No Strings Attached

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THIS STORY STARTS "MORE THAN A YEAR" AFTER THE EPILOGUE OF HOW TO BREAK UP WITH THE BAD BOY © OF BEEYOTCH.

 

Chapter One.

"No Strings Attached"

—Chance Lucas Sandoval—

"Come on, Chance. No strings attached..." She tugged at my arm but I slapped it away. She's very persistent and it's annoying me already. How many times do I have to tell her that there's no way in hell that I'm going to participate her d-amned plan? If I can just give her an award, I'll give her the award for Consistency.

"No." I gritted my teeth, for like the twentieth time then I emptied my fifth glass of scotch in three gulps. Napanguso naman si Eleanor Kai Gonzales, ang babaeng kanina pa ako kinukulit. First off, she has no right to annoy me at this time of the night. I'm not in the mood for games because the celebration for Lourd and Monique's Engagement just happened a while ago in our house.

And even if I'm not that stupid to go there and witness for myself how happy Monique is with Lourd, I have to. Lourd is still my brother. And Monique's still a friend. How epic, right?

I accepted my Dad's offer to promote me as the new CEO of our company so that he can give his blessing for Lourd and Monique's wedding. Way to go, Chance. I can be the best martyr ever.

I ran a hand through my hair before closing my eyes, as I tried to recall what Eleanor was talking about earlier. Matibay din talaga si Eleanor at may gana pang mangdamay sa kalokohan niya.

Why did I even talk to her in the first place?

I'm not one to care if some random woman would come and try to talk to me. I'm done dating. I'm done caring for women who did nothing but break my heart.

But is this woman an exception?

You can say that. I can't just ignore her like what I normally do with others. First, she's the daughter of Euan Gonzales, one of my Dad's closest and most trusted partner in business.

I don't know her personally because I am not friends with her, but I'm knowledgeable enough to know that I should not screw things up with her―that might end up into an ending of a business partnership.

I often hear about her during meetings and gatherings. I am a year older than her but we're both raised for the same purpose―to run our family businesses someday. We graduated at the same time in UP Diliman. I remember seeing her during our Graduation in an elegant white dress, nakangiti habang nakasuot ng sablay gaya ko. She looked happy. If I am not mistaken, she took up BA Psychology as I took Business Administration. And as of now, she's studying in UP College of Law in the hopes of becoming a Corporate Lawyer.

Wait.

Why the fuck am I thinking about this crazy half-stranger girl? I'm not supposed to care about her.

And besides, hindi ako papatol sa sinasabi ng babaeng to. She's forcing me to try on dating again with other women. Like what the hell right? This is my life, after all. I call all the shots on what I wanted to do with myself.