Chapter 7 (Part 1)

Riya was busy sorting out her clothes. After sleeping for twelve hours, she was feeling refreshed. She bought all her hangers from South Africa to hang her clothes. The bedroom was big that Riya could fit her entire family in this one room. This apartment was big that her mother and father's relatives could fit in with her. She did not want to think of that. Her apartment has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. She was going to turn on into a guest room. She hung up some of the clothes in the big closets. She puts them according to seasons. Now that the closets were wide and spacious, she did not need to throw all her clothes on the floor to look for one specific outfit. Riya was enjoying her apartment so far even though it was empty. She was deciding on how she was going to decorate and arrange the furniture. There was so much to do. Thank god, Yingjie gave her and her friends over a month to settle in. He almost gave them two months because they were only starting on the 24th of June.

Riya finished unpacking one bag. Now she got three more to go. She was going to leave the photos aside because she still needed furniture. Someone was knocking on the door. Riya looked at the hallway for a minute. She put whatever clothes she was dealing with in the luggage and got up from the cool floor. She walked down the stairs while looking at the door. It was bright and breezy in the morning. But it was going to get boiling during the day. Riya stopped in front of the door. She grabbed the keys from the counter, unlocked it, and opened the door for the visit.

A young man, probably in his early twenties, was standing in front of her. He had a small pastel pink box that had 'Unicorn Café written on it. Riya examined the man for a minute. He was handsome with medium tanned skin. He was tall with a muscular body, probably about one point eight meters in height. He had good features like a model and dark brown wavy hair. He had a friendly smile. Riya looked at him with a smile.

"Good morning.", she greeted him politely.

"Good morning. My name is Kris Wang. I work at the Unicorn Café that's just down the road.", he introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you."

"You too. I bought a slice of the raspberry tart as a welcoming gift. Food is always the best, especially a sweet treat. I already saw the other three, Aliya, Holly, and Lucas.", he handed him the cake box.

"Thank you, my dear. I'm Riya Moodley by the way.", Riya forgot to introduce herself.

"So, you are working at The Rose Valley Hotel?"

"Yep. I can't wait.", she was excited. She opened the box to see the tart. "Wow, this looks beautiful. Did you make this?", she asked.

"My brother and I did it. Susan told me about you and your friends last night. My brother and I decided to make something for you and your friends."

"You must tell your brother that I said thank you. It looks and smells good. I will now come to your café to buy. So, what do you do?", she started a conversation.

"I'm studying Mechanical Engineering, the second year.", he answered.

"Oh I see you finally met Wang Liang's brother.", Susan appeared at the door, holding Kris like a brother.

"Wang who? Here guys, why are you standing there. This is so rude of me for not allowing you in. Come in.", she opened the door wider.

Kris and Susan entered the room. They were looking around the empty room. Riya put the cake box on the kitchen counter. She joined them.

"So, who is your brother?", Riya asked.

"Wang Liang is my older brother. He is a famous businessman who owns The Lotus Flower Hotel.", Kris answered.

"He is extremely handsome my dear. He used to be a singer, dancer, and model before he left the industry to become a businessman. He is the most famous businessman in the world. His business is operating across the globe. I think about over a hundred countries.", Susan said.

"Oh, now I can believe Susan because Kris is also handsome."

Kris felt a bit shy when he heard that. "Oh thank you."

"Riya, we are going out. Would you like to join us? You are looking more refreshed today.", Susan said.

"I wouldn't mind thank you."

Kris and Susan were excited about this. They walked out of the door first then Riya followed. She grabbed her handbag from the counter. She took the keys from the counter and then walked out of the apartment. The door automatically locked itself behind her. The three of them started walking to the elevator.

"So Susan, what do you do?", Riya asked.

"I'm currently not working because I just came out from an abusive marriage. I have been staying with Tommy for two months now. I'm filing a divorce. My husband used to drink hectically and abuse me. I had enough of that and I left him.", she explained.

"Good thing you did that. Why did you marry him in the first place?"

"It's my mom. She wanted me to get married at the age of twenty-five but I kept on rejecting her. Tommy even told her not to do that. But she arranged my marriage without even telling me. The next day, I was living with a horrible man who still drinks, sleeps with multiple women, and abuses me."

"That sucks. Like my father's relatives, some of them told me that I need to marry a man before I come here. They said that he will protect me from harm. How ridiculous is that?", Riya asked them.

"It's just this old fashion thinking. The youth today are not even interested in marriages and having kids. It's too expensive.", Kris explained.

The elevator door opened. They ran like racing cars to get to the elevator. The other people were watching them weirdly. They entered and started laughing. They found that fun. Susan placed her hands on her knees because she had not run like that in a long time. They were laughing until the elevator was on the ground.