Meeting Mr. Mogul(50)

"Reyna, who is sitting in Mr. Maxwell's booth?" I asked calmly, trying to lessen the tension

"Oh! Uhm …  She's …  I mean …  Mr. Hamilton is dining with us tonight. He is waiting for Ms. Maxwell," she stuttered in reply.

Her words made William and I go silent for a moment. I glanced at  William, waiting for him to tell me some course of action. But from the  way his brow was set and his jaw clenched, the answer was written all  over his face. We were not having dinner in this place tonight. I was  about to suggest we eat some place when the door behind us opened,  making us all turn to see who entered.

"William! Andy! Why are you two standing there?" Alexandra curiously  asked. There wasn't a tone of surprise in her voice. Did she know we  were dining here?

"We were about to leave. We just ate and Andy wanted to chat with her  friend here," William replied casually as she gestured between Reyna and  me.

"Oh! Did you see Michael inside? Has he already eaten?" she asked in the same tone and manner.

"We didn't actually see him. We ate on the far side, away from my usual table," he replied swiftly, making his fib sound true.

"Oh! So, where are you two going?" she glanced towards me for a second before she turned to her brother.

"I'm taking Andy back to her apartment. She's tired now, so we'll be  going," William answered urgently, his arm quickly grabbed hold of my  elbow as he pulled me towards the door.

Before Alexandra or I could say anything, we were both out of the door. I  was startled by his sudden outburst. I didn't get why he was acting  that way. Why is he avoiding his own sister?

Since we were going to have that drive back to my place, I was going to  hound him with all the questions that had been piling up in my head. I  didn't really care if there was someone in the car with us. I needed all  the opportunity that I could get. And since we weren't going to have  that dinner, this was the only time I could ask him.

I was about to start when he interrupted me as he talked to Mark. "Take us back home. I don't feel hungry anymore."

"Yes, sir." Mark replied briefly.

My mouth thinned into a somber line as I kept quiet for a second to look  at him. "And you don't even bother asking me if I was hungry?" I  bluntly asked him in annoyance.

William quickly turned his head towards me, like he had forgotten that I  got into the car with him. "I'm sorry. Is there anywhere you want to go  eat?" he asked softly, his face apologetic.

I studied him for a second before replying. "I know a place near the  apartment. Though the servings don't cost as much as a nose job, the  food is better than what they used to feed us in high school," I  cautiously remarked as I tried to lighten up his suddenly sour mood.

He chuckled at my reply, making the invisible dark cloud above him  disappear. "Is your cafeteria food that bad?" he asked, still grinning.

"Oh. Bad is an understatement. I'm sure you can't relate since you  probably ate some five-star food with names I can't pronounce," I  replied as I lightly said another witty joke.

"Don't be fooled by who I am now. My family wasn't this rich when I was  young. I know what kind of food they were serving in the cafeteria in a  public school," he countered defensively, yet his tone had a he teasing  edge to it.   





 

"Good to know that you had lived my life once, Mr. Maxwell," I commented back with a smile.

"Yeah. It's very refreshing to know that for once in my life I lived with the normal, average people," he agreed with a chortle.

"Oh. We both know you don't have a family of just average people."

He laughed harder at that comment, which made me chuckle in tune with  him. As the conversation progressed in to a playful manner, I felt  lighter every minute. We breezed through the night towards our new  dinner location, which might not be a good idea in a few minutes.





Thirty-Two





When we reached our street, Mark slowed down as I told him the right  location of the café we were going to eat at. It wasn't really hard to  give him directions since it was located right across my place.

"We are good for the night, Mark. Please have the car parked back in the parking lot and you can go."

"Yes, sir. Have a good night," he replied with a courteous nod and  turned his head in my direction, giving me one as well. "Have a  wonderful evening, Ms. Peterson," he stated softly.

"Oh, you, too. Thank you for driving us here," I replied with a small smile.

After our quick exchange, the man in the front passenger seat got out  and opened the door on William's side. He didn't hesitate to get out of  the car, which showed his excitement. I followed behind him and silently  laughed at his actions.

We both watched the car drive off before entering the café. William has  always been outspoken about waiting too long outside the cold, dark  street but I didn't want to be rude. The café looked the same as the  last time I came here with Ally when I was asking her about William. I  expected to recognize at least one person inside. However, it seemed  that my bad luck was on a roll. My father's doctor and my next-door  neighbor were sitting right in front of the entrance.

I cringed for a second before proceeding towards an empty booth on the  far end of the room, hoping that none of them would look our way.

"Andy! Is that you?" a familiar female voice suddenly called my name, making me wince as I stopped walking abruptly.

In slow motion, I turned my head towards the voice, groaning at my lame  attempt at sneaking. Why, oh, why did my mind pick this day to not  function with logic?

"Ally! Hey! How've you been?" I called with fake enthusiasm as I walked  towards her table, feeling a sudden pressure due to the situation.

"I'm doing well," she replied with a small smile.

"Andy Peterson. I didn't know you were the Andy that took my old place." Dr. Stanley told me, a surprised look on his face.

I turned towards him and gave him a smile of recognition. "Dr. Stanley.  It's been awhile. I didn't know you two knew each other," I said,  throwing them off the topic. I'm not even bothered to know that my  father's doctor and my neighbor might be dating.

"Andy, is that who I think it is?" Ally asked in a loud whisper as she  leaned in towards me. Her eyes were staring behind me, ignoring my  words.

At this moment, I was cursing myself for even thinking that this was a  better place to go. And I was cussing even more when William came up to  me like we were together. I wanted to tell him to pretend that we just  met by chance. I wish I had telepathic abilities, but that wasn't  happening, not even in a long shot.

"Hi. Good evening," William greeted them warmly. Smooth move there, Mr. Mogul.

"Good Evening, Mr. Maxwell. It's lovely to see you again so soon," Ally  gleefully replied and pointed out, her eyes landed on me for a second.

"Ah, yes. Ms. Peterson and I are going through some extra work tonight.  If you'll excuse us, we'll be ordering our food and start working," he  stated softly yet sternly. His voice had an edge of authority to it.

"Ah, yes. If you'll excuse us … " I agreed shyly and quickly brushed off the lie. "It was nice seeing you guys."

In a fast pace, I distanced myself from them and moved towards the  counter. I could feel William following behind me silently. As we  reached the counter, I placed my order without any hesitation, already  knowing what I wanted to eat.   





 

"I'll have a Mushroom Melt sandwich and a caramel macchiato, please. Thank you."

"Is that all ma'am?" the cashier asked as she typed in my order in the computer in front of her.

"I'll be having your veggie and chicken salad please, and do you have  any wine or alcohol?" William interjected beside me, making the cashier  look up in his direction.

From the way the woman's eyes grew wide, I felt slightly annoyed at her  sudden ogling. She kept her eyes on William for a few seconds before she  stuttered a reply, "Ah, yes …  Eh …  no, sir … we don't serve alcohol … "

William pursed his lips in disappointment, which made me raise my  eyebrow at his reaction. "You shouldn't be drinking after that episode  two days ago," I mumbled suggestively.

"That is why I should, and a glass of wine wouldn't hurt," he countered  softly in the same tone, but he let it go with a sigh. "That would be  all, I think. How much would that be?" he asked as he swiftly got his  wallet out from his inside blazer pocket.

The cashier was lost in her thoughts and too dazed with William, making  me grimace. To quickly get myself out of this misery, I tapped the  screen, which showed the total bill and told William. He nodded his head  in understanding and got out a hundred dollar bill for payment. I  choked at the huge bill he had given, but I didn't point it out loud.  The cashier studied the money for a second before placing it down and  giving him his change.