The Ignition

"I hope everything is fine, you don't seem comfortable hearing from me" Alex queried

"Oh! No, it's fine, 2 pm is okay, where?" Emily asked

"Carlton's Place restaurant" Alex replied

"Wow!" Emily exclaimed, that was one of the biggest, classic and most expensive restaurant in town. "Oh! I am so sorry, okay, I'll be there" she said immediately she realized she sounded wowed on the phone.

"Okay, bye" Alex said as he dropped the call.

"Who was that?" Ryan asked smiling

"Is it any of your business?" Emily snapped

"I heard lunch now, I'll come with you" Ryan continued to smile teasing Emily

"Mom, tell Ryan to stop it already" Emily said as she excused herself from the table

"Why does he want to take me for lunch? What is he up to this time? Alex!!!!" She mumbled to herself as she got into her room. She was in the midst of this thoughts when it dawned on her that she doesn't even know what to wear. She started putting on all her clothes to know what fits. In Avery short while, she already had her room so scattered that, even a cleaning agency would think twice before taking up the cleaning.

"Arrrrggghhhh!!! What do I wear now?" She yelled frustrated. She continued to scatter everywhere putting different clothes as combination. After a short while, she fell on her bed tired, she checked the time and behold, it was 1:30 pm already.

"Oh! My God" she shouted, and jumped into her bathroom, had a quick bath and picked up just any random cloth to wear. "What was I thinking before? Emily, get yourself together" she snapped at herself. "Why do I have to impress him with my dressing?" She murmured as she wore the cloth she picked. Soon, she was set and she quickly ran off, by then, the time was 1:50 pm.

"Can I ever get there in 10 minutes?" She asked herself as she stepped out of the house.

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AT CARLTON'S PLACE RESTAURANT

Emily got down from the cab at exactly 1:25 pm, she rushed to the door and the door was opened unto her, she got inside and was surprised to see no one in the restaurant. "Is this place always this empty?" She thought. As she stood looking at the interiors marvelously, a waiter gestured her to follow him and as they walked down that path, behold, Alex was sitted there alone and staring at her. She felt like she had done something again.

"Exactly 28 minutes late, Miss Emily" Alex said glancing at his wrist watch.

"I'm so sorry I lost track of time sir" she apologized

"Please take your seat" Alex said as he gestured to her to sit. "What would you care for"

Alex said as the waiter handed her the menu. She took it and glanced through it for a while, after a while, she just couldn't decide what to eat, everything on the menu were not her usuals.

"Anything would do please" she said breaking the long silence as she dropped the menu on the table.

"You mean you don't know what to pick? Alex queried

"The truth is that I have taken anything on that menu before so I don't know how they taste" she said honestly

"Really? I'll pick for you then" Alex replied. He placed the order for the both of them and they chatted while they wait.

"So why are we here?" Emily asked. "To eat" ex answered abruptly. There was a moment of silence and as if they both told each other, they bursted into laughter at the same time.

"I like your sincerity you know, quite a handful of people wouldn't be as sincere as you were just now. And I bet you would like the order" Alex commended.

The food was served and Alex gestured Emily to try it. She hesitated for a while and took the first spoonfull. "Hmmmm, oh! My Goodness…" She exclaimed.

"What is that?" Alex asked.

"It is so good, this is so delicious" she commended.

"I told you, you'll love it" Alex replied as he started his meal. The lunch was a very quiet one and Emily marvelled that throughout their stay, nobody walked in to eat or take away but she just kept her thoughts to herself as she savoured the delicious meal before her. She didn't plan to interrupt the pleasure she derived from eating that delicious meal for the first time in her entire life.

After their meal, they both got up and stepped out of the restaurant to leave and just about when Emily wanted to bid farewell, Alex interrupted her.

"Thanks for the meal, and I'll...." She was halfway through her statement when Alex interrupted

"Let me drop you off and I don't want a NO for an answer" Alex asked

"Okay" Emily chuckled as she got into the front seat. Alex got into the driver's seat and zoomed off. Emily wondered why he didn't come with Spencer hiis driver but she decided to keep that to herself.

"So did you enjoy the meal?" Alex started a conversation as they drove on.

"Yes, sure. Is that not obvious?" She asked and they both laughed.

"But something bothers me, the restaurant was so empty with only both of us, as a big and famous restaurant, I expected it to troop with customers on a Saturday like this" Emily commented. 

"Oh! Yeah, that? I paid for the whole afternoon" Alex replied

"Oh! My, you did? The whole afternoon, that would have cost you a fortune!" she exclaimed

"Nothing can be too much for a damsel like you" Alex mumbled in replying

"You say what?" Emily asked as she couldn't hear him audibly.

"It's nothing" Alex replied avoiding the question and glad she didn't hear it. "Shall I take you somewhere? For a walk?" Alex asked

"Hmmmmm, Okay" Emily replied after a deep thought.

Alex drove on and after about 30 minutes, he brought the car to a stop at a quiet secluded garden. Emily has never been here so she wondered what the place would look like.

"Here we are" Alex announced as they both alignted the car. They got in the garden and started walking, a moment of silence ensued between them for about 10 to 15 minutes, each of them pondered on whether to talk or not. Shortly, Alex broke the silence.

"So, I want to really know about youand why you took up the job at Cartar Enterprises, because I know for sure that Anna must have told you that none of my secretaries lasts more than 2 months. Who are you, really?" He asked.

It took Emily a little while to compose herself to answering the question because that was the least question she expected him to ask, but at last she said something.

"Hmmmmmmm" she swallowed hard, "Talking about me would bring me many memories but I would tell you about them" she said.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it" Alex quickly interrupted her as he noticed her change mood. The atmosphere was already so tensed that he could sense she might burst into tears any time soon.

"Growing up was a bit of hell for me" she started.