Just as Kai was feeling rather down about the whole PDA thing, he heard someone call out to him.
Oh no.
Was this going to be one of those cliche moments?
Where a past 'acquaintance' would come and wreck havoc?
Nah.
Though there will be many of such cliche moments, this was not one of them.
Kai got up respectfully upon hearing the voice, and said to the others, "Please excuse me for a while."
Everyone nodded as Kai Sheng made his way to the source of the voice: a rather portly middle-aged man that had a beaming smile on his face. Lianne just glanced their way a bit and retracted her gaze, not wanting to appear rude for staring.
Zero hardly paid any attention to Kai leaving while Lily was just finishing her meal.
"Do you want dessert?" Lianne asked.
Lily shook her head, "Oh no, I'm so full already. Thank you."
"How about you, Zero?" Lily asked.
Lianne laughed, waving her hand in front of her, "Oh, you don't need to ask him. He never eats desserts outside. It's only in your cafe that he does."
Lily couldn't help but smile at that, "Really? But it's nothing special. Just normal things found in any cafe."
"No, it isn't," Zero refuted, "Don't put your creations down like that."
"I wasn't," Lily tried to argue and Zero gave her a look that made her swallow whatever words she was going to say.
"You were. Just by saying it's nothing special," Zero stated firmly.
"Oh," Lily said, not knowing what else to say to that. It wasn't that she was fishing for compliments, but she really did feel that there was nothing special about what she baked. However, seeing how serious Zero was, she knew that he was being sincere about it and her heart just warmed up at that.
Lianne wanted to laugh, really, for Zero was saying such sweet things without realising it. His honesty was one of the reasons why Lianne loved Zero so much. No mind games were needed.
Sometimes Lianne did wonder why she never fell in love with Zero and vice-versa. The fact that they both just settled in this rather close platonic relationship was something she treasured immensely.
If either one of them fell in love with the other, it would have been tragic.
Falling in love with your best friend is the riskiest thing ever.
If your best friend felt the same, then you'll have the best partner in your life. If said best friend didn't, then you would have lost the closest friend you ever had - and one that you'll never be able to replace.
So Lianne knew how truly lucky she was.
She would have been happy to live the rest of her life as she was - single, and with such good friends and family around her.
Lianne looked at Kai again, who was now not just talking to the portly man, but also a rather stunning woman as well.
Her eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips.
Not a good thing to see indeed.
No, it wasn't because there was a gorgeous woman there. Lianne wasn't so petty or narrow-minded to mind Kai being in the presence of such women. After all, in the sort of work he does, coming across such women is inevitable.
What bothered Lianne was the fact that the said woman was giving Kai the googly-eye. She was blatantly admiring him, practically stripping Kai of his clothes as she looked at him. She would even touch her chest as she gazed at him, her lips parting a bit. Occasionally, she would bite her lower lip and lick it slowly.
Obviously, she was doing her best to tempt Kai.
The most interesting thing though, was that she wasn't doing it too obviously. More importantly, she was standing slightly behind the portly guy, so he could not see what she was doing while Kai could.
Kai and Lianne, of course, who was busy staring at her in secret.
Such actions clearly showed that the woman was the partner of the portly man. Whether she was his partner for the night, or basically his current fling, Lianne would not know. What was obvious was that though she was with the guy, she really wanted to get into Kai��s pants instead.
The invitation was blatant.
It would truly be interesting to see how Kai handled this.
If he did well, she would consider Date #2.
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Kai sighed inwardly.
The portly man that had called out to him was Stanley Rich, one of the biggest investors in a venture of his. Thus, Kai would naturally give him the respect that he deserves. However, Stanley's woman, Lucy, was doing the same thing she normally did.
Poor Stanley.
Unknown to him, he was wearing a green hat.
Lucy was well known in the circle for being available for a good time. The only one who didn't know was Stanley himself. At least, he wasn't married to her but Kai could see that he was devoted to Lucy.
As to why he never tied the knot with her, Kai didn't know.
It just so happened that Lucy was one of those women that Kai had used to get Stanley over to his side. However, he had not done anything other than be extremely friendly and polite with her.
It was her entire imagination that he was actually willing and planning to head to her bed, if she said something favourable to Stanley about investing in Kai's venture. Although Kai knew that her words did give it the extra push, the fact of the matter was, the venture was a good business deal.
Stanley knew it, Kai knew it and it was just a matter of them trying to get a better deal over the other.
It was entirely Lucy's delusion that her words had convinced Stanley to make the investment and now, she was 'upping' her 'seduction' and invitation. Kai also knew that should he continue to resist, Lucy would most likely start poisoning Stanley's mind to pull back his investment.
Kai wasn't worried about that.
Stanley was a businessman, first and foremost.
No matter how persuasive Lucy was, she had no head for business and Stanley wouldn't pull out his investment just because she said so. She would have to use other means to get Stanley to do so.
He knew Lucy was not happy with him acting indifferently to all her "subtle" invitations.
"Why don't you join us?" Stanley said, after the waiter told him that their table was ready, completely disregarding the fact that Kai was at another table previously.
"I'm sorry, but I am on a date right now," Kai told Stanley with a smile.
"Oh? Interesting," Stanley said, "But I see that you're basically done with the meal. Come talk to us for a while. I have something to discuss with you."
"We can meet up tomorrow in the office," Kai countered, "After all .."
"Oh, come on now," Stanley said, "I'm busy tomorrow and for the next few weeks. This is a fortuitous encounter. I never thought I would be able to meet you but passing this would be a pity. It won't take long, I promise."
Kai gritted his teeth and nodded, saying, "Give me a minute to explain to my date. Just a few minutes, Stanley. No more."
"Fine, fine," Stanley said, waving his hand, "I won't keep you from your date."
Lucy, however, wasn't happy.
She glared at the table. She wondered which girl was Kai's date. The one that was sitting next to him, or sitting across from him?
Lianne, seeing the glare that passed to her and Lily, and raised an eyebrow. Then, she smirked, intentionally provoking the woman and silently declaring she was there with Kai.
It was obvious from her glare that Kai had told them he was here on a date, and the woman was trying to find out who it was that was.
Lianne was not the type to hide as well. She wanted to know who? Well, now she did.
One point for Kai for making it clear from the start.