Broken But Yours

3. Beast and his beauty

"I don't think so," he replied, with zero sympathy.

I was about to leave his office disappointed when I noticed that somebody had been seated in the chair opposite the professor the entire time. He looked up at me with a smile that quickly faded, and then I exited.

As I walked away, I heard somebody calling me.

"Ms. Milburn, wait..." I turned around and found the same guy from the professor's office standing in front of me.

"Yes?" I asked, confused.

"I overheard your conversation with Prof. Gardenerr. I'm Mark Austin, an MBA student. I think I might be able to help you with this project," he said with a smile.

He was about 6 feet tall, a handsome guy with dimples on his cheeks when he smiled.

I looked at him with confusion and asked, "But the professor said that nothing can be done about my problem."

"Not officially, but unofficially," he replied.

"Unofficially?" I asked, still puzzled.

"The project guidelines say that you need to work in a group of two to complete the project, but it doesn't specify that you can't take help from a third person," he explained, smiling proudly.

"But why would you help me?"

"Maybe because I like the way you smile," he grinned at me flirtatiously.

I confess that I started blushing after his comment. He seemed like a nice and genuine guy, at least better than Mr. "Don't mimic me."

Why the hell am I thinking about him? Arghh...Shut up, you, mini-me!

*****

Two days later

"Elsa, please don't force me. I don't want to go to his apartment again. The experience I had the last time was enough for me," I said as I continued jotting down a few important notes from the internet for my project, while Elsa stood in front of me dressed in her black shorts and white tank top.

"But Oliver has thrown this party for us. We won the titles at the freshers' night, and he wanted to celebrate it. Moreover, I like him a lot. Please come with me," she said, making a puppy face.

I thought for a while and felt sorry for being such a selfish friend. Elsa had never said no to anything I asked her to do, and here I was ignoring her request just because of my silly ego.

I smiled and said, "Let's go then." It made her jump in excitement. I closed my laptop and got into the shower to get ready. I chose to wear a casual button-down denim dress with a loose white woollen top inside and paired it with brown ankle-length boots. I did light makeup and put on my glasses. Can't do anything without them.

****

We reached Oliver's place in about 20 minutes and were now waiting for him to open the door. After a few seconds, he greeted us at the door. Elsa hugged him, and I gave him a side hug before entering his apartment.

I just hoped I wouldn't run into him at all tonight. I was already frustrated from working on the project non-stop for the last two days. The last thing I wanted was to encounter him and spoil my mood.

I walked toward the snacks counter and started munching on some snacks, while Elsa and Oliver greeted our other friends who were already there.

"Nice to see you here, Amber. Wasn't expecting you to be here," Mark said as he approached me with a soft drink in his hand.

"Hey, nice to see you too," I replied with a smile.

He stood beside me, and we began chatting.

"You look really cute today," he complimented, making me blush.