"Alexander, you're here. "
Alexander nodded, expressionless, and he pulled out the seat in front of them.
This morning, when he woke up and saw a text from Sophia, he had wanted to ignore it.
But by the time he came out of the shower, there were a few more messages, all from her as well.
[Aren't you in the same drama as Izzy? I'm meeting her for lunch, you want to come along?]
Alexander stared at the message, hesitating for a bit before replying, [Time?]
Sophia instantly answered, [11.30am, the restaurant next to the city center.]
After Alexander was seated, Sophia signaled to the waiter. He brought her the menu which she personally passed over to Alexander.
"Alex, you can order."
From the moment Alexander entered the private room, he never once glanced at Sophia. When she had passed him the menu, he looked towards the menu, took a glimpse at Isabelle who was seated beside her sister.
Isabelle was holding onto an antiseptic towel, staring at the table, seemingly lost in thought.
Alexander frowned before saying, "I can eat anything, you should decide."
Sophia didn't act coy. She opened the menu and placed it between herself and Isabelle. In a sweet tone, she said, "Izzy, let's order."
From the moment Isabelle saw Alexander, her mind had become blank. Her sister's voice now jolted her out of her daze. Looking towards her, she made a questioning murmur, "uh?"
"Stop dreaming!" Sophia teased before pointing at the menu. "Order anything you want, today Best Screen Actor Smith is treating!"
Alexander was treating Sophia?
Isabelle lifted her eyes slightly, sneaking a glimpse at Alexander, who sat directly in front of her, before hurriedly lowering her eyes. She clenched her fists, her heart in a mess. Randomly, she ordered two dishes.
Sophia didn't force her to order more, instead, she took the menu and ordered several of the signature dishes. Lastly, she ordered three cups of freshly squeezed orange juice.
No more than ten minutes later, the dishes were almost fully served. Sophia lifted her chopsticks, taking a bite. Seeing that Isabelle had not started, she placed a piece of chicken into her bowl. "The chicken served are all from the farm here. It's organic and delicious."
Isabelle forced a smile and lifted her chopsticks to start eating.
If it was only Isabelle and Alexander, the meal would've been dead quiet, but with Sophia's constant chattering, there was not a moment of silence.
Isabelle sat in the corner silently, not making a sound. She didn't have much appetite and ate slowly.
Alexander sat on the chair in a relaxed posture. He didn't say much, just occasionally acknowledging Sophia's words with an "uhm" sound. Every time he replied or would lift his head to take more food, his eyes would casually sweep past Isabelle.
Sophia had a great dinner. When she put down her chopsticks after her meal, she let out a sigh. "The food here is great." As she said that, she turned to look at Isabelle, who had already put her chopsticks down. "Izzy, what's wrong? You alright?"
Isabelle lightly nodded.
Sophia looked over at Alexander. Her eyes smiled when she said, "Alexander was the one who told me about this restaurant."
Isabelle clenched her hand, fingers stabbing hard into her palm, and forced a smile.
Sitting opposite her, Alexander lifted his eyelids to look at Isabelle after Sophia's words. To him, she looked calm as usual, as though her sister inviting him to dinner had nothing to do with her at all.
There was a flash of bleakness under Alexander's eyes. After a few seconds, his tone was mild. "If I remember correctly, James and I used to fish over there by the mountain. We went hiking with our friends and later bumped into the restaurant, so James suggested we eat here."
He knew that Isabelle didn't care about the hint of flirting in Sophia's words. Even if he pretended as if nothing had happened between him and Sophia, to her, his clarification meant nothing, but he still wanted her not to misunderstand him.
Sophia couldn't believe that the usually quiet Alexander would expose her pleasant words. With a slightly awkward expression, she pretended as though she was fine and changed the subject. "Don't you both have no filming this afternoon? It's still early. How about we go watch a movie? There's a new big Hollywood produced movie that just came out."
To Isabelle, she'd suffered enough through the dinner. Upon hearing her sister's suggestion, she didn't even need to think about it. She shook her head and said, "Nah, I'm busy this afternoon. You two can go watch the movie. I won't be joining in on the fun."
Sophia didn't insist any further but turned to Alexander with a bright smile. "How about Mr. Smith? Do you have time?"
Alexander wanted to refuse first, but he wasn't given a chance to before hearing Isabelle's words.
Won't be joining in on the fun... Ha...
Alexander's eyes revealed a hint of mockery as his expression became instantly cold. He opened his mouth to get to the point. "Not interested." He got up, kicked his chair away, and called for the waiter. "Cheque please!"
Then, with a cold look, he picked up his jacket from the side and rushed out of the private room.
Isabelle and Sophia's eyes met. The both of them didn't know just how they had managed to suddenly piss off Alexander.
Coming out of the elevator on the first floor, Isabelle finally couldn't hold it in any longer. She asked Sophia in a low voice, "Sis, the guy you said might become your boyfriend is Alexander?"
Sophia lightly nodded and said in a low voice, "Actually, it's a little complicated. At first, I thought there was no heat between Alexander and I - like we'd be friends forever. But for the past few years, we would bump into each other at parties and we'd chat a little. Izzy, you know how it is. Alexander is proud and arrogant. He told me once that no woman has caught his eye. I didn't think too much about it, but for a few years now, I feel like he could've been interested me all this time..."
~*~
When Alexander paid the bill, he saw Isabelle and Sophia walk out of the elevator. As he took his card back, he rushed over to catch up to them. Just as he was ready to call out to them, he heard Isabelle's voice. He held his tongue and listened to Sophia's long explanation.
His expression grew dark in a split second, and he stopped in his tracks.
~*~
Sophia and Isabelle walked out of the restaurant. Having not noticed Alexander, Sophia was just about to pull out her phone and call to find out where he was, but he left on his own without even saying goodbye to them when he passed by. He went straight for his own car, entered, stepped on the accelerator, and drove off.
~*~
Sophia dropped off Isabelle at the hotel. After seeing her go in, she was ready to start up the car and leave when suddenly the passenger seat door opened.
Startled, she turned to find a gloomy-looking Alexander sitting in her car.
Before she could speak, Alexander raised his hand and pointed forward. In a cold voice, he said, "Drive and stop down there."
Sophia couldn't guess why Alexander would get in her car, but she didn't hesitate to listen to his instructions and drove to a quiet, remote place.
She turned off the engine and smiled at Alexander. "Were you looking for me..."
Sophia didn't get to finish before Alexander cut her off, "Sophia Davis."
It wasn't like he had never called her full name, but this time, Sophia had a bad feeling about it. She looked at him, blinked and didn't say a word.
"I don't remember ever giving you the impression that I was remotely interested in you..." Alexander looked into Sophia's eyes with cold, uncaring eyes. His next words were clearly apologetic but they sounded hurtful no matter how he said them. "If I really did, then I apologize to you here. I hope you can stop kidding yourself. Don't go around talking nonsense!"
Alexander's words were too direct, overly straight and to the point. In that brief moment, Sophia was a little caught off guard. She stared at Alexander in a daze for a long while. Her face slowly grew pale and she pursed her lips tightly. She didn't talk for a long time before asking, "Did you overhear my conversation with Izzy?"
Alexander didn't respond to Sophia's question. His eyes turned slightly cold. "The reason I'm sitting here now is very simple, it's to tell you that things I didn't want before, I won't be picking up now!"
In that instant, Sophia's face turned extremely pale. Her body shivered slightly, her eyes became a little red, but she stubbornly took a deep breath. Pushing the bitterness deep down inside, she balled up her fists and tried hard to appear composed.
After staring at Alexander for some time, she asked, "Why?" She didn't wait for him to reply before answering for him. "Is it because of the woman you like?"
Sophia couldn't help but form a gentle smile. "It's been so many years now and you're still alone, which goes to show that you couldn't get together with the woman you love. It's been over ten years - over ten years! You still haven't given up?"
Alexander's eyes were cold with a sense of determination. Every word and pause hit Sophia's heart.
"Don't worry. Even if I did give up, I wouldn't fall for you."
Sophia forcibly pursed her lips, gripping hard the steering wheel.
Alexander stared at the windshield for a few seconds before speaking again. Even though he sounded cold, there was a slither of pain in his voice. "Besides, I could never imagine ever giving up on her."
After his last words, Sophia couldn't pretend any longer.
All these years, she'd dated many guys, but no matter if it were the guy who chased her, or if she was the one to chase the guy, she would always get with the guy she set her eyes on.
Apart from Alexander... he was an exception.
At first, she was young and frivolous, and had let go of all her arrogance and pride to chase him. But in the end, he was the one to give her the cold shoulder.
At the time, she thought that Alexander was her only flaw.
So much so that, she had already accepted this flaw.
Up until over four years ago, Alexander would always casually chat for a bit when they bumped into each other at parties.
Even though she couldn't say she fully understood him, for all the years she'd known him, she could say that she was someone who relatively got him. She'd never seen Alexander go out of his way to talk to a girl before.
At first, she thought that she was over-thinking things, but once, twice, then three times... over four years, Alexander would always go out of his way to say a few words to her... So, she started to think he was interested in her.
Honestly speaking, when they were young, she only chased him for his entrancing good looks. Of the many beautiful faces, she had seen, no one had ever stuck out as much as he. She wanted him to be her boyfriend.
To describe her feelings at the time, it was as though she had her eyes on the most limited-edition handbag in the world. She just wanted to have it to get everyone's attention, and to make people envious.
So at the time, she thought that having a boyfriend like Alexander would definitely let her gain face.
Her heart had completely given up on him, but when she felt that Alexander might be interested in her, feelings for him started to awake.
Furthermore, Alexander now was the best screen actor for six years running, the CEO of Global Entertainment, and titled the 'Nation's Husband'.
However, she never imagined that it was all in her head and that Alexander was still uninterested in her.
She'd lost twice to this man who completely burned the Sophia who had everything she ever wanted since she was young.
She really wanted to know just who was this woman - this woman who was able to make Alexander so committed, who he could persistently be hung up on for over ten years like it was his first day.
Sophia stared at Alexander, who was about to get out of the car. She asked, as she couldn't hold back her curiosity, "Alexander, just who is the woman that you like?"
~*~
Alexander didn't show any intention of wanting to entangle himself with Sophia any longer. Just as he was going to get out of the car, he heard Sophia suddenly ask from behind him, "Alexander, just who is the woman that you like?"
His hands were ready to push open the door when he suddenly stopped. Seconds later, he held his motionless pose as he said in a dull voice, "You're unworthy of knowing who she is!"
And then he pushed open the door, and without a single sign of stopping, he stalked out.
Sophia sat in the car. Through her mirror, she saw the faint figure of Alexander from afar. Her eyes finally couldn't help but become red.
~*~
When the elevator reached the top floor, Alexander walked out.
His assistant was hugging a few documents, waiting for him at his door. He said, "Mr. Smith, in the afternoon, the company's vice president sent someone to give us a few documents. They said they were urgent. Please look over them. If there aren't any questions, please sign them as soon as possible and send them back to the company."
Alexander nodded lightly and pulled out the key card to his room. He removed his blazer and handed it over to the assistant. He took the documents over to the sofa, sat down, and examined them.
There were seven documents. Alexander looked through them all and signed them. By then, it was dark outside.
Alexander handed the documents over to the assistant and signaled for him to send them off to the company.
Seeing that it was already eight and Alexander still hadn't eaten, the assistant asked, "Mr. Smith, do you want me to call the kitchen for supper?"
Perhaps it was because he had read through all the documents in the afternoon, exhaustion came over Alexander. He waved at the assistant, hinting that it wasn't necessary.
The assistant got the hint. Hugging the documents, he said in a low voice, "Then, Mr. Smith, if there's nothing else, I'll be off."
Alexander raised his hand to between his brows and massaged it, nodding slightly.
As the assistant turned away, Alexander suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Later, drop by Miss Davis' room and ask her to stop by."
"Yes," replied the assistant in a low voice. He gently opened the door and left.
Instantly, all that was left in the huge suite was Alexander. He laid down on the sofa, staring out at the starry sky beyond the window. His mind subconsciously thought about the words he'd said to Sophia in the farm-to-table restaurant.
When Sophia was younger and had failed to get with him, he had to still seen her because of Isabelle and James. But he tried his best not to interact too much with her.
Up until over four years ago. Back then, it had been seven whole months since he hadn't seen Isabelle. Nor had he heard any news about her.
That night, James's friends went singing at The Royal Palace. He turned up a little late. When he rushed in, there were hardly any seats left apart from the one next to Sophia. He went over and sat down.
At first, Sophia didn't initiate a conversation with him, nor did he want to talk to her. It was later, when everyone was playing a game, that she handed him a sieve and said something.
Compared to his usual self who never replied, this time, he said something to her.
The two of them chatted for a bit until he pretended to casually ask, "What happened to Isabelle? How come she didn't come?"
Sophia didn't think much of it and replied, "Izzy caught a cold. She's not feeling too good, so she didn't want to come out."
He nodded calmly as though it was nothing, but his heart clenched in pain.