Chapter 10 (1/1)

Charmaine walked beside Natalie as they followed Kenneth to his table.  Nudging Natalie in the arm, she whispered, "Wow, how did you meet him?  He's much more handsome in person than on television!""I know!" Natalie whispered back with unconcealed excitement.  She had been feeling like everything was a dream since she had the fortune of meeting Kenneth last night.  More so when he actually called and invited her out for drinks.  "I'll tell you how I met him later tonight.  For the time being, let's enjoy ourselves."Squeezing Natalie's arm, Charmaine said, "You better!"  They arrived at the table and that was when Charmaine noticed Raymond for the first time.  Their eyes collided and Charmaine saw the unsuppressed displeasure on his face.  Why did he always have that scowl on his face whenever he looked at her?  She knew he wasn't exactly fond of her but she was off duty now and there's no reason for him to look at her as if her presence had just ruin his evening.  Not wanting him to affect her mood, Charmaine quickly looked away and kept her face blank and casual as she pretended to take in her surroundings.With his hand holding gently onto Natalie's elbow, Kenneth propelled her forward until she was standing directly in front of the table facing Raymond and Myolie.  "I want you to meet my new friend Natalie."Natalie was too shock to react to Kenneth's introduction.  She can't believe Raymond Lam was sitting right in front of her eyes and that she was being introduced to him.  Her excitement must have shown on her face for Raymond stood up with a knowing smile and held his hand out to her.  "Nice to meet you," Raymond said in a soft, gentlemanly voice.  "Any friend of Kenneth's is a friend of mines."Standing off to Natalie's left, Charmaine wrinkled her nose and made a soft gagging noise.  So he can actually be nice when it suited him, she fumed and wondered why Raymond Lam couldn't even offer a little of that common courtesy he had just shown Natalie to herself.  It would make their working together so much easier and happier, unlike their current hostile relationship."Did you say something?" Kevin asked, startling Charmaine.Charmaine turned her attention to Kevin.  She had noticed him standing by the door when she first walked in but thought he was waiting for someone.  To find him standing behind her and had overheard her mumbling, she felt a little embarrassed.  "I'm sorry, I was just talking to myself.  A bad habit of mine's."  Narrowing her eyes at him warily she inquired, "Do I know you?"Kevin smiled in greeting and stretched his hand out to her.  "Hi, I’m Kevin Cheng.  I'm a new co-worker of Natalie's.  You must be Charmaine."Taking his warm hand, Charmaine shook it gently and asked, "How did you know my name?""Because I told him," Natalie answered and linked her arm with Charmaine's.  "Kevin asked whether I know of any smart, beautiful single females and I immediately thought of you.  Hope you don't mind."Charmaine felt her face flame up and knew that Natalie was playing matchmaker again.  Keeping her smile warm and friendly at Kevin, she leaned towards Natalie and hissed into her ear, "How many times have I told you not to do this.  You could have at least given me a warning."Keeping her own smile in place, Natalie whispered back, "Then what's the fun and surprise of that?"Before Charmaine had a chance to make a snappy response to Natalie's comment, Kevin spoke, "I'm sorry but I guess I should be going.""What?  You just got here."  Natalie aimed a glare at Charmaine as if she was at fault for causing him to leave before grabbing Kevin's arm and pulling him forward to the table.  "Kenneth, this is my co-worker Kevin Cheng.  Kevin, this is Kenneth."The two men exchange handshakes and soon thereafter Kenneth made the introduction to Raymond and Myolie, which left Charmaine as the only one who has not yet been formally introduced.  Not knowing that she already knew Raymond, Natalie quickly introduced her to Kenneth and then to Raymond and Myolie.With the introductions over with, the newcomers sat down at the table.  Natalie sat on Kenneth's left with Kevin on her other side.  That left only one seat available for Charmaine, the seat next to Raymond's.  Keeping her expression casual, Charmaine sat down on the edge of the chair, as far away from Raymond as possible.  She heard Raymond snicker but pay no heed to it.  She didn't care if he thought she was acting petty or childish.  At least this tells him she's every bit as displeased and unhappy with the situation as he is."Are you alright?" Kevin asked with interest when he saw her fidgeting in her seat.Charmaine stilled and looked at him with a sheepish smile, "Yes, why do you ask?""Because you look as if you're about to fall off the chair," Kevin pointed out and Charmaine realized that she truly was.  In her haste to distance herself from Raymond, she wasn't aware that she was literally perched on the edge of her seat with half of her body hanging off the chair."Charmaine, is it because you're too overwhelmed with sitting next to Raymond Lam?" Natalie teased.Hearing Natalie's comment, Raymond flicked a quick glance at Charmaine before focusing his attention on Natalie, "Why do you say that?  Is your friend a fan of mine's?""You bet!" Natalie blurted.  Ignoring the thunderous look from Charmaine, she went on excitedly, "Charmaine absolutely adores you.  I bet she's your biggest fan.  She has your posters pinned up on all her walls, although she recently took them down.  I don't know why but perhaps she bought new pictures.  She has all your CDs and she bought every DVD that you ever starred in.  So if she isn't your biggest fan then I don't know who is.""Natalie!" Charmaine scoffed with humiliation at being put on the spot like that.  She suddenly felt Raymond turned his gaze on her and shrank back further away from him.Smiling devishly at her, Raymond leaned over her and asked in a low silky purr, "Is that so?  I didn't know you were a fan of mine's.  You should have told me, I would have made things easier on you."Knowing that all eyes were watching them with open interest for they weren't able to hear their conversation, Charmaine managed to force herself to look at Raymond and said quietly, sarcastically, so only he could hear, "That was before I got to know the real you.  Since then I've matured."Raymond's face darkened when he heard the meaning of her words.  He gave her a hot piercing glare before turning abruptly from her altogether.  However, the interests of those around them were not to be easily forgotten.  "Do you guys know each other already?" Natalie asked curiously, her gaze going between Raymond's brooding façade and Charmaine's defiant one.Raymond collected himself and took the imitative to answer.  With a careless shrug he announced, "She's filling in for my usual assistant Jazz while he's caring for his sick mother."Ahhs echoed around the table as everyone took in this new piece of information.  However, one person was greatly affected by it.  It was Myolie.  Going rigid in her chair, she turned her eyes on Charmaine but her words were directed at Raymond, "I didn't know Jazz was on leave.  Why didn't you tell me?"Not bothering to look at her, Raymond said indifferently, "Because it's not a big deal and it's not something I would go around telling people just for the sake of it.""Still," Myolie whined and shifted herself closer to Raymond.  "I could have helped in finding you a more 'suitable' assistant than just anyone off the streets."Charmaine heard the remark and its insulting insinuation.  She whipped her gaze to Myolie and saw the animosity in the other woman's face.  She had no idea what could have brought that on since she didn't even know her.  Keeping her tone light and controlled, Charmaine said flippantly, "If you can find a more 'suitable' assistant for him then I'm sure Mr. Lam would welcome it."Grasping on that, Myolie clutched Raymond's arm and said eagerly, "I'll find some one to replace her first thing in the morning.""No," Raymond said.  "She's already familiar with my routines and Jazz won't be gone for that long.  I don't want the hassle of starting with some one new all over again."Charmaine was surprise by his response.  She had expected Raymond to jump at the chance of having her replaced and in fact, she was even looking forward to it.  "If Myolie here could find a more suitable replacement, then I think…" Charmaine trailed off when Raymond turned to give her an icy glare."I said no," Raymond repeated, and the tone of his voice told Charmaine that his mind was made up.There was a brief silence around the table as everyone tried to make out what exactly happened just now and why did the evening suddenly turned sour when they were all out for some fun.Chuckling awkwardly, Kenneth said, "Are we ready to order our drinks?"  Everyone nodded and he quickly summoned a waiter.Kevin who had watched the exchange between Charmaine and Raymond have nothing but admiration for Charmaine.  He could tell that Raymond Lam was one of those snobby celebrities that was a pain to work for and yet Charmaine handled herself quite well.  She remained calm and poised even when that other celebrity Myolie took a jab at her.  She was indeed very special, just as Natalie said she was.As if sensing his stare, Charmaine slowly turned her gaze to Kevin.  He smiled when their eyes met and seeing that charming smile of his prompted Charmaine to tease, "Is Natalie's description of me on the mark?"Holding her gaze, Kevin nodded his head.  "She told me that you were smart and beautiful, that I can see already.  But I would like to find out more about you, if you'll let me."Captivated by Kevin's sweet words, Charmaine leaned forward and asked demurely, "What would you like to know?"Raymond watched with ire as Charmaine and Kevin chatted happily away.