75 Miss Gu
Inside a dark apartment with only the light from the laptop illuminating the room, a man sat typing away furiously on the keyboard.
His entire attention was on the document that he was typing but suddenly the phone that was next to him on the couch rang noisily, successfully distracting him.
Frustrated at the insistent ringing, he picked it up and answered the call after looking at the caller ID flashing on the screen.
"You better have a really good reason for disturbing me." His voice sounded annoyed.
"Uh... Boss. Ms. Gu called and asked me to remind you about the meeting. She will be there shortly and hopes to see you there before she arrives." His assistant spoke in a timid voice knowing that this was going to anger him further.
"Hmm.." He hummed and hung up.
Ruffling his already messed up hair, he looked at the time on his phone.
'8:20, huh? I lost track of time.' He got up from his seat and went to the washroom to start getting ready.
"It's already a big deal that I agreed to her absurd suggestion of meeting at a restaurant and she's demanding more from me?" He rolled his eyes and stood before the mirror and glanced at his face.
His dark hair fell on his forehead and he swept them back. He splashed water onto his face and washed it.
While wiping his face dry, his lips curled looking at his reflection and the mole underneath his lips became more evident when he smiled.
He slowly got out and changed into a black suit with a maroon tie. He put on his usual diamond cufflinks and picked up the suit jacket.
'Just because Wayne agreed to her without my permission it does not mean that I have to be there on time.' He sprayed his signature cologne which smells like the oceans and the woods combined to give a refreshing fragrance.
They were supposed to meet at 8:30 and he knew for sure that he would be late by the time he beat the weekend traffic but that did not bother him in the least bit.
He picked up his car keys and merrily strode to the elevator.
He exited the elevator and walked out of the building. He nodded at the security guards and went to his car and got inside.
His ride to the restaurant was as he had guessed, extremely slow because of traffic. But the meeting place was just 15 minutes away from his home and so he was in no rush.
After he reached the place, he handed over the keys to the valet and entered the restaurant.
Smooth jazz was heard as he walked to the receptionist and waited for her to be done with her phone call.
The moment she hung up, she looked at the man before her and sucked a huge breath in.
'Not this again.' He spoke up to avoid a big scene.
"I am meeting someone named Miss Gu, can you tell me which room she is in?" His cold voice brought her back from her dreams and she hurriedly typed on the computer to hide her blushing face.
"Mr. Ming, there is no private room booked under this name." She replied and saw him frown.
"But there is a table for two booked down here." She pointed to the area from where the music was being played and his frown deepened.
"Allow me to lead you." She happily offered and moved from behind the desk.
She walked with a sway in her hips and led the way to a table near the end of the room. She saw a woman already sitting there and turned back to the man behind her.
"Sir." She gestured to him and then bowed to the woman who was sitting.
Having finished her work, she quickly walked away and rushed to her help desk that she had left unattended.
"Senior Ming!" The woman who was sitting looked up at him and gave a wide smile.
"Junior Gu." He nodded at her and sat down after undoing the buttons of his jacket.
"Why are you acting as if we are unfamiliar with each other? You can just call me Helen and I can call you Reuben. If that is okay with you?" She bravely asked but her blushing cheeks showed her nervousness.
Reuben Ming looked at the woman sitting before him.
She had platinum blonde hair and wore blue contact lenses. Her lips looked bigger than the last time he saw her and her clothing style had drastically changed over the years.
If he showed people the picture of her hanging on his bedroom wall taken on their graduation day and told them that they were of the same person, he was sure that no one would believe him.
The gangly and awkward girl he knew transformed into the woman he was seeing now.
When he saw her questioning look, he woke up from his trip down memory lane and replied to her previous question.
"The way we addressed each other is just fine. There is no need to change it." He politely shot her suggestion down and saw her lower her head.
'Was I too harsh? But I do not like it when women try to get too close to me. She's fine now but I wouldn't want her to change how she behaves with me.' He convinced himself that he was doing the right thing and waited for her to react.
But she just looked back at him and smiled as if nothing had happened and offered him the menu.
The waiter shortly arrived and they both placed their orders.
Reuben decided on pasta bolognese with extra parmesan and Helen ordered salmon with grilled eggplant and chickpea croutons.
While they waited for their meals to arrive, Reuben looked at her and spoke.
"Why did you book a table out here? This is not a good place to talk." He scanned his surroundings and saw a number of women staring at him and their partners glaring begrudgingly.
'What did I do?' He turned his eyes back to Helen and saw her smile.
"It's fine. No one is going to hear us." She reassured him and passed on a file from her bag.
Reuben looked at the file with sparkling eyes.
The only reason he had agreed to meet her despite her absurd demands was the file that he was looking at.
Helen Gu, his junior in university was an architect and was often hired by the Ming Enterprise because of her talent to turn any barren land into an amazing structure that would fetch Reuben a ton of money.
He was here today because he had commissioned her to design a building for his new business venture.
A new gaming center that had everything in it, from an arcade zone to bowling alley, laser tag, and most importantly a number of gaming lounges.
Helen always could grasp what he wanted and hence he always employed her for his personal ventures.
"You won't look inside?" Helen pouted when he just kept the file aside without even looking at it.
"This is just a rough copy anyway. I will see the final version you send to my email." He said and saw her elated smile.
'He trusts me so much that he knows that it is going to be perfect! Senior is amazing as always.' Helen looked at her lap to hide her sparkling eyes.
'I don't want anyone else to see my pet project and try to copy it.' He vigilantly looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to what they were doing.
Helen who had terribly misunderstood his actions blushed and strengthened her resolve.
'I have to do it tonight! Helen, you can do it!' She cheered herself and crumpled her skirt in her excitement.
Soon the waiter arrived with their meals and Reuben being the gentleman waited for her to start and then he too dived in.
The pasta was soft and the sauce was rich and tangy. Reuben always loved extra cheese with whatever he ate and the freshly sprinkled parmesan completed the dish for him.
As he ate, he looked over to Helen's dish and saw the salmon with veggies on the side.
"Are you on a diet?" He asked and she looked confused at the sudden question.
He pointed to her plate and this made her realize what he was talking about.
'She's already so lean that she looks like she'll faint at any second.' He looked at her thin body and thought.
'He's noticing me! I better make a good impression.' Helen wiped his lips and spoke.
She rarely got such a golden opportunity to meet him alone because he was always accompanied by his assistant every time he met her.
So she planned to make the most of it tonight.
"No. I'm just trying to eat healthy. I read this article about eating raw foods…." Reuben could hear her speaking but his attention was elsewhere as he looked in one particular direction.
