Chapter 16 (1/1)

Raymond woke up to the hard pounding of rain slashing across his windows.  It had been raining for four consecutive days, delaying their filming.  Everyone's mood was foul due to the unpredicted delay and Raymond was one of them.  He never liked venturing out in wet, soggy weather and hence he remained in the flat with Charmaine, who spent most of her time in her room.  When she deigns to come out she would only speak to him when it was absolutely necessary and with short, curt words.Swinging his legs off the bed Raymond pulled on a robe and left his room.  He heard noise coming from the kitchen and with his stomach growling went in.  Seeing Charmaine in front of the stove and the aroma of bacon and eggs filling the air he asked snidely, "So you finally decided to cook some real food?"Keeping her back to him, Charmaine retorted, "And what do you think you've been eating for the past couple of days?"Raymond made a snickering sound and said, "Definitely not real food."  That first night when he had specifically requested steak, Charmaine had instead made instant noodles with the noodles being too hard and dry and the soup barely enough to cover the noodles.  The next day was even worse with hard buttered rolls for breakfast, hot dogs for lunch and again instant noodles for dinner.  When questioned about it, Charmaine simply responded that he could do the cooking.  Left with no choice since he never went near a stove or even know how to turn one on, Raymond ate whatever she put out.  Now with his stomach growling, he eyed the scrumptious platters of eggs and bacon hungrily, "This is more like it."Charmaine handed him a plate and said, "I only made it because I felt like having it."Taking the plate from her, Raymond sat down at the dining table and began eating with gusto.  In between bites he said, "This is good.  I guess it should be compared to the junk you've been serving."Charmaine stopped eating to give him a glare, "Why does everything that comes out of your mouth an insult?  Haven't you heard of the phrase, if you have nothing good to say then don't say anything at all."Meeting her glare, Raymond smiled cockily at her and said in a low voice, "Actually I never heard of that phrase.  But I have heard of one that I believe and stick to.  That is, if you can dish it out then you can certainly bear it out."Infuriated by his little dig, Charmaine looked away angrily while she finished with her breakfast.  She will not get into another argument with him, she told herself.  Raymond Lam was a rude, egotistical bastard and she should not waste any more of her breath indulging in these senseless verbal fights with him.  She was a mature, smart woman and shouldn't resort to that type of behavior no matter how much he provokes her to.Raymond also continued with his eating but kept his eyes steady on her as well.  He knew she was irritated with him and he can't help but smile inwardly with satisfaction.  Never had he met a woman who could disrupt his life the way Charmaine Sheh did.  Just the sight of her agitated him and the only way he could vent his agitation with her is by lashing out at her with insults.  It was very childish of him to do so and he knew it.  But for some unknown reason she seems to bring out the bad side in him.Charmaine felt his eyes on her and was flustered by the intense way he was watching her.  More so the little smug smile playing on his hateful face that for the hundredth time since she met him, wished she could smack off.  What did he hope to achieve by getting on her nerves over and over again.  Was it to prove in some sick way that he was superior because he was a famous celebrity?  Or perhaps he was some sort of chauvinistic pig who enjoys belittling women.  Whatever the reason it was Charmaine didn't care as long as he was civil to her, which he can't seem to be.  And now with him watching her as if she was under some sort of microscopic lens made her extremely uneasy and she snapped, "Would you like to have a picture of me so that you can stare at it all day long?"Finished with his breakfast, Raymond idly wiped his mouth with a napkin.  "What makes you think I would even want to look at you?"Looking at him with her own smug smile, Charmaine responded sweetly, "Because you've been staring at me for the past fifteen minutes.  Wouldn't you rather stare at a picture that can't talk back?"Finding himself amused by her snappy comeback, Raymond continued to study her with heighten interest.  In a soft drawl he countered, "Are you now offering me a picture of yourself?  I know a lot of women who are open and forward when it comes to wanting me but none of them have yet to force their pictures on me."The insinuation of his words angered Charmaine.  Standing up abruptly she pointed a finger at herself and spat with contempt, "You think that I… that I want you?"Raymond chuckled and seeing the sudden flush on her face and mistaking it for guilty embarrassment, he taunted, "Don't you?  That would explain why you act the way you do.  It's a cover for your real feelings isn't it?"Astounded by Raymond's theory of her so-called attitude towards him, Charmaine was at a loss of words.  After a pause where he continued to look at her with that gloating smile as if he had just unraveled some deep inner secret of hers, she said firmly, "Not only are you a first class bastard, you're also delusional.  If you think that I want you or have some secret crush on you, boy are you wrong.  That couldn't be further from the truth."  When seeing Raymond's smug smile vanished and replaced with his usual scowl, Charmaine added scornfully, "The truth is I hate you and I can't wait for Jazz to return so that I won't ever have to see you again.  And you know what else?  All your fans are fools for idolizing you.  But I'm sure once they know the real you they'll be looking for someone else to idolize than waste any more of their precious time on a selfish bastard like yourself!"Raymond had never known such fury as he did now.  Her views of him didn't sit well with him but what bothered him the most was her obvious dislike of him.  Shoving his plate aside he stalked around the table towards Charmaine until he stood directly in front of her.  In a low threatening voice, he growled, "I dare you to repeat what you just said one more time."Charmaine could feel the anger emanating off every part of his body but it was the cold fire blazing in his eyes that gave into alarm.  Taking an involuntary step back she knew she had gone too far with her words.  She hadn't meant to say all those ugly words aloud but Raymond always seems to push all the right buttons to infuriate her.  It was too late to back down now.  Besides, Charmaine had been honest with how she felt and she wasn't going to let him intimidate her for being honest.  Meeting his glare, she summoned the courage to say, "I said you're a first class bastard and also delusional for suggesting that I'm carrying some secret crush for you.  The truth is I…" her words trailed off when she found herself in Raymond's arm and unable to break free from it.  "What do you think you're doing?" she hissed.One second Raymond was listening with fury as Charmaine was repeating every awful word she had said and the next second he pulled her roughly into his arms, making her a prisoner in his embrace while he lowered his head until his mouth was hovering dangerously close to hers.  With a devilish gleam in his eyes, he said softly, tauntingly, "I think the only way to change how you feel about me is this."  Raymond then proceeded to kiss her.----------------------------------------Kevin knocked on Natalie's office door and when she looked up he smiled in greeting, "I came to say goodbye."Frowning at the comment, Natalie asked with disappointment, "You're leaving so soon?  You just joined our company."Kevin chuckled at the direction of her thought and walked into her office with the small duffel bag he had packed earlier in the morning.  Dropping himself down on a guest chair he said, "I'm not resigning, so rest assure."Flicking a glance at the bag he dropped on the floor beside the chair, Natalie asked, "Where are you going?"Smiling happily, Kevin replied, "To Shanghai."His answer caused an eruption of giggles from Natalie.  "Does Charmaine know you're going to visit her?""Nope," Kevin answered.  With a spark in his eyes he said softly, "I want to surprise her.""Do you even know where she's staying?"Taking out a piece of paper from his jacket Kevin waved it in front of her, "As a matter of fact I do.  She gave me the address when she first arrived and I told her I would be visiting over a weekend."Looking at him skeptically, Natalie said, "I don't know about this.  Charmaine doesn't like surprises."Grinning confidently, Kevin said, "She'll like this one.  I've already made reservations at a five star restaurant over there and have the entire evening planned out.  She'll definitely like this surprise."