Bewitched His Soul

Aria was sleeping soundly when someone rang her doorbell. It was cold outside and she was wrapped up with a thick quilt so comfortably that she did not want to get out of the bed.

But she thought that if she did not open the door, the person outside would get tired and go away. Unfortunately, that did not happen, instead the noise increased, which made her unable to continue sleeping.

Aria rubbed her eyes to see the security guard standing impatiently outside her door.

"It's 2 am, why did you disturb my sleep,"Aria groaned.

"Madam, if you have parked your car correctly then Sir would not have disturbed me, and in return I will not be standing here at this time," the guard stated.

Aiden did not want his daughter to take public transport or walk to the office. So he booked one of the latest costliest cars which got delivered to her doorstep yesterday afternoon. She had parked correctly then why the guard was complaining.

"There was a board clearly mentioning its parking space for cars and I even clearly parked inside the yellow line,then what's the problem," Aria fumed.

"The problem is that the place where you parked is reserved for someone else and others are prohibited," the guard replied.

"I never knew the parking space had people's names, when I signed the documents there was nothing like this specified," Aria raised her brow.

"Before I joined it was like this and no one dared to question him. Madam, please understand if you don't come down they may dock my pay or even fire me," the guard pleased.

Aria thought this guard was overreacting for such a small issue. She did not think they could threaten him with his job. Who was that man so powerful, behaving as if he is above all.

Aria put a coat on her pajamas and took the keys from the drawer and followed the guard to the basement. Shestarted her car and while driving in reverse direction her car almost hit a man.

"Watch It!," the man screamed.

She immediately got down from the car and went near that man to check whether he was okay. She was very sleepy and the lights were dim, she did not see the rear view mirror before driving.

"Oh my god. I am really sorry. Are you hurt, should I take you to a doctor," Aria was checking his legs and when lifted her head she was shocked.

"It's you..," Aria screamed.

"Who issued you a driving license? Did you bribe the officer," Justin scowled.

"Hey that's mean. It's your fault for making me wake up at 2," Aria frowned.

"How is your leg," Aria was worried.

"I am fine," Justin said harshly.

"But you..," Aria was interrupted by him.

"Listen woman, it's already so late and if I do not have a good night's sleep I will not be able to function tomorrow. Take out your car quickly," Justin ordered.

"I don't see your name here and why can't you park your car somewhere else?" Aria was annoyed.

Justin quietly walked towards her and when his cologne hit her nose she bit her lip. Why was this guy being so close to her? She tried to move back but Justin stopped there and his hand touched his palm.

"What are you doing," Aria murmured.

Justin opened her fingers one by one and took the car keys out of her hand and turned around not even bothering to look at her face. Heparked her car little further away and then he parked his car at his usual spot.

"Take it," Justin threw her keys which she caught.

"Do you also live here," Aria asked.

"No, I live in the next building. Ijust came here to see you," Justin rolled his eyes

Aria's mouth was wide open, she wanted to curse at his lack of manners but kept quiet as he is her boss. What was with his attitude? Was it so difficult to answer something so simple as yes or no?

Justin took the briefcase from his car and walked towards the exit. Aria followed him and when they got inside the elevator, Justin pressed the 5th floor. His mobile beeped and he unlocked his phone to check the message.

She noticed his eyes were bloodshot and there were heavy dark circles under his eyes. This man seriously worked so hard. He was in the office till 2 and even now he was not wasting a single second.

There was absolute silence as both of them could not stand each other at the moment.

Justin got out of the elevator first and When Aria saw his back view something flashed on her mind. He was the same guy who was there with her in the elevator on the first day and even safely left her handbag at the doorstep. It's been one week but Justin left quite early and returned late, that's why they never came across each other.

There were three things which she noted. She learned her boss was also her neighbor. Her boss was rude, in fact very very rude and disrespectful. Who acted like he hated everything under the sun and had lost even a single shred of humanity a long time ago. And lastly, maybe it was the blue moon when he helped her.

The next day, she went to the office and sat next to Piper. She was new to the city and because of her easy going nature she and Aria had become close buddies.

Piper was good in modern art and she had come from a small town, so she wanted to settle down in Italy, unlike Aria who wanted to return to her home country once she gets some experience.

"Look at him, isn't he good looking," Piper showed a photo on her cellphone.

He was a guy she met at Starbucks and they ordered the same type of drink every day. After 3-4 meetings, the guy had asked her number and Piper had continuously chatted with him.

"Ya, with those glasses he looks like the nerdy type," Aria said.

"He said he works for some teah department. He asked me on a date tomorrow night," Piper swiped to show some more pictures.

"Be careful, it's a new city with a total stranger," Aria warned.

"That's why you are coming with me. Please listen to me before saying no. I was hesitant to go on a date so he suggested it's better if we hang out casually with his friends and even asked me to bring my friends," Piper explained.

"What if I don't fit in with them?" Aria has anxiety every time she meets people in big crowds or new people, in general.

"Then tell me and we can make some excuse to get out of this date. Since they are strangers they will not mind," Piper assured her.

"Sure ", Aria agreed.

Sometimes she left homesick living miles away from her family and friends.. Maybe for once she should try meeting new people and get out of her shell.