Chapter 1

My date was late.

Did it mean that this man whom I didn't even want to meet, stood me up? Oh the irony.

It was Friday evening, the 'Bay Leaf: Family Restaurant' was packed with whispering couples and loud families. And I have been sitting here alone, with an empty glass of water in front of me. Not pathetic at all.

When my so called 'date', suggested the restaurant, via text because my mother thought it was a good idea to give my phone number to him, without my permission, I might add. I did some research, it had a five star rating on Google and it specialized in Italian food. The only thing I was looking forward to was the food.

The waiter, a young man in his early twenties who had been giving me sympathetic glances for the past half an hour walked up to my table. It was the third time since I came here.

"Are you ready to order, Miss?" He asked in a soft voice.

"Yes, can I have the menu, please?" I asked, figuring there was no reason for me to forgo a tasty meal just because my date was a no show.

The man left without a word and soon I had a menu in my hands. This is not how I imagined the night would go. I had a whole speech planned for my non-date explaining, in a nice way, that I only came because I was guilted in to coming by my mother.

"Excuse me, are you Nihara?" A deep voice asked.

I looked up. A man in his early thirties stood before me. He was tall and lean with chocolate brown skin. Handsome, I couldn't help but notice. More handsome than the photo my mother shoved at me before I left home.

"Yes I am, and you're late," I said. I am usually not this rude but I felt a little petty.

"Actually, I'm Alex." He grinned as he sat down. When I didn't smile back his face turned serious. "Sorry, bad joke. I lost track of time, I had a busy day at the office."

I opened the menu and started looking at the specials. The salmon spaghetti looked nice. "I forgive you. Even if you didn't apologize." I continued to be petty.

He sighed. "I'm sorry." He looked almost remorseful. "Listen I need to be honest with you. I am not looking to date anyone. I came here because of my aunt. There are so many things going on in my life that dating is the last thing on my mind."

I laughed. I couldn't help it. He raised his eyebrows. "This is unbelievable." I shook my head. "I prepared a similar speech. The only difference was I was going to say that I came because of my mother."

He smiled, probably relived that he was not dealing with a crazy person. "Then we're in agreement." He said. "Do you want to have dinner, anyway? Since we are already here?"

"Why not? I don't have any plans and the food seems good." I said passing him the menu. "I already decided on the Salmon pasta."

The food looked amazing. My spaghetti had a generous piece of fish and covered in a creamy white sauce. Alex ordered two slices of chicken and cheese pizza. "How's your pizza?" I asked.

"It's delicious. The food here is good, that's why I suggested this place." He took a bite out of the said pizza.

He was right. I wanted to savor every bite of my meal. "Despite the circumstances I'm happy that I'm came. I've been so busy lately, this is the first time I've come out in months."

"My aunt said that you own a bookstore?" Alex asked. "Is it in Colombo?"

I nodded. "It's in Moratuwa. In six months I'm going to open a branch in Kandana," I said. "What about you, the only thing my mother said was that you're doing some kind of a business."

"Cyber security. We created a code that is basically hack proof. We've been getting a lot of interest from national and International buyers. That's why I was late, I was on Skype with a buyer from America." He said, eating his second slice of pizza.

"Is that why you are not interested in dating? Because you want to focus on your business?" I asked, taking the last bite of my spaghetti.

He nodded. "I can't invest in a relationship now. I pretty much live in my office. Does that sound like a person who is ready for a relationship? I just wish my aunt accepted that," he said. "What about you? I'm sure your plate is full with the book shops but is that the only reason?"

I paused debating on what to say. "Let's just say that my last relationship didn't end well," I finally said.

"I get that. You know what the frustrating part is, I'm pretty sure my aunt will keep setting me up with people and guilt me in to going on blind dates," He said running a hand through his dark hair.

"Pretty sure that's my future too," I said leaning back allowing the waiter to take my empty plate away.

Alex tapped his fingers on the table. "I have a crazy idea," he said. "What if we pretend to date? Both of us don't want a relationship. It will keep my aunt and your mother off our backs."

I leaned forward. "You do realize we'll have to go on dates anyway, right? Not like we can be like, we want to explore something and never see each other," I said. "And how long can we keep up this ruse?"

"What about six months? That seems