Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 62

A fitting nickname
“Now you are just being rude,” said Ari whilst trying to be careful with her words. The two of them were alone, the rain shower was more intense than ever, veiling them and the rest of the world. Ari might not be a fan of horror movies, but she knew a murder scene when she saw one.

“Of course, I am. Either it is rude, vulgar or borderline psychopathic when it comes to me, isn’t that right, Mrs Nelson?” He spoke to her with a knowing look in his eyes, as if he was very much aware of the perception that she held for him. “But I still know better than crying in the middle of the rain on the pavement.”

“Then you might have never seen a romantic movie,” said Ari while matching his pace. Now that she was back to her senses, she could feel the chill lapping against her skin, leaving goosebumps behind.

Noah rolled his eyes as he paused right next to the traffic lights. The red light for the pedestrian glowing in the dark, he turned sideways to look at her and chuckled, “That’s all bullshit. It might look aesthetic and sh*t, but when you wake up with a stuffy nose and fever the next morning, you will not find crying in the rain feasible.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the traffic light turned green. Nicolai glanced at it before he started walking and Ari who had been temporarily robbed of her speech also chased after him. She thought that Noah, with whom she was married, was the most unromantic man. But now that she had heard Nicolai call ‘crying in the rain’, unfeasible. She knew that there was now someone who could challenge Noah.

The two of them walked to the other side of the street where Nicolai walked to the right and in twenty or so steps, they were standing in front of a pharmacy. Given that he worked in a line where Nicolai got injured every day, Ari was not surprised that he knew where every pharmacy in the town was.

Nicolai purchased a packet of bandages before turning on his feet and making his way to the Burger and Fries shop that was five shops down from the pharmacy.

“Where are you taking me?” Ari asked dumbly, even when she knew that Nicolai was taking her to the fast food place.

“I am taking some interest back, Mrs Nelson,” Nicolai addressed her with a bite in his voice. If not for the fact that Ari knew that he was nowhere near her when she received the text that more or less confirmed her divorce. She would have thought that the man was taking a jibe at her by calling her Mrs Nelson.

She pursed her lips and corrected him, “Ariana, call me Ariana.” Now that she and Noah were divorced, Ari did not want to cling to the title of Mrs Nelson anymore.

He lifted a shoulder before pushing off the glass door of the restaurant. “Oh cool, you finally remember that you have another identity apart from being Mrs Nelson. I almost made a bet with Zayden, my cousin,” he offered when Ari looked at him with confusion. “That you are going to imprint those words on your forehead. You were that insufferable.”

“No, I wasn’t,” Ari refused as she stepped inside the restaurant along with him, she did a quick check on the balance in her account and heaved a sigh of relief. Unless this man was inclined to make her bankrupt, she could still afford a meal for two in the fast food restaurant.

“Oh you were, every time we met you would be like—— ‘We can’t Mister De Luca,’ ‘I am married, Mister De Luca,’ or ‘I am a married woman, Mister De Luca,’ it was pissing me off,” Nicolai pitched his voice high as he mimicked her causing Ari’s face to turn red in embarrassment.

She glared at him while walking behind him. She said, “Mister De Luca——”

“Nico,” Nicolai corrected her as he turned and looked at her. “I am like five or six years younger than you, right? It feels weird to be called Mister by you. And I hate that posh, know-it-all accent of yours.” He added.

“I do not act posh,” Ari said but paused when she caught a hint of the tone that her mother-in-law used every time she spoke. Nicolai snorted as he stopped in front of the counter, where he ordered a triple cheeseburger and a jumbo strawberry milkshake with a chocolate lava cake.

“Do you want something?” He asked her and Ari shook her head, causing him to roll his eyes as he turned to look at the woman who was taking their order and said, “Add an egg roll, all vegetables. No extra butter and cheese, and make sure to take note of veggies, there is no need for you to hold back on them.”

“Noted sir, anything else?” The woman asked as she jotted down everything on the screen that was embedded in the corner right behind the computer.

“That will be all,” Nicolai winked at the woman, who despite his dangerous appearance felt flattered. A deep blush coated her cheeks as she flashed a shy smile to Nicolai, her eyes falling on Nicolai’s bare front and the blush on her cheeks intensified.

Nicolai grinned back at her before moving out of the line.

Ari was speechless. She did not know what made her more speechless, the fact that Nicolai knew what she wanted or the fact that he was flirting with a woman in the middle of the day.

She turned on her feet and walked over to where Nicolai was heading and questioned, “Do I need to watch over my shoulders?”

“Hmm? What?” Nicolai questioned, he turned to look at her with his hands in the pockets of his pants. He tilted his head in slight confusion, “What do you mean by that, Pallas?”