By 10:30pm, Christian was at Mia's place to pick her up. He made his way upstairs to the apartment number on the address and stabbed the doorbell. After what seemed like an entire hour but was actually a few minutes, Mia opened the door and a wide smile spread across her face.
"Hi!" She said breathlessly.
Christian just stared at her blankly; Mia had opted for natural makeup and classic nude features. Her hair was done in a low pony tail and styled to give her an elegant look. The sliver fitted sleeveless dress she was wearing fell to the ground and the dangerous high slit on the left side exposed her slender legs and the fancy black heels on her feet. She was indeed a beautiful woman.
"Is there something wrong with my dress?" She said almost a minute later.
"…Um. N-No." Christian stuttered as he nervously scratched the back of his neck.
"…You look really amazing tonight, Mia." He told her instead.
"Thanks." She smiled shyly.
Christian led her back to the underground parking lot were their ride was.
"Wow, I didn't know you own a car?" Mia began as he pressed the unlock button to a BMW i8.
"Off course I do, but if I drove to work every day, I'd get a whole lot of attention and I really don't want that—"
"But you're already getting a lot of that." Mia smirked,
"A car would mean more attention." He replied.
"…Kinda true if you put it that way." Mia chuckled,
"… So Mr. CEO didn't seem to like you very much." She began as they leaned on Christian's car,
"You didn't seem to like him very much either." He replied,
"He had it coming."
"He had it coming?" Christian laughed,
"But off course, made my friends suffer for nothing!" She snapped,
Christian couldn't help but laugh,
"You want my advice? Let it go."
"I don't think I can, even the mention of his goddamn name starts me fuming." She sighed as she folded her arms.
"You know, if we leave now, we'll not be late for the after party." Christian laughed.
---
Betty and her date spotted Mia and quickly came over. Quick Introductions were made and Betty couldn't stop gushing on how beautiful Mia looked.
"You look like a hundred dollars." She told Mia excitedly,
"Thanks, but you look like a million." Mia whispered back. "By the way, where's Trace and her boyfriend, I'm dying to finally meet him."
"She called a few minutes ago, the cab broke down, they got into another one and now they're stuck in traffic." Betty told her.
"Yikes! Looks like someone's jinxed tonight." Mia said while they all laughed.
Right after that, Jamie and Christian got onto a small conversation while the other chefs couldn't help but whisper about Mia, so she stepped out for a bit to clear her head, and then she strayed in on two other chefs conversation.
"…If looks could kill, that lowly dishwasher could have been six feet beneath." The first one said,
"Who exactly does she think she is! Coming here with Mr. Oh as his date?! What does he see in her that I do not possess! Seeing here in that dress just makes me flip, that whore!" The second one snapped.
Mia couldn't bear to listen anymore, so she snuck back inside. When she returned, he was greeted by Tracey and a handsome stranger standing next to her. He wasn't exactly tall, probably a few meters taller than Tracey. He was dressed in a white shirt and beige sweater paired with some grey khakis. He had thick black hair and a small stubble, and wore his square glasses to the rim, and to say he looked boring was an understatement that Mia didn't dare to utter.
"…Mia, meet Landon, Landon meet my friend Mia." Tracey introduced,
"Oh, Landon of London." Mia chuckled as he stepped forward and shook her. Landon laughed and told her,
"It's nice to finally meet you Mia."
"Um, so Landon's an art museum curator by day, at a bass guitarist by night—"
"Oh, what a twist." Mia chuckled as she raised her brows in surprise,
"I get that that reaction every time. It's like Boring Landon by day and cool guitarist by night." He chuckled,
"I couldn't believe it myself, we met at the club where he was performing." Tracey told her.
"Figures." Mia laughed.
"Anyway, have you seen Betty, she disappeared right after the meeting…Speaking of the meeting, you were on fire! Where did all that courage come from, do you want to lose your job?"
"I came off quite intense, didn't I?" Mia chuckled nervously,
"…Ehn, something like that, but look on the bright side, Miss Lin and Mr. Fisher are probably begging on your behalf right now—"
"Tch! How is that supposed to make me feel right now—"
"Better? Oh there's Betty, c'mon Lanny. "She said as she grabbed Landon's arm, turning to Mia, she said, "See you later friend." Then they quickly hurried off.
"…Those two." She tutted.
---
On Saturday, everyone resumed work excited about the events of Friday.
"I still can't believe Lady M is dating our very own CEO!" two random staffs gossiped as Mia made her way to the staff quarters, she couldn't help but roll her eyes. She had used the entire night to put herself together, just as long as she didn't see him, she would be okay.
She quietly made her way to the changing room, there the chatter was endless, Mia let out an exasperated sigh as she walked over to her locker and pulled out her work clothes. Betty and Tracey were already engrossed in a conversation which was obviously about Friday night.
"Not you two." She sighed as she reached them.
"What happened to freedom of speech?" Ashley sneered,
"Goodness, Mia you were quite intense, I'm surprised you still work here." Betty laughed,
"Some friend you are!" Mia hit her playfully.
"That reminds me, you disappeared right after that party—"
"I was with Jamie." Betty blushed.
"Ooh, someone was busy." Tracey nudged Betty,
"Tch! So you two are like a thing now?" Mia smirked,
"Shh! We're keeping it private for now." Betty whispered.
"Speaking of disappearances, you also ghosted us with Christian—"
"That's different, Trace." Mia retorted,
"How so?" Trace smirked as she crossed her hands. But before Mia could say anything else, an anxious looking staff ran in and yelled,
"He's here!"
"But he said Thursday!" Another random person on the floor yelled.
As if on cue, everyone hurried into their work clothes and scrambled out of the changing room.
"Wh-Who's here?" Mia stuttered,
"Goddamn it! weren't you listening at the meeting!" Tracey snapped as she hurried out, "It's the CEO!"
"Th…The CEO?"