April and Rose opened their mouths in alarm. Even though they knew that Raine never joked around, they clung to their false hope and wished fervently that she had decided to re-try her hand at humor only to fail royally.
However, the serious look on Raine's face as she ate completely shattered their hope.
"Ms. President! You must be joking right? Roy Kim and Ms. Kim? That is impossible" April cried out in outrage only to get kicked by Rose.
April remembered who she was speaking to after the kick and went pale. She stood up and bowed her head. "I'm sorry Ms. President! I did not mean anything by what I said. It's just that I cannot see his royal perfection with Ms. Kim no matter the angle I look at it from. It's like a match made in hell...no sorry that came out wrong. More like a mismatch..."
"April, it's best you stop speaking before you make more mistakes." Rose interrupted as she shook her head at the silly girl.
Raine stared at both ladies in confusion for a while before she spoke. "I take it that you both think they are a mismatched pair?"
April nodded her head vigorously in response while Rose looked uncertain.
"What is wrong Rose? Don't you think the same way?" April asked forcefully and Rose turned to her with an icy glare.
"I never said I felt they were mismatched."
"Then why did you express your shock," April shouted with a pout.
She couldn't believe she was the only one feeling injustice for Roy Kim. It wasn't like she did not like Kim Rachel, she just felt that the woman was too energetic for her idol. She couldn't help thinking that she would cause a lot of scandals for the cool calm Film Emperor.
"Forgive me Ms. President but I always thought you would settle down much earlier than Ms. Kim. After all, you're more responsible and dependable and you also have the whole P&J empire behind you. Hearing that the carefree and reckless Ms. Kim has an engagement while you are still single was quite a shock to me." Rose countered.
After hearing what Rose said, April could not help but want to scoff. Rose was blindly loyal to Raine and that was why she would feel like that. Which man would want to marry a woman like Raine who had varied facial expressions, was very disciplined, and could not understand humor? If she were to pick between Rachel and Raine then she would pick Rachel one million times. Not that she didn't cherish Raine but she was way too dull for her. However, April was not ready to court death so she kept her thoughts to herself.
A string of harmonious laughter sounded and shocked both of them. They had never heard Raine laugh before. In fact, everyone thought she was incapable of laughter. She always wore an impassive face 24 hours a day and it was rare to see her smile; her smile wasn't ever full-blown as well, it could only be referred to as a slight uplift of the lips.
But they had been blessed for the first time with her laughter and it was a mesmerizing sight that transformed her entire being into a celestial entity. The transformation was alike extreme winter bringing forth a refreshing spring; a well-tended and plush garden arising from the coldest weather. It was too beautiful to behold.
"Thank you for your thoughts, Rose. They are much appreciated but Roy and Rachel have been engaged since Rachel's birth. April haven't you ever wondered why his stage name was Roy Kim when his birth name us Roy Kingsley? Moreover, do not trust the image sold to you by the press." Raine said with a little smile.
April and Rose's trance was broken by Raine's voice. April thought deeper about what Raine had said and she came to a sudden realization. "Ms. Raine, you can't mean to say the Kim in his name is from Rachel's surname?!"
Rose looked at April with disdain. "It seems like not all of your brain cells are dead. At least there are some that are still useful for something other than gossip."
April pouted and started to counter Rose. Unlike when she had initially joined the company, she was no longer afraid of Rose and a fight between them was a common occurrence.
Raine looked on as they argued, sighed, checked her wristwatch then shook her head. She had wanted to get some work done after she met with her blind date but she should have known that calling April to join her was the same as making no progress.
Although she had never regretted listening to her intuition by making her a permanent staff, there were some aspects of April that she had come to love and hate. A very big example is her gossipy trait.
April loved speaking and though she wouldn't mind it on a stressful day where she needed to de-stress, it was different when she had work to do. She basically made it impossible to get any work done when she began to gossip.
Now, it was near dinner time and she had another business meeting she had to attend. If she didn't leave now then she would get there late and she had never done that before.
Rose, who was on the same wavelength as her boss, hit the button on the table the instant she saw her checking the time. She requested their bill be put on their tab and signaled their departure to April who then packed all their properties and walked beside Rose who escorted Raine out of their private room.
Raine was impressed by their swift actions. They had always been in tune with her even when fighting, they would always leave whatever they were doing the instant they caught a sign from her.
They retrieved their properties from the bodyguards standing outside their room and began to make their way outside of the restaurant but before they could, their path was blocked.
Raine looked at the person who blocked her path and smirked. However, the two people at her back missed it. If they had seen it then their horizons would have been broadened yet more that day.
"I'm deeply sorry for bothering you, Madame. Mr. Roy asked to meet with you." Cindy, the manager of Bleü Raine said with an apologetic bow.