The Wangs' warm smiles and their expectant gaze could put a hole in Cindy's face if her skin wasn't this thick.
"Quit looking at her like that Mother, the child is scared."
Monika, who had just helped her husband - Armand from the kitchen, brought a large pot of food, made Cindy reflexively stand up and help her but stopped by Grandma Wang.
"Just sit, you sweet child. Let me take a look at you." The woman was well maintained and if she didn't know beforehand she might think the lady was Monika's elder sister. "You really pretty, my grandson really have good taste. My great grandchildren will look pretty as well."
"My grandson has a good taste indeed, but how come a pretty girl like you like that stinky brat? That boy always has a long serious face and acts up behind people's backs. The real Janus of the family!"
Grandma Wang slapped grandpa Wang's arm, "You watch your mouth! Don't let my granddaughter-in-law run away!"
The elder man just shrugged.
"But Archie was right, what do you like about Yige? How did you two meet?"
Monika half glaring her mother, "Ma, she didn't want to talk about that right now."
"But why not? It can be a nice story."
Grandpa Wang chipped in, "How do you know it was nice?"
"Of course it was nice, why shouldn't it be nice?"
"Armand, what was the girl Yige meet on his Australia trip again? The one he met in a bar?"
Monika's husband paused from sate he cooked, "I think it's Wisa or Riska, I forget dad. I'm sorry."
"Anyhow that's that, Stella."
Grandma Wang half confused half offended, "What's that got to do with this?"
"That girl comes from a very complicated family with a long history with the police. It was questionable, to begin with, and thank God it's finally ended."
Monika could see the awkwardness on Cindy's face, "Enough, he is with Cindy now. We don't have to talk about Yige's past in front of her, right?"
Cindy covered her awkwardness with a gummy smile, "Oh, it's okay. After all Senior Yige is a really attractive man, it's normal to have some past love."
Monika shot her parent a half glare, blaming them for talking too much. "It doesn't matter. What matters is he is with you now, Cindy."
Stella persisted, "So, how did you meet? Was it love at first sight?"
"Ma!" Monika protested while the men just chuckled.
"What? I'm curious."
Monika drank half of her teh melati while Stella still looking at Cindy with her sparkling pair of eyes. "I bet it was a love at first sight."
Cindy remembered a memory she buried a long time ago and couldn't help to smile.
"You see that? She's smiling!" Stella slapped Archie's arm, "Tell us my dear, what was the first thing that struck you?"
"It was his, uh, smile."
"My dentist work hard for those, it was expensive for a candy boy like him." This time Monika smacked Armand's arm for speaking out of turn. She smiled apologetically to Cindy, "Continue, honey."
"Well, we.. um.. Our eyes met, and he smiled. Those eyes spoke to me, his smile give me strength. Then.. you know, I just know that from then on my life wouldn't be the same again."
"What was wouldn't be the same again?" A sudden man's voice made them turn their head simultaneously, "Hi Pop, granny. Hi aunty, Uncle Armand. Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
"Oh nothing, Dear. Cindy just tells us about how she falls in love with you at the first sight."
Stella's answer followed by a choking voice on Cindy's part. Yige was a perspective man, he sit beside her and offered her water.
"You alright, sweetheart?"
NO, I AM NOT FINE!
"Yeah, just the wrong pipe."
"Can you explain why you kidnapped my girlfriend from her place of work? Cindy's manager called Xiao Ling out of panic."
Yige's words made Cindy realize that she didn't have her cell phone with her because her bag was in the waiting room with King and her staff.
Monika handed a bowl of rice to her parent, "Kidnapping? You're too harsh, my dear nephew. I just took Cindy out to dinner, then your grandparents came here right away."
"Aunty, you had a lot of subordinates right, you should have told them to tell King. He's so nervous that he can't find Cindy. He almost called the police because of this."
"What a good manager, he should try to resolve this himself first. Calling the police will only complicate things. Oh, this is good, Armand," Monika tasted the sate her husband cooked, "I think I should give him a private lesson on how to be a good manager. If he wants to survive this industry, he can't be this weak."
King would never know that his misfortune started by his God Yi telling Monika a lie.
Yige rolled his eyes, hopeless. "But you, never forget to bring your phone. I thought something happened to you, don't be this careless. Just because my aunt asks you out doesn't mean you can let your guard down like this."
The reprimanded Cindy or the nagging Yige both oblivious to how the parents look at them. The elders glanced at one another knowingly.
Armand passed the empty bowl to them, "Alright, children. Eat first, you two look skinny."
"You did not just say that Uncle Armand, this is all muscle. How can you say I'm skinny. Do you know how many girls swoon over these?"
Stella pointed her finger, "Hey boy, watch your mouth."
"But it's a fact, Granny."
"You can't say that in front of my granddaughter. Be considerate. What if my granddaughter runs away from you?"
Cindy laughed, "It's okay, Madam Wang. I'm one of those girls too."
This time Stella glared at Cindy, "Who are you calling Madam Wang? Call me grandma!"
"But that.." Yige nudged Cindy, "Yes, Grandma."
"And you boy, don't say that kind of stuff again. Did I teach you nothing all this time!"
"Alright granny, it's my bad," Yige took her hand under the table and brought it for a kiss, "They can swoon, but I'm all hers."
Cindy could only pray that her sanity was still intact at the end of their charade.
.
.
.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
"Just doing my part of the bargain, Senior."
Yige stopped in front of his car, "I told you not to call me that."
"No, verbatim you told me I can call you that in public."
"Yeah, and there's only the two of us now."
"So?"
"You have to get used to calling me, darling… Or sweetheart. Take it as a practice, we need to show some intimacy if needed."
"Why?"
"We will reveal our relationship next year, we can't enter a battlefield without preparation."
"I know, but calling pet names…" Cindy visibly shivered. She was his fan, she even used his birthday and various tiny bits of information of his as her security question or pin number, but come on… Defiled her male god with a pet name? She's not crazy enough. She was itching to change his contact name on her phone, but the man said it was part of the deal. "How about… Brother Yi? That sounds familiar enough, right?"
"No, that sounds like my manager and staff. You're not them, you can't call me that."
"But Senior, this is only a temporary situation. I don't think obsessing over the details-"
"Be careful!"
Cindy was already in Yige's arms before realizing what had happened.
"Are you ok?" Yige glared at the car that had just left after making sure Cindy was fine, "Who is that person? How could he speed in the parking lot? I should have looked at the license plate."
The previous incident made Cindy all quiet, King didn't even dare to nag because the girl had disappeared.
Cindy was well aware that it was all a charade but the sincerity in Yige's actions touched the girl.
As an actress, Cindy knew that was a bad sign. Her job was to convince the audience that the role she was playing was herself. The integration allowed the audience to be captivated by the character she played so that the character become alive.
The problem with this was this wasn't directed for filming, most of the time they were acting in front of people. They could read situations and understand the atmosphere, in order to deliver their acting they must act all out down to the details. Yige was a man of details, he measured every mimic and emotion of the character he played. A good method for acting but a bad method for deception.
Cindy really questioned herself. At this point, not only her sanity might be carried away but her feelings too. Cindy knew catching feelings was really dangerous.
Especially to someone like Wu Yige.
"What's my schedule for tomorrow?"
King startled but responded swiftly. "Only a photoshoot, it's with Fashion Icon as their cover."