Small Talk

"Saved me?!" Delilah exclaimed as she sat up and looked at the young blond-haired man in detail. "You! You were the idiot that broke my nose!!!"

Noah raised his hands innocently, "Hey, I didn't break anything! Your friends told me you were drunk that day and stumbled onto the road without looking. If I didn't pull you back in time, that car would have run you over and you'd be reporting to hell right now!"

Delilah scoffed. She didn't like it when she was wrong. "For your information, I'd be reporting to heaven, OK?" she argued back weakly. "Besides, do you have sticks for arms? Why didn't you catch me properly?"

The young man rolled his eyes. How could someone be so unreasonable? He came all the way to the hospital out of concern during new year's eve, yet he didn't receive a single 'thank you'.

"Everything happened so sudden. You were lucky that I even got to you in time..." Noah sighed as he stood up. There was no point in wasting his time anymore. However, just as he reached the door he paused, "By the way, I didn't just come here to check whether you were OK. I came here to warn you."

"Are you threatening me?" Delilah immediately jumped to conclusions and looked at the man fiercely.

The young man took a deep breath, "Look, I saved you. I'm not the bad guy here! There's just something I thought you'd like to know about your accident..."

Noah wasn't sure if he was being paranoid, but he thought the woman deserved to know what he knew: "...I don't think it was an accident..."

Delilah looked at the man and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

...

On the other side of the city, Maya also raised an eyebrow as her blind date ignored her and looked out the window.

Tiffany had told her that fluttering her eyelashes would work on any man, but this man seemed completely immune to it.

Lucas Lee stared at the fountain outside. It was currently set on a repetitive sequence that was both hypnotizing and calming, and it added to the romantic atmosphere of the restaurant. Unfortunately, he was in the restaurant with Delilah Yeung: a spoiled, narcissistic, and brainless socialite from Hong Kong who was just an exact replica of every other woman that his father had ever sent his way. Although he had been living with his mother in LA since he was 8-years-old and he only saw his father a few times each year, he thought his father would, at least, understand him a little. Did he really think that he would be interested in a woman like this?

"I know what father's thinking. I know he made me study in the US so I would have the skills to inherit his business someday, and I understand that the day is nearing. But I will return when I'm ready. If he thinks he can lure me back to Hong Kong with a woman and use that woman to control me like a puppet, he must be dreaming," Lucas had told his mother multiple times.

However, it did not stop his father from trying.

Maya looked at the man with curiosity. What was he thinking about? Now that it was just the two of them, shouldn't he, at least, get to know her? Resting her chin on her hand, she leaned forward slightly and tried to start a conversation, "So...do you have any hobbies?"

As an expert in marketing and advertising, Maya knew the best way to sell a product was to first understand her client. Only then could she identify his needs and sell him her product as the solution. When she thought of it this way, Lucas was her client, and Delilah was the product that she was trying to sell.

Lucas looked at Maya and smirked. He hated small talk. Small talk was barely ever genuine. When someone asked him, "How are you?" or "How's your day been?" did they ever truly care about the answer? Similarly, did this woman really care what his hobbies were, and even if he told her, could she even relate?

As though he was dealing with an annoying salesperson, he would normally ignore questions like this.

But suddenly...a thought came to his mind...

Perhaps, this was his opportunity to make the woman leave. Raising his nose in a snobby manner, he replied, "I like visiting museums, watching musicals, and listening to opera. I like seeing into the minds of an artist and being drawn into their world. Composers like Wagner and painters like Van Gogh are amongst my favorite. What about you? Do you have any similar interests?"

If this woman wanted to start a conversation, then fine. Let's see how far this conversation could go. Lucas had already browsed through Delilah's social media account. All he saw were selfies of her in revealing clothes by the pool, at the beach, and in the club. On top of that, she had many grammatical errors in her captions. She had no culture at all. If he continued to bore her with topics like this, perhaps she would realize that they had nothing in common and leave.

But...he had no idea that he was talking to Maya and not Delilah. Maya was an art director who had studied design and art history; he was literally discussing her favorite subject.

[I like Wagner and Van Gogh too.]

However, Maya knew that Delilah wouldn't be able to discuss classical art and music; it just wasn't her. So, how could she convince this man that Delilah could fit into his world?

That was when she remembered that they were currently in Vegas: an entertainment paradise with daily shows, including musicals. Even if Delilah wasn't very cultured, it wouldn't be hard for her to notice the multitude of posters and advertising for the musicals that were currently playing. So, she made a gamble and said, "Oh, I actually watched 'Phantom of the Opera' at the Venetian last night. It was spectacular. Now that I think about it, there was one particular line from the musical that I think is very fitting for tonight..."

Maya had watched 'Phantom of the Opera' multiple times and had memorized most of the lines.

Looking into Lucas' eyes, she revealed a warm, genuine smile and said, "Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor..."

The woman's soft voice danced across the table into Lucas' ear. This was not a response that he expected from the woman at all, but it somehow fascinated him.

[This woman is full of surprises...]