Woman of Intelligence (Book 2 in the series)

Chapter 44

Everyone enjoyed the lovely dinner and conversations. Now they were having their desserts in the sitting room. There was so much dessert on the kitchen counter. Each person took whatever they wanted to eat. Riya was having her mother's fruit that she never had for a long time with vanilla ice cream. While she was eating, she was checking her phone every five minutes. She was a bit nervous that her delivery might not deliver on time and that was important. She placed her phone on the sofa and continued eating. Benjamin was telling about his background story which was interesting. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. That got everyone startled. Riya looked at her phone and excitement appeared in her eyes. 

"I will get it!", she said and ran to the entrance.

Everyone was watching her run. "Have you noticed that Riya is acting strangely recently?", Michael asked. 

"Yeah and she was looking at her phone every five minutes.", Antonio answered.

"Do you know what she is up to?", Samantha asked Liang.

He looked at her with a blank expression. "Nope. Let me just check on her."

Liang got up and walked to the entrance. Everyone else was really curious about what was Riya up to. Riya's head was outside while her full body was inside. She took something from outside. A carrier came inside the house.

"Thank you. I was worried that you didn't come on time. Thank you so much for your help. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.", she said then entered the house.

She closed the door behind her while holding the carrier. She looked inside the carrier with a smile. She even slotted her index finger inside to stroke it. 

"What are you holding?", a man asked her from a distance.

She removed her index finger from the carrier. She looked at him and it was Liang. His hands was in his pocket as he was coming close to her. She started to startle a bit. Her hand was trembling while holding the carrier. She needed to come up with an excuse.

"Wang, how long have you been here?", she asked but she already knew the answer. 

"Long enough to see you sneaking your head out of the door.", he answered then stopped right in front of her. 

The back of her neck was bent because she was looking at his face. His body was really close to hers. 

"Meow."

They looked at the carrier at the same time. "What was that?", he asked.

She put the carrier on the floor. She squatted down and opened the gate. Then she pulled out a white kitten from there. She held it in her arms. Liang looked at the kitten. 

"I bought a kitten while I was in Los Angeles. Well, phoned a pet store in Singapore and had to get some paperwork signed. I phoned your mother and asked her what you always wanted. She told me you wanted a cat.", she explained. A small smile appeared on his face. Riya took the kitten's paw and did a wave. "Say hello to your papa.", she was talking to it like a mother. 

Liang looked at her. "So, you were talking to the pet store that night in your room."

"Yeah. Who you thought I was talking to?"

"I don't know. New boyfriend?", he even raised his shoulders while answering. 

She made a soft laugh. "If I had a boyfriend, you will be the first one to know.", she looked at the kitten. "She is your present. Merry Christmas.", she handed him the kitten. 

His smile grew bigger. "Thank you.", he took the kitten from her. 

"She is a Ragdoll, three months old."