The Traps of Black Swan

Leon lifted his hand, and he rubbed behind his ear as he peeled his eyes away to look at her dainty face. He wanted to bring her to his side before satisfying his body that was crazy over her.

When his eyes met hers, he realized she was immune to ogling stares at her body. It didn\'t frighten her like before. Instead, her eyes were saying, \'The same boring sh*t.\'

However, Leon wasn\'t ready to accept that she doesn\'t fear him anymore when he was sitting at just the length of his arm. He still believed she was masking her fear, "Ava Kelly," His voice sounded fascinated as his lips amusingly curled up, "I am impressed by the efforts you were putting in for me." 

\'Self-obsessed.\' That\'s what she had for Leon. He was proud to assume the world revolves around him.

"Tch-" Aarvi rolled her eyes. She looked at the manager who was serving her personally. She wanted to find Dax and kick his ass. 

When she decided she would be revealing her identity, the ones who were excited about it were Shawn and Dax. Zain was okay with everything as all he cared about was her safety. Aaron was brooding, thinking many would try to crawl into her heart. In reality, he was greedy for her time and attention.

So Dax was slowly letting people know she wasn\'t the one to be trifled with. Dax might have emphasized to the cafe manager that she is his chief. The manager must have understood his words and seeing her as President of Skylar, so he wasn\'t daring to move away. He was personally there to serve her firsthand. 

Leon saw the manager serve lemonade when she had asked for a coffee. Then a fine line appeared on his forehead when the manager served him black coffee.  He didn\'t order a coffee. He didn\'t hear Ava Kelly placing an order for him. Then who bought him a coffee?

Meanwhile, the manager bowed his head at Aarvi, "Miss, we were instructed to serve you a single coffee, followed by juice even if you get mad at us." He made sure to divert the information before she threw a fit.

Aarvi: "..."

Now she wanted to strangle Dax, who was becoming another doctor to her. No, she should smack Aaron for telling others that caffeine isn\'t good for her heart.

There was no reason for her to get angry at the manager, so she nodded slightly and easing up his tense, "Thank you." 

The manager was pleased that he did the right thing, and Aarvi wasn\'t angry. He again bowed to her, disregarding Leon\'s presence altogether. 

His job was in Aarvi\'s hand, so why would he care about the President whose image was smeared in the dirt?

However, as a cafe manager, he turned to Leon and treated his customer professionally, "Have a good time, President Harmon."

Anyway, it fell on deaf ears, and he saw Aarvi wave her hand to send him. So the manager left, glancing at Leon, who was clenching his teeth, and his right-hand fist had turned his knuckles pale.

Aarvi took her highball glass, her red lips held the straw, and sipped the mint lemonade, which tasted sweet. Hmmm, she liked it. Yet her favorite one was prepared by Shawn.

Sitting in front of Leon, her thoughts lingered over going to the club to hear Shawn jazzing up. She missed it.

Keeping the glass back on the table, she noticed Leon was finally and slowly realizing it wasn\'t him who caught her off guard, but he was dancing on her fingers.

Following his line of sight, which was trying to bore a hole in the cup, Aarvi remarked, "Black and Bitter." She paused when Leon shifted his gaze on her. Aarvi continued, "Just like your life." 

She meant he was living a dark life with a resentful personality. Perhaps, a black heart living an awful life. However, her thoughts reached the man crystal clear.

Leon was a smart man, which is good for her. She will talk less and affect him more.

Leon had guesstimated the consequences. In the meantime, he controlled his behavior from lashing out. Well, he accepted he was being played like a puppet.

He wasn\'t Leon Harmon she had studied or known before. If he were the same as before, he would have flipped the table or screamed his threats at her. There was no fun in winning easily, so she liked the new direction of her game. 

Aarvi was proud of Aaron, who was able to reset Leon\'s treatment. She should reward him with something, shouldn\'t she?

Her thoughts broke when Leon\'s voice sounded. There was a hesitation which he masked while questioning her to confirm, "Did Dax reveal it?"

A calming smile appeared on her face. Leon was trying to understand her game to deal with her clean and square. Well, she didn\'t mind letting him know.

Leon\'s face darkened, looking at her eyes glinting cunningly, but the difference was he didn\'t rile up. He stared at her eyes.

Aarvi made him happy before she could throw him down the abyss, "You managed to get Tia\'s picture. Well done."  Aarvi had no hand in leaking Tia\'s picture. If it were the past, she would have done everything to keep Tia safe from Leon, but now, things were different.

Leon\'s face turned another shade of darkness hearing her mock. He followed her line of sight when she turned towards her right and gazed far.

His eyes widened when he caught the sight of Tia going towards them. The girl who was trembling like a drenched cat in front of him just a few minutes back was enveloped in thick clothes. Her face was flushed due to the cold as she walked towards Aarvi rolling her eyes at Leon.

Aarvi smirked, looking back at Leon, and uttered clear and audible, "Impatience." Leon looked back at Aarvi, "Your notable flaw."

You should never attack without knowing the opposition. That\'s precisely was Leon\'s mistake when he kidnapped Tia. While Aarvi was busy knowing Tia\'s real identity, Leon didn\'t bother checking her background. 

Why? Because she is a woman?

Aarvi flashed a smile to irritate Leon. The latter has to realize women are neither tools nor weak.

Tia reached them and forced a smile at Aarvi, asking her in a sullen voice, "Sister Aarvi, am I late? I tried to be quick enough." 

Aarvi\'s face ever so slightly softened as she shook her head, indicating Tia wasn\'t late. Truth to be out, Tia was relatively quick than what Aarvi had expected her to be. "You are speedy." She promptly admitted as she pointed to the chair for Tia to take a seat.

Aarvi cued for a coffee as she heard Tia complain without being satisfied by the compliment. "Sister Aarvi, you should have told me that this mass-of-meat was going to kidnap me." She scoffed at Leon without a hint of fear.

Leon had no idea where and what went wrong.

---- The previous day night ----

After planning and arranging everything with Shawn to unveil Tia\'s identity, Aarvi was asleep in Aaron\'s arms. Since she was sleeping peacefully in his embrace, Aaron chose to study some medical cases without disturbing her.

That\'s when Aarvi\'s mobile went off with a string of unsaved numbers. Aaron knew it was from her team, and that call changed all her plans to take the roundabout.