As I walked out of the recording studio, hot air struck my face. I dashed over to my car, climbed inside, and switched on the cooler. As soon as the frigid air began to permeate the car and give me a chill that felt like being burnt, I sighed a sigh of relief.

My contract with the management expired today, after I finished recording for my third single. As I start my automobile, my phone rings.

"Yes, Ariana is here."

"WHERE ARE YOU??"

When I heard Caroline's shouts, I pushed the phone away slightly; my manager and cousin are more louder and chattier than my mother.

"I'm already on my way."

"Come on, Ana! else you'll be replaced by a different model!"

"All right, I'm on my way."

I stepped on the gas pedal harder to accelerate to the area where I was filming a commercial for one of Coca-Cola's most popular products.

When I arrived on set, I quickly raced towards the team who had gathered and were working on the ad shoot set.

“You tortoise! Come here quickly, you will take it!” nagged Caroline, I just let out my horse grin. She would look like the Goddess of Death when she was angry.

After shooting the commercial was over, it was getting late into the night. Caroline came home with her boyfriend Andrew, I had a chance to see their intimate scene near Andrew’s car before they disappeared before my eyes. Sighing heavily, I’ve never been in love and dated with any man.

Whenever a man approached me I would only consider him a friend, nothing more. About dating invitations, I often refuse for various reasons, I don’t know, I haven’t thought about having a special relationship with a man, I’m still busy thinking about my career. And again, I don’t want to fall in love yet.

Once I liked a guy, but he didn’t like me just thought of me like his little sister, my feelings were not reciprocated. I’m disappointed, of course, but what can I do??! Maybe love isn’t on my side. My phone rings again and interrupts my unimportant daydream.

“Mom??!”

“Where are you, honey? Hurry home, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

“About what?”

“Go home first, I’ll tell you when you get home.”

I quickly got into my car and drove home. My mom seemed to want to talk seriously this time, suddenly my heart was pounding, a feeling of nervousness and curiosity came over to me.

When I got home and parked the car in the garage, I rushed downstairs. I saw a very expensive gray Mercedes Benz parked in my large yard, I just shrugged and assumed there must be guests.

“That’s Ariana, honey, come here,” Mom said which made me look at her as I was still in the doorway of the main entrance of my house. My gaze turned to my mom’s guest and those eyes seemed to hypnotize me, fading everything around me. A handsome face was looking at me who just stared at him in silence. That gaze seemed to nail my feet.

“Ariana,” my mother called, which jolted me back to reality, with a slight bow I walked over to my mother and sat beside her. There was a man, about half a century old sitting in front of him, beside him, a beautiful woman who looked graceful at her age. Both of them smiled at me, I smiled back and nodded respectfully before sitting down.

My gaze turned to the man with gold eyes sitting in front of me, the man looked at me with a sharp gaze that made my heart beat abnormally, I hastily lowered my face to hide the nervousness that seemed to squeeze all my nerves.

“Honey, this is Aunt Ramia and Uncle Abraham, they are here to propose to you.”

My mom’s words are like Thor’s thunderbolt which is very powerful in the Avenger movie, I was shocked, of course, my tongue went numb.

What? Propose Marriage of me?

My Inner Goddess was stunned on her red sofa, while my senses narrowed her eyes with her mouth open, surprised by this.

“And that’s Sean, your future husband,” said My mom again, I peeked at the man named Sean from behind my eyelashes while twisting my fingers between my thighs. I’m nervous, this handsome man is my future husband, whether this is a gift or a disaster but I can’t say anything and just choose to be silent, my mind is debating between wanting to deny and accept this fact.

“Auntie heard Ariana is a singer, is it true?” asked Aunt Ramia, I looked up at the charismatic beautiful woman who smiled shady, I smiled then nodded.

“Yes, auntie, I’m a singer,” I answered briefly with a feeling of shock that I was still trying to suppress.

“You know, Sean likes to hear your song, auntie caught him listening to it,” said Aunt Ramia with a witty glance in her eyes, instantly I turned to the handsome man in front of me and looked at him with a surprised look, the man chuckled and Aunt Ramia giggled as well as Uncle Valentino.

When Sean’s gaze met mine, I looked down again, it seemed I wouldn’t be able to stare at him for so long. Curse my blushing Inner Goddess, shit! This isn’t the time to be dazzled, well, though I admit in my head that he’s really handsome.

His gaze seemed to intimidate me, my whole body seemed to melt with his gaze, I was helpless with that gaze. Never before had I felt this way when I was stared at by a man, this man’s gaze was different and caused a spark of alien feeling within me.

“Your engagement will be held in a week, and Sean can use that time to get to know Ariana more,” said my mom while smiling happily, I swallowed my saliva with difficulty, my throat suddenly dry.

Just being in a position like this makes my heart feel like it’s about to explode, especially if I have to spend a lot of time alone with him, I could die young before getting engaged to him. When Uncle Valentino and Aunt Ramia were going home, the graceful woman gave me a warm hug, I hugged her back and gave them both a sincere smile before they left my terrace and headed for the car they were riding in.

“I’m sure Ariana will be able to make Sean the happiest man in the world,” said Aunt Ramia, I smiled awkwardly hearing her very convincing words.

“Tomorrow, Sean will pick up Ariana to come together to Rani’s birthday party,” added the elegant woman again, mom agreed and they looked happy, except for me who was busy struggling with my thoughts, which was still trying to digest this incident.

“Mom, are you serious about this?” I asked after an hour our guest left. We’re sitting on the living room couch right now, mom sipping her tea.

“Honey, Uncle Valentino’s family was your papa’s best friend when we lived in Thailand, maybe you’ve forgotten, when your father died, Uncle Valentino promised to be part of our family by being with us,” said My mom, I was stunned to hear that. Hell yeah! The arranged marriage since I wasn’t even born, isn’t fair isn’t it??!

“But, Mom, isn’t it too rushed? I just got my career.” I’m trying to negotiate here, but actually I want to refuse. In this day and age, who wants to be matched??!

“Mom is sure, this is the right time for you and Sean to get married. It would be better that way, mom will be calm if you marry Sean,” said my mom and I didn’t have the ammunition to argue with her, I lost badly.

“Where are they from, Ma?” I asked curiously.

“They’re from Dubai, honey. Uncle Valentino is the owner of one of the oil and gold mining companies, Valentino Enterprise Holding,” answered my mother, who was trying to be patient with my curiosity, and at that moment my mouth fell open.

“You mean, that was Valentino Al Abbas?” I asked again, making sure, My mom chuckled lightly, I know my current expression must be very silly, My mom nodded.

“And the man sitting across from me is Sean Valentino?!” I added, and My mom nodded once again, but I’m not familiar with the name, I try to remember, but nothing I only know them as one of the most famous businessmen with a series of successes in the business world.

“And Rani?” Still about the Valentino family, I heard that Aunt Ramia mentioned that name.

“Rani is Sean’s older sister, tomorrow is her birthday as well as celebrating her wedding anniversary.”

My mom put her empty cup on the table. I still can’t believe this, I’m getting engaged to a man who is in the top 10 most desirable single men in the world.

“You have a schedule tomorrow?”

I shook my head at my mom’s question.

“Be ready at 5 pm tomorrow, Sean will pick you up,” Mom said, I nodded weakly, then said goodbye to my room.

Again I thought about Sean’s figure, I pressed my chest which seemed to want to explode because of my beating heart.

What is wrong with me? Why is it that just remembering his gaze makes me feel like someone has a heart attack?

I exhaled regularly in an attempt to neutralize the strange feeling that came over me when I remembered Sean’s handsome face. I rolled over to change my lying position, then hugged my favorite bolster pillow, I still can’t believe what I experienced a moment ago, I haven’t even thought about marriage, it’s too soon.

As I kept thinking about what happened a few hours ago in the living room of my house, I fell asleep. And that night, my dreams were filled with Sean Valentino’s face.

Staring at my reflection in the mirror once more, and feeling that everything was perfect. I was wearing a pink sleeveless dress that was slightly puffy at the bottom, with prominent floral embellishments.

In dress, I don’t really like sexy clothes and too many open parts here and there. My mom smiled with a gleam on her face, I looked at her with my cheerful smile but actually I was having an extremely nervous bout.

“Mama can’t wait to see you get married, put on a wedding dress and be the prettiest,” she said, and the melancholy started to come out, I took a deep breath and rolled my eyes seeing her teary eyes. I got up from my seat, then turned around to face him, I hugged him affectionately.

“Mama will surely see that day and be happy too,” I comforted, but my heart suddenly became restless. Marriage is not on my list right now. Unraveling my embrace, then we both went to the living room.

“Sean, sorry for taking so long, take good care of my daughter huh?!” Mama ordered with a smile, Sean smiled reverently, I, who had been standing next to Mama, was stunned by the beautiful scenery that was presented at this time. Mama nudged me in awe, then nervously walked over to Sean, as we were about to pass through the door her hand touched my waist.

I felt like I was electrocuted by that touch, so we headed to his Mercedes Benz. As I sat in the car, I pressed my chest as if it was about to explode from my pounding heart, then Sean appeared and sat in the driver’s seat.

Silence fell over us, but I didn’t want to start a conversation either, because I didn’t know what to say in this situation.

“Sorry to surprise you with this engagement.” He opened the conversation between us by apologizing, I looked down at my fingers that I was slowly twisting.

“I-I don’t want to rush things,” I stammered nervously.

“Me too,” he said, the silence taking over us again, until we reached our destination. Instantly, I stiffened in my current seat, a large number of press crowding in front of the entrance. I don’t want to bring up news that shocks everyone, I’m not ready for this.

“W-whaat!? There’s no other entrance??” I asked nervously mixed with panic. Oh, my God! Please save me, I bit my inner lip from nervousness mixed with worry. If the media manages to see me with Sean, nothing will be able to save me from the news that will spread, and I don’t want that to happen.

“We’ll go through the side door of this building,” he answered then turned towards the side of the very grand building, there was an entrance where there were no crowds at all, only a security guard. Sean parked the car, then got down first and opened the door for me. My body seemed to lose energy, stretched out his hand to me, I looked at his hand doubtfully then looked up at him, he gestured for me to return the helping.

Nervously, I put one of my hands in his, then he grabbed it and I got out of the car. His grip was warm, then he pulled my waist close to his body and entered through the door that was guarded by security. The two men guarding the door bowed respectfully to us, I bowed as we entered the building. This ballroom is very spacious, and many people of course, This atmosphere is increasing my nervousness closer to the highest level.

“Sean! Come here!”

Someone called Sean, I lifted my face to look at the caller. A beautiful Middle Eastern Indian woman was smiling, we approached the woman. When we almost arrived in front of the woman, she seemed to cover her mouth with both hands, with a look as if she saw an amazing thing.

“Oh, Sean, you’re so lucky,” she said loudly, she came over and hugged me hard as if he wanted to squeeze my body, I gasped and confused with this woman’s treatment, when she opened her arms she kissed one of my cheeks.

“Mama is right and you are not wrong, you have to mingle and show off your affection, I want the world to know that this handsome but stupid Sean will marry a beautiful girl with a golden voice.”

I held back my laughter at this woman’s comment. How dare she say a Sean is a stupid man, she must be someone very close to Sean.

“Ranila! Come here!” someone called, and the woman in front of me turned around. I also got an explanation out of my curiosity. So this is Sean’s brother, I didn’t expect his reaction to me like this, I was nervous because I knew what Sean’s family was like, rich and classy, while I wasn’t included in that list. I am a singer, but my fame is not comparable to Sean and his family. The woman called Ranila said goodbye before leaving us to approach a handsome man, they kissed for a moment before embracing each other. I’m guessing it must be her husband.

“Would you like something to drink?” I turned to look at Sean, then nodded smiling, I’m very thirsty now, it’s the result of my excessive nervousness. My Inner Goddess fanned her face with her hands, her nails were red, several people in this room were staring at us and it made me nervous.

“Follow me,” he said combined with an order, he bent one of his elbows, I looked at him confused, he motioned for me to take him, hesitatingly and shyly I took his arm and walked to the dining table.

“What do you want to drink?” He asked again, I looked at the stemware which was filled with red and clear liquid, there was also a dark blue color. I know it’s wine, but I don’t drink alcohol.

“I don’t drink alcohol,” I refused, I formed my lips in a straight line, do I have to die of thirst during this party?? That’s ridiculous, I don’t want to be in the news with the embarrassing topic ‘Our newcomer singer Ariana Alexandra was found dead of thirst at a party’. My Inner Goddess put on a look of disgust at what I had just thought of, while my senses spat forcefully to the side as a sign of humiliation and repulsion. I saw Sean take a glass filled with orange liquid, I think it was orange juice. He also handed me the drink, I immediately breathed a sigh of relief when I smelled the citrus aroma from the drink, thanks God, I’m not dying of thirst here. When I drank my juice, I looked at Sean who was also looking at me with his eyes that managed to make my heart skip a beat. Can this man not look at me like that?? There were many things in this room that he could gaze at and that were more interesting.

“Excuse me, are you Ariana Alexandra?” asked someone who cut off our stares, I took the glass away from my lips and turned to look at the questioner, I nodded and smiled. A rather handsome man, a fan(?) I was a little proud of that, but turned disappointed after he said who he was.

“Hi, we’re in the same management now, my name is Ariel,” he explained then reached out to me and shook it for a few seconds.

“Hi, Ariel, nice to meet you,” I replied, trying to be friendly, Ariel turned to look at Sean and greeted him friendly, Sean smiled lightly, after talking for a while with Sean, the man left. The man seemed familiar, but I chose not to think about it any further.

“Want to dance?”

Sean turned my mind, I looked nervously at a group of people dancing with their partners near a group of musical instruments in the corner of the room, I nodded weakly then Sean grabbed my hand and held it, I followed him to dance. He put his hands around my waist while I wrapped my arms around his neck. My face must be blushing right now, my cheeks feel hot, we move slowly left and right.

“Have you ever danced before?” I know he’s trying to make small talk, I’m currently looking down at him. Oh, God! Really! He is very handsome.

“Never,” I whisper embarrassed but honest.

“Really? With a man not though??” Sean looked disbelieving, I smiled shyly and shook my head, how ignorant I was. We stared at each other in silence, I was like lost in his golden net and unexpectedly he kissed me oh no! He took my First Kiss, right here in the crowd.

At first I was surprised, when he teased my lower lip, I was lulled and returned the kiss with a movement that I know is very amateur. It was so sudden and also intoxicating, his hand pulled my waist so it pressed against his body, one of his hands pressed against the nape of my neck to deepen our kiss. I felt a strange sensation inside of me, flowing like water, vibrating me from within and reacting to my groin.

“Do you guys want to just get married without getting engaged? It seems, you guys are impatient.”

The voice stopped our kiss, I looked down in shame and awkwardness, Sean snorted in annoyance then sighed heavily.

“C’mon Mom, what’s wrong?” Sean asked with a little annoyance in his tone, I peeked at Aunt Ramia from behind my eyelashes. The elegant woman in the black dress sighed.

“Your wedding is next week.”

Suddenly I immediately raised my face to look at the woman, I was just about to protest but Sean preceded me.

“It’s up to you, Mom,” said Sean.

Wait. WHAT??

Has he gone mad?? Oh no! What should I do?? My tongue is dry, I can only swear in my mind.

“Okay then, Mama will talk to Aunt Alina again to cancel the engagement and replace it with marriage,” concluded Aunt Ramia seriously, I saw her smiling happily, when the woman passed from in front of us, I turned to look at Sean.

“Why don’t you refuse?” I asked with a bit of annoyance. Why am I just a little annoyed?? What is wrong with me??

“I want you, Ariana.”

I’m in shock, what did he say?? He wants me?? But I don’t know him?? It’s like bringing up a new puzzle for me.

“Why??” I asked again, he smiled.

“You’ll find out later,” he said and I felt there was something behind his smile and words.