Imperfect Desires

There are two similarities between blind dates and love; Both are blind and both have no guarantee. You either hit a jackpot or you wind up broke and alone in a bar.

In other words, blind dates are just another way of forcing two complete strangers to sit together and be awkward together. And tonight was going to be more than just awkward for Dylan who was stuck in this act of mismating by none other than his own mother.

Looking at the strict looking beauty before him, he was getting a headache. Her stiff face and monotone voice. His focus was completely scattered. He couldn't possibly hold a conversation with someone like her who kept talking about herself for the past 45 minutes without a break.

And Dylan was the one feeling thirsty on her behalf as he kept drinking water. Was he interested in knowing how many meetings she had to put on hold for this blind date? Absolutely not! He was the last person who wanted to come to this date anyway. Then why was he stuck here?

The answer to that would be, his mother strictly warned him not to turn her down on the very first date like he always did. It was difficult not to do so.

"Please, excuse me for a minute," Dylan excused himself and opened the door of the private room. His one foot was yet to cross the sill when he saw a very familiar face making a lightbulb to turn on his head.

Now, what were the odds that Dylan's mother had chosen her favorite restaurant for Dylan's blind date and it happened to be named 'Les Moments' where Darren had brought Xiu and Nora? Apparently, the odds were high since right now, Xiu was on her way back to her table when she had to look at the face she had come to hate.

Obviously, Xiu was going to ignore Dylan who had just popped out of nowhere but how could Dylan let her leave so easily? His mind had already come up with a hundred different plans. Since his mother's exact words were that he neither could stand up his date nor could he reject her without trying at least for three dates. But she never said that the supposed 'date' couldn't reject him.

An evil smirk bloomed on his lips which seemed really disturbing to Xiu. He gasped in shock and said loudly on purpose, "Sweatheart, what are you doing here?"

His blind date also looked in his direction while Xiu replied to him, "What?"

He held her wrist and said in a whisper, "Stay quiet or I'll cut your paycheck." Xiu's mouth opened as she glared at him in disbelief. That was the worst threat of her life. She worked her ass off just for that paycheck. How could he threaten her with money? The only reason she endured this petty man was that paycheck!

Dylan pulled her inside the private room as he said in a worried tone, "This is not what it looks like. I really didn't want to come. Mom forced me." He looked like a pitiful boyfriend trying to explain himself to his girlfriend while Xiu was left stunned.

As her eyes fell on that elegant and beautiful lady inside, she could guess more or less what was going on here.

"Dylan, who is she?" His blind date asked as she looked at Xiu in a weird way. Was that contempt she just saw or was her eyes playing jokes with her? Anyhow, the other girl didn't seem pleased with Xiu's presence. Because she found Xiu to be a competitor and as a woman, she could see the beauty of Xiu very well.

Dylan turned to look at his blind date and said, "She... She is my girlfriend."

"What?" That shriek made Xiu flinch a bit.

Dylan pulled Xiu to sit beside him while Xiu tried resisting but he wasn't letting go at all. He held her hand in his and said, "I'm sorry, Ms. Gu. I wanted to make this clear to you. I just love my sweetheart very much." He brought their joined hands close to his lips and planted a kiss which made Xiu cringe inwardly. In anger, using her other hand, she dug her nails on his thigh making Dylan almost shout in pain. He glared at her dangerously but held it in as he added, "We are really in love. She's very angry that I came for the blind date because of my mother."

"Why didn't your mother say anything?" His blind date looked at both of them hatefully. Especially, Xiu. Naturally, women always had animosity for their own kind.

"My mom is against our relationship. And I'm really stuck between my love for my sweetheart and my mother." Dylan replied in a sad voice making himself the victim who was really stuck.

Xiu wanted to give him a round of applause for this acting. Although his level was lower than hers, still he could challenge plenty of veteran actors with these skills.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Xiu also smirked at him as she thought about how he was gonna answer this one.

But she had underestimated Dylan once again. "We had a big fight yesterday and I was really upset. I thought I should listen to mom and give this date a chance." Dylan explained in a sincere tone. "I didn't mean to use you or anything but I want to thank you."

"For what?" Ms. Gu, his blind date crossed her arms over her chest as she was seething in anger now.

Dylan wrapped his arm around Xiu's shoulder and pulled her close to his side saying, "Because of you my sweetheart has come back to me. She is also very sorry for walking out on me like that yesterday. Aren't you, babes?" He looked at Xiu gesturing her to nod along but Xiu was being stubborn and Dylan had to use his hand to make her nod.

Ms. Gu stood up from her seat and dug her nails in the palms of her hands. Seeing how Dylan was still focused on Xiu and how their hands were intertwined together, she was mad. She picked up the glass of water and threw it straight on Dylan's face before walking out in her high heels.

Xiu didn't even try to hide her laughter as she unabashedly and unapologetically laughed right at his face. Dylan's face was stiff for a second. He took a tissue to wipe his face before turning to Xiu, "Is it that funny?"

"Very," Xiu replied and stomped her heel on his foot. Dylan instinctively left her hand and Xiu was freed to move. "Next time, don't you dare touch me without my permission. Or this heel might find the way to your precious jewels." Seeing how her eyes wandered from his eyes to the middle of his legs, he turned away.

"Don't you have any shame?" He screamed at her.

"If you are shameless enough to use your E.A to get rid of your blind date than naturally, your E.A also has to be shameless enough to match your standards." Saying that she dusted off her hands and left the private room slamming the door shut behind her.