocolates, and felt that it was the best thing invented by mankind.

After dinner, Charlie took Elsa back to her dormitory. He watched her walk into the building in her high-heels, but not in a very lady-like manner. He smiled at her awkwardness and turned around. Taking out his phone, he tapped on the screen a couple of times before placing it over his ear. "What did you do to Evelyn last night?" he asked coldly when the call connected after a few rings. His voice was sharp; the words stabbed right through Ezra's heart over the phone. Charlie was no more the warm gentleman who had just dropped his girlfriend, he was a defensive brother protecting his sister.

On the other side of the city, Ezra was in the middle of a meeting with an old client, who was sitting opposite him. He nodded to his client, excusing himself. He walked to the window behind him before saying anything into the phone. "I only did the same thing you did to Elsa this morning in the playground," he replied, narrowing his eyes.

Charlie continued to walk as he spoke to Ezra. He furrowed his brows when he spotted two figures sitting on a bench under the trees not too far away from where he was. Evelyn was holding a large carton of ice cream in her hand, too busy scooping out spoon after spoon. Bess was reading a book beside her. There was a sharp contrast between the two. Bess was as calm as a mountain and Evelyn, well, Evelyn was just being Evelyn.

Just like how Elsa liked to run when something was upsetting her, Evelyn had the habit of burying herself in ice cream when she encountered something annoying in her life. She would drown herself in the biggest ice cream tub she could find. And that was what she was doing right now.

"So, what are you planning to do next?" Charlie asked, his voice still bore no warmth.

Ezra was well aware of how much the Long Family cherished Evelyn, and he also knew that the largest difficulty waiting for him was not getting Evelyn's consent. He would have a difficult time trying to persuade her family members, especially her father and her two brothers. There was absolutely no doubt that the men from the Long Family were outstanding and fearless, and most people would be humbled in front of them. But Ezra was not one of them. He had the qualifications to stand out from the crowd. He was a distinguished lawyer, and the clients who came for his service offered nothing less than six figure fees for his council. Although it was nothing compared to the Long Family income, it was sufficient enough for him to support Evelyn, and the family he wanted to create with her.

"I sent an email to Uncle Brian and Auntie Molly last night," Ezra told Charlie, "Evelyn obviously needs time to think this over. She will accept me once she figures out her own feelings. Trust me."

"Are you sure about that?" Charlie smirked at his confidence.

"Huh?" Ezra was baffled. For a moment, he had nothing to say although he a silver-tongued lawyer. It was true that he was still not quite certain what Evelyn was thinking.

"Hmm, let's wait and see," Charlie replied with a sneer. When he finished saying that, he heard a female voice from Ezra's side.

"Excuse me, Mr. Zhou, but Mr. Long is here to see you," she said. Charlie assumed that it must be Ezra's secretary.

Ezra nodded to his secretary, as he spoke into the phone in a whisper, "Is Mark still in town?" But he didn't get any response, Charlie had hung up on him. Ezra heaved a deep sigh and cursed Charlie a thousand times in his head before turning to his client. "I'm sorry, but I have an urgent meeting now. Can we discuss your case at a later date?"0000000