28. No one...

Oliver looked at the lady keenly for sometime, and said with a sexy smile, "Okay, pretty, if you insist." He winked at her and Miriam smiled shyly. 'He has a cute smile, but not as dashing as the other guy.' Miriam thought. She felt Maxwell's gaze on her, but she couldn't bring herself to look back. She didn't like what his stares did to her. Oliver was watching her, too, but she wasn't feeling anything. Why was it so different with this guy?

Miriam finally gathered courage and lifted her eyes and as expected, she met his piercing grey eyes on her. Her heart started rumming against her ribs. His gaze on her felt like he was looking directly through her. She wanted to look away, but strangely, she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to look away.

Oliver, at this point was speechless, then surprised, then amused. He was shifting gazes between the two, unable to fathom what exactly was going on. He had known Maxwell for quite a long time now. And he was sure to say that this was very strange. The Maxwell he knew would never have the time and space for ladies. He despised them and mostly avoided them like a plague. As for the reason why he despised ladies, Maxwell himself was the best person to answer that.

Author: Please don't ask me. I have no idea. Lol.

Maxwell was lost, deep, deep in thoughts. There was something about this very lady... He felt like her presence triggered some strange feeling in him. He didn't quite understand these foreign emotions building up inside of him whenever he saw her.

Oliver saved the moment by breaking the awkward and deafening silence while darting his eyes back and forth between the two of them.

"Um...Okaayyy. Thank you so much for the meal." He managed to say. "I didn't...I mean we didn't get your name though."

"Oh, um... You can only access me here with the name Ms Hammond. That's the only way they'd know I am the one you're referring to."

Oliver was about to say something when a waitress walked towards them and bowed slightly to them before whispering something to Miriam.

"Um...I have to go back now, please. Thank you so much for coming. Hoping to see you next time." Miriam said after the waitress gave them their bill and started clearing their table.

"Sure. We'd really love to come back."

"Alright. I'll be going now. Please drive safe on your way home." She finally said. She stole a glance at Maxwell, who was still dazely looking at her. She tore her eyes off his dangerously distracting handsome face and quickly turned to leave, blushing profusely like fresh tomatoes. Maxwell's eyes followed her till she was out of sight. Even with that, his eyes were still fixed at the closed door through which she exited. He was brought back to earth when Oliver snapped his fingers in front of him.

Maxwell didn't turn to look at him. His face was still at the same direction Miraim went, and he closed his eyes briefly, dragging in a huge batch of air before turning to face Oliver and exhaling loudly.

Oliver was staring at him, mouth agape, face showing clear shock, and eyes holding amusement.

"Close your mouth, idiot." Maxwell said in a calm voice and looked away. He knew why Oliver was acting like that. And he couldn't blame him. In fact, he had surprised himself as well.

"Bro!!! That was like the longest conversation you've ever had with a lady, like ever." Oliver couldn't help himself but blurt out. Maxwell stilled for a moment and turned to look at him, but he didn't say anything. "For real!! Aren't you surprised about it? Because I am really surprised."

Maxwell rolled his eyes and sighed, "Stop exaggerating."

"Oh really? I bet you surprised yourself even more. You were stammering, Bro!! That was a first. I never heard you falter in front of a lady!" Oliver dragged on, and Maxwell just shrugged lazily. "And you said you've met?"

"Lets go home, Oli. Enough talking. I need some rest."

"Yeah right. Change the topic. You think you can escape? And what was with all those dumb questions?" Oliver threw his head back and laughed hard. Now he remembered what went on, everything looked so funny.

Maxwell glared at him and stood up. He dropped some wad of cash on the table and strolled out, leaving the still laughing Oliver. Oliver quickly stood up and followed him. Quiet people were so fun to tease. He was planning to tease Maxwell till he reacted. Most of the time when he teased him, he would just be quiet and not say anything. He was no fun to tease at all.

Maxwell got to his car with Oliver tagging right behind. Oliver was still laughing when he got there, and Maxwell hissed.

"Stop laughing now or you walk home." He threatened. Another round of laughter erupted and Maxwell turned sharply and glared at him. Was he being serious right now? Why was he laughing so hard?

"You... You work here? So you cooked this meal?"Oliver tried imitating Maxwell voice back there, and laughed harder. "Max!! You should've seen your face. Silly brat!!" He was really enjoying this. He was finally getting a reaction from the stoic Maxwell. Oh goodness, this was a sight to behold, he thought as he laughed more.

Maxwell was now looking on helplessly. And looking at the way Oliver was laughing so hard, with tears clouding his eyes from so much laughter, he couldn't help himself and started laughing too, shaking his head.

"I'm sure you had too much wine, bloody drunkard. Hop in the car now before I change my mind." Oliver had regained himself now, and he looked at Maxwell amusingly.

"Would you rather sleep in a hotel room then?" Oliver shot back. Maxwell couldn't refute that. He silently opened the car and sat at the driver's seat, while Oliver rounded the car and took the passenger seat.

Oliver wanted to tease Maxwell some more, but he stopped. The ride home was a peaceful one and Maxwell was very grateful. He was expecting Oliver to tease him more.

When they got to Oliver's apartment, they quickly went in and freshened up. Maxwell took his laptop and worked on some projects when he finished freshening up. He really wanted to call his parents, but he decided against it. Maybe later since it was quite late. It was almost 9pm.

...

Miriam wrapped up things quickly as it was almost time to close. She was as tired as pulp. They had a lot of customers today, and she had not had a single break after she took lunch. All she needed right now was to have a warm bath and hit her bed. She had grabbed a simple dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, so she wasn't bothered about having dinner. She removed her apron and washed her hands. She quickly went to the changing room and got changed, fixed her hair and applied her favourite pink lip gloss. She wasn't a fan of make-up. She had a smooth and radiant skin and she shone without any make-up. So she always went for lip gloss. She took out her phone and ordered an uber and readied herself.

As she waited, thoughts of Maxwell started flooding her mind. She had been thinking about him after meeting him and his friend. And she felt frustrated about it, so she drowned herself in more work, just to distract herself. And now that she was done with work, she was faced with this issue again. They had only met twice, but she felt like something wasn't right.

Why would she become so flushed with just his stares?

Why did his voice sound so nerve-calming?

Why was he on her mind all the time?

And most importantly, why did his presence remind her of Maxwell?

This was insane! She hadn't seen or heard anything about Maxwell for more than 10 years. And she was not liking the fact that seeing this guy was bringing back memories of her time with Maxwell. She was not liking it at all. To her, no one was capable of holding the same place as Maxwell in her heart. No one...

Just then, a notification alert came on her phone, indicating her uber driver had arrived. She quickly went downstairs and bid her other colleagues who were still around goodbye and boarded the car.

Soon, the car hit the road and she got home few minutes to 10pm. Janet was asleep when she got home. It had happened so many times and Janet had already stopped worrying about waiting for her or calling her all the time like she used to. Miriam quickly freshened up and went to bed. And because she was very tired, as soon as she hit her bed, she was soon in lalaland.