I gasped at the touch of the stranger's fingers. And when I looked at the owner, I gasped even more, feeling all the oxygen inside me leaving my lungs. Maybe my heart jumped too.

Aiden Cole was smiling down at me.

And I stood there, gaping like an idiot.

"Hey there, Spring," he greeted in his smooth voice.

I recoiled my hand from the pomegranate that he and I both grasped at the same time and felt a blush creeping onto my cheeks. He must have seen it, because he smiled even wider.

Well that was indeed an awkward situation.

"Hey, Aiden," I greeted back nervously. "I… haven't seen you in a while…"

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and answered, "I was out of town, but I'm back now."

I nodded my head. "I can see that. So how have you been?"

"Pretty good. And you?"

"I'm feeling pretty…" I thought of the right word to use, and in the end said, "Usual."

He raised an eyebrow in what might be curiosity and cocked his head to the side. His liquid black eyes assessed me from head-to-toe, and I could feel my toes curling in my shoes. "And what is your definition of 'usual'?"

I bit my bottom lip as I thought about it. To be honest, my definition of 'usual' is the equivalent of 'boring'.

"Pretty dull things," I answered in a blank voice. "I'm a pretty dull person."

He chuckled, and I began to get confused. That wasn't really meant to be a joke, and I cringed at the thought that he was laughing at me for proclaiming myself as a bore.

When he ceased his mild chuckling, he said, "I don't think you're dull."

I felt the tension in me die down a bit. His words actually kind of made me feel better.

And then, I thought to myself, What are we doing? We haven't even properly met, and we're talking as though we're old friends?

"Anyway, we haven't actually known each other yet," I said immediately. "So let's start doing that." Then I extended a hand to him and greeted, "Hi. I'm Spring Korey."

He grasped my hand gently, and I am amazed by how his skin felt on mine. His palm, his long and agile fingers and the back of his hand was smooth and as soft as silk, maybe even softer. Even when I did not intend to, I felt my thumb skimming over his knuckles. I didn't know what caused me to do it, but his touch mesmerised me just like his eyes and his voice.

I expected him to just shake my hand in a friendly gesture. But to my complete shock, and maybe a bit of delight, he raised my hand to his lips and he planted a soft kiss on my knuckles, just like how the men used to do to ladies in the olden times.

I could have died and gone to heaven right now just by feeling his equally silky smooth lips on my knuckles. It made it even better that he still kept my gaze as he did so. His obsidian eyes held a spark that made me breathless.

And then, so suddenly, I had that feeling of remembering this sort of sensation. That feeling that something like this had happened before, but to me, it was barely even familiar. I felt frustrated. What were these sorts of feelings? Why were they making me feel as though I was experiencing déjà vu? I knew myself that nothing like this had ever happened to me before.

Especially with a man I barely even knew.

When his lips pulled away from my hand in his, he smiled and greeted politely, "And I am Aiden Cole."

When he let go of my hand, I withdrew it to my side slowly, but I remained staring at him in a mixture of shock and amazement.

He then quirked both his eyebrows. The gesture quickly got me out of my stupor.

Clearing my throat quickly, I asked nervously, "Are you a newcomer to Heatherton?"

"I guess you can say that," he answered. "I'm staying here for a while on private business."

"Ah," I nodded my head in thought. "How long have you been here?"

"I arrived last Sunday."

Last Sunday…. That would have been the day I first saw him walking outside of Mrs Edridge's bookshop.

Coincidence? I don't know.

"And how do you like Heatherton so far?"

He scratched the back of his head as he looked up at the ceiling in thought. "It's a pretty good town. A few flaws here and there. Most of the people I met are nice."

And then, he looked back at me and the grin appeared on his lips again as he said, "You, for example."

I bet if I looked at myself in a mirror now, I could clearly see the red blush that had fully spread over my cheeks.

Why the heck does he even do that? He's all smooth and suave and gentlemanly, and it's only the second time we've met! Now, I'm not complaining. It actually felt nice, I will admit. But still. I'm just a stranger to him, just like he is a stranger to me. So why does he even bother to act that way?

"That's… nice…." I breathed, my hands quivering slightly. If I only I could turn and walk away now, so that I didn't further embarrass myself by blushing and stammering. But his eyes held mine, and it was impossible to look away.

"Do you wear contacts?" he asked so suddenly.

I shook my head.

With a thoughtful smile, he commented, "Your eyes are amber. Not a lot of people have that eye colour. Especially one as bright and golden as yours."

I swallowed silently. Great. Now he was commenting on my eyes? That only made my current situation kind of worse….

But still, I felt flattered.

"Are you wearing contacts?" I asked in return. Like me, he shook his head.

"I don't think I've ever seen people with black pupils. Especially one as dark and pitch black as yours," I commented in the best stable voice I could manage.

He chucked then. "A compliment for a compliment? Smart move, Spring Korey."

I couldn't help but grin. And then, I suddenly heard a familiar voice call me from slightly far away.

"Spring? Where are you?"

I turned to look back in the direction of my mother's voice. I didn't see her. As I turned to look back at Aiden, I said, "It's my mother. I came here with her."

But when I looked at him properly, I saw that his eyes held urgency. All of a sudden, he said quickly, his words rushing out in one breath, "I have to go."

Well, that was abrupt.

Then he took a step away from me. But he suddenly paused and looked back at me. He then reached out and grabbed one of my hands to place something in it. I kept my gaze on his smiling eyes as he said, "For you."

And then, he winked.

He walked away before I could fully process what had just happened. I remained standing there with my mouth gaped open and my eyes staring into the air.

"Spring? What are you doing?" my mother's voice asked from behind me.

I shook myself out of my trance, and I then began to remember the object he had placed in my hand. I looked down at it.

It was a pomegranate.

A smile crept onto my lips then. And I didn't notice that my mother had appeared by my side.

"What's that you're hol-"

She suddenly stops talking in mid-sentence. I turned to look at her, and saw that she was gazing at the pomegranate intensely. But the way she looked at it was as though she was looking at a poisonous scorpion.

"Put that back, Spring," she said blankly. "Those things are expensive."

I sighed and hesitantly put the pomegranate back among its brethren. I felt kind of disappointed to part with it, since knowing that it was touched by Aiden Cole's silky smooth hand. But I had no other choice.

My mother started pulled me away from the aisle. The minute my eyes tore away from the pomegranates, my mind filled itself up with Aiden Cole.

The three white-robed sisters were giggling to themselves.

"How sweet…" the blonde one mused.

Ceasing her giggling for a while, the brunette asked, "Do you remember the first time we gave him the pomegranate to give her? To give him the chance to make her remain with him?"

The redhead nodded. "He was wise to give her the choice. And he was lucky that she accepted."

"Aahh… He was quite playful to give her the pomegranate now," she giggled. But suddenly, her tone turned into one of disappointment. "But it is quite sad that she does not remember the importance of the little red fruit…"

It was night time now, and I was in my room.

But I was not on my laptop reading new and updated fanfictions nor was I reading any of my books. Instead, I was now all ready to go to sleep, but I was lying on my bed and staring up at the ceiling.

As I gazed at the beige-coloured ceiling blankly, my mind was only thinking about one thing.

Aiden Cole.

I could not stop reminiscing about my encounter with him today. It was nothing like I had expected to go. I only assumed that it would be a few words and a lot of awkward silences. Instead, he took ten steps forward and straight away started making me blush, kissing my hand and commenting a lot of my traits.

Oh. My. God.

Was he flirting with me?

Never in my life would I expect something as gorgeous and ethereal as him would actually maybe take interest in me.

It was seriously too good to be true.

But I only just met him, and he made me smile so much.

I actually liked it.

I then felt my lips curling into a smile, at the same time I started yawning.

I knew sleep would take over me soon, so I rolled on my side and reached for the lamp that was standing on my night drawer.

I pulled the cord down, and most of the room was then engulfed in darkness. Some moonlight travelled through the window and illuminated the room a bit, giving a glow that was mesmerising.

I slipped under the covers and shifted a bit to make myself comfortable. And then, as I gazed at the streak of moonlight, my eyes slid shut slowly.

And the last thing I thought about was piercing black eyes.