Trapped with a Demon Prince

CHAPTER 2

Zarina raised her brow at the blatantly suggestive ad and then rolled her eyes. She could not believe she was even reading such a troll. Where did she even get this piece of s**t advert? She must have been really out of it yesterday to even take this piece of crap and even crazier to keep it in her bag.

However, instead of crumpling the ebony piece of paper and throwing it away like what she always does, Zarina surprisingly found herself downloading the app into her phone. Well, she was going to die soon anyway she thought to herself and shrugged her slim shoulders. It does not matter anymore whatever silly things she did! In fact, she could be excused for all and any silly behaviours from here on out. She has the license for it!

To her surprise, the strange app seemed legit as she checked the developer's contact details on the app store. It even had the best interface she had ever seen. It was actually looking so professional that Zarina could not help but be amazed.  

Curiosity hit her like a ton of bricks, and she browsed the app with growing interest. She was again shocked to find out that the app was indeed selling the perfect men to their clients – the problem was that these 'perfect men' were all robots! Or wait, was that not a good thing? At least for her…?

She had heard about this new-fangled idea a couple of years ago that a company had successfully created the perfect and realistic robot that could simulate humans to a T. She had seen one before in an exhibit she had attended years back and she was actually awed because the robot was so realistic that there was not even a single flaw or even a sign it was not actually human. She had also tried touching it and the robot's skin has no difference at all compared to a real human's skin. 

It had shocked Zarina at how technology had grown so fast in the recent years, but she had always known such innovation was bound to happen. It was just a matter of time, given humanity's ingenuity. It was really not something that was impossible. 

In the next couple of hours, Zarina found herself stuck browsing the app. She had even chatted to the online real time costumer service officer about all the specifics of their products. She even told the seller about her secret predicament and that she thought that since the man was a robot, her trauma would probably not be triggered.

She must truly say that the costumer service officer she was chatting to was probably one of the best in their line, as she had actually managed to convince a meticulous woman like her to be sold on the idea of a robot male companion to overcome her fears. The woman she was communicating with even told her that she can have a test for herself first if the robot will trigger her phobia. She also told her that there was a safety word input upon starting the robot up and she can just yell 'shut down' if her phobia kicks in in his presence. She was being assured that there was no way that the robot could cause any hurt to its owner – emotional, mental or physical.

In the end, Zarina was sold on the idea and actually agreed to buy one. She was laughing at herself when the chat ended. But who cares? Nobody cares if she was taking on one hell of a mad decision for the first time in her life. Her life has been too serious for the entire life. She had never made any decisions on a whim. Perhaps, it was time for her to introduce some madness in her life too. Besides, was she not looking for things and some place to spend her hard earned money on? The robot she was looking at costs a whooping ten million dollars and it was certainly something she never had. She did not even actually care anymore if this was a scam!

[PLEASE GIVE THE SPECIFIC APPEARANCE YOU DESIRE.] the app had a whole page of specific requests to be tailored to the individual client's wants and Zarina quickly typed in her answers and filled up the requirements she wanted for her robot.

[I want a hot guy. Tall. Tanned skin. Smoking sexy eyes. Thick and dark lashes. Full and symmetrical lips. Broad shoulders and muscular chest. Wavy and thick hair. Sculpted abs. And yes, just plain perfect and gorgeous at the same time. I need the hottest man all girls in the world are drooling for! A man straight out from a romance novel in short!]

[PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR TYPE.] the app requested again for more characteristics required and it gave her ten different hunks as samples to refer to. Zarina's jaw almost dropped at the sight of the men. They were all just too much! Definitely the meaning of godly perfection. She was getting a continuous nosebleed just looking at their pictures! She could not imagine having the real deal standing in front of her. Ahh!! As it is, she could feel her head getting lightheaded looking at all these eye candy. 

For some reason, even though all of the men pictured there were helluva gorgeous and just too good to be true, Zarina could not seem to take her eyes off the hazel-eyed man. Her heart even actually strangely skipped a beat when she zoomed in on his face and his eyes was seemingly locked onto her own – something she found funny, and she shook her head in disbelief, thinking that it was just her overactive imagination due to the excitement of this new thing she was experimenting in. 

She picked the picture of the hazel-eyed man without hesitation and thus, after a few more steps, she was finally able to buy the male robot of her choice.  

[THANK YOU FOR YOUR PURCHASE, DEAR CLIENT! YOUR ORDER WILL ARRIVE SOON AT YOUR DOORSTEP.]

...

Several hours later, there was knock on her door. 

Zarina jumped and almost fell from her lounging position on her couch. She was comfortably wrapped in her favourite blanket, drowning from the miserable event that was her life. She even forgot about the mad indulgence she had impulsively decided on just this morning. It was shocking how useless money was for her now that she was on the verge of dying. It used to be everything to her. It had been the driving force for her to get up every morning and push forward in her career day after day, year after year. Yet now, she did not even mind it at all even if she was scammed and ended up throwing millions of dollars away just like that. Sighing, she had a sudden comprehension at how useless money was when once was dying.

Thinking that it was the food delivery service, Zarina opened the door. However, she was surprised when a huge rectangular box towered before her. She blinked at the unexpected size of the package and stood at the entrance, looking at the box dumbly. Did she order anything that was this big? She c****d her head to the side, trying to recall if she had made any purchase this size. 

But before she could recall anything, there were four delivery boys and a woman who suddenly appeared and stood around the large parcel in front of her door. The woman smiled warmly at her and then she approached Zarina with a professional air, all the while instructing the delivery boys to bring the box inside her lounge. She did not forget to remind them to be careful in handling the package as they brought it in over the threshold. Zarina could only back up in confusion as the people and package moved into her house, bustling about, as busy as bees.

"Are you working with the company where this delivery came from?" Zarina finally found her voice and asked the woman. She of course avoided speaking to the delivery boys as they were males.

"No, ma'am. But the source of this parcel instructed that a woman should accompany the delivery boys." The woman explained patiently with a respectful smile and Zarina lifted her brows in surprise. She did not expect the seller to be so considerate. 

"Do you guys know what's inside this box?" she asked curiously, and the woman shook her head with another smile. She suddenly remembered her impulse purchase that she had made this morning. 

"Ma'am, we – as the affiliated transport company – were only instructed to deliver it safely until this package arrives in perfect condition inside your home." She informed Zarina, still maintaining her professional smile. And once the package was transported over and set down in the middle of her spacious living room, the delivery boys tipped their caps to her, while the lady nodded at her before they left, closing her doors softly behind them. Zarina was stunned for a moment at the sudden whirlwind of movements during the past few minutes and stood there unmoving for a couple more minutes. Then she shook herself out of her stupor before turning away from her front doors and looking back to her living room where the large box still stood there, waiting to be opened. She shrugged her shoulders and proceeded to get her blade to aid her in the process.

Since the box was so tall, Zarina had to pull out her step ladder to be able to reach the tops of the box in order to run the blades along the taped up openings. As she ran the blade and climbed up, went down, walked around and bent over, she panted and thought to herself that this item she was unpacking better be worth the effort. Just opening up the box was so much work!! She finally unboxed the huge parcel and pulled off the clear tape that was wrapped around it. And to her surprise, a n***d man, so perfect and hot appeared before her eyes. It was unbelievable. She thought it would look like a doll, but he was really so human that Zarina could not help but gasp out in surprise. 

"Oh. My. God!!!" She screamed with eyes wide opened. Any wider and her eyeballs would have popped out of their sockets.

Her eyes slowly trailed down from his hair, and further down to his middle. The moment her eyes fell on his lower half, she caught a breath at the sight of him wearing a fitting black underwear. Her face still burned hotly though. That underwear was tight enough that it might as well not cover anything. However, she was still thankful that it was there as she thought her heart would not be able to take it if it was fully on display. She poked at his abs curiously. His skin felt so real! The only difference was that his skin was cooler to the touch. The customer service officer did tell her though that his temperature will warm up once the robot was turned on. 

She poked at it again, so amazed and awed at the lifelike texture of it, she had actually forgotten about her own dilemma.  

"Okay, calm down Zary. Calm down. It's time to check on the manual." She told herself before taking several deep breaths.

She checked on it and she was surprised that she could actually choose the kind of emotions the robot would be able to have and the ones to display. She could even adjust his body temperature! 

Excitement was filling her heart now. Tossing aside the miserable and dark emotions swallowing her just a while ago, she allowed herself to revel in the excitement. 

"Now, shall I wake you up?" she spoke out loud as she faced him. Her heart quickened a little and she bit down on her lower lip, stopping herself from saying the word that will trigger him to wake up. 

According to the manual, this robot will listen to the very first voice that awakens him. He will never listen to anybody else but the owner of the voice that first awakened him. This robot was also apparently, automatic so there was no remote control or press button on his body which Zarina thought was such a convenience.

A long and deep breath escaped from her lips. She was thankful she was not feeling the fear she usually felt when she was around human males. Usually, just finding a grown man inside a room, even if he was sleeping, was enough to make Zarina bolt out in an instant. But with him… with this perfect robot, she was not feeling it. This was a very good sign. Very good indeed! And her eyes twinkled and sparkled with excitement.

Now all she needed to do was awaken him and see if her reaction still would remain the same. She hoped that she would not be scared.  

One more deep breath and Zary finally opened her mouth again. "Open your eyes." She commanded.

She subconsciously held her breath when his enviably long, thick and dark lashes fluttered open.