Married with the Broken Hearted CEO novel Chapter 19

Geoffrey entered the staff room of the bar to change his clothes. He opened his locker and saw his reflection through the small mirror behind the locker’s room. 
His hair was wet with sweat. 
“It looks like I need to wash my face,” he murmured with a smile. 
Replacing a car’s tire is exhausting itself, but Geoffrey had to keep his helmet on while doing the job, that’s why he showered with sweat. Nevertheless, he doesn’t feel bad for playing the good Samaritan. 
With his long and soft fingers, he swept his blonde bangs upward and shut his locker with his other hand. As he closed it, his co-worker came inside.
“Hey there, birthday boy,” his co-worker, Vernon, greeted him with a tap behind his back. 
Geoffrey nodded his head while smiling back. “Hey, wazzup.” 
Leaning against the locker, Vernon looked at Geoffrey with an apologetic expression on his face. “I found it a bit late that today is your birthday.” 
Geoffrey chuckled while taking his shirt off. 
“How did you know it by the way?” Geoffrey asked, grabbing his white polo sleeves before turning towards Vernon. 
His six pack abs came to Vernon’s view, but that did not affect him at all. If he has faint heart as a man, he might feel swooned. No women can resist the temptation to fall for a handsome and sexy guy like Geoffrey Cullen, specially right now when he’s all sweat, making his blonde hair darker while he displays a menacing smirk on his heart-shaped lips. 
“A box of cake arrived,” Vernon murmured. “There’s a note saying: ‘Happy Birthday’.”
Shrugging his shoulder, Geoffrey wore his polo shirt while speaking, “That’s weird. I never share my birth date to women I dated before.” 
“It’s from Isa.” 
When Vernon uttered Geoffrey’s stepsister’s name, he flinched and stared at the blank space for a moment. Wearing the polo fully, Geoffrey pretended he did not hear anything and pursed his lips. 
Vernon and Geoffrey have been working together for a long time. And whenever Isa is in the topic, Vernon can notice how Geoffrey’s mood turns sour. He knew right then that he should not talk about Isa in front of his friend. But he could not help to share the information because his purpose was to talk about Geoffrey’s birth date, which he just found out right now, after being together for years. 
“I didn’t mean to talk about her,” Vernon murmured. 
“Hmmm. I know.” 
“And I did not eat the cake. Not even a bite.” 
“I know. But I guess Gyu took a bite behind my back.” 
“Oh? How did you know?” 
“That dude likes cake so much.”
Laughing huskily, Vernon agreed, “Right. That’s why I told him to work in a cafe instead. Anyway…” He fixed his standing posture then stared at Geoffrey. “My point is that I felt sad for knowing your birth date a bit so late.” 
Fixing his bow tie, Geoffrey stopped to look at his friend. 
“I did not prepare a gift in advance,” Vernon added with a sigh. 
“You don’t have to.” 
“Friends should do that. Aren’t I your friend? Huh? Huh?” Vernon said while poking Geoffrey’s side. 
“Hey,” Geoffrey warned him not to poke him again by glaring, but still laughed in the end. “You’re sulking over a small thing, dude.” 
“What small thing? A birthday only comes once a year. You should be the happiest you during that day.” 
Geoffrey’s hands stopped moving at that point. 
‘Happiest,’ he thought in silence.
Geoffrey’s face came back with a beautiful bright smile, a sudden beam of sunlight illuminating the darkest corner of the room, which Vernon had ever seen.
“I am happy,” Geoffrey said. He tilted his head to his friend and added, “I received the most amazing gift today. So, I am happy.” 
The gift which made him smiled to the fullest with the saddest eyes is no other than the woman he met just a moment ago. 
Adira. 
Geoffrey was ready to end his special day without celebrating. He spent years doing it like that, not until Adira appeared in his life again, on the most unexpected day. A part of him tells him that it is probably a fate, a bitter fate, that let their red strings meet again in the time when they can’t be together. 
Even so, Geoffrey was happy. 
He’s rejoicing over the fact that she gave him the most memorable gift again.
Because the first person who gave him a gift during his birthday is also Adira. 
Thinking about this, Geoffrey reminisced about their first encounter. It wasn’t the night when Adira visited the bar, but when they were in college, 12 years ago. 
Back when Geoffrey was in college, he was really popular in school; thanks to his good-looks. Yet despite of having lot of attention, being the center of attraction was very troublesome because the young version of him was a shy, quiet, awkward and a geek man. But those did not stop him from receiving love letter or date request. 
One day, Geoffrey was sitting on his desk inside the classroom with a pen on his hand. 
The professor was giving his lecture. Some of the students inside were sleeping, while others tried their best to keep awake despite hearing the old teacher’s calm and slow way of speaking. 
Meanwhile, Geoffrey was leisurely scribbling something on the desk. 
[“Today is my birthday. But since no one knows it, I did not receive greetings and gifts. But I’m fine.”] 
After vandalizing the desk, Geoffrey tried to wipe the ink off the table. However, the ink just smudged and did not completely erase. He was so thankful that no one saw him writing down. 
The next day, Geoffrey sat at the same desk again. This time, he brought an ink eraser with him so he could erase the words he scribbled on the table. But as he was about to, he was shocked to see another scribble on the desk! 
“Oh?” he gasped, looking at the words next to his. 
Someone just replied to him. 
With widened eyes, Geoffrey read the sentence following his. 
[“It’s sad to know that no one greeted you. Be thankful that an angel read this. Happy birthday, dude. I placed a gift below the desk. Enjoy!”] 
Geoffrey couldn’t help but giggle after reading the reply, especially the quoted words below. 
[“P.s: If you are not the birthday boy, don’t dare steal his gift. Have a conscience”] 
Geoffrey was a shy boy who hated being the center of attraction. But when he found the energy snack bar below the desk, he laughed so hard. It is because there is still a ‘free’ label sticker on the bar. 
But even if the person who gifted him gave a free snack bar which she maybe got from the supermarket, Geoffrey felt so happy. 
Aside from his mother, no one knew his birthday, including his stepfather and stepsister, Isa. 
From that day onwards, Geoffrey was looking forward to the day when he can meet the person who greeted and gave him a gift. 
Every class, he took that same seat again and again. 
When the other batch uses the room, Geoffrey will visit, hoping he can see the special person. But almost half a year has passed. Geoffrey hasn’t succeeded in finding her. 
One Friday morning, when the sky was painted in the hue of orange and blue, teamed up with the golden rays of sun, Geoffrey took his favorite seat inside the classroom. 
From the open windows of the room, fresh windy cool and crispy air started whistling like a invisible ghost. 
Geoffrey looked outside and saw a red and green color bird with chili-like beat on the windowpane. It started twitting its morning melody, which made Geoffrey and his other classmates look at the scene stealer. 
“Can someone close the window?” the professor asked the student. 
Geoffrey took a seat near the window. Therefore, he volunteered himself to do the task. He stood up and approached the window. 
“Shoo,” he chased out the bird with a guilty smile on his face before he walked back to his seat. 
But as soon as he got back, he saw someone already sitting in his seat. 
“Ahhh, excuse me,” he said. “That is my seat.” 
The girl with brown hair looked up to see him. 
“This is your seat?” the woman said in low tone. 
Geoffrey blinked a few times while staring at the gorgeous woman before him. He observed her alluring hazelnut eyes, her red lips, and her pale skin. Every time she blinks, her long eyelashes flicker. 
Staring at her, it felt as if he saw cute butterflies danced all around the environment looking for the sweet nectar. And the sweet nectar? It is the woman in front of him; her whose sweet fragrance filled the whole environment pleasant. 
She is the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. 
“So this is your seat,” the woman added. 
Snapping out, Geoffrey closed his mouth before he embarrassed himself. “Y-Yeah.” he answered. 
“I am sorry for taking your seat. But staring at you, I see that you look like a gentleman.” 
“Huh?” Geoffrey murmured, pointing at himself. 
“So as a gentleman…” The woman tucked her hair behind her ears before continuing. “Can you let me steal your seat today?” 
Because of Geoffrey good looks that can steal any maiden’s heart, women tend to cling onto him. Usually, they ask him things like: ‘Can I sit beside you?’ 
Thus, when he heard the woman’s favor, he was at a loss at words. 
The woman did not ask if she can sit beside him, but rather, to snatch his seat. Well, she has a face that can make men worship her under her feet. 
“Oh s-sure,” Geoffrey responded, stuttering, then moved back to find another chair. 
“Thank you,” the woman showed her gratitude with a sweet smile. 
While walking away to find another place to perch on, Geoffrey realized that he’s been robbed by a sneaky girl who used the world ‘Gentleman’ to swoon him. 
He couldn’t help but laugh at his dumbness while perching down on the other side. 
“She got me, lol,” he chuckled, then searched her again only to find that she’s already napping. 
Days passed by. Geoffrey always spot the girl at the same seat, his favorite seat which he had to give up for the lady. 
If someone sat there before her, the lady will ask: 
"Can I have your seat, Gentleman/ Pretty/ Cool Dude/ Princess" depending on the person's gender whether she/he is a male, female, lesbian or gay. 
Then Geoffrey just figured out that she chose that place 'coz it is a perfect spot to sleep where their professor won’t catch her napping.
But even though the lady loves to sleep a lot, there’s one thing that amazed Geoffrey. 
“Peter Hemenry said in this book, ‘Man is Man’ page 65, that life isn’t a book. It is to make us believe that introduction, climax and ending in humanity don’t exist,” the lady said to their professor without blinking a bat. 
Despite being lazy in studying, the lady can answer all questions given to her. 
‘That girl has a sexy brain despite of moping around,’ Geoffrey realized. 
“Hey. That girl with surname Hale, what is her full name?” Geoffrey asked one of his male classmates.
His male classmates, who’s munching his burger in secret, answered him, “You didn’t know her?” 
‘So she is famous?’ Geoffrey wondered inwardly then opened his mouth. “No. Why? She’s famous?” 
With curious eyes, Geoffrey waited for his classmate’s reply. 
His classmate wiped his booger on his table before he answered in a not so enthusiastic voice. “No. I don’t know her too. But she’s pretty.” 
That time, Geoffrey swore he would erase that unhelpful classmate’s name in his head. 
“I smelled something! Who is eating?!” the professor asked. 
Geoffrey did not hesitate to point the man beside him. “Here, sir.” 
Everyone looked in their direction, including the beautiful lady who stole Geoffrey’s seat. 
When Geoffrey tilted his head to the lady, their eyes met. 
His face went all red, then he quickly put down his hand and avoided her gaze. 
The second semester ended just like that, and Geoffrey did not have the chance to know the lady’s full name. 
August 6, 2008. Geoffrey went to sport festival with his friends, including the man who was eating a burger beside him during their second semester. 
“Hey! Let’s go eat there!” His friend, Sebastian, asked them to try the food in another stall.
But Geoffrey felt so full after making around and getting free food just because he’s handsome. 
“I have enough. I’ll stay here and wait for you guys.” 
“Alright! You better not regret not going with us to eat,” Sebastian threatened. 
“Just go away, you piggy.” 
With that, Geoffrey was left alone. He sat on one of the benches, together with crowds and watched the ongoing women volleyball game of the festival. 
Among the players, one caught Geoffrey attention. It is the lady with “Hale” name on her jersey. 
“That…” Geoffrey murmured, staring at the lady whom he did not see again after the second semester. 
He couldn’t believe that the frail looking lady was a part of the volleyball team. In addition to that, this was the first time he saw her wearing a short-short which reveals her long legs. 
‘She has a nice leg.’ 
Wiping those evil thoughts inside his head, Geoffrey shook his head and watched her play on the court. 
His eyes only followed her; watching her moves, the way she catches her breath, and she wipes her sweat. Geoffrey does not care how the game goes, who is winning, who is losing. All his focus stayed at the lady who did her best to help the team. 
After long minutes, the woman whom he’s eyeing made a score to their team with a cross-cut spike. 
Geoffrey almost jumped out of his seat. 
“...!” 
He thought his heart stopped for a moment when he saw her fly in the air and made all people cheering for the team made a loud noise. 
“Wooooooooooooah!”
Loud cheers soared, that he could feel the ground vibrate. 
Geoffrey looked at the woman smiling widely after making the shot. 
“That was an intense spike coming from the Whit Eagle’s ace, Adira!” 
“Ah!” Geoffrey shouted as he jumped up from his seat.
He did not shout when she made the score before, but he subconsciously gasped after hearing the announcer of the game. 
Finally, after many days, Geoffrey got to know her full name. 
“Adira Hale,” he murmured, staring at her from afar.