Olivia & Daniel - Part 2

Two years ago, Olivia swore to herself that she would never let a man manipulate her again. Manipulate her the way George had.

He had abused her body and her mentality. He acted like he owned her. He acted, she shuddered, exactly the way her father had.

She thought she was in love with George, she though that he was the One. That was why she had let him get away with what he did for so long.

She knew perfectly well that she was not his only woman. That he was getting it somewhere else.

Some days he would come home with gifts and flowers and hugs and kisses. This was the George she loved. This was the George she hoped he was.

Some days he would come home drunk, ready to pick a fight. And when she gave it to him, as she usually did, he would beat her up like an old boxing bag. A bag he did not care if it broke or was reduced to shreds.

She left him, after three years of pain and hurt, when she found him in the bedroom with another woman.

She up and left.

She was only 21.

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Daniel had grown up with women all his life. First there was his mother, and five sisters, and amazingly active grandmothers. And then there was all of their female friends too.

He had been moulded and shaped from birth to become a woman's dream. He was tender and sensitive, yet masculine and harboured leadership skills.

He was also, disgustingly handsome.

He had never dated anyone for longer than a few weeks, and even so, he felt that he neither loved nor cared for them much.

He decided to take a break on dating for a while.

But when he made this decision, two years ago, he was only 22.

And there was no beautiful girl with a black dress to mess up with his mind.

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Now 23, Olivia wanted to find true love. She was tired of failing relationships. She was afraid to give her heart away to yet another thief, who would take it and leave.

She desperately wanted love in her life and she would go to any measures to ensure its position.

She had first seeked love in strange places, the gym, the library and even the Readers' Club.

And now the bar. It was the easy thing.

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Daniel made up his decision to talk to the beautiful girl tonight. He would walk up to her and casually sit beside her.

"Hi, I'm Daniel," he would say.

And he would ask for her name, and they would start a conversation.

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Olivia entered the bar with a heavy heart. She resumed her seat at the counter.

As soon as she has ordered her vodka tonic, she felt a tap on her back.

She turned around and found herself staring into the most perfect face she'd ever seen.

"Hi, I'm Daniel."