:: Mischief ::

The next day

I am at the newly-opened Ricepot Restaurant. Ricepot Restaurant, contrary to its name, serves a range of dishes, from everyday dishes to special customized diet-friendly dishes. Today, I am having a bowl of shirataki noodles in shoyu (soy sauce) while enjoying the ambience.

Shirataki noodles are made of konnyaku (Japanese konjac yam). They are an excellent choice for diabetics and people who need to abstain from sugar or carbs for their health and to maintain a healthy weight. Although I do not need to keep my weight at a limit, I find it beneficial to be trying new dishes when I can.

I take another bite of the dish when the most annoying song I have ever heard fills the air.

"Hit me baby, one more time."

Repeat.

Not him again, my inner self screams to see Cullen Fu stride into the restaurant with a satiated smirk.

Cullen Fu's shrill ringtone irritates me, especially when it stops at that one sentence. I have just engrossed myself in twisting a spoonful of shirataki on my spoon. Well, I was somewhat successful, until that classical song of Britney Spears distracts me from what I am doing. I hate that song because Shan Hanyu likes Britney so much and will have her songs on all day. It reminds me of the pain.

"Turn it off!" I yell, shielding my ears from the source of the annoyance. The smartphone keeps ringing endlessly. Cullen Fu should know better than allow his inconsiderateness to affect everyone in the restaurant - now, to say 'everyone' is a bit of an exaggeration. Apart from the staff in the kitchen, there's only me, the proprietor, a short and overweight middle-aged man, a thirty-odd-year-old waiter, and um, Cullen Fu.

"Ah, someone changed my ringtone," Cullen Fu immediately clicks on the mute button on his smartphone screen. I notice that it's one of those extremely overpriced luxury smartphones. Kisbia, to be exact; a smartphone that costs about USD2,400 at minimum. He furrows his brows as he silently reads the name of the person who is calling.

"Ugh. Not her again."

He dumps his smartphone back into his pocket and turns to face me with a smirk across his fair-skinned visage. His face is flawless, obviously, credit to his usage of numerous skincare products. Typical for a CEO, who has more money than he can ever need. Cullen Fu probably frequented the massage parlours and beauty centres. Nowadays, it was very normal for such places to be dominated by men. To say that only women went to those places was a thing of the past.

I ignore him and continue chewing slowly on the morsels of meat on my plate. Like yesterday, he invites himself to take the empty seat next to me.

While I do not hate him, I find his attitude infuriating. He appears to have taken a particular interest in me, one which I do not even want to think about. Apart from dancing and drinking with him once, I do not believe us to be acquainted. Besides, based on my understanding, Fu Technologies and Shengyi Corporation are competitors in the same industry. What is there even to find interesting about me?

His eyes meet my stare. Today, he is dressed in a more smart-casual attire compared to his usual, overdressed style. Those long eyelashes are seriously fascinating. His dark brown eyes sparkle as he looks towards me as if he is investigating me. I swear that I see tints of red in his shining supernovas.

"Mr Fu, do you have something to ask me?" I utter in the most innocuous voice I can muster. He always compels this twenty-one-year-old me to harbour some indecent thoughts. As far as I am concerned, I should act as graciously as I can, since I am a stakeholder. I want to leave a respectable image in others' minds so that they will consider working with me in the future.

He just laughs, and instead of answering my question, he makes his statement.

"You should try the chilli hotpot at the restaurant opposite. It's something challenging, and nonetheless spicy. Sichuan style. Find some time, and we can go together."

How hopeful of him! Is he attempting a move on me? I bite on my lower lip. His statement invokes an image in my mind, of Cullen Fu and I picking out seafood from a shabu-shabu steamboat pot with golden-tipped chopsticks. In my imagination, Cullen suddenly has me immobilised with his gaze. With one swift stroke, he pushes me against the wall. His cold torso inhibits me from moving as his ribs poke into my chest.

With my heels, we are at the same height. While I don't appreciate being weak and constrained against my will, it is a different feeling with this cold CEO. He has the power to command and render even powerful, strong-willed women submissive. I fear that I will be his next target.

His finger slips into my open mouth, coaxing it to allow his finger to enter. It feels cold like the rest of him. I gasp as he explores the whole of my oral cavity with his smooth finger. I know this is an arousing movement and I quickly command myself to stop with unorthodox thoughts.

My face feels hot. Am I blushing?

He takes out his finger and decreases our proximity so we are only about a centimetre away from each other's faces. His breath smells good to me, with a rose-like sensation.

I, Lu Shengyi, am ready to become Cullen Fu's willing prey. My inner demon screams and struggles. The word 'NO' vibrates loud and clear in my mind. I have to snap out of his unrealistic dream!

"Hey, hey," I hear Cullen Fu's voice as I return to reality. Cullen is staring at me intensely as if I have done something to embarrass myself and he can't believe what just happened. The usually-cold and emotionless man is staring his eyes out at me.

When did I zone out? I hurriedly answer him with an 'uh', rubbing my eyes violently.

"What happened?" I feign ignorance.

"This is the first time I've seen someone fall asleep after finishing a hearty meal," Cullen Fu swipes me with a snide remark.

I scour my mind for a valid excuse. "Sorry, I got lost for a moment. There's this cute boy I have my eyes on," I lie.

His face wrinkles with a dissatisfied look. "A boy? From your university?" From the looks of it, he wasn't very impressed. In this case, the 'boy' is only fictional. I am merely writing a scene out of a comic book or a web novel. Most campus romances begin this way, only that I am not willing for it to happen between Shan Hanyu and me. Thanks to Xiaoxian who has him wrapped around her finger, I am glad he is unable to make any viable moves on me.

Once bitten, twice shy. Shan Hanyu has led me to assume that most men of my age are unreliable and will hurt me again. But Cullen Fu is way above my age group. He seems to be at least twenty-six or twenty-seven, which means he is five or six years my senior. An acceptable age difference between a man and a woman, in my opinion.

Cullen Fu does not say a word after that. Minutes later, Uncle Dou shuffles into the restaurant to look for me and tells me something important has cropped up. When I leave, I take a last glance at the back of the burdensome CEO.

Handsome, but he has way too many women. I'm not about to become one of his trophies.

"What's on my agenda for today?" I mutter out aloud, stretching my hand into my pocket to fetch my decent smartphone. Unlike Cullen Fu's extreme model of a smartphone, I have a decent one, definitely not an iPhone but one of the more affordable models. It is a Xinmi smartphone, which I have been using for about two years and it has grown on me.

"Miss Lu, you have a meeting in the afternoon at a client's place," Uncle Dou says. "But that is not the reason I have called for you." He wears a very grave expression across his face and hastens me towards the BMW. Something doesn't seem quite right about Uncle Dou's unusual attitude. Normally he doesn't speak much, but today, something is up. I feel the tension in the air. His atypical temperament perplexes me. This can't be the Uncle Dou I know.

Uncle Dou drives out of the junction, heading towards the highway. I can't stop thinking of the naughty thoughts I have of Cullen Fu earlier and immediately try to focus my thoughts on what I need for the meeting later. According to Uncle Dou, Dewey is already en route to the meeting. I remain quiet, considering the probable questions the client may raise and how I can answer to their needs.

"Miss Lu, I would advise you to not trust the man surnamed Fu earlier," Uncle Dou breaks the silence. I want to ask him why, but then he makes a very sharp turn and at that juncture, I forget what I planned to ask.

A voice whispers darkly inside me, 'Soon, Angel. Soon.'