Leaving the Club
"Mark Wang's photos are not on any site," Elena revealed and went back to staring at her cocktail glass.
The more her stares lasted on the spear of tropical fruits used to garnish her drink, the more her fingers itched to yank them off.
Was she supposed to eat those fruits, or were they mainly for decoration?
Well, even if she was meant to eat them, she couldn't trust the hygiene of the environment in which those fruits were prepared.
Eric shifted his gaze to his brother and said while moving his brows in a comical manner, "This means she did make an effort to know you."
Hearing that, Mark placed his hand on Eric's belly and pushed him aside. "Were you interested in me that much?" He asked with an amused gaze on Elena now that he could catch a proper glimpse of her.
On the other hand, Elena scratched her fingers on the glass cup while inwardly dealing with the stares from the two brothers on her. "Everyone is interested in you," she remarked, just to justify the reason she joined the others to look into him.
"I see…" Mark trailed off while nodding with a meaningful gaze. Turning to Eric who looked invested in Elena, he slapped his arms casually. "You should leave?"
"Why?" The corners of Eric's lips tugged downwards in disappointment. "I just walked over," he grumbled.
"You are like a magnet that attracts metal. I don't want those social butterflies to see you and come over here," Mark explained.
He didn't want other guests to spot him and then come around to start conversations he wasn't interested in having.
At his clarification, Eric felt a surge of current flowing through him. Mark was his brother, and he understood his predicament quite all right. "Okay."
Before leaving, Eric smiled at Elena and said to her with hope in his eyes, "I would love to see you around my brother often." Then without waiting for her response, he turned to pat Mark's shoulder and hurried away.
Mark sighed in relief at his brother leaving. But by the time he turned his attention back to Elena, she had already dumped the fruit garnishing on a small ceramic plate the bartender provided her.
He watched her with a keen interest before suggesting, "Do you want to get out of here, to get dinner?"
"Yes," Elena agreed.
After dressing up and getting ready for this party he brought her to, the cup noodles she ate, had already been digested so she could use some food now. Besides, she was uncomfortable.
With her consent, Mark downed the remaining content of his glass and jumped down from the stool and seeing that, Elena did the same. The only difference here was in her landing.
She lost her balance and was quite sure she would hurt herself and attract attention to them. But thankfully, Mark caught her on time and steadied her.
"Wow!" he exclaimed as his hands felt the bare skin behind her long straight locks. Her back was exposed, and he hadn't noticed until now.
Thinking that it was such a shame to hide the beautiful style of her hair, he grabbed her hair gently and moved them to the left side of her neck.
Elena ground her teeth. She was just getting used to the electric current that ran down her spine when his fingers made contact with her skin and now, he had already swung her hair to the side, further exposing her back.
"I love your dress," he whispered, stepping in front of her with a smile. "We should go," he added while taking her hand and leading her away, leaving no room for negotiation.
But just as they got to the entrance, they bumped into a few guests.
"Mark Wang, is that you?" A 5.5ft tall man, below the age of 30 called out with excitement as he stopped in front of them with two women in tight short dresses following after him.
Mark was instantly recognized. Left with no choice, he could only manage a smile while rubbing the back of Elena's hand with his thumb.
"Hello," he greeted.
"Wow! It's really you. It's such a gratifying surprise to see you here," the man said as his gaze moved to Elena to size her up. He was hoping that Mark would take the cue and introduce her since she didn't seem to be in their social circle, but he ended up being disappointed.
Mark acted ignorant of the signs and replied, "I know, but I have to leave now. Have a wonderful night." With that, he pulled Elena along to finish the rest of their journey to his car, without another glance.
He wasn't going to give room to random people to get a piece of him or bring even more attention to him.
"Do you recognize that woman with Mark?" the short man asked as his gaze followed Mark and Elena.
"Although she seems familiar, I don't recognize her," one of the women answered as she retracted her gaze from the entrance. The other one in a silty white dress, replied, "I don't think that woman is important otherwise Mark would have introduced her."
"That's right. He is probably with her at the moment just for fun," the first woman replied with a snort.
Hearing all of their deductions, the man nodded with a meaningful gaze. "Mark doesn't have any space in his heart to accommodate any woman. Let's go in and see who knows anything about his presence here."
With that, he continued with his steps, prompting the women to follow.
---
Outside the club, Mark and Elena got into the car after the valet brought it to them.
"I want you to help me text my brother," Mark said while pulling the car out of the surrounding. Meeting her gaze, he passed his phone to her.
He needed to leave a message for Eric as he knew that in no time, he would start looking for him, and he wouldn't want to get his call in the middle of dinner with her.
The text was for Eric to see when he pulls his phone out from his pocket to try to reach him after realizing they were gone.
Elena took the phone which has already been unlocked and asked, "What's the message?"
"Don't look for me. I'm out to grab dinner with Elena."