When Jason finished speaking, a voice called out from near where he was sitting. "Well, Jason, you'd know all about Leona."
"We all know he was the first to ask Leona out," cried another voice, and this immediately caused a burst of laughter.
"Don't laugh. Many others pursued her after I did," Jason rebutted, addressing David. "Leona is a tough catch. Since my attempt, five or six people in this room have tried to ask her out, but she accepted none of them. She just doesn't know what she's looking for in a boyfriend."
David then told them he had spent some time with Leona the previous day. He had found her a little cold, and certainly no easy catch.
"David, you don't like her, do you?" Jason asked suspiciously.
Someone in the room laughed. "Don't be stupid, Jason. David's already engaged to Lindsey, the second Marvel daughter. They're getting married in September. Leona is Lindsey's sister. How could David fall in love with her?" There were many in the room who also thought that David was simply curious about Leona.
"I like her spirit. So what?" David said with a faint smile.
When the others heard his words, they all tried to hide their surprise with laughter. Murmurs started across the room.
"Yeah, well, David isn't married yet. He can do whatever he likes", said a young man at the table.
"His family is rich. If both sisters are available, what's the problem?" murmured another laughing.
"Yeah, it's normal for people like him to have wives and concubines. With his money, he could have hundreds of lovers", said a girl at the table.
When Darryl heard that David wanted to pursue Leona, he knew his moment had come. "David, if you want to pursue Leona, I may have a way to help."
Every eye in the room became focused on Darryl.
"Darryl, don't brag," Jason exclaimed. "I remember she rejected you before finishing her meal. I've also heard some poor loser confessed his love to her that day. You have no chance."
Jason felt a certain disdain for everyone in the room, except for David. "The others are nothing but schemers and liars", he thought."Darryl wants to take advantage of David to improve his position in the circle." He had never liked Darryl.
Darryl sneered. "Just because I was rejected, does that mean that David will be? Is that what you're saying?"
Jason waved the question away and turned to David. "No, that's not what I'm saying."
"Then stop talking nonsense!" Darryl said coldly. Jason was irritated, but he knew it was a bad time to start a fight. He forced himself to smile as if it didn't bother him.
"Darryl, you said you have a way to help me pursue Leona," David said brightly. "What is it?"
Darryl took out Debbie's diary from inside his jacket. "With this, I think you'll catch her."
Everyone watched closely as Darryl took out the notebook, but they couldn't understand what it had to do with Leona.
David took the diary and opened it, but he didn't understand either. He shot Darryl a suspicious look.
"David, I suspect that Leona is the owner of this diary, Debbie Stonehill!" Darryl explained. "Only she lost her memory."
"Oh." David motioned to Darryl to go on.
"You've heard that I've been after Leona before. At that time, there was a little loser on the street who always called her 'Debbie.' One time, he and I cooked for her, and after eating his corn cob, she cried. Look at what was written in the diary on April 17."
David turned to the entry for April 17, and it said:
[Today, I remember what happened once when I was a child. Now, whenever I eat corn, I will cry.]
David thought about it. He looked up at Darryl. "Darryl, come and sit with me."
"Sure." Darryl came and sat beside David, and they drank together. The other men in the room looked at Darryl with jealousy. His relationship with David had taken an instant leap forward because of the diary.
"How do you think I should pursue her?" David asked.
"In the diary, Debbie mentions a boyfriend called Alex. If you simply remind Leona of the things she did with him, she'll fall in love just as 'Debbie' did." Darryl laughed.
"That's not a bad idea." David clapped his hands and searched the room. He remembered that Leona studied at Richmond and that Colin was also studying there. Once he found where Colin was sitting, he waved him forward. "Colin, come here."
**
The next day, Leona received a phone call from David, saying that he would come to the university to see her. Leona was puzzled, but she could not refuse. At ten in the morning, she went to the school gate to meet him.
To her surprise, he was dressed very plainly. He almost looked like Alex. He hadn't taken his car, but instead came on a bike. He didn't look like the head of an important family at all. He looked like nobody special.
"David?" She had no idea what he was doing or what he was thinking.
David sensed her confusion and smiled. "I've been thinking I should try living a little more simply for a while. After all, my mother didn't grow up wealthy, so I've decided to be a nobody for a while."
Leona was stunned. She thought David's idea was very peculiar. But she took him around the campus to show him the scenery.
Closer to lunchtime, David suggested that they go to the school restaurant for dinner. When they got there, there were many people waiting to order food, but they decided to wait anyway.
"Have a seat. I'll get you something," David said. Leona sat down at one of the tables while he got in line by himself.
Just then, three girls entered the restaurant. As soon as they came in the door, they started whining. "Ugh. Since when are nobodies like this allowed to eat in here?"
Leona wondered who they were talking about, but the three girls walked right up to David and sneered at him. "You must be the poorest student at Richmond, right? You don't deserve to eat in a place like this."
"Yeah, you should go to a filthy bar somewhere, where you belong!", said one of them.
"I recognize him. He's that poor student in the biology department. He gets school grants every year", sneered another.
Leona frowned, stood up, and went up to the three girls. "You three are horrible. Do you even know who he is?"
Leona almost told them David's real identity, but he grabbed her hand and gave her a look to stop her. She bit her lip and stopped talking.
"Leona, you don't have to sympathize with this nobody," one of the girls said. "I think he's using your sympathy to get close to you."
Just then, it was David's turn to order food. He turned to the chef. "I would like two orders of paella and two bottles of mineral water, please."
After he had ordered, the three girls gathered around him and kept ridiculing him.
"You filthy loser, can you even afford two portions?"
"Look at him. He's a student at Richmond, and what does he do with his grant? Paella and mineral water are expensive, but this nobody bought them without blinking an eye. You should drop out of school. We should expose you online!"
Other students around the table nodded and whispered about David.
One said, "Grants should go to people who appreciate them."
"I don't know how to work even though I'm so poor," another said in mocking imitation.
"Oh no, I'll be poor all my life," a third joined in.
Soon, David's paella was ready. He took the plastic bag, paid the chef, and was ready to leave.
"You don't even appreciate it!" one of the girls exclaimed. "I'll kick you!" She was about to kick David from behind when he suddenly shot her a look that made her tremble. She nearly fell over backward.
David and Leona left the restaurant.
The three girls walked out after them and ran over to a lawn beside the restaurant. Under a nearby tree, a young man was waiting for them. It was Colin.
"Well done!" he said. He got out his phone and sent them each a thousand dollars.
"Thanks, Colin," one of the girls said as they hugged him. "Colin, why did we have to make fun of that guy? Leona seems to be very protective of him. She scared us."
"Because that's what's written in the diary," Colin answered.
The girls didn't understand, but Colin didn't bother to explain. The girl who had tried to kick David in the restaurant looked especially confused. "By the way, Colin, who is he? He's very handsome. He gave me a look that scared me to death."
"I was afraid to tell you before since it might affect your performance. I'll tell you now, but you must keep a secret, or there'll be consequences." The girls looked at him with serious faces. "He is David Drake, the head of one of the wealthiest families in D.C."
At this revelation, the girls' faces turned a whitish-grey, and their knees went so weak with fear that they almost fell to the ground.
**
Meanwhile, David and Leona were walking down the main road of the university. "I stopped you just now, because I want to really experience what it's like just being some poor guy, even when it's hard. Are you angry?" David asked.
"Of course, I'm not angry," Leona answered. On the contrary, she felt that David had been very tolerant, and she admired him because of it.
"Good. Shall we go and eat by the lake? It's really nice there." Leona agreed, and they went to the lake together.
David put their food down on a rock and suggested that they take a walk along the lake. While they were walking, David noticed a piece of blue paper in the grass. This was a mark he had asked Colin to set out for him.
"Leona, it's really beautiful here," David said as he quietly led Leona toward a particular patch of grass. When she stepped on it, she slipped and fell into the lake with a yelp and a splash.
"Help!" she screamed as she thrashed around in the water.