What's my story? I reach for the wine instead of the water and take a big sip. No one's really asked me that before. Truth be told the story didn't really start until I met his father. Jay Dean practically raised me as his own since I was eighteen and got me to where I am today. But, I'm sure he already knows this.
"There's nothing interesting about my story, Mr. Dean." I take another sip. Reece is quiet for a minute, probably wondering why I even said that. It's the truth. Gary returns again, this time with our food.
"You ran away from home." A six baller. Immediately, my brain conjures up events of my past life, and images of some faces I don't want to remember but I quickly dissolve them away. I've trained myself for years to never think about my past. I blink, looking at the food in front of me. None of us touch our food.
"If I didn't, I wouldn't be here. I'd be dead." It's as simple as that. I take the first bite of the food.
"Who hurt you?" He gazes at fidgety fingers.
"It doesn't really matter anymore," I mumble, reassuringly. Reece doesn't pry anymore. He's quiet for a minute, but I know something is bothering him. I can tell from the constant tick in his jaw, and the flexing of his fingers around the wine glass. I look back down at my food.
"What's your favorite color?" I look up, completely taken back by his question. His eyes soften and he reaches for his food. I smile.
"Red."
"Why red?" he reaches for his wine and I watch him take a sip. I shrug.
"It's mysterious. Dark. Kind of like black but with its own tempting shade."
"Interesting." A ghost of a smile plays on his lips again.
"What's yours?" I press.
"Black." Our colors seem to correspond to each other, holding a mysterious touch in both of them. I stifle my fingers over my lips to hide my smile.
"If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?" He goes on. I giggle.
"Oh, that's tough. Bali, maybe? Anywhere in Indonesia, really. Or maybe Hawaii? Somewhere where there's a lot of blue, clear water around me." It's like I can feel it already--the crisp breeze, the cool water beneath my feet, the cool air from the sways of the palm trees...
I blink, coming back to reality. Reece is watching me, amused, his eyes twinkling. Color and heat find my cheeks.
"How many countries have you visited?"
"I lost count." I reach for my food, hiding my surprise. He grins.
"Must be nice to be rich."
"You'll get there one day."
"I'll dream about it tonight," I wink. Reece goes silent again, just simply watching me. His eyes, they have the tendency to make someone feel completely exposed.
We both break out of our trance and turn to Garo who shows up out of nowhere. Reece hands him his credit card without checking the bill. I'm sure he does this a lot.
"How was the food?" He says, turning to me.
"It was really good, thanks," I smile. Reece and I both stand and head towards the exit. Garo is on my quick because I guess he wants to say something before he possibly chances out on it. Reece stops by the car and turns around to face him.
"Mr. Dean?" I look back and forth between Reece and Garo.
"Everything okay, Garo?"
"Yeah. Yeah, it's just...I was wondering. Will you be back soon?" Garo snickers, nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
"What's going on?"
"I don't want to sound greedy or selfish, but your tip is very generous. It really...you know...helps out my father a lot. He's bedridden right now."
"Talk to me, Garo."
"He's sick. And all this"--he points towards the restaurant--"it helps for the expenses. But, your tip means a lot to me. I sound greedy, don't I?" Garo looks down. He looks so boyish right now, and the strings pull at my heart.
"What's wrong with him?" I blurt.
"Cancer. The doctor said he has prostate cancer. It gets hard sometimes. Anyways, I sound ridiculous. I'm sorry, Mr. Dean. I don't mean too--"
"Stop talking, Garo. I heard enough." Reece pulls out his checkbook from the inside of his suit. I'm astonished for a second. He scribbles information down and then an amount and hands it to Garo without asking for a price tag. Garo, completely shocked, takes the check with his trembling hands, looks at it, and breaks out in a sob.
"You really doing this for us? This is more than the doctors asking for. Thank you, Mr. Dean!" Garo is all praises. He can't and won't stop crying, and now he has made a scene. Everyone around us is watching the scene now. My eyes well up in tears.
"Get out of here now, Garo. Go, help your father." Garo kisses Reece's hand out of his emotions, kisses the check, bows before him, turns around, and then disappears back into the fancy restaurant. We climb back into the car, and Lao pulls out of the driveway.
"What you did out there...that was very kind of you," I finally say, turning my head to look at him.
"It's what I do," he smiles. He catches a stray teardrop from my eyes, and flicks it off. I didn't even realize tears were slipping down my face.
"Do you always carry a checkbook with you everywhere you go?"
"On most good days I do." The corner of his lips lifts.
"Thank you for lunch. One very expensive lunch," I joke. He chuckles.
"One of the most expensive lunch dates I've ever been through," he mumbles under his breath, one which I caught. I giggle, and he cracks a smile. I lean further into him until our shoulders touch and kiss on his stubbled cheek.
"You're a good man, Reece," I whisper into his ears. He turns to look at me and I see a different kind of spark in his eyes. He doesn't seem all to pleased with my compliment, almost like he doesn't believe that he is. I've seen what he's capable of yet he still goes out of his ways to help. How could he not be? He simply smiles at me but the grand gesture doesn't reach his eyes.
"You are very much loved, Mr. Dean. You may not believe it but the man you are is very rare to find. Right, Lao?" I gaze at Lao through the mirror and catch him blushing.
"Right, ma'am," he confirms.
"See?" I chuckle.
"You're an enigma, Ms. White." I go back to my original seating position.
"You're a bigger enigma than me, Mr. Dean. I can never read you."
"It's safer that way." But why? There's so much I want to ask right now but before I can investigate more into it, the car comes to a screeching halt. I look outside of the window. We're already here? There was so much more I wanted to explore about him into this car. Ouishi is nowhere to be seen but maybe he's just out there doing his own business. Reece grabs my hand all of a sudden and starts to pull me inside. He's quiet all the way until we get to the elevator. The doors part automatically with no one inside and we get in. Reece punches a button on it and the doors close, trapping us inside. I lean against the elevator and observe him. I know he can feel me watching him.
"What is it, Catherine?" he sighs, finally turning his head sideways to look at me. A small smile plays on his lips. It's there--barely--but it's there.
"When is the last time you had fun? Like real fun, one that doesn't involve work?" I ask. The way he suddenly looks at me, it prompts me to go for my lower lip. He loosens his tie, and moves closer to me until I feel all of his heat blanket me in the small space. He leans down until his mouth is next to my ears.
"Last night. That's where my fun began." For a split second, my breath gets caught in my throat. I look up to meet his eyes. Heat crawls its way up my cheeks, and my ears start to burn. Soon, every part of my body is inflamed. Reece has ways with his words and every time it unhinges me like I'm a loose bolt. I reach for him but a sound on the elevator has Reece pulling back. The door opens, and we step out.
"If I close my eyes and rest, Catherine, my business falls apart. Millions of money and thousands of people could fall into a risk." Reece punches in the code, and pushes the door open to a glorious city lights flashing through the wide windows.
"In just one day?"
"Half a day. Half a day is all it takes." He turns to me, his expression stone cold. There he is again, a person I can't read anymore. I walk up to him.
"You don't know that. All of this shouldn't mean everything to you. You're still young, but one day you're going to regret all of this when you start getting older. You're going to realize you forgot to live when you had the chance." My statement might have meant something to him but Reece is quiet.
"You wouldn't understand, Catherine." Reece stands and walks towards the bar, and pours himself a drink before reaching for another glass for me.
"I work for one of the richest, successful entrepreneur and bachelor in the world. Do you mean to tell me all this time... you've been hiring dumb, uneducated people who don't know how to do their work?" I'm bold and I haven't even had a sip of my alcohol yet. Reece watches me with laser-sharp eyes, and slides the glass of raw whiskey towards me.
"You got a smart mouth on you, Ms. White."
"Because you're not listening." There's only an island separating us, and I take in a little comfort from that. Reece takes a swig of his drink, and I mimic him. Both of us keep our eyes on each other. The liquid burns down my throat like acid and I try my best not to make a face.
"I'm listening. And I don't ever keep people that doesn't interest me around." I secretly marvel at the sound of that. I interest him and that's why he has kept me around. I don't know why little things like that astonish me.
"Then what are you so afraid of?"