30 minute earlier.....
The barista noticed Xavier as soon as he walk through the door. He smiled and nodded to signal for his usual double espresso. Signature is not only a mere cafe but a bistro cafe that served award winning dishes. It has won the international bistro gourmet title for three consecutive years. The black and white chic design with crystal chandelier gave it a Parisian feel. Xavier was quite proud of it as he design the place himself upon his return from the europe office management conferences. It is actually a semi-private venue. The Signature Cafe is where staff sets up internal or external meeting to cut off travelling time and have good food with service at the same time. Reservation priority are given to staff in order to increase efficiency.
Everyone in the cafe knows him or the staff that invited them will inform their guest of his identity to avoid mishaps incident. His profile has never been a secret due to the many business venture of the company. That's how it is, everyone in the cafe should know who he is or so he thought as he make my way to collect his coffee. No one will risk their job or business opportunity to come close unless invited or by appointment. It's one thing to project an approachable image and another to be bombarded by unwanted attention. People knows he is fair and values his privacy.
Xavier POV:
I better sober up real soon to drill all the department heads in this mid-year operation meeting. We have another $100 billion to look into before year end and the little piece of information Chris passed to me last night will push the new acquisition to a all high level. The mechanics of how much this information will benefit us started to turn in my head and I felt my mouth turn upwards even with an extreme hangover. I got the feeling of getting older thanks to the drinking competition between the boys yesterday. I never knew why did I ever let Steven goad me into the bet? He managed to get me all rile up since young but it got under control after I took reign of Lee Group or so I thought.
Suddenly I feel a thud on my chest and it was burning while I was lost in my thoughts. Sssshh...it burns! I look down into a teenager with a cap on. I can't see his face only this violet hat at my chest level. He didn't even dare to look at me after burning me and tried to dash off with a lousy apology. Normally I would not have said something so rude if I have not had this hangover and scalded by hot coffee which ruined my newly tailored made Armani suit. It just ticked me off when this kid thinks he can run off after hurting someone that I have to asked if that's what his mother taught him.
After a few exchange of words...
This kid has a dead wish. He called me "OLD". This little shrimp who just reached about my chest height called me an old man. My ears is not playing tricks on me, he said I touched his ass! I am a fully grown man who loves fully grown women!
Pfttt..... who dares to laugh at me?! I glare to my right at that irritating sound and saw Steven standing there with his fist over his mouth looking jolly. He stopped immediately after I threatened to send him to Africa and that little imp have the guts to run off.
Steven come to stand in front of me after I took a step to give chase and said, " You are not going to run after the poor thing, are you Xavier? It is really you who bumped into him, he was already at the counter picking up his coffee. That explained the brown liquid all over you now."
I look down again and think that the little imp was so short that I didn't noticed him standing at the pickup counter in the first place. Damn! Luckily there are spare suits in my office but I am fully awake now and raring to shout at someone. "You can brief me while I get change upstair," I snorted at Steven gloating face. Usually my serious business demeanour will undermined people in front of me but it doesn't work for someone who knows you since diaper days.
Steven was really happy that such an opportune scene has play out in front of him. It is getting harder and harder to get Xavier to make a fool out of himself and get a good laugh. He is the youngest and he is allowed to be playful and carefree but he sensed a change in Xavier since Chris's marriage. Xavier seems to take responsibilities even more seriously now and old stunts doesn't work on him anymore.
I can't help myself but poke at him again after our meeting which is all cloudy and gloomy," Have you seen the latest gossip in our company chat room? Embarrassing news do spread faster than a cold." No response. I read the latest post out loud, " Attention to all our male colleagues, you might be lucky to snag the most prestigious CEO of all time. No wonder he never shows interest in any of the gorgeous woman in the company." I can see veins ticking at the side of his forehead hahahahaha.....
Xavier flipped out his phone suddenly saying," I'll check if there is a position for you at T Comm. Steven was scared out of his laugh."Ahh....No, No, Thank you. It might not be a boy you bumped into you know. You should have seen that face, exquisite if not pretty, natural without makeup too."
That last comment caught Xavier off-guard. He knows Steven and his records with strings of women. He can spot a women in a full dance floor, a crowded station or in the garbage dump. If Steven said that was a woman then it is a woman. Xavier does not have any recollection on her face now that he thinks back to that moment but he remember the pair of big brown defiant eyes stabbing back at him. Unbeknown to him, it stirs something foreign in him.