White Vow

Chapter 1 - Sealed by the bet

Emmanuel Rios—or "Mauie" as friends would call him—groaned in frustration. Ever since he'd walked into the grand assembly room of Sky Corporation, his breath had grown increasingly low, a lump chunking his throat. He had gotten himself into a real mess this time. He was such a fool. If only he didn't lose the bet against that man!

Losing is not really the issue here, he thought, barely aware of the door creaking open. It's the bet I'm worrying about.

Bummer, he sighed, as he swivelled in his chair. He was way, way tougher than expected.

He lost the bet. Now that opponent wanted something from him. No, he didn't want money. The guy was already super rich! He supposed the bet wasn't too bad since all he had to do was MARRY A GIRL!

"This is so unreasonable!" Emmanuel told his opponent during their after their meeting.

"I can assure you that I'm not an unreasonable man, Emmanuel Rios," his opponent, a tall, good-looking brunette, said.

"Why pick me? I'm sure there are better and richer guys out there for her."

"I am quite aware of that, but rich and arrogant men simply won't do. I should know."

"And what makes you think I'm the best choice?"

A conceited smirk appeared on his face as he stared at Emmanuel behind his office desk, his eyes shrewd with intelligence and pride. "I know a great deal about you, Emmanuel Rios. Although you were a slacker, you graduated as one of the top students in Ruby High. You have a strong passion for your dreams and you have the ability to see spirits. I've recently learned that you housed the spirit of Leo."

Emmanuel's face fell. "Okay, so you did research on me. Swell… But I can't guarantee that she'll b e happy with me," he stated.

"Oh, she will. At least, you won't have trouble approaching her since you're already friends."

Emmanuel blinked in surprise. "We're what now?"

"More than just friends, to be exact. You even gained for the right to be her fiancé."

Emmanuel slapped himself on the forehead. How could he have been so naïve? He never did get to understand the whole fiancé thing until it hit him right in the kisser. He guessed there were worse things than marriage, although he wasn't ready for any commitments yet. Christ, he was only 17 years old, barely an adult.

"Emmanuel?"

Emmanuel leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling, imagining the girl he was going to marry. Then someone cleared her throat. Snapping back to reality, he rose up from his chair and spun on his heels. To his surprise, the person who now stood before him was none other than Julienne Diona.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Um…Well…I-I…" He suddenly got clumsy and tripped on his own feet, landing butt-first on the cold floor. "Oh, man…"

"Emmanuel, are you all right?"

He immediately got back on his feet, waving one hand slightly. "Yeah, never better! I was just around the neighborhood and I—erm…Well…" He was badly stuttering and he wanted to go hide in a hole somewhere.

Julienne couldn't help but giggle at his odd behavior. He'd found himself struck by her burst of sweet giggles. It was a nice sight.

Then her cell phone rang. "I have to take this," she said after seeing the caller id. "Excuse me." She pressed the answer key and placed the phone over her ear.