Seeing the obvious disrespect from the three woman, the stout man madly said, "Don't ignore me!" He then inhaled and exhaled loudly as if to calm himself. "Madam, don't burn the bridge into an unsalvageable state. Your husband would still.." the hopping mad man was cut off mid-speech.
A tall, strict-looking, handsome middle-aged man came into view. "Care to tell what I would do?" The intimidating aura from the man sent a series of goosebumps to the fat old man.
"I..I.." The old fat man doesn't know what to say. He was caught off guard.
"Leave. Don't ever show your unsatisfactory face in front of me, my wife, and these two young ladies ever again. I'll only give you this much face because of your former president." The middle-aged man chilling gaze almost made the fat old man collapse from fright.
Upon hearing the intimidating handsome middle-aged man, the villain of the day scurried away.
"Are you ok?" The concerned husband asked his wife.
"Darling, that man gave us a fright. How can we sleep at night seeing his nightmarish ugly face? You need to do justice for us." The wife complains and acted as if she was bullied. Hearing the woman, Anne and Maya can only give a thumbs up to the woman in their head. She can be an actress.
"Hm. No one can threaten my family." The man looked at his wife and patted her head. His steely eyes became soft.
"Aww.. old man you are the best." She hugged her husband's arm and a coy look graced her face. Satisfied with her husband, she looked at the two young ladies. "Hi, sorry for being nosy a while ago. I just couldn't help it. By the way, I guess we haven't properly introduced ourselves yet, my name is Clara Tan. This old man right here is my husband James Tan. Nice meeting you." Clara introduced themselves, while James gave a curt nod to the two as an acknowledgement.
"I'm Anne Clarke and this is my manager, Maya Chen. Nice to meet you too. Thank you again for the help." Anne and Maya shook hands with the couple.
"Oh, no worries. Anyone will do the same as me. I like you, two ladies. Anne, can I call you that?"
"Yes, absolutely you can."
"Can we also exchange contacts? Let's get to know each other better." Clara's pushiness knows no bounds.
"This..." Anne was caught off guard. Looking at the couple, she assumes that they are big shots based on their aura and the way that old fat man scurried away in fright. She doesn't know what to do and looked at Maya for help.
Maya also noticed that the couple in front of them can't be just an ordinary couple. Being an experienced manager, she immediately signalled Anne to give in to the middle-aged woman's request. Her instincts told her that they can trust them. They seem really nice and quite dignified. Maya can only hope that what she did today won't result in regrets.
Upon seeing Maya's permission, Anne and Clara exchanged contacts. Clara also asked for her social media accounts, which Anne could only heed.
"You too Maya dear." She looked at Maya and passed her phone to Maya to input her number.
"Ok." Maya smiled. She returned the phone to Ms. Tan after she was done.
"Now that we have exchanged contacts, we are now one step closer. If you don't mind me asking, what do you do Anne?"
"I'm a model, not yet well known .... but soon, I will." Anne declared confidently. She doesn't want to be someone who says differently about what they were thinking. That is the kind of person she is. What she hated the most are those people acting humble, but when your back is facing them.. they all of a sudden change one hundred and eighty degrees.
"Oh my. I like your attitude. A woman with ambition should be confident in themselves. You know when I was younger, I was and still am as confident as you are. How old are you Anne?"
"Uh, I am 27 now madam."
"Nuh-uh. Don't call me madam, I'm not that old... I'm just shy away from my sixties. Call me Ms. Tan or Clara, whichever you prefer. Even you Maya."
"Mmm.." Maya pondered for a bit. "Then I will call you Ms. Tan." Maya agreed.
"Um, I'll call you Ms. Tan too then. But looking at you Ms. Tan, you don't look your age. What is your secret?" Anne can't help but ask. Ms. Clara really looks younger than her age. Even her husband looks good despite his few obvious wrinkles, indicative of old age. Anne can only assume that they were absolutely otherworldly back then.
"You know how to praise young lady. I'm flattered. My secret is that...I am just born this way.. and also it is because I am being continuously showered with love." She smiled. She hugged her husband's arm and lovingly looked at him, James looked down on his wife with a gentle gaze.
The loving atmosphere between the two was interrupted when the sound of a vibrating phone occurred. James reached for his pocket and pulled out his phone. He looked at his phone screen and then stood up. "Ladies, would you please excuse me? I just need to take this call." He asked and was permitted right away.
The trio talked for what seemed like a long time, then they were joined by James after he was done with his call.
Upon sitting down, He asked if the three were famished.
Clara looked at her husband. "I think I am." She looked at her watch. "Oh my, it is already quarter to one. Let us four go to a restaurant to have lunch." She looked at the two young ladies.
"We can't, unfortunately, we have still an appointment to attend to." Maya politely rejected the offer.
"Oh? That's too bad then, but you two still need to eat. Let's buy something to fill your stomach."
"Thank you, but there is no need for that Ms. Tan. We have packed lunches today because of our full schedule. We will eat them on the way to our next appointment. I hope you don't take our refusals to heart." Anne this time declined. She felt bad for having to say no.
Seeing the look on Anne's face, Ms. Tan felt the need to soothe her worries. "Don't worry. I understand. I thought I would still have more time to talk with you two. Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed." She pouted.
"We are sorry." As if on cue, Maya and Anne apologized at the same.
"Nah, it's ok. We will still hang out and stay in contact with each other, right? For sure, you won't refuse me with this." Ms. Tan gave them a look that they can't refuse.
"Of course, we will be in contact." Anne smiled, while Maya nodded her head in agreement with Anne's statement.
"That's great! Then, when I ask you two, as long as you are not busy that day, you will have to hang out with me."
"We will," Maya replied with a smile.
"Also, don't be shy to contact me. If you want advice on love or about life in general, don't be shy to ask for my help. If someone bullied you two, I will do what I can. I'm not bragging, but if you bumped into a gigantic wall, I'm always ready to help. We just met, but I feel like we are destined to meet this day." Ms. Tan smiled and hold Anne's hand and Maya's too. "And of course, my husband can help too. Right?" She gave a familiar gaze at her husband.
The stoic-looking husband is used to seeing this gaze of his wife. The said gaze is when his wife wants him to agree to anything she says. He nodded in agreement, not only because of his wife but also because he felt some sort of connection with the ladies. He found them endearing, which he rarely does, especially when it comes to the people he just met.
"Thank you, Ms. and Mr. Tan. Then we will do just that." Of course, Anne graciously accepted the offer. Since she and Maya have rejected them a couple of times already, she just felt the need to agree with the couple this time. What she forgot is that, they have already agreed to a lot of the couple's requests.. well, mostly the wife.
James reaches into his pants' right side pocket and pulled out what seems like a sleek and simple, silver metal business card holder. "Here. Ladies, please don't hesitate to call me when you need help. I mean it." He gave one of his business cards to Anne who is closer to him first and then another one to Maya.
Anne took it graciously with both hands and slipped it into her black quilted leather card holder. "Thanks, Mr. Tan."
Maya received the card and gave one of her business card to the couple. She then glanced at her wristwatch. "Again we apologize, but we have to go now. It was nice meeting you again Ms. and Mr. Tan."
"No worries. See you two." Clara bid them goodbye, while James nodded at them to bid them goodbye.
The duo left the couple. Anne ate her lunch in the car, while Maya drove the car. Every time they are at the stoplight, Anne would feed Maya. Maya will eat properly after they have arrived at their destination. While they were on the road, Anne was thinking about the couple they have just met. She is not gonna lie, she felt a bit intimidated by the couple during their initial meeting, but as they have interacted a bit more with them, Anne found them endearing and grounded. In the end, she just felt at ease in their presence.
"The Tan couple are nice," Anne told Maya out of the blue.
"Yes, they are. Despite being obviously rich, they are not snobbish."
"Mm... for some reason I like them."
"Same."
"I really do feel at ease with them, almost to a point where I feel like they could be my long-lost relative or something. Am I making sense? I mean, is that weird?" Anne rumbled as she took a bite of her sandwich.
"Nah. There are just those people whom you feel some sort of connection with, despite just knowing them. I guess good people can do that. Or.... a really good scammer can do that too. Not that I'm saying they are. You get my point."
"Yeah. Again, they are really nice."
"But just to make sure, we can search them up. We got Mr. Tan's business card, so we can try to snoop a bit."
"Ok. But, isn't that a bit too distrustful of us?"
"No, we are just being cautious and practical. We don't want to get 'scammed' and regret it in the end, because we didn't do our homework. I mean, we are just making sure. We can tell them of our snooping after we cleared them of the 'scammer' label.. etc."
"Makes sense."
Back at the couple, they are currently having their lunch at a five-star restaurant that served authentic Chinese cuisines from different provinces. The restaurant is known for serving only in-season ingredients, so they don't have a permanent menu, instead, they have what they call, the menu of the day.
The couple frequented this restaurant. They looked at the menu and ordered. A few minutes later, food comes in.
"Mmm.. smells good. I'm absolutely famished."
"It does smell good," James said and started peeling off the prawns. After peeling them, he put them on a plate and slid them to his wife. He always does this every time there is deshelling involved.
"Thanks, old man. You are the best. You have to eat too." Clara smiled and proceed to eat on her husband's labour of love - the plateful of shelled prawns.
"You are welcome." James smiled and started eating too.
They ate in relative silence after that, with the occasional pampering of James, of course. They enjoyed the food. After eating, they stayed for a bit in their private room to digest their food.
"What do you think of the ladies, old man?"
"They are nice."
"I know right? I'm quite pleased with the two ladies. I don't know why, but I just pictured Anne with our son."
"Angelo?"
"Yes, Angelo." She confirmed. She went silent for a bit, contemplating something. "Speaking of Angelo, I'm going to call him."
Meanwhile, in Tan's Corporation, Angelo just sneezed. Last night he was sneezing too, maybe he has caught the flu as he suspected last night.
Seeing and hearing the President sneeze, the ever observant Secretary Rod whipped out a tissue out of his pocket.
"Are you perhaps not feeling well, Mr. President?" Rod gave the pocket tissue to his boss.
"No. I don't think so. Thanks." He received the tissue to wipe his nose.
Ring. Ring.
Angelo looked at his phone and saw that it is his mom calling. "Hello."
"How's my son?"
"It seems that you are regularly calling me these past few days."
"Well, I just want to know how my workaholic and loveless son is doing." What a way to rub salt into her son's lack of romance.
"I'm doing good. Anything else mom?"
"Have you called your brother yet?"
"Mm."
"What did he say?"
"He will call you to inform you of his decision."
"Good. Anyway, have you found a nice lady yet?"
"Mom, you just asked that yesterday."
"You are right, but I mean..."
"Mom."
"Son, I met this lady..."
"If you are going to match make me with someone, I'm not interested." Angelo cut off his mom mid-speech. He is averse to matchmaking.
"I know you hate matchmaking, but this lady that I met is different. I'm sure you will like her."
"Mom, let me decide on my own. As I have said before, I'm not going to rush looking for someone."
"Fine. You win. I'm not gonna match make you again. Find love on your own, see if you can find one before you grow 'old-old'.. hmph." Clara pouted.
"Mom, I know you are worried. And I thank you for that."
"Whatever, I'm hanging up." Clara ended the call, sulking.
Angelo slid his phone into his pocket and sighed. His mom can be childish sometimes.
"Another match-making, Mr. President?" Rod curiously asked.
"Mm."
'When is his mom going to stop? Does she not feel tired of wasting her time matchmaking him? What if that new lady can't captivate him too, just like every lady his mom tried to match with him?' Angelo thought and sighed for the nth time.