Chapter 4. I just inject myself into his veins

"Thank you SO much." I said and smiled at him.

"No problem." was all he said and he turned back to his friends.

Damn. I had to get his attention. I softly touched his back to make him turn back. I tried to imitate my sister's, Ali's, smile. I called it "a make every man in the room think your hotttt" smile.

"My battery just died. Is it possible to borrow yours for a sec? I just have to call my friend." I had a perfect innocent tone of voice.

"Yeah sure. Here" He gave me his Nokia.

"Thanks." I dialed a random number so he could see that I was actually calling someone. Some dude named Owen with British accent answered.

"Hey Owen! Where are you? I've been waiting for you." Of course Owen had no idea who he was speaking with.

"What? Seriously?" I tried to look shocked.

"Of course I understand. Don't worry about it... I mean it, just take it easy and stay in bed... Alright... bye Owen."

I gave the phone back and sighed.

"Something wrong?" he asked when he noticed my concern.

"My date's not coming. He's not feeling well." I said trying to sound disappointed. I noticed how he was secretly checking me out.

"Finally he noticed me." I thought trying to hide my malicious smile.

"But thank you so much for making that idiot to leave me alone. Can I buy you drink?"

He wasn't just checking me out; he was staring at me. Like he was searching something. Oh no! Did he recognize me as Ali's sister. No he couldn't have. We've never met before and especially now with my dark hair, I didn't look anything like Ali.

I stared right back and for a second he looked a bit embarrassed. He shrugged.

"Um... I'm driving so i can't drink," he said.
"Just a soda then?" I suggested. I didn't give him a chance to say anything because I quickly asked the bartender to come to us.
"I'll have a club soda, and this guy here wants..." I looked at him with an inquiring expression.

"Just Coke please."

"I'm Cora, by the way," I said and gave my hand for him to shake.

"Jonathan." He said.

"Nice to meet you Jonathan." i said and smiled. I don't think I've ever smiled as much as I did that night. But i had to. Ali smiles A LOT. I think she was born smiling. And he had fallen for Ali, so he must like smiley girls.

"So Jonathan, what do you do for living?" I asked.

"I play hockey." he answered.

I was wondering why he didn't mention his status as an NHL superstar.

"Are you good?"

He looked amused.

"I'm okay. And what about you Cora, what do you do for living?"

This was the part I had practiced in front of the mirror. Ali had mentioned to him that I lived in Perhentian Island because scuba diving was my passion.

"I'm a freelance writer." That wasn't a complete lie so it came out naturally. I had written couple of article to airline magazines.

"What do you write about?" He asked genuinely interested.

"About everything. From traveling to climate change."

"Cool. I like your name. Cora. It's not that common." he said and looked straight into my eyes.

My my, he was flirting.

"My real name is Coraline. Mom wanted to name me Caroline but my dad wanted me to be Nora. I guess it's a compromise."

To be honest, it wasn't my real name. It was my middle name. Annie Coraline Wallen.
I was surprised how easy ti was to lie.

He asked a lot about me. I was a bit worried. I hadn't thought that he would be that interested in small details. But the night was a success because he asked my number.

And when I got back home, he texted me:

It was really nice to meet you.
Would you like to have dinner with me
on friday?

"Oh Johnny-boy, you're gonna be in trouble." I whispered and texted him back.