Manager Hood smiled with embarrassment and was left speechless. He had paid such a high price to personally give Alex those two bottles of Louis XIV, but he hadn't expected that Darren Rogers would think the bottles had been brought specifically for him. However, there was nothing he could do, as it wouldn't be appropriate for him to argue with Darren over the bottles in front of Alex.
Looking at the smiling Darren, Manager Hood became suspicious. What was the relationship between this young man and Alex? he thought.
Darren was definitely Alex's subordinate. The manager's level was not high enough for Alex to address him in person, so he was only fit to talk to his subordinate.
Thinking of this, Manager Hood's respect for Alex deepened.
"It's my honor to have everyone come to my restaurant. Let me propose a toast to you all." Manager Hood told the waiter to open a bottle of Louis XIV and pour some wine for everyone at the table.
He raised his glass to everyone.
"A drink with Manager Hood! I'll remember his good intentions with all my heart," Darren said with a smile and then took a drink from his wine glass.
"Thank you," Manager Hood said and continued to clink his glass with each of the others.
What the hell do you think a subordinate of Alex is worth? What I need is for Alex to remember me, the manager thought.
Manager Hood appeared polite on the surface while he toasted with Donna and her aunts. He had no interest in them.
But when he toasted with Alex's girlfriend Debbie and her mother Carla, his smile was sincere.
When it was finally Alex's turn to be toasted, Manager Hood bowed even lower. His smile became even more brilliant as he was flattered and honoured by Alex's company.
It was such a big advantage for Alex to follow me. If I wasn't here, Manager Hood would not treat him like this, Darren thought as he sneered to himself.
Manager Hood's attitude also surprised Lisa and the others.
That boy, Alex, is something else. Not only did Darren agree to eat with him, but Manager Hood is treating him with such courtesy, Lisa thought.
She felt that the manager was making too much of a sacrifice. But she realized that, since Alex was a guest of Darren's, he couldn't possibly ignore the poor loser.
That also proved how much power Darren had.
When it was Lisa's turn for a toast, the manager walked up to her. Lisa noticed that he was very handsome and had delicate skin, which was exactly what she was attracted to.
She had been too distracted to pay attention to his appearance when they had been talking in the hall.
Lisa came up with an idea. Manager Hood was very respectful to that loser. As she was Darren's girlfriend's mother, and Darren had a much higher social position than Alex, she could take a risk with the manager. Even if she did something that displeased him, he wouldn't dare say anything.
"Hello, Manager Hood. I'm Donna's mother," Lisa said in a sultry voice as she stared at him and gently touched his hand. His hand felt tender to her.
Eh—you're so old, and you're taking advantage of me! he thought.
Manager Hood's face revealed a trace of astonishment as he looked awkwardly at Lisa, feeling that this middle-aged woman was too disgusting for him.
However, he didn't dare show his feelings in front of Alex. Lisa shamelessly continued to try to touch him, but the manager wanted to slap her away.
Hee hee—because of the relationship between Darren and my daughter, Manager Hood wouldn't dare to publicly push me away, she thought.
This time, Lisa was even bolder. She found an excuse to touch his arm a few times.
Manager Hood quickly left after drinking with Lisa. He felt relieved that he had finally escaped from her clutches. But he hadn't expected that her two sisters would try to do the same. They had both also attempted to use his toast to secretly take advantage of him.
After the toast, Manager Hood quickly said a few polite words. As he looked at Lisa and her two middle-aged sisters staring at him, all the hair on his body stood on end.
"I wonder what else Darren is going to come up with," Lisa said as she and her sisters praised Darren together. If it wasn't for him, how could they eat at such a nice restaurant?
Lisa snorted coldly as she looked at Alex and the other two whispering to each other as if no one else existed. "Some people only know how to eat, and don't even think about who made it possible for them to sit in the most luxurious room, eat the best cuisine, and drink red wine that costs six thousand dollars per bottle. Sigh… this kind of person is really pitiful," she said in a low voice.
Alex raised his head and looked at Lisa unhappily. Debbie pulled at him gently.
"Hmph—it's not that big of a deal. You've got a bad temper. We let you guys eat for free, yet you guys still have the nerve to glare at me," she said. Lisa was not afraid of Alex at all.
"Forget it, forget it. Don't bother with someone like Alex, who has no morals," Natalie, one of Donna's aunts, advised her sister.
"To be able to make you worry like this, there's no one else like Alex," interrupted Fiona, who was another one of Donna's aunts.
Alex only thought that these aunties blew hot air, and he didn't care what they said.
Manager Hood wanted to say a few more words to Alex, but Darren had been happily chatting with him for a long time. The perverted aunties also squeezed Manager Hood's middle and took advantage by touching him from time to time. If it weren't for the women's relationship with Alex, he would kick them out of the restaurant if they dared to touch him again.
As they walked out, a large truck stopped at the side door. The restaurant staff were unloading the goods. They paused to look at the fresh fish, beef, seafood, and vegetables.
"The ingredients in our restaurant are all imported from Europe, Japan, and other countries from around the world. Once the goods arrive at the port, they can be transported to our restaurant within three hours. It's definitely the freshest and most delicious food in New York City," Manager Hood said to Alex and the others.
"Manager Hood, you are too polite. I just glanced at the truck, and you're giving me a detailed introduction to your food. I will ask my dad to come over to your place to eat next time," Darren smiled and patted him on the shoulder. He always felt that Manager Hood was being polite to him because of his father.
This young fellow is truly narcissistic. I'm telling you about our products, but are you worthy of them? If Alex wasn't here, would you dream of asking me this? With your dad's income level, our restaurant doesn't care about him. Do you think your dad is that awesome? Ridiculous, Hood thought.
He respectfully watched Alex and the others walk away. Then, he walked back into the restaurant. Thinking back to how he had treated Alex, he felt quite pleased with himself.
"Alex, didn't you already book a hotel? Where is it? I'll take Donna's aunties over there right now," Darren asked with raised eyebrows.
"What? He booked the hotel?" Lisa said in surprise. She glanced at Alex and muttered, "What good hotel could he possibly find? We finally came to New York to have some fun. Will it be good enough to stay there?"
"Mom, don't think like that. Alex's hotel booking isn't bad," Donna purposefully said loudly to her mother so that she could criticize Alex even more harshly when she saw the hotel that he had booked. Donna glanced at Alex with a smile. "Alex, what hotel did you book?" she asked.
"The Azalea Guest House," Alex said lightly. He didn't want to talk to this family anymore. If it wasn't for his promise yesterday to help them book a hotel, he would have left them behind and taken Debbie and her mother away.
"Azalea Guest House?" Donna asked Darren if he knew it, but he shook his head.
The most famous hotel in the country was the Azalea Guest House. Because it was not open to ordinary guests, people like Donna and Darren had not heard of it.
"What, Donna—you haven't heard about this hotel? Oh my. He must have found a small hotel somewhere. How could we go to such a place? We don't even know if it's safe or not. Let Alex and Debbie go there. They're used to living in that kind of place." Lisa truly felt that the hotel that Alex had found would not be good enough for them.
Alex didn't say anything and just smiled. It would be perfect if they didn't go, he thought.
"Mom, let's go look. The name doesn't sound so bad," Donna said, trying to persuade her mother.
Lisa listened to her daughter's words and decided to take a look at the hotel. After getting into the car, Donna and the others headed toward the Azalea Guest House according to their map. Alex, Debbie, Carla, and the others got in a taxi and headed toward the hotel as well.
In Darren's car, Lisa let Darren first take them for a ride around New York City to see the evening scenery.
As he drove his BMW leisurely along the wide city streets, they saw Central Park, the sparkling water in the river, and the sounds from people sitting along the bank. This made Lisa and her sisters sigh deeply at the beauty of the city.
"That hotel is so beautiful!" Lisa pointed at a majestic building outside the window and added, "It would be great if we could stay there."
By saying this, she was also hinting to Darren that she liked it.
Darren glanced out the window. It was the Berkeley Hotel.
"That's the Berkeley Hotel, which is one of the most high-end hotels in the city. It's usually occupied by the most opulent people. Even the cheapest room would cost more than five thousand dollars a night," Darren smiled lightly.
How could he not understand what Lisa meant? If it was only Lisa on her own, he would have let her stay at the Berkeley, but she had brought her two sisters. Even if he had a lot of power, he wouldn't be willing to spend three times the amount of money.
Lisa didn't let her disappointment show. It appeared there was still quite a gap between Darren and the top families that she had imagined.
"Let's go look at the hotel Alex picked out. If it's not good, I'll book a different hotel for you guys." As he said this, Darren drove his car toward Azalea Guest House.