Chapter 19

"Aiden....! Aiden...!" 

"Can't you shut up? Just be annoying!" He shouted angrily. Even though he shouldn't have felt tired at this point, hearing Julian's complaints made his head hurt. 

"Please Aiden, my handsome, rich and my best friend. You are my savior!" 

"Never mind! No need to flatter like that, it's sounds insincere. All right, I'll lend you a loan. Ten thousand dollars, right? Give me your previous debt first!" 

"Okay, here!" Said Julian while taking out some cash from his wallet. 

"I'll transfer the ten thousand dollars to your account later, when do you want to be paid?" 

"As soon as possible!" 

"When is that soon? Please don't be like her, okay? I don't want to!" 

"Like her? Who?" 

"You don't need to know, the important thing is when you want to be paid?" 

"When I get paid next month, I'll pay it, but in two installments, hehe..."

"As I thought, never mind! If it's not important, you better just go home. I still want to practice!" 

"Don't want me to accompany you?" 

"No! Just bother!" 

"Ok my bro, then, see you next time. Don't forget to transfer that money, I'll be waiting!" Julian said as he stepped away towards the door. 

"Yeah... what a bother!" 

*** 

Aiden lay on the bed and got ready to rest his body because tomorrow he had a photo shoot he had to do. 

Drrrtt... drrrtt...

His cellphone vibrated, as if there was an incoming message which was actually very normal for him, considering that recently he kept getting mysterious messages and calls that allegedly came from his fans. 

Feeling not sleepy yet, he chose to open the messages and read them one by one. In one of the messages that came to his phone, it was none other than a message from Cindy Lombardi, his schoolmate when he was little. 

"Good night, Aiden. This is Cindy, a classmate when we was in elementary school. Are you asleep? Sorry, sending messages at this time of night." Cindy wrote, which she sent three minutes ago. 

Aiden who was originally lying down, immediately raised his head. When his's mother told about Cindy on the phone yesterday, he was a little curious how Cindy was now. It's been too long since they met, maybe about 13 years ago. 

"Good night, Cindy. I haven't slept yet, how are you now?" He replied. He was a little confused about how to start a conversation with a female friend, especially a friend he had not had contact with for a very long time. 

"You replied to my message, I'm very happy. I thought you didn't remember me anymore. I'm good news, Aiden. A few days ago, I visited your house and met your mother, apparently your mother still remembers me." 

"Yes, my mom told me. Thanks for visiting. When did you come back to Alberta? Didn't your family move to Sweden when you graduated from elementary school?" 

"Three months ago I went to Alberta, but my family is still in Sweden. The plan was for me to go to New York City because my boss assigned me to a branch company in New York. But I was confused, I had never worked in America before, I was a little worried. Aunt said , you also live in New York now. How is New York, Aiden?" 

"How about New York Hahaha...yes I think it's quite fun here, in fact I feel at home here. I'm sure you will also feel at home here," 

"Really? Thank God, even though I was worried because I didn't have any acquaintances or relatives there." 

"When you're here, just tell me. I'll take you around New York later," 

"Thanks, Aiden. I'm so excited." 

"Don't hesitate, if you need anything just tell me." 

"Yes, thank you. Where do you work? Aunt said, you've become a famous super model." 

"Mom, she must be talking strange," He thought. 

"Hahaha...no, not that famous," 

"But I know how come, because your mom showed me a magazine with your photos, I just found out that the male model that I often see at the mall and on TV is actually my old school friend. You're really great." 

Aiden is so numb, if others praise him, maybe he will feel it's normal, considering not a few compliments aimed at him. But if a childhood friend who hasn't seen him for almost 13 years, that compliment makes him feel strange and embarrassed at the same time. 

"Thank you, Cindy. You are also a great woman. All right, I'll wait for you in New York. When you get to New York, call me okay?" 

"Okay, thanks a lot. Have a good rest." 

"You're welcome."

Aideb was silent for a while while looking at Cindy's chat account profile photo. Her face seemed not much different from when she was a child, sweet and gentle. Her blonde hair and blue eyes earned her the nickname "Barbie Doll". 

This conversation made him remember his childhood as a fat eater boy. In fourth grade, hr sat next to Cindy and since then they have become very close. 

Cindy's father was a diplomat, which made the family move frequently, even though she was born in Canada, she spent most of her life in Sweden, her mother's hometown. 

"Hopefully she's settled in New York."


*** 

"What are you looking at? Is there something strange on my face?" Aiden asked to Chloe who kept staring at him with a big, ridiculous smile. 

"No, I just imagined you being the main character in that story!" 

"Still talking about that story too? You actually read it?" 

"Why not? When I decide to do something, I will definitely do it to the end. When I was in middle school, I was known as a collector of novels in my class. So, reading fiction can be called one of my hobbies," 

"Oh yeah? I just found out!" 

"What do you know about me? Besides, why do you hate that story so much?" 

"You're still asking why? If you actually read it, you would already know what the story is like, right?" 

"I know, I've read it to the latest chapter. I think the story is very good and interesting," 

"I never thought that your book tastes like that, it turns out you are just the same!" 

"Just what do you mean? What's wrong with that book? Because it contains adult content? Of course, we are more than old enough to read stories like that. You are too carried away, Aiden!" 

"You still don't understand either? Haven't I often told you?" 

"I know I know, but I bet you didn't read that story until the next chapter, did you?" 

"I've only read 15 chapters."

"Well, that's your fault, you've only read fifteen chapters, but you've already sentenced the story to bad. What can a novel show in the first 15 chapters, which may only contain openings and character introductions?" 

"In my opinion, if the first 15 chapters are boring and ridiculous, that means the story isn't worth reading any further!" 

"Not worth reading? But do you know how many people have read the story until last night? 18 million Aiden, 18 million! Isn't that great?" 

"Of course because most of them are lonely women who long for a man's touch," 

"Who said? When I started following the story, I just realized that many people from the business community, health workers, models, even famous novelists also praised the story." 

"Why also praise stories like that? Are there no other books that are of higher quality?" 

"Hahaha... that's why, you better read before commenting. It's like you've judged someone 100% bad even though you've only met them for a few days. That's an unfair judgment!" 

"I only caught what I saw!" 

"That means your thinking is shallow!" 

"All right... all right, so what's the point of the story?" 

"Why don't you just read it yourself?" 

"Just tell me!" 

"Hahaha...well, the point is about a man who is said to be the most desirable man, has a perfect life, yes everything. His goal is to conquer as many women as possible as a manifestation of his childhood trauma disorder." 

"Oh yeah? I didn't know that part existed?" 

"Of course you don't know, you've only read 15 chapters!" 

"So, what's next?" 

"The story is filled with several flashback scenes when the main character was a child, he was born to a poor couple who sold him at the age of five into the hands of a woman named Madam Lorenza, a brothel owner in hopes that when he was old enough he could be hired as a security guard or a hostess. But the truth is, growing up he had a far-fetched appearance. Incredibly thin and unkempt. You could say no one wanted him in this world."


***