"You just have to suffer through this for ten minutes," Noah Conway, secretary and right-hand man to Eli King said in regards to the woman on the other side of the table.
"I can hear you," Bethany Valentine, a well-known model said from the other end of the table. "My hearing is the same as the two of you."
"Ah yes, my apologies," Noah apologized for hurting her feelings but he actually wanted her to hear what he told Eli. Anyone with eyes could see the man didn't want to be here. Was her eyesight bad? Should he check her profile?
"I didn't expect when your mother set us up for a date your secretary would also be here but I'm fine," Bethany concluded even though she wasn't okay with it. Couldn't Noah read the room give the two of them some privacy?
"I didn't expect when my mother said to meet her here you would be here," Eli spoke for the first time since he arrived. Bethany sat up ready to engage in a conversation with the man but he shot her down before she could. "I would've stayed home if I knew this was going to happen."
"Oh," Bethany answered deflated but immediately got over the sad feeling. This was a golden opportunity set up by her mother. The infamous Eli king who many women had their eyes set on was sitting right in front of her. If she could grab him for herself today all eyes would be on her. They had practically grown up in the same society but Eli had hardly talked to her or anyone unless his mother told him to. She couldn't let this moment go to waste. "I heard you bought more land recently. What are you planning to do with it?"
"I can't disclose my business to just anyone," Eli replied, swirling red wine in a glass. In his eyes, he didn't think anyone should drink this low-grade wine. His mother had gotten the best of him this time. He should've known based on who owned the building that something was up. Why would his mother invite him to such a weird-looking cafe filled with mostly women? Looking around the cafe he found a picture of someone he unfortunately knew. Kevin.
Noticing his gaze on one of Kevin's pictures in the cafe Bethany decided to direct the conversation to that. "Kevin's appearance and post have really increased the price of this building and the revenue for this cafe. My father is pleased with how his businesses are going these days."
Eli shifted his gaze away from the picture to Bethany who squirmed under his powerful gaze. Everything about this man screamed money and power which was why she wanted him.
"Your family owns this place and you're a model. You're doing quite well these days so why aren't they using you as a promotion for the cafes?" Eli asked intrigued as to why the Valentine's didn't use their daughter. Was her star power useless in their eyes? Or when this cafe goes down they don't want her as an image for it?
"Well, um."
'Shit,' Bethany thought now wondering why they hadn't asked her to promote the cafe's but she didn't want to seem like a fool in front of Eli so she responded. "I'm too busy these days and have no time to do promotions. If I were to do that my fans would swarm the place and I'd have to visit to calm them down. That would be too much for me."
Eli smirked at her response. At least she was a quick thinker. Sitting back in the comfort of his chair he asked, "Noah, what is Kevin up to these days?"
"He started a tv series, has two movies on the way, and will be on the cover of several magazines soon," Noah said, listing all the details of Kevin's schedule. He liked to keep track of certain people.
"Seems like Kevin is also busy but was able to do the promotion for the cafe. What are you up to these days Bethany?" Eli questioned and noticed her body tense up.
"I can't disclose my business to anyone just like you Eli," Bethany quickly responded. She didn't know how much longer she could quickly answer his questions. This was like a college test or perhaps what people call a job interview.
"Hmm," Eli hummed in agreement. "How much longer do I have to be here now Noah?"
Looking at the timer Noah commented, "Five minutes."
Eli sighed frustrated as this couldn't continue any longer or he would take a knife and stab himself with it over and over again. He abruptly stood up, his chair releasing a screeching noise. "It was lovely to see you again. Good day," he said before walking away.
"Wait," Bethany called, standing up but the man was already halfway out of the private room.
"Hold on," Noah also said, getting up. The man could at least give him a warning when he planned to leave a room. "Sorry, my boss-"
"Dammit," Bethany slammed both her hands on the table. Her fangs started to enlarge as her anger grew. "How the fuck can he just leave so quickly? This was my one chance."
"Put your fangs away Bethany, you know it stings to bring them out only to hide them again," Noah said, packing up Eli's jacket and phone he left at the table. The least the man could do was grab his own things.
"Shut the fuck up! Why did he even bother to stay when he could just leave?" Bethany questioned not calming down. By now her black eyes had changed to red, their true color.
"You know his mother is scary, she threatened him to not leave. Twenty minutes was a blessing. In fact, you're the longest date he's ever had in hundreds of years. Congrats!" Noah cheered, clapping for her accomplishment.
"Get out," Bethany yelled, reaching her limit with Noah. She was already upset with Eli leaving and now Noah was pissing her off. "Get out of my building right now," she said through gritted teeth.
"Sure but calm down before you leave here Bethany. Don't attack any normal people and expose them to what you are," Noah warned even though he was sure she wouldn't do anything stupid. Surely she didn't want to face the punishment of exposing herself to normal folks. "Have a good day," he stated, then left to follow after his boss who happened to be on the outside of the room."Boss!"
"Where to next?" Eli questioned leaning against the wall. He had heard the conversation between Noah and Bethany. She triggered her fangs to come out just from rejection.
This was one of the reasons he had been avoiding Bethany among other things. She was too impulsive and let her emotions get to her to the point where she would do something forbidden. For a vampire to show their fangs was painful since they were hidden most of the time in this day and age, so for her to go through that pain just to retract her fangs again was stupid. "Make sure you double-check anywhere my mother invites me. Decline if it's a date."
"Sure-Wait! Hold on a minute," Noah panicked upon the realization Eli wanted him to decline his mother. Eli himself sometimes scared Noah and Elaine scared Eli so putting that together meant Elaine was a nightmare for Noah. "With all due respect, I can't decline your mother."
"Yes, you can. You're my assistant/secretary and most importantly, my friend."
"Do you want me to die?" Noah questioned with pleading eyes. Every time he saw Elaine he thought his cold heart would burst in fright.
"My mother loves you," Eli retorted entering an elevator. It was true that his mother loved Noah. Noah was his friend for thousands of years. At some point, his mother had to love Noah being around. "Remember to decline respectfully."
Noah whimpered at the thought of his future conversations with Elaine. Eli knew his mother would not sit quietly with her son rejecting dates and even worse, through his secretary.
Eli ignored the sound coming from his friend and looked to the wall of the elevator. It seemed like someone was sick on the other side. They shouldn't have eaten the food here, he wouldn't even drink the water.
"We're on the parking lot floor Eli," Noah said with tears still in his eyes.
Eli looked away from the elevator wall feeling the person had stepped out. He followed Noah to his car. He opened the back door of his car and took a seat while Noah sat in the driver's seat of the car.
"I'll take you home for the day since there's nothing left," Noah said, putting on his seat belt. "I should've drunk a bit of blood back there. My head feels dizzy."
Closing his eyes Eli said, "Don't ever drink anything from that place. You can have some blood when you drop me off."
"Thank you. I forgot to restock your car with blood. It seems these days everyone is producing blood as wine more than ever. I'll inspect and find you a good brand," Noah commented looking at the rearview mirror to see his boss.
"Eyes on the road," Eli reminded Noah with his eyes still closed.
"Yes I know-" Noah paused when he felt the car crash into something.
Folding his arms Eli sighed at the mess Noah just created for him.