Dream City, Australia

  "Please be careful of that!" Hazel reminded the temporary hotel boy who loaded her bags in the car. "Thank you!"

  Hazel thanked the guy gleefully when he followed her request. There was a smile on her face. But then it disappeared after she turned around and saw the person she had been avoiding for many days now.

  "Hazel, where are you going? Isn't the flight back to P Country scheduled tomorrow night?" asked Jake, scanning the bags on the ground.

  Hazel didn't reply to Jake but turned around and left the hotel front door. However, Jake quickly catches her up with his long, athletic legs.

  "What are you doing?" Hazel stopped in her tracks and snapped at Jake. It upset her that this guy didn't give her a chance to breathe, and he was pestering her every time they saw each other. "Stop following me!"

  "I just wanted to talk to you."

  "Alright. I'm not going back yet. All the girls will go to Melbourne, where one of Hailee's yacht docks is waiting for us. Hailee wanted to treat her bridesmaids and the grooms to relax and have fun after a long week of preparation. We're going shopping and sailing from the South to the Northern coast!"

  Jake creased his forehead as he asked, "Why wasn't I notified?"

  "I don't know, and it's not my business to know. So can you stop bothering me?"

  Jake pressed his mouth against Hazel's dismissal. His heart filled with protest.

  "I would not bother you if you weren't ignoring me like this." Jake's voice is even getting lower the more he speaks to Hazel.

  Somehow, he was already familiar with her attitude. It was too dangerous to provoke her; otherwise, his attempt would be vain.

  "But there is nothing we need to talk about!" Hazel retorts at Jake.

  "I am asking you to start over again. Please, I will be a better boyfriend this time."

  Hazel raises an eyebrow at Jake's statement. From what she remembered, she and Jake only have a mutual understanding of what she remembered, but they aren't officially in a relationship.

  Yes, they were dating as Jake acted like he was courting her. The guy asks her out for brunch or a movie after dinner date or just accompanying him somewhere. But Jake didn't ask her if she wanted to be his girlfriend or confess that he loved her.

  Instead, on several occasions, Jake came to cross his ex-girlfriends while they were on a date. Jake seemed still intimate with those girls. As they were throwing their bodies at him, which he didn't actually avoid, he seemed to enjoy flirting!

  What was that?

  Are you supposed to fool around if you are interested in someone?

  Some people say she had no right to get jealous or entitled because she was not his girlfriend yet.

  But how come?

  Is it that likely she is stupid?

  Then, as she has no title in Jake's life, she starts ignoring him and rejects all of his invitations. What's the use of sticking around with him if he could not respect her as his companion on a date?

  She has different principles from everyone.

  If someone is interested in her, his eyes should be fixed only on her and not on other girls. How could she trust him if he could not already commit himself to her?

  Isn't dating is to show she could trust him?

  She is not an easy girl, so she wants a man equal to her beliefs. When she started dating Jake, she didn't entertain other suitors.

  But Jake deliberately flirted in front of her every time he met someone he knew, especially his ex-girlfriends.

  People would say he is just friendly. But she knew the difference between being friendly and being flirtatious.

  'Ah!' Hazel screamed inwardly. These thoughts drove her crazy. Jake was not her boyfriend yet, but he had already made her insane.

  "Jake, I'm sorry. I can't date you anymore."

  "Why? Is it because of James? Will you really choose that kind of man compared to me?"

  Hazel's ears buzz listening to Jake. She sneered inwardly, shocked at how boastful he was.

  "Yeah! James cannot compare to you! He is nicer than you! He is actually more of a gentleman! How about you? All you know is flirting with other girls!"

  Hazel knows to herself that she is acting childish. But she is scared to gamble because she can't give Jake what those girls are willing to offer to him.

  She is unwilling to have a physical relationship with him. But is it wrong to ask for an emotional commitment in a relationship?

  She and Jake are completely opposite people, and it's what she sees.

  In Jake's past relationship, he didn't want any strings attached to all of his girlfriends. However, she wants her boyfriend to be emotionally invested in her.

  She doesn't want to play in a game of love. Once one of them is tired or finds a new flame… Just like that, they can walk out the door without drama.

  It's not what kind of relationship she dreamed of since she knew love. Hazel thought she wanted to be coveted in love, seriously. And so, she didn't want to play around.

  On the other hand, Jake clenched his hands into fists on his sides. He was not compared to anyone before, and his past relationships and fling were satisfied with him.

  How come that a noisy guy can be greater than him? Is Hazel blind? Jake thought.

  His heart filled with resentment toward James. However, James is very close to Vincent's wife, and there is no way he would start a dispute that pressured Vincent's relationship with Hailee.

  Vincent is head over heels to his wife. He knew Vincent would not side with him. Besides, Hailee is a lovely person; he could not dare to bring trouble to the couple.

  Jake was in a rage a while ago. But he calms down and chooses not to meet Hazel's anger; it won't result in any good.

  "Alright. What do you want me to do?" Jake yields, which stuns Hazel.

  Hazel is the only one who made him work up like this for all the girls he showed an interest in. He chases none of his ex-girlfriends because it was them who crawled back to his bed.

  But when it comes to Hazel, he was willing to kneel on one foot. And so he has to persuade this girl.

  However, Jake's face frowned when Hazel burst out laughing. It means this girl didn't take him seriously when he was already bathing in a cold sweat, and his heart was beating violently.

  The people who come out from the hotel's entrance door look at them curiously. Jake gritted his teeth and hissed inwardly. It was clear that Hazel would play hard to get so that he wouldn't give up, of course.

  "Hazel, I'm serious."

  "You're not, and so you can stop wasting your time with me because I would still give you the same answer. NO. I won't date you again."

  'I'm not completely blind yet!' Hazel added in her head.

  After she says that, she leaves Jake and looks for Nadia and Liza. Hazel sneered in her heart after finding her friends exchanging WhatsApp with a French and Italian hunk!

  'What a traitor, friends! They made a vow with me that we will ignore all the boys and focus on building our careers rather than having a relationship with anyone!'

  She was the one who will go to Korea and then Paris soon to take an alternative course, and she will start working as the Davies Cosmetic Ambassador. So then, she has to be familiar with how Vera formulated those amazing skincare products and cosmetics.

  And speaking of her boss, she hasn't seen her yet. Hazel walked closer to Nadia and Liza after the two guys they've been chatting with climbed to their cars and left for the airport.

  "Girls, have you seen Miss Vera?"

  Nadia and Liza only shrugged their shoulders. They also did not notice Hailee's beautiful cousin after midnight as they had fun dancing with others after a DJ began playing upbeat songs. It was the time too when they met the two boys who'd just left, and they only flirted with them, ignoring anybody else.

  ***

  On the other side, Fraine is trailing down the hallway, pushing her small luggage. Most of her bags were already brought by a hotel boy, but she preferred to carry this luggage as it has important documents and her medicines inside.

  "Mommy Fraine!"

  Fraine was surprised when a six-year-old girl rushed to her and tightly hugged her waist.

  "I missed you, mommy Fraine."

  Fraine softened her gaze and squatted down to return a tight embrace to the little girl that was fond of her. "Hello, Sam."

  Sam parted from Fraine; she stared at her with teary eyes as she asked,

  "Mommy Fraine, when are you going home?"