Finding My Way To You Free Preview

William Brown was back home in Apex city to enjoy his vacation.

3-years ago, at the age of 20, he graduated with a double doctorate in Architecture and Computer Engineering. But he only told everyone back home that he got a post-grad degree in Architecture.

In the past three years, he worked in the highly reputable Scott Designs in Z city as the chief Architecture Engineer and had built a name for himself.

This summer, he resigned from his job to focus on his own company - AR Group.

Before he got busy with work, he decided to spend two months at home and help his beloved cousin Ria with her wedding. However, he told everyone that he had taken total leave of 3 years.

Since the day William came back, he spent his entire day working on restoring the house that he had secretly bought at 18 unless he was helping his cousin with something.

Tonight he had returned to the Brown family mansion utterly exhausted and ready to pass out as he had been doing for the past two weeks. But he could not sleep.

Tring Tring

Even before William picked up his phone, he knew it was Evan calling him out for a drink like he did every other day.

“Hey, Evan. Where’s the party tonight?”

“Gee! Will, did you get attacked by an alien tonight? How come you are asking where instead of refusing flat out?”

“Just give me the address.” William ignored the jab.

“Friends bar.”

William hung up without replying.

William went to the bar still in his two-sizes-too-big t-shirt, loose trousers, unkempt hair, and tired face.

Just a glance could tell he had come straight from the bed.

As soon as he arrived, he saw Pete flirting with this average-looking petite girl.

William wondered why Pete-the flirt, changed his target today as he usually tended to flirt with the big-chested-scantily-dressed women.

The girl he was flirting with was flat-chested, casually dressed in denim, a t-shirt, and converse shoes. She had loose shoulder-length hair partially pinned on the back.

William wondered if the girl was underage and unconsciously frowned at the thought.

Moreover, the girl was constantly refusing him, but Pete kept on pestering, which was weird because Pete never bothered anyone who did not flirt back. At most, he would try thrice.

Perhaps, because of that, William could not take his eyes off the pair and the highly amusing banter. He could see everyone seemed to be enjoying it.

He saw Evan and the others waving at him two tables from the girl and her group, but he ignored them and sat at the counter close to where Pete was to listen in.

“Oh, c’mon. I’m just asking for your number. I swear I won’t call or text you”.

“I don’t want to give my number. Please excuse us, Sir. ”

“Uhm, I’m not that old. Don’t call me sir. Please tell me your number, and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Sir, please leave. I don’t want to share my number.”

“Alright, how about this? Tell me your name, and I'll be out of here.”

“Alright, my name is Anna. Please leave now.”

“Hello, Anna. My name is Pete. Now that you are acquainted, how about we exchange contact details?”

“..”

“Here, let me give you a call.”

“...” “Sir, please leave!”

“Call me Pete. My name is not Sir. Are all beautiful ladies this respectful?”

“...”

“So, Anna, how about I buy you a drink?”

“...”

“Excuse me. A margarita for this pretty senorita, please.” wink

“...”

“Anna, is there anything else you’d like to drink? Don’t be shy! We come here all the time.”

William watched as the girl stared at Pete for a few seconds before she drew a deep breath and smiled at Pete.

She was a total stranger, but somehow, William could tell Pete was in danger.

A part of him told him to go and rescue his friend. But he impulsively wanted to watch how she dealt with him.

Rosaline Dayne was on a 6-week break before she had to report for her first real job.

Having worked her ass off on her internship and thesis to finish up her post-grad with a double major in Interior design and basic Architecture, she was all hyped up for the break before she shifted her focus back to work and career.

A few days after she was back, she invited her childhood friends to celebrate the end of her graduation and the start of her actual adult life.

She was 20 years old this year and had spent the last seven years of her life trying to grow up faster.

Unfortunately, with each minute, she was getting quite irritated with the idiot ruining her party.

Rosaline could see in his eyes that he was not interested in her. But he would not stop bugging her as if he was possessed.

Finally, having lost her patience, she decided to get rid of him in her way.

Since none of his friends decided to help him and watched the show, they could not blame her for being ruthless.

She took a deep breath, smiled, tilted her head, and looked at him coyly.

A look of alarm, but mostly disappointment crossed his eyes which he quickly recovered.

She thought, not for the first time, what his motive was since he was sincerely not interested in her in the usual way.

But regardless, he had driven her to her limit, and she could not be held responsible for what happened next.

“Pete, right?” Rosaline asked as she stood up closer to him.

“...”

”Yeah,” Pete could not understand why he was suddenly nervous, but he was too wasted to care.

“So, what will you do with my number?” She stood a little too close to him, and he moved back.

“...”

“OH, tell me will you text or call me first?” She asked with an expectant look, except for the glint on her eyes as she slowly moved closer and he moved back.

“...I..I..” Pete gulped.

“HAHAHAHAHA! You are so cute, did you know that?”

“...”

“Your eyes are shining. I’ve never seen eyes so pretty.”

“...”

“I must be so lucky to meet you here.”

“...” Pete became speechless with her sudden change and kept retreating.

“How about..?” She trailed off as she leaned close to his ear, making Pete retreat further.

Just when Rosaline was about to push Pete to the final step, which was 2-steps downwards which led to the door to the balcony outside, a sleepy-looking guy who looked like he came straight out of bed with oversized clothes and ruffled hair came up and grabbed Pete away from her.

Rosaline glared at William provocatively with sharp eyes making him gulp.

“He is sorry, and so am I. I should have stopped him sooner.” Those were the first words William said to Rosaline.

But before she could react, Pete jumped on William’s arms, catching them both off-guard.

“Will, you are here. Supriya broke up with me.”

“..” Rosaline frowned.

“...” William was at a loss for what to say or do but kept a straight face as he always did.

“You were right when you told me to reconsider and think carefully before getting serious with her, but I never listened. We have been together for a year already. I feel like I don’t know her at all. What should I do now?” Pete mumbled.

William looked at Rosaline and wanted to say something but could not figure out what. Apart from his knitted eyebrows, his expression was still neutral.

Rosaline frowned. ‘So I was revenge for his break-up, huh.’

Pete continued with his rant, “Will, you never liked her, I know you tried to hide it, but even a fool could tell. What should I do now?”

Rosaline looked at William, who had this helpless expression on his eyes but had a straight face, and her mouth twitched unconsciously, trying to hide a smile.

‘I want to push him away, but what if he falls down the stairs? She won’t think I am gay, will she?’ William mused.

Rosaline shook her head, and thinking that she probably would not get pestered any longer, she heaved a sigh and decided to head back to her table.

However, just as she turned over, someone grabbed her arm.

Rosaline followed the hand on her arm and traced it to the sleepy-looking guy who still had the drunk Pete holding onto his other arm and shoulders tight.

“He is not always like this. Can you listen to his side of the story? Find out why he treated you so disrespectfully. Please?”

William said with pleading eyes, though his face and tone betrayed no emotion.

‘I don’t want her to think badly of anyone around me.’

William was confused about his thoughts.

‘Dude, she is probably underage. Calm down! What’s wrong with you?’ he told himself.

‘Wait! That’s not the point. Why am I so bothered that she might be underage?’

‘He is quite good-looking now that I look at him and seems like a good friend.’ Rosaline thought.

‘WTF? Why would you think about him? Get a hold of yourself,’ Rosaline told herself.

Pete’s sniveling brought them back to their senses. Rosaline looked at him and pointed at his hands which were grabbing her arm with raised eyebrows.

“Well?” Rosaline said with a ‘Talk! You have 2 mins!’ expression.

Somehow that made William smile. “Shall we sit by the counter?”

“Alright,” Rosaline nodded and headed to the bar where William was previously sitting.

William grabbed Pete and followed Rosaline.

‘Did she know I was enjoying her misery from the beginning?’ William was conflicted at the thought.

“All right, what happened?” William pulled himself together and asked Pete while his other friends came to sit behind them.

William ordered lemonade for Pete, hoping it would sober Pete. He asked Rosaline if she would like anything.

Rosaline just shook her head and frowned. ‘Why the hell am I doing this? I don’t care about their reasons as long as they leave me alone.’

William noticed the conflicted expression on her face and chose to focus on Pete instead.

“What happened between Supriya and you?” “And details, please. Don’t make me fill in the gaps.”

Rosaline smiled unconsciously.

“I don’t know.” Sighs.

”Day before yesterday night, we were making out in my apartment and about to head to bed.”

“Seriously? Do we need to hear this?” William interrupted Pete before he discussed his sex life in front of the girl he was crushing on.

Pete gulped his lemonade, ordered another, and continued oblivious to William’s discomfort.

“I thought she did not want it, so we made out and slept. She moved around so much that I had to take a cold shower for an hour.” Pete sighed at the memory of his busting balls.

Rosaline looked at William with unmistakable anger in her eyes, while William could only look at her pleadingly as his face remained impassive.

Pete continued, “I caught a slight cold because I slept on the sofa.”

Pete sneezed at the moment, proving his point.

“Anyway,” Pete continued, “yesterday, I refrained from seeing her, but she fought because of that.”

“I told her I did not want her to be infected, but she just shouted nonsense about not liking her, not taking her seriously, not knowing her, and whatnot.”

“I thought she was cranky and needed to sleep it off.”

Pete sighed and crushed an ice cube in frustration.

“This morning, I went to her place. I even brought her favorite flowers and breakfast from that hopelessly expensive and deadbeat place she likes. But she told me that we broke up yesterday.”

“I didn't even know that we broke up. So, I asked why.”

“She said because I don’t want her, nor do I know what she wants.”

Pete suddenly got very irritated and punched the counter and crushed a few more ice cubes as if he wanted to tear his ex to pieces.

“Guess what was the deal with her?” Pete asked vehemently.

“Apparently, instead of taking a cold shower when I thought she did not want it, I should have begged and pleaded until she finally slept with me.”

“In her words, I don’t know how to coax her. I should know girls mean yes when they say no, except for when they mean no, which I have no idea how to figure out.”

“I should want to, not want to, but actually, be desperate to see her and be with her even when I’m sick. She ought to be the one to control me as the only rational one.”

“Will, tell me what the hell is wrong with her brain?”

Pete growled while gnashing his teeth. All his previous sobs turned into anger and frustration.

William and Rosaline exchange a glance. They didn’t know what to say.

Pete downed the entire class of lemonade before continuing.

“You never liked her, Will. Tell me why. I know that she used to like you when we were kids. She even went to your school and got you into trouble, but that was all when we were kids.”

“I want to know what I missed.” Pete was practically begging at this point, trying to regain some level of sanity.

Rosaline looked at William inquisitively.

William sighed, having to explain.

He had always hated explaining, and this happened to be something he practically covered for Supriya for over a decade on account of their mothers being friends.

But it was time to let the cat out of the bag.

Moreover, he was reluctant to hide things from the petite girl and let her misunderstand him, a thought which terrified him just as much as it surprised him.

“Do you remember when we were kids, she used to chase me around and pretend that we were childhood sweethearts who would get married when we grew up?” William asked Pete.

Pete rolled his eyes, “Don’t we all know that?”.

William sent him a glare which made Pete stammer. He smiled hesitatingly and asked him to continue.

William shook his head helplessly, which made Rosaline squint her eyes at him.

“Well, she wrote me a love letter which read like she was begrudgingly replying because I stalked her. And she made sure to get caught. That got me in trouble.”

“She testified to the teachers that we were dating. She even went as far as vaguely hinting that we were intimate to an extent.”

“I was disciplined because of that. And was told to reflect on my behavior.”

“10 laps every morning and evening daily for 30 days.”

“Only one half of dinner or lunch for 60 days.”

William calmly finished as if he was talking about someone else rather than himself.

Pete was confused.

He murmured, “Are you serious? It would get recorded in your profile. And being a military school, you might even have gotten expelled.”

William’s knitted brows relaxed a little. Pete was more concerned about his reputation than Supriya.

‘Perhaps he is not hopeless, after all,’ William mused before continuing.

Rosaline noticed this slight change in his expression and hid her smile.

‘Turns out, they are good friends.’

“Well, apparently, she had overheard me telling Ria, my sister,” William added as he glanced at Rosaline which made all his friends gawk at her, “that if I saw her again after five lifetimes, that would still be too early. She told me to beg her to clarify that mess for me and start dating.”

“It was her revenge for my lack of interest.”

“For a 10-year-old to be devious enough to frame someone simply because she did not get what she wanted - let’s just say that I did not think she was simply mischievous.”

Pete stared at William with wide eyes.

“Well, long story short, our parents came, and her parents clarified the matter. It’s not in my record.”

“Since our mothers are friends, the whole thing was hushed up. So, she is in the clear too.”

Rosaline was dumbfounded.

‘How can people be so evil while so young? Isn't this supposed to only happen in movies?’

“Is that why you never liked her?” Pete asked.

“Why did you not tell us this before?” Pete’s eyes were full of grievances.

“When we grew up, she flirted with all of you, although subtly, to avoid confrontations.”

“She was always clever to avoid suspicion and looked pitiful whenever someone tried to oust her.”

“I never thought she liked you or anyone for that matter. That’s why I told you to be careful.” William explained.

Pete was flabbergasted. “Why did you not tell me all this in detail? I thought you just did not like her on account of the trouble she caused in school”.

William shrugged, “Her mother’s good friends with my mom, so when confronted, she begged to keep it under wraps and that she would ensure she never bothers me.”

Pete looked like he was constipated. “What about the other things?”

Before William could reply, Evelyn piped in.

“He did. So did I, but all of you were blind as a bat.”

“And she cried so pitifully whenever confronted that you guys always let it slide.”

“I told you she is a bitch. Remember when you and I almost made out?”

Pete widened his eyes.

Looking at the disbelief in his eyes, Evelyn continued.

”She got you drunk, made you rest on the swing by the balcony where it was dark, and told you to wait for her.”

“I was also tipsy, and she told me Henry was waiting for me on the swing outside. She said he did not come inside because he did not want to disturb us, and it was a surprise.”

“When I got there, I thought you were Henry, and you thought I was her. We almost made out, thanks to her. And she called everyone to catch us red-handed.”

“Henry was not even in town that day. But when I confronted her, she just cried and refused the whole thing and implied that you and I were cheating behind their backs and trying to push the blame on her.”

“She almost framed us, and you idiots told me not to aggravate her. You spent the whole week trying to cheer up that bitch”

Pete looked defeated.

Rosaline was not sure she should be here.

But she could not simply leave, given the circumstances. Moreover, Pete and William’s friends surrounded her.

William wondered if he did the right thing by telling him now or if he was wrong not telling him so years ago.

Evelyn was gloating. ‘They finally see her true face. Bitch, she had the nerve to try and frame me.’

The rest of the boys were equally dumb-struck, finally realizing they were all played by her.

Pete broke the awkward silence with a helpless sigh.

“What should I do now?”

Rosaline blurted before she could stop herself, “Dump her!”