1.5 The CEO

Sonja's eyes opened wide for a split second, then her face relaxed into a casual smile. Don't blame her for acting so shocked. She's tired of this fiasco already and is ready to sleep 'til Sunday, cause Mother Moreno is going to kick her ass if she doesn't go to church regularly. It also didn't help her case when the bar was completely empty, her potential patrons preferring to get their wine and champagne a "classier way"- from the waiters milling about. Leaning up against the bar, she asked him, "Can I get you something, handsome?"

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, partially impressed that this lady was bold enough to say that to his face and partially annoyed that she looked uninterested, which hurt his pride as a good-looking male, and confused him to no end. That shocked expression looked cute though, so he'll let it slide. Deciding to play along, he replied with the same semi-flirty tone, "Got any specials tonight, beautiful?"

Sonja couldn't believe what she had just heard. The cold and domineering male lead, Sebastian Iliescu, had just said something so unbelievably corny, that she was stunned for a solid second before restoring her smile. Not saying a word, she turned around and busied herself with making a drink which had a pretty high alcohol content, which she didn't care about. If he's drunk, then that means that he won't be going outside to meet the female lead.

After about a minute of finding the alcohol, mixing it, and then finally presenting it, she pushed the drink to him, which he drank in one go, never taking his eyes off her, which she found weird, but that idea was quickly pushed out of her mind when Sebastian put the glass down and said, with a slightly playful voice, "Is that all you've got?"

Oh, he wants a challenge now, does he? Well, two can play at that game. "That's the limit on what I'm allowed to make here, but if you want, I can make a few more. Are you sure you can take it, you look a little buzzed." With a slight smirk on her lips, Sonja once again leaned on the bar, daring him to order a couple more and poking fun at his alcohol tolerance at the same time.

Sebastian smiled this time, a genuine smile which sent the message: 'you're playing with fire'. Holding up five fingers, he leaned forward a bit, closing the gap between them ever so slightly. "I'd like five more then, since you asked so nicely." He looked straight into her eyes as she said that, holding them hostage for a second before Sonja blinked and pulled away, to his disappointment. He paused, disappointed? He shook off the feeling, then leaned back as well.

After about five more minutes, she had filled up four new martini glasses, while also not forgetting to fill up the original. Pushing the four other glasses to him, she said, "Bottoms up." Smiling at him, she wholeheartedly believed that he wouldn't be able to take all five of them with the one he already had in his system. They were made with some top-grade alcohol, and she knew she could barely handle five, so she thought that he wouldn't also, completely forgetting what the system had told her about this alcohol tolerance.

Sebastian looked at her for a second, then, like the first time, drank all of them consecutively. Putting down the final glass, he smiled back at Sonja, who by then was not smiling. Feeling accomplished, he said, "That hit the spot. Those old geezers really can bore someone to death, old bootlickers." Leaning back on his very short stool-back, he looked at Sonja again, who probably could not believe what she had just seen. He also knew that there was some top-grade alcohol in there and that the alcohol level was pretty high, but that didn't faze him. Drinking six of those drink was completely worth it to see that shocked expression on her face.

Sonja was, not surprisingly, flabbergasted. Quickly brushing it off, she begrudgingly complimented him on his alcohol tolerance, which he replied with a compliment to her mixing skills. The conversation went on to topics of interest from there, such as where they were from and what their favorites were, which Sonja found odd, but attributed it to the alcohol in his system, as he was the one to bring up those subjects.

After about ten minutes of talking, Sonja looked around the hall to find the almost forgotten female lead, Rebekka. She spied her due to her right side profile and saw that she was in the middle of talking to some wealthy investors, probably as a backup plan in case she loses her boss. The situation over there was a bit... heated, to say the least. Sonja ridiculed her in her head, completely missing the darkening expression on Sebastian's face when her attention had shifted. Miffed, he asked her, "What are you looking at?"

Sonja turning around, expecting to be called back when her attention suddenly shifted. She smiled lightly and replied, "I was looking around to see who I recognized, but I could only recognize one person." Lifting her chin in Rebekka's direction, she told him a little bit about Rebekka. "That's Rebekka Jóhannsson. I had talked to her a few times before. She's the assistant to a CEO, forgot which one. She's pretty nice and has a nice face, so she's not half bad."

This vague description prompted Sebastian to look in the direction Sonja was looking at and caused him to look at Rebekka's caked up face and provocative manner. Rebekka was leaving the hall, presumably for some fresh air, but not before flirtatiously saying goodbye to her group of rich men. As she was walking out of the hall and outside, she had no idea that the person she wanted to meet and ensnare at this ball, Sebastian Iliescu, had already blacklisted her in his heart and vowed to keep her away from Sonja, which he didn't know why he did, he just followed his instinct.

"Oh, she doesn't look like anyone special. I don't know why you even talked to her; she looks like a gold-digger to me." Wrinkling his nose up in disgust, he turned back to Sonja, who, in his opinion, was much more favorable than Rebekka. Strangely, this was a thought that was procured when he didn't even know Sonja's name.

Sonja almost laughed out loud. He had hit the nail on the head. Rebekka was indeed a gold-digger, but his words also confused her. Was the main lead halo so weak as to fail to ensnare the male lead of this story?

As Sonja sunk into contemplation, Sebastian also sunk into contemplation. Sonja didn't know this, but from her first words and manner, she had completely captured the male lead's interest. Her character, her entire person, was what the male lead was looking for. This revelation on the male lead's part would cause their paths to cross, again and again, completely trapping her in his grasp.