"Seriously?"

Darien nodded, "Let's just say it'll be easier to go along with this than fight back."

"It's not going to be an easy journey." Serena told him.

"I know." Darien reached for a folded napkin in his pocket, "I have some conditions though."

"Let's hear them and I'll see if I want to agree." Serena replied evenly.

"My girlfriend."

Serena rolled her eyes and muttered, "Of course."

Darien ignored her, "First I need you to tell my grandparents, my grandmother especially, that Maddie and I are made for each other when Maddie comes back. Secondly I accept the many dates I will be forced to endure to keep up this act and thirdly you cannot tell me who I am supposed to be with because even if this lady you pair me up with is supposedly my 'soul mate'. Do we have a deal?"

"First of all I will not allow you to tarnish my name by making me lie to your grandparents. Secondly I am not going to set you up with some random prostitute on the street because I can easily tell who you will get along with and who you won't. One last thing, soul mates are not meant to be forced. I will not be forcing you to do anything so stop thinking of it like that." Serena exclaimed.

"How much do you want?" Darien asked as he grabbed his check book from his inside coat pocket.

"What?" Serena asked in disbelief.

"How much do you want so you'll agree to my terms?" Darien repeated as Serena gave him a sarcastic laugh.

Serena stood up at her impressive 5'3, folding her arms. "Your entire inheritance." She made her way around her desk, turning to the side to slide through the small crack to get to the other side. When she stood in front of him, Darien was surprised by how intimidating she was. "Love is not a business deal and unlike others I take it very seriously. Love is that feeling you get that is different for every person because it comes in so many forms. It's not something you take advantage of because in the end that feeling is just brilliant and the happiness that comes with it is extraordinary." Serena turned, whipping Darien in the face with her pigtails. He looked at the spot where she stood in fear then almost leapt through the ceiling when she slammed the door.


"So Madeline's your 'soul mate'?" Jerry laughed at the term. Even though Jerry loves women, he didn't think of meeting one to be a forever. There are a myriad of women all over the world, why only have one when you could have all? And with this reasoning is why he's the pig of group.

"I'm working on it." Darien muttered trying to search more information about this cupid. Well she didn't have a website, but she did have an ass load of reviews about her in social media. So this is a family business? He turned to Zane who was chugging down extra caffeine on the couch across from him.

"So do you still talk to her?"

Zane placed the extra-large mug on the table, "Who? Serena? I haven't spoken to her since I graduated. I'm surprised she managed to graduate on time with her lousy scores in science."

"Was she really that bad?" Nate asked curiously from his seat next to Darien.

Zane shuttered at the flashbacks, "That girl had the attention span of a goldfish. Do you know how hard it is to teach someone who honestly doesn't care what you have to say two weeks before her exam? Then the day before she panics then makes me study with her."

"Do you know the specifics? I know light and all of that but specific stuff." Darien questioned still skeptic about the whole cupid business.

Zane leaned against the couch, placing one leg on top of his knee with a hand under his chin, his pondering pose. "She explained it to me years ago. I remember that seeing a soul mate takes time if you're not as in tune. Serena's good, but her grandmother is stronger. Her grandmother sees a person's soul mate right away. She can see the face and location."

"So why am I having a novice determine my love life?"

"I don't know why she can't see them right away. She's good at her job. She sees potentials and she can narrow them down, but it takes more time. I think it's nice because you can develop a relationship with people instead of having someone tell you you're meant to be with that one person, but you don't know why. Oh and the lights she sees are different colors too so different stages in a relationship are a different color."

After a few minutes of trying to wrap their heads around the idea, Nate spoke up. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"Has she ever tried to set you up?" Kael who had been silent throughout their whole exchange, asked Zane.

Zane sighed and nodded. He took off his glasses and began to play with them. "She set me up with Marina."

Jerry exchanged a look with Nate who shrugged in response. Kael continued to fiddle with his phone as Darien's typing had gotten louder. What do you say after a taboo subject has been mentioned? Zane remained oblivious to the tension he had caused. He had gotten lost in his memories before he forced himself to snap out of it. He shook his head and slid his glasses back on.

"She didn't set me up with crazy people. She won't do the same to you unless you make her angry, which is quite easy. Her patience is very low." Zane advised. The tension broke when Zane said the first words. All of the men looked relieved, Jerry exhaling when Zane spoke. He didn't realize he had held his breath that long.

"So I go along with her 'powers' and then what do I tell Maddie? She's coming back in three months." Darien questioned, his attention back on the subject at hand.

"Three months, wow that's not long at all. You know just around 90 something days." Jerry retorted sarcastically.

"Just do what she says and even if Madeline is not your soul mate, she'll back off when she realizes you're happy." Zane replied.

"Really?"


"No."

Darien once again found his way back into the claustrophobic office space. The blonde typing away on probably the only new thing in this office. It seemed like it shrunk since the last time he has been here. He was surprised by her reaction to say the least. Rarely had anyone ever refused him.

"I already told you once and I'll say it again, I am not going to lie to your family." She stopped typing and looked up at him, "Look we'll compromise like any other great war general. I've already thought of a few edits to make you happy. When Miss Blanc comes back, you will be set free. Because at the end of the day if you're happy with someone who may not be your soul mate then I'll respect that. Just know that one day you'll meet her or him."

Darien thought over her words. It seemed like a pretty good deal, "What do I have to do for this agreement of ours to work?"

"Simply abide by my rules and commands."

"No!" Darien exclaimed as he stormed out of the cafe as Serena ran after him, but not before reassuring the girl in the restaurant that they will come back.

Serena grabbed his arm and yanked him down to meet her cerulean eyes, "You said you will follow my rules. One of them requires you to go on the many dates I will set you up with and you have to do it."

Darien shook his head at the fear that began to build within him. "You said that, but I did not agree to participate." He yanked his arm free from her grasp and tried to run from the screaming harlot.

"You really hurt her feelings when you stormed out of there. She's a nice girl." Serena yelled.

Darien turned around when he was almost 5 meters from Serena, "She owns 3 cats and that was all she talked about. Her cats!" He continued to run away and almost yelped in surprise when the succubus caught up to him effortlessly. She grabbed his arm in order to stop him.

"Fine I suppose she wasn't even a potential, but it was crunch time and I had set you up with someone. All I'm asking is that you don't hurt the people I set you up with."

Darien shook his head, "I didn't agree to cheat on my girlfriend. Just because I'm doing this to please my family, doesn't mean I'm going to go against my values."

"It's not cheating. It's having the opportunity to meet people and see if you click! You're not doing anything but meeting with potential people that may be important to you in some way in your life if you meet. That's what a potential is!" Serena exclaimed, "Look, I know she wasn't a potential but I'm trying to get you used to meeting people."

Darien stopped running and turned to her slowly, "Explain yourself to me again."

"White is soul mate and pink is potential. That's all I see from people, but I have to focus in on one person at a time. I'll admit, I wasn't focused on you at all I mean I'm surprised you went along with your grandparents' wishes. You don't strike me as a filial type." Serena rambled.

Darien rolled his eyes, "So how do I become comfortable with," his hands waved up and down, "this?"

A tiny smirk melted on Serena's face, "I've got an idea that'll break your boundaries."

""What's this?" Darien demanded, but the smile was still plastered on her face.

"Speed dating. Fifteen minutes for each date." Darien groaned as Serena dragged him to the restaurant like a mother with a disobedient child.

"Okay so this is how it..." Darien quickly dragged Serena behind an overly large plastic plant. She glared at him, but he was too busy looking through the leaves. She almost yelled at him before he placed a hand over her mouth with a pleading expression on his face to be quiet. He pointed to a brunette with a short sequined black dress and tall heels. Her hair was quite voluminous and her face was covered in makeup.

"My grandma set me up with that psycho last year. She's the daughter of the director of National Imperial Banking." Darien whispered as they both observed through the plant like explorers observing a dangerous animal.

"She thinks I love her and I want to marry her because after I turned her down, we kept bumping into each other. She thinks it's fate. It's not fate if she stalked me to run into me." Darien clarified as Serena gave him a disbelieving look and walked out from behind the plant. She pulled Darien's hand and pulled him into the open rolling her eyes as he jumped back behind the plant.

"I'm sure she's over it. So stop sprouting nonsense." Serena retorted and heard a high pitched voice behind her. Serena winced at the sound of nails on a chalk board, no wonder Shields turned her down. Who could stand to be within hearing distance with this girl?

"Darry? Is that you? I've missed you!"

"Shit." Darien muttered under his breath and did something he would have never done if this had not been a life or death situation. He pulled Serena in his arms and kissed her.

Serena's eyes remained open in shock, but then slowly closed at the contact. Her fists were against his chest slowly slid down, her fists relaxing. She almost wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer before she remembered who this was. From a distance, she heard the banshee wail and sob. Then her heels tapped away. Darien stopped his passionate display and looked down at the blonde in front of him. Who would have thought an annoying rabbit could kiss? He swore to himself, he shouldn't be thinking this. Darien's eyes drifted from her wide eyes to her flushed cheeks to her swollen lips. His eyes lingered on her lips for a second longer before Serena pulled herself out of his arms. Her eyes flashed in fury.

SLAP!