RED INK
EP 23: Succumb not to seduction
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"I don't know how to find him." She said to Fiona.
"You said you researched him online."
"Yes. But his information are limited. It's as if it was blocked out of the internet. There is little to no information on his family."
"I understand that some people are very private people. Luckily, you both will run into each other again, someday." She drew her to the table, drew out the chair and sat her down. "Eat. Your food will get cold."
"When you leave the room."
She patted her shoulder. "I told you I wouldn't leave anytime soon."
"You said until I tell you what made me sulk. I have."
"When did I say that?"
"Nana!"
"Alright. Alright. I will leave. Finish everything on the plates. If you need more, just go to the kitchen."
"Fine."
Fiona walked to the door. "Where is the jug of juice you took away this morning?"
"The maids took them out while cleaning. Should be in the kitchen."
"Okay." Fiona walked out of her room and closed the door behind her.
When she left, Diana opened the plates in front of her, she savored the appearance and aroma...goat meat. Her mouth was watering at this point. She opened the big tumbler of tiger nut drink and sipped from it. Good taste. It was mixed with ginger, exactly how she liked it.
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Linda came out of the spa parlour, refreshed as she could be. She checked her phone, the time said 5:25. She had one hour and thirty minutes more to make it to the restaurant. She entered the driver's side of her car, a small towel over her shoulder. She had dismissed Greg from following her and promised to be home in time for preparations, but she couldn't dismiss her bodyguard, Grant. He was working for her father after all.
Grant walked over to the Driver's seat and prevented the door from closing.
Linda looked up at him. "What are you doing?"
"I will drive, young madame."
"No, you won't. I will. Leave the door!"
"Madame."
"I said to leave the door! It is enough that you followed me here. Would your not taking the wheel prevent you from protecting me? If anything, it gives you a better fort to protect me better. Move over!"
Grant withdrew and walked to the passenger's seat and sat.
Linda started the engine.
Grant belted and looked at her, she wasn't belting. "Your seatbelt is undone, young madame."
Linda sighed. "I knew that." She grabbed at the seatbelt and buckled it around her, swearing under her breath. When she was done, put on the gear and stepped on accelerator.
Upon arrival at home, she showered and changed into a simple peach chiffon gown that reached her knee, a thin gold necklace with a small heart pendant, little stamp earrings, two small spiral rings on her index fingers and packed her hair into a bun. She applied light makeup and picked a nude shoe with a peach purse. She looked at her final look in the tall mirror by her bed. When she concluded she looked good, she picked up her car keys and exited the room.
"You are coming with me." She told Greg as she walked out to the car, Grant following behind. "Both of you. You just need to stand from a distance. If you notice I am getting really uncomfortable, just look for an excuse to get me out."
"Yes madame." Greg replied.
Grant sat at the passenger's side, Greg sat at the back with Linda, while the driver, Mitch took over the wheel of the Jeep they sat in.
"Where are we headed, miss?" Mitch asked.
"Pearl Palace."
"Okay." Mitch put the car on reverse, coming out of the garage and then changed the gear, before zooming off to the main gate, and out of the compound.
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Pearl Palace was a luxurious hotel. Apart from being a luxurious hotel, it had a renowed restaurant where the rich come to eat and dwell. It also had an underground club and a spa. The first thing you would notice on arrival is the big fountain display of different colours in front of the entrance where cars parked to drop passengers. The hotel was known to accommodate a handful of well known celebrities; there was one even living right now in the penthouse. Some rich men children also living in the available apartments. From the sixth floor to the eight floor were mostly apartments. The restaurant was on the ground floor, the hotel rooms started from the second to fifth floor, while the club and spas were underground.
The staffs were at the restaurant were dressed as stewards and stewardess: they wore black and white with men wearing red bow ties and the women wrapping a short scarf around their necks. The age range for the servers were from twenty to thirty-five. So coming into this place, you would meet a lot of youthful people waiting on you.
There were securities, men dressed in black suits at the entrance of the hotel. And aside the securities, there were outdoor cameras at every four corner of the hotel. One couldn't get away with crime from here.
Linda came out of her vehicle, Grant following suit.
"We will call you when we are ready." Greg told Mitch. He tapped the vehicle, signaling to him to drive off. They stood in front of the hotel for some seconds, looking at the view, Grant was observing the environment, before Linda began walking into the hotel. She knew where the restaurant was. It wasn't a hidden place, if anything, you could see it from outside.
A steward walked up to her. "Good evening ma'am" He said.
"Yes. Thank you. Good evening."
"Do you have a reservation so I could lead you to your table?"
"Yes please. I have a reservation for two, a table for Mr Spencer and Linda, 6:30-8pm."
"Yes ma'am. Please follow me."
He led them to a table by the window side which could accommodate five people at once. The angle they were at gave them a better view of the fountain. As the night got darker, the colours became brighter.
"Thank you." She told the steward.
"Do you want to order anything as you wait?"
"No. That will be fine." She smiled at him. "I will wait for my partner to arrive before ordering anything."
"Okay ma'am." He bowed and turned to go.
"Excuse me...please..." She called to him.
He turned back mid way. "Yes ma'am?"
"What is your name?"
She saw surprise show on his face but quickly disappeared. The young man looked to be in his mid twenties. "I am Lucas."
Linda nodded. "Okay then, Lucas, a Sarriette white wine would be pleasant."
Lucas smiled. "Will come along ma'am. Excuse me." He left.
She checked the time, it said 6:29pm. She was right on time. But wasn't it s gentleman's nature to wait on the woman? She looked around the restaurant, the tables were occupied with one person or the other. Most of them looking officially dressed. There were more elderly men and women here than youngsters.
Grant and Greg stood opposite her against a wall which gave them better view of her face.
Lucas came back like the steward he was pushing a champagne trolley, carrying a Sarriette white wine and two wine glasses with a small bucket of ice by the side. "Ice ma'am?" He asked.
"No, please. The weather is cold already."
He picked up the white wine and opened the cap. It was an easy twist and pull opener. He picked up the wine glass and poured the wine into for her. He place it on her table. Everything was done with pure etiquette and elegance, looked like they were trained specially for it. It was Linda's first time eating or drinking here, but it was not her first time visiting the hotel.
Peter Spencer stood at the entrance of the restaurant's door and looked around. She wouldn't be hard to find. All the tables were occupied by a family or a group of adult friends, but on the far end was a single woman, being attended to by a steward. She was smiling at him, holding the wine glass up. They were having a subtle conversation. He assumed that was her, so he picked up his violin bag, slung it across his shoulder and walked in towards that direction.
Upon arriving at the table, the steward was done serving and was ready to roll the trolley away when he almost bumped into Spencer.
"Sorry, sir." Lucas said.
"No worries." Peter came around the trolley and looked at Linda who looked at him from the tip of the wine glass. "Miss Linda Springdam?" He asked.
She dropped the wine glass on the table. "Peter Spencer?"
"Yes." Peter smiled.
Getting a clearer view of his face made her realise he was good looking. He had skyblue eyes, a shoulder length hair which he packed in a small ponytail, making some bangs across his forehead which he kept shaking away. He was dressed in an ox blood colored tailcoat tuxedo down to his trouser, atop a black loong sleeve and a black shoe. He had on a white handkerchief protruding from his breast pocket and a black bowtie over around his neck .
"Sorry for the delay." He said as he sat down, resting his violin by the leg of the table. "Hope you didn't wait too long?" He asked.
Linda looked at the time from her watch, it was 6:37. "You are seven minutes late."
"I know. I know. I am sorry. Pardon my bad manners."
She just loved the fact that he wasn't making excuses for his lateness. That made her more comfortable around him. "I ordered wine to keep me afloat."
He looked at the wine on the trolley. "Serriette?" He smiled, he had a dimple, combined with the color of his eyes, it made him appear charming. "You have good taste." He turned to Lucas, "I will also have a Sarriette... with ice."
Lucas picked up the other wine glass, added some ice cubes to it before pouring the wine in. He handed the wine glass to Peter. "You can place the bottle on the table, please." He told him.
Lucas removed the Serriette bottle from the tray and stood it on the table. "Do you need the ice bowl too, sir?"
"No. This is enough. Thank you."
Lucas bowed to them and rolled the trolley away.
"It is 9 degrees outside, don't you feel chilly?" She asked.
He sipped from his glass. "I need something cold for the heat I am radiating in this coat I am in."
"You could take your coat off." She said.
"Then where is the beauty of the clothing?" He asked. "I am only hot from the little performance I was coming from."
"Is that why you were late?" She asked him, not a judgemental question but she really wanted to know.
He nodded. "But I made sure I could finish on time. I still didn't meet up. Hope you aren't upset?"
"Naaah. It's better than the way I stood you up the last time at the Opera House."
Peter didn't say anything. Instead, he drank his white wine.
"It was an unplanned meet up. I didn't even know something like that had been planned in my favour. I am sorry that I stood you up... unintentionally."
"It's fine. It wasn't that serious. I am not as stiff as my uncle. I am very easy going." He smiled, showing his dimple again. "Speaking of my uncle, you will need to apologise to him. The old man is not taking it well."
Linda smiled. "I will find out time to do that."
"Just a tip, he loves shrubs, tiny small plants. You can go into a store and get him a small herb tree and he will really appreciate it."
"Sounds like a godd tip."
Peter looked around the table, it was empty except for their wine glasses and the wine bottle. "Don't you want to order something now?"
"I was thinking of savoring this wine for a while." She joked, returning his smile.
He signaled to Lucas who was standing not so far away. He was the one assigned to their table.
Lucas came to them with two menus, handing to each of them, their own copy.
"It is a mouthful." Linda said looking at the options available. "There is vegetarian curry, sour chicken...there are many options to choose from. They are a lot."
"Since we won't be staying long, I think I will go for the simple main course meal." Spencer said, pointing at one of the pictures. "I will go with a simple spaghetti carbonara and a plate of steak tartare as side dish." He looked at Linda. "Have you decided?"
"Hm... Yes. I will have duck confit as the main dish and a simple vegetable salad as a side dish." She closed the menu and handed it to Lucas, Peter doing same.
"Yes ma'am and sir. " Lucas walked away with both menus in his hand.
"So tell me," Peter was saying, his full attention on her. "I guess you didn't plan to be here tonight."
She nodded. "This is my father's doing. He sets dates up for me for people he feels are potential husbands. He actually started out good, but these days, his taste in men has been awful." She made a face which made him smile. "You are the last man I will allow him fix a date with."
"You told him that?"
She nodded. "Yes. I told him I will handle my dates from now on."
Peter laughed. "How lucky I am then!"
He was radiating with charms. She picked up her wine glass, "And you? Why do you go on blind dates? Is your uncle also fixing dates for you?"
He smiled and shook his head. "This is all my doing."
"That's interesting. I admire that you are doing this for yourself." She sipped the wine from her glass.
Peter picked up his too, raising it to his lips. "I am." He said as he drank from it. The ice were already reducing in size. He picked up the bottle of white wine, "Do you need?" He asked.
She shook her head. "I am fine with this."
He went ahead to pour himself a wine, closed the bottle and continued sipping.
Linda noticed he was watching her while drinking which made her a bit uncomfortable. "You are staring." She stated.
He dropped his glass on the table. "You know how to pick out colors that go well with your skin. You look beautiful."
Linda smiled, but it wasn't one that reached her eyes. She didn't know if he was just far reaching or he was being sincere with the compliment, so she just thanked him for it and continued sipping her wine.