"How long would you be with him?", His tone was back to its coldness.
"Maybe two hours", She replied and rinsed her hands.
"The car would be ready. Just let Butler Lee know", Leo muttered.
"No. I'd like to go by myself. It's not like you told the public about our marriage or situation. I'd love to go out by myself", Abi frowned.
Leo looked at her and said nothing. What she said was the truth if he had to confess.
"They still know you're in a relationship with your fiancée. Besides, that already cleared the scandal between us. And I'm sorry for the great loss your company faced because of me", She apologized.
"I'm also sorry", He said in a low voice and walked out.
Abi stared at his retreating tall figure as he walked out.
**
"I'm sorry for making you wait", Riley apologized to her date and sat down.
"It's fine, Riley", The guy smiled at her weirdly.
Riley also returned the awkward smile and asked, "Have you ordered?"
"Oh, not yet!", He exclaimed and took the menu book.
"I was waiting for you to come so we can order together", He said.
Riley just nodded and twirled the top of her red hair. She unwrapped the wrapper of her lollipop and put it into her mouth.
"Don't you know that's not good, Riley? We're about to eat such good food and you're licking a lollipop", The guy scolded her.
Riley took out her lollipop from her mouth and scoffed. Who does he think he was?
"Excuse me, Mr-"
"Paul", The guy smiled sweetly at her.
"Mr Paul!", Riley rolled her eyes.
"No. You can just call me Paul. I think it's more romantic to hear that", Paul said and looked at her with a smile.
Riley was going crazy. They've not even had lunch and he was already running mad.
What would happen when they've finished lunch?!
"Actually, I have somewhere to be", Riley was about to get up when she heard his threat.
"Your father told me to tell you he would turn a blind eye to the months of your work unless you finish this date with me", Paul said.
"I was referring to the bathroom. I have somewhere to be. Please watch over my bag, okay?", Riley quickly twisted her words and ran to the bathroom.
Paul watched her leave to the bathroom to sort out herself. Riley was glad she took her phone with her because she would be there for some long minutes.
"I felt her heart stolen when I laid my eyes on him. He's sitting so far away from us but he's the only one I saw in the restaurant", She heard some ladies whispering by the door.
"Really? I'm so jealous of Ophelia. I thought I was pregnant when he looked at me", Another said.
"No, he looked at me not you", They argued.
"That's not what I wanted to talk about. Did you see Ophelia? She's much more beautiful now that she's back", They gossiped.
'Ophelia's here?', Riley asked herself.
Riley quickly came out of the toilet after doing nothing but hearing some gossip. The ladies kept quiet when they saw Riley.
"Oh my goodness! Miss Riley?!", The ladies were around her in a second.
"What are you doing here?", One of them asked and began to touch her hair.
"What else? She's here on a date", Another replied and they chuckled.
Riley ignored them and asked, "Is Ophelia really here?"
They looked at her and kept mute. They didn't want to land themselves in trouble.
"Answer me, please. Don't worry. It's just me", Riley assured them.
"She's here with Leonardo Grey on a date. He's so handsome", The first lady blushed.
Riley could see the redness that had settled in her cheeks.
"A date?", Riley asked.
'Why would he go on a date with another woman when he's married to Abi?', Riley asked.
"Haven't you heard? Ophelia is Leonardo's fiancée. She came back to marry him because of the scandal that occurred but we don't know why they've not yet gotten married", The last lady gossiped.
"Thanks", Riley held her phone tighter and went back to her seat.
Paul smiled at her as she approached their table. Riley made sure she looked around as she walked. Her eyes caught sight of Ophelia's table and she frowned.
It was really true. Leonardo Grey went on a date with Ophelia.
'But what the hell was she wearing?', Riley asked herself and mocked Ophelia.
She looked less than a decent human human with the dress she was wearing. Her boobs, arms and back were exposed so much that everyone would know she was trying too hard to seduce her partner.
Riley saw Leonardo stand up from his seat and walk out of the restaurant. Soon, Ophelia was pursuing him with her purse.
Riley's eyes followed then till they were out of sight.
"Okay. Now, I have ten more minutes to spend with you, Paul", Riley smiled.
"What do you mean?", Paul asked.
Riley took her fork and knife and began to cut her steak slowly, "Ah! I guess my father didn't tell you. I'd be spending thirty minutes with you but twenty minutes have gone. You said it was fine for my lateness and I thank you for that. Unfortunately, I spent some time in the bathroom and I will make up for that by eating this delicious meal in silence. I practice table manners"
Paul just watched her as she popped a small ounce of meat into her mouth and chewed on it slowly.
She pointed her fork and knife to him and commented, "Bon appetit"
Paul was speechless and started to eat like she was doing. When he tried to open his mouth to talk, she clicked her tongue and waved her fork in the air.
He buried his words and continued eating his food after accepting defeat.
**
Abi stamped her feet to the ground when the driver of the cab dropped her in front of Drop. She wasn't mad but she was so surprised. So surprised not to know the place she was humiliated.
She quickly took out the mask in her bag and wore it on her face before walking into the company confidently.
She sat down at a place and took out her phone to call Julian. She loved her phone very much and was happy with her sister.
She doesn't think she has thanked her 'husband' properly for getting her the phone. She loves Samsung a lot and was using the latest one. But her husband was using the iPhone.
What should she expect?
He has shares with the company so it's normal for him to advertise or whatever. She doesn't even care!
"Abi!", Abi turned her neck around to the man that used to get her heart skip a beat.
She smiled and embraced him warmly. She didn't take off her mask.
"Hi! I didn't know you were back", She told him and hit his shoulder.
"Ouch! But I'm here now", Julian said and took her hand in his.
"Awwn! You've gotten prettier", He complimented her and she blushed.
She tucked her hair behind her ears and looked at him with a smile.
'Why am I blushing?', She asked herself and looked at his face.
He was still hot as ever. In fact, now that he's a man, he's hotter than before. They dated when they were in college. He was her first love and she was very happy when he asked her out.
But they weren't together because of few things. They were close though but not like before.
"Let's eat first. I haven't had lunch", Julian remarked and she nodded.
She was famished too and watched him drag her to an elevator. She froze when she saw Leo and Darcy in the same elevator already.
Suddenly, her legs couldn't move and she stared at them. Julian looked at her and greeted Leo who ignored him. It was Darcy that returned his greetings with a smile on his face.
Julian managed to pull her into the elevator. Abi was so stiff with Leo in the same elevator. She could feel his piercing gaze on her even though she doesn't have eyes at the back of her head.
Leo's sharp eyes looked at the intertwined fingers of his wife and the strange looking man. He felt challenged because the man was actually good looking. He tried to remember when he had seen him.
'That fool that soiled my clothes', Leo thought in his mind. His gaze darkened and he continued to stare at his wife in anger.
Darcy didn't say anything though. He didn't know it was Abi that was in the elevator. But when he remembered it was too late.
Abi and Julian were the first to get out of the elevator. Abi dragged Julian and wasted no second in front of her cold husband.
The side of Leo's lips pulled up when he saw her do that.
"What's she doing here?", Darcy asked but Leo ignored him and continued going to the last floor till the elevator stopped.
"Get me all the information on that man in the elevator with us. I want to know who this friend of hers is. Let her know we're visiting my family too. Let me know when about to leave", Leo said with a deep voice.
"Consider it done", Darcy replied confidently and left the office.
Abi stopped walking so fast when she's assured that she was out of Leo's sight. She should have known that would happen but she was too dumb to know it was his freaking company!
Why is she so dumb lately?
It's unlike her to be dumb with things like that.
"What's wrong?", Julian asked with concern in his voice.
"Nothing", She said with her chest going up and down.
Julian took out his handkerchief from his pocket and began to dab on her sweat.
Abi's heart melted and she smacked her lips. She should have told him to stop but she wasn't doing that. She watched him continue dabbing on it and attempted to take off her mask.
"No, Julian! I don't want some people to see me here", Abi said.
She doesn't think Julian knows about her scandal with Leo.
"Is it that scandal?", Julian asked. He was about to laugh. Abi looked at him with pouty lips. What was funny when she was roasted by thousands of people?
"Take your mind off that. It's dying. Don't you know that my boss went on a date with Ophelia today?", Julian asked.
Abi was speechless when she heard that. Did she just hear that her husband went on a date with another woman?
"So, people are thinking that their relationship is still strong. Don't worry, Abi, they would get their mind off you within a month or two", Julian said.
"A month or two?", Abi screamed.
"C'mon, Abi. Many people at Drop were affected because of that scandal. I heard that our boss had to pay us from his personal savings when partners began to withdraw", Julian said with feelings.
'Oh really? Boasting about his richness', Abi rolled her eyes.
"And how much is this salary of yours?", Abi asked aloof.
"Just $25000 per month. Come, let me introduce you to the team real quick before we go for lunch", Julian said and dragged her alone to his office.
'Just $25000 per month. Employ me, Julian!', Abi cried and walked into his office.
His office was so nice and screaming 'serious' with the color, curtains and even systems. Abi smiled at the angry looking faces that looked at her.
"Don't mind them. That's how we look everyday. It's because I've seen you that made me not to look like them", Julian laughed but Abi didn't take his joke lightly like he did.
"Stop fooling around, Julian. Boss is in a mood this afternoon so everyone is saving their lives by keeping to themselves. I'd advise you to work and let your girlfriend be", An angry looking girl said.
"Oh no, I'm not his girlfriend", Abi corrected the girl. "I'm his ex-Just a friend"
Julian looked at her when she said that so quickly. He was not happy but he hid his unhappiness by letting a wide smile play on his lips.
"Oh! Nice to meet you. I'm Sophia Rodriquez, the customer support analyst for this team", The girl's angry face was switched to a happy one immediately.
"I'm Jackson Lee, the one in charge of customer support. I'm also the specialist in this team", The guy said with an ear pod in his left ear.
"Nice to meet you", Abi smiled at them.
"I'm the data scientist. You can call me Wang", A Chinese man said with a smile.
"Hi Wang", Abi waved at him.
"I'm David - the man after your heart. The business intelligence analyst", A black guy said with a flirty smile.
"I know what you did there, David. You should be after God's heart", Wang said and the team bursted into laughter.
Abi also found herself laughing at his pick up line. She looked at the last name woman that introduced herself, "I'm the boss of this team, the operations manager. My name is Rachel Kim"
"Oh", Abi said and began to think of the salary Rachael might be getting as the boss.
"I see you've met our data analyst", Rachel looked at Julian who smiled at her.
"Unfortunately, the last member is giving a report to the boss. His name is Daniel and he's the senior customer support specialist for this team. We should all pray for his safety", Rachel said with pity and they all laughed.
"Okay. I'll be back. I'll just show her around and have a small talk", Julian said and took Abi out of the place.
Abi was amazed when she was in the cafeteria. She thought they would be serving poor quality food but when she took a spoonful of the rice, she was in love with it.
She had forced Julian to sit at a table that was very far away from the employees because she has to take her mask off to eat.
"I'm glad you allowed me to see your pretty face before you left", Julian teased her and she blushed.
"Are you okay?", Julian asked with concern.
Abi nodded and continued eating her food. "It's been so long since we chatted. I'm glad you have a phone now so we'll text on WhatsApp and call each other too", He added.
"That's nice", Abi said.
"So, have you moved on with life?", He queried but she stared at him with a blank face.
"I mean, do you have a boyfriend? Like any man-"
"No!", She lied quickly. Leo doesn't count as a man she wants to have a relationship with. Besides, he has reminded her that they could be in any relationship.
"Oh! I'm also single", He said purposely and scratched his head.
"Why? You broke up with your girlfriend before coming home?", Abi joked and he laughed.
"I only dated three girls after we broke up, Abi", she told her and stared into her brown eyes.
"Why?", She asked him with parted lips.
"Because they were nothing like you, Abi. I know we dated for a month and it's all my fault for being your boyfriend for just a month", Julian said with sadness.
Abi looked at him for some seconds as the memory came rushing in.
Three Years Ago
Abi was lying on the bed idly with her sister that was busy writing some love letters to her crush. Abi was the one reviewing the love letters and telling her what to write next.
"That's why boys fall in love with you easily, Abi. You have to tell them if you like them for them to date you easily", Ava advised her sister.
"That's why no boy has asked you out", Abi replied her and she kept shut.
"I don't need your help anymore. I hope your boyfriend breaks up with you", Ava said angrily and walked out.
Abi watched her leave and sigh. She decided that she had to go apologize to her because she was too harsh with her words. Ava was not like that. She was bold to approach a boy and tell him that she likes him.
Abi can never do that because she's sure her shyness would defeat her before she can do that. Abi would rather love the boy secretly for years than approach him and tell him she was into him. Ava was the exact opposite.
Ava would go to a boy she just met for the first day and ask him to be her boyfriend. But she kept getting rejected and come home to cry in the arms of her mother and sister.
"Leave boys and give me some 'A'", Abi would tell her.
Ava's grades were low. She rarely gets eyes but gets 'B' once in a while.
"This is a sign that God wants me to get a boyfriend", She would say anytime she gets 'B' in any subject.
Abi feels her sister was intimidated by her classmates because of her size and stature. Ava was thin and not tall. You see, tallness doesn't run in their family.
Abi was lucky to get a nice height because Leo was so tall!
Jessica ran into the house with her hands in her knees to catch her breath.
"Take the cab I brought here, Abi", She panted with her phone in her hand.
"What?", Abi was confused.
"Don't you want to see Julian before he leaves?", Jessica asked and still saw her looking confused.
"This is why you need a phone. Julian's leaving to Spain now! Hurry up and go and see him at the airport before he leaves", Jessica said in a rush.
"Abi!", Jessica yelled but Abi was already out of the house.
It was when the cab dropped her by the airport that Abi knew what was wrong! She was indeed embarrassed.
She was wearing a singlet and bum shirt with her hair looking untidy. In short, she looked bad.