Chapter 9 (1/1)

Completing his scenes for the day, Kenneth hurried into the makeup room to remove his hairpiece and the layers of foundation that caked his face.  At times he feels the makeup was too much.  Especially under the hot burning lamps in the studios where he can virtually feel the film of foundation melting away as time passes.  As usual, once he was no longer needed, he would quickly remove all traces of the thick, uncomfortable glob to let his pores breath again.His thoughts wandered to Natalie.  Should he give her a call?  Would he scare her off if he did?  If he asked her out for a drink, would she say yes or reject him?  All these questions lingered in his head and he realized he would never know unless he made that call.  Once the decision to call her was made, he felt happier, and adrenaline shot through him as he waited for her to pick up on the other end.  He didn't have long to wait.  As if expecting his call, Natalie picked up on the first ring.  "Hi," he greeted softly, "Do you remember me?"Natalie pressed the phone against her ear when she recognized the familiar timbre of his voice.  It was Kenneth Ma!  "Hi," she responded, keeping her voice as controlled as possible for deep down she wanted to scream with joy.  She really didn't think he would call her.  After all, they were still strangers and he probably has tons of girls flocking to his side due to his celebrity status.  Why would he even waste any time on a plain nobody like her.  And yet, he had indeed called her.  "Are you calling me for repayment?" she kidded.Kenneth laughed, the sound soft and musical to Natalie's ear.  "Actually, sort of but not really."  Kenneth groaned inwardly at how his words were jumbling up.  Relax, he told himself.  A second hesitation later, he said, "I'm going for drinks with some friends tonight and was wondering if you'll be interested in joining us.  Would you?"Natalie's heart did flip flops.  He's asking her out for drinks!  Although she would have preferred a one-on-one meeting but a gathering with his friends might make it easier for them to get to know each other without any awkwardness.  "Sounds like fun."Unsure whether her response was a yes or no, Kenneth asked with uncertainty, "So you'll come?"Natalie instantly responded, "Yes," then remembered she made plans with Kevin for dinner tonight.  Kevin had been away from Hong Kong for the past decade and out of courtesy she offered to take him to dinner and re-introduce him to the busy life of the city.  "Do you mind if I brought a friend along?""It all depends if this friend is a male or female," Kenneth teased.The comment made Natalie's heart jump and she was glad that she wasn't talking to him face to face, otherwise he would have seen the flush on her face.  "It's a male," she said softly.  Over the phone she thought she heard a sigh of disappointment from Kenneth and quickly added, "He's actually only a co-worker who I was going to show around town."Hearing her quick explanation eased Kenneth's mind.  When she had said a male friend, he thought it was her way of letting him down easy.  Pleased that he still got a chance with her, Kenneth said, "I'll pick you up tonight?""If you don't mind, I'd prefer to meet you there."  Natalie took down the name and address of where to meet and once they hung up, she jumped up from her chair and squealed with delight.------------------------------------------------The ribbon cutting ceremony took longer than Raymond anticipated.  He arrived on time, taken a few pictures, cut the ribbon, taken a few more pictures, and had expected to be done within two hours, giving him the rest of the afternoon off.  Things, of course, didn't turn out that way.  He normally didn't mind if an event took longer than scheduled.  It'll only mean more publicity and gave his league of fans more opportunities to have their pictures taken with him.  However, on this particular day Raymond wasn't in a good mood.  In fact, his mood was bordering dangerously close to being violent.  The earlier incident in his apartment with Charmaine left him feeling restless and edgy, like something within him was about to erupt.  During the entire ceremony he found his eyes unwillingly seeking her out and whenever his eyes did find her, the sight of her would infuriate him him.  Now that he had said his goodbyes to his sponsors and taken all the requested pictures from his fans, he stalked over to where Charmaine sat waiting for him.  He tensed when he walked past her and ordered briskly, "Drive me home," and for once did not wait for her to slide the door open for him.Charmaine saw the scowl on his face and wondered what the hell he was mad about now.  He had been smiling during the entire ceremony, and even stayed back to take pictures with his fans.  All of a sudden his entire demeanor has changed.  Well, she wasn't going to ask him what caused it.  She didn't even care.  As long as he doesn’t take it out on her then he can remain mad and moody all he wants.  Getting behind the steering wheel she felt his gaze on her and abruptly turned to look at him."What are you looking at?" Raymond bit out when Charmaine turned to look at him.Feeling her own temper rise, Charmaine retorted, "Can't you be nice for a change?"Raymond snickered and crossing his arms over his chest, he asked haughtily, "To you?  Why should I?"Pushed past her limits, Charmaine glared at him, "Listen Your Majesty, I don't like being stuck with you any more than you do.  I'm doing this out of favor to Jazz because you need an assistant and there's no one else available at such short notice.  I'm not asking you to be all nice and friendly, but you can at least be civil to me!"Looking at her with indifference, Raymond said curtly, "If you're done with your whining, drive me home."  He then turned abruptly to look out the window.Charmaine knew that was a dismiss if she ever heard one.  Giving one last look at his stony profile, she nevertheless turned her attention back to the front and started the van.  She merged into traffic and only when they were on the highway did she reluctantly ask, "Do you need me to rehearse your lines with you for tomorrow?""I can manage on my own," came Raymond's brusque response.  He didn't want to spend another minute with her if he can help it.  They arrived in front of his building and the second the van pulled over to the curb, Raymond jumped off without a goodbye or a backward glance.Stumped by Raymond's obnoxious behavior, Charmaine sat watching his retreating back for a few seconds before angrily shifting the gear and driving away.  Damn Raymond Lam and his high and mighty attitude.  She called him all the foul names she could think of and only when she ran out of names did the anger drain out of her.------------------------------------------Inside a chic Japanese restaurant, Natalie and Kevin were having a fun time talking about their work and how it was like living in Hong Kong compared to other countries.  "Why did you come back if you were doing so well in America?"Kevin gave her a rueful smile before replying, "I guess because Hong Kong is my real home.  I've always knew I'll be back.  This is where I want my kids growing up.""Kids?" Natalie repeated in surprise then teased, "Don't you think you should find a wife first before thinking about kids?"Kevin chuckled and with a tigerish smile he asked playfully, "Do you know of any smart and beautiful single female to introduce me to?"Sitting straighter in her chair, Natalie leaned forward across the table and said, "Actually I do if you're really interested."  Kevin's unhindered laughter prodded her to ask, "Well, are you interested in meeting someone with all the characteristics you just described and more?"Instead of answering Natalie's question directly, Kevin said, "Why not?  I could use a few more friends in Hong Kong since I don't have any at the present, besides you of course.""I knew you would say that," Natalie blurted and joined in Kevin's laughter.  As her laughter died her cell phone rang.  Looking at the caller ID, she cast a glance at Kevin and said, "Speak of the devil."------------------------------------------------------Kenneth walked into the pub with Myolie in tow.  He scanned the room and immediately found Raymond.  He was sitting at a corner table and had already ordered a bottle of wine for himself.  "Hey Ray."Raymond looked up, a smile forming on his lips.  The smile faltered when he caught sight of Myolie lugging slowly behind Kenneth.  "Hi Ken, Myolie."The table was rectangular with two chairs on each side.  Kenneth smartly took the seat opposite of Raymond's, leaving Myolie with the choice of either sitting next to him or next to Raymond.  Kenneth knew whose side she would be sitting in and almost chuckled out loud when she took her seat."Hi Ray," Myolie said softly, her eyes searching his face for a sign, any sign that can tell her what he was thinking about her being here.  She made Kenneth invite Raymond out for a drink under the impression that it would be just the two guys.  If Raymond knew she was going to be there, he wouldn't have agreed to come and Myolie desperately needed to speak to him.  "Can we talk?"Barely giving her a glance, Raymond said brightly, "Let's have some drinks first.  That's why we're here."Kenneth instantly turned in his seat to summon a waiter over and saw Natalie walking into the pub.  Standing up he said to Raymond and Myolie, "Excuse me.  My friend is here."Raymond watched as Kenneth walked over to a young woman standing by the door.  She was pretty and judging by the way Kenneth was hovering over her, Kenneth seems to think that way as well.  He continued watching as the woman introduced Kenneth to her friend, a good looking guy, Raymond thought and vaguely familiar too.  Shortly after, the woman's attention turned towards the entrance and Raymond muttered an oath.  It was Charmaine and to his utter horror, she was following behind Kenneth to his table.