Chapter 40 (1/1)

"Over here!" Myolie called out when she saw Charmaine walking through the door.Charmaine hurried over to the table and quickly sat down in the chair across from Myolie.  "Sorry.  I was going over a case and lost track of time.""The usual excuse," Kevin remarked dryly but there was a teasing smile on his face."Leave her alone!" Myolie scolded sharply and slapped him playfully on the arm.  "It's not often that we get to have dinner together so let's enjoy it."Charmaine giggled.  Seeing how happy Kevin and Myolie were made her happy as well.  Who would have thought that the two of them would hit it off and get along so well?   Their love was to be envy for there was no denying how much they were in love with each other.  Charmaine at one time thought she found that love with Raymond.  Only as it turns out, the love was evidently one sided.  If Raymond had truly loved her as he claimed he did, then he wouldn't have found the need to kiss another woman and hurt her in the process.  Again, Raymond Lam!  Why must she always think about him and their past!  She had the whole future in front of her and she wasn't going to waste it away by bemoaning something that was lost and never hers to begin with.  Now, if only Charmaine could find real love for once.  Someone she can love with all her heart and be loved in that same way in return."Charmaine!" Wayne greeted from beside the table.Pulled back to the present, Charmaine looked up in surprise at the sudden appearance of him.  "Wayne, what are you doing here?"Wayne cast a glance at Kevin and Myolie and asked carefully, "You didn't know I would be here?""Actually, I didn't," Charmaine responded as she cast a baffled look at Kevin and Myolie.  "Did you two?"Kevin quickly spoke, "I invited Wayne.  We had such a fun time at dinner the last time I thought we should do it again.  I hope you're not mad at me for not telling you in advance that I invited Wayne to join us."Chuckling softly, Charmaine said, "Why would I be mad?"Myolie winked at Kevin, which Charmaine did not see, and said, "We didn't think you would be."Pulling Wayne to sit down beside her, Charmaine handed him a menu.  "The food here is excellent.  I especially love their strawberry shortcake.  That's why we come here a lot."Wayne mentally made a note of that information as he took the offered menu.  He felt Kevin and Myolie's eyes on him and looked towards them.  "Thanks for inviting me again."Giving Wayne a knowing look, Myolie responded, "No problem.  Any friend of Charmaine's is a friend of ours.  Right Kev?"Kevin caught the meaning and chimed in, "Yes!  The four of us should hang out more often.  In fact, I just happen to have four tickets to the Bee Gees concert next week, let's say we all go.""Bee Gees!" Myolie exclaimed a bit too excitedly.  "That's one of Charmaine's favorite groups.  We'll have dinner before the concert and then can grab some drinks afterwards.  How does that sound?"  She looked zealously at Charmaine.Charmaine noted Kevin and Myolie's odd behavior but couldn't exactly pinpoint exactly what she found odd about it, except for the fact that they were not acting like their usual calm and reserved selves.  "Uh, sure.  I love the Bee Gees.""Me too," Wayne put in eagerly."Then its set!" Myolie exclaimed loudly with a grin that seem to mark her entire face.Charmaine gave her a queer look and asked cautiously, "Are you alright?"  Leaning over the table, she whispered so that only Myolie could hear, "You're not on any drugs are you?"The question asked so innocently and yet so seriously made Myolie burst out in giggles.  "Drugs?  No way!  I don't touch that stuff."Charmaine searched Myolie's face as she tried to figure out what was going on with Kevin and Myolie.  They started acting strange the moment Wayne arrived, which they knew of but kept her in the dark about it.  Then with the comments about the four of them hanging out more often and then coincidently Kevin happens to have four tickets to one of Charmaine's favorite group's concert and suggested the four of them go.  Everything seems too convenient, as if staged.  Then it hit her!  She should have known when they invited Wayne without telling her.  They were trying to push her and Wayne together!"Why hello everyone," Raymond greeted in pleasant surprise from halfway across the room.The four of them turned towards Raymond.  Wayne was the only one who wasn't flustered by Raymond's appearance.  "Mr. Lam, how are you?" he greeted in a business tone.Raymond's eyes flicked over the occupants of the table as he finally rested his gaze on Charmaine.  "My assistant wanted to try this restaurant and good thing I listened to him otherwise I wouldn't have bumped into you guys."  His statement made have been said to the four of them but Charmaine knew it was directed at her for Raymond's eyes remained glued on her.Wayne looked behind Raymond for a sign of his assistant but didn't see anyone.  "Where is your assistant?""He's parking the car," Raymond responded casually.  He turns toward Myolie and said softly, "Long time no see.  How are you?"Myolie felt Kevin's clasp from beneath the table and bit back a snappy response.  Pasting on a friendly smile she said, "I'm well as you can see.  Leaving the entertainment circle was the best thing I ever did."Raymond detected the closeness in which Myolie and Kevin were sitting and guessed easily at their relationship.  "I'm glad you're doing well."  Turning to Kevin he extended his hand and said, "Nice to see you again."Kevin shook it but quickly pulled his hand away.  "How have you been?" he asked for the sake of conversation."I'm doing okay I guess," Raymond answered.Just then, Jazz walked in and saw Raymond.  He walked over and instantly recognized Charmaine.  "Charmaine!  Where have you been?" he asked with a mixture of happiness and annoyance.  "I've been trying to call you for months and just gave up when you weren't returning any of my calls.  What happened?  I thought we were friends!"Charmaine smiled warmly at Jazz, "I'm sorry Jazz for not staying in touch.  I needed some time alone to sort some things out."Ever the joker, Jazz asked, "It's over a guy isn't it?  Every time when a woman needs time to 'sort' things out its always because of a guy."Keeping her features composed, Charmaine shook her head slightly and teased, "That's just goes to show how little you know of the female sex."Jazz laughed at her comeback and said earnestly, "It's really good seeing you again.  I missed how we use to take little jabs at each other.""Same here," Charmaine said feeling a bit unnerved with Raymond continuing to stand there staring intensely at her.  She was sure the rest of them saw it too and that only added to her uneasiness.A waiter approached them and said softly, "Mr. Lam, your table is waiting."Raymond beamed a smile at everyone and said, "It was good seeing you all again.  I'm sure we'll run into each other again soon."  When he said the last his eyes were focused on Charmaine.----------------------------------Damien sat behind his oak desk as he contemplated on what to do next.  He can't let Ron go to jail.  Ron was his one and only son.  He may not be the best of sons but he was still his son.  It was all Damien's fault.  If only he had spent more time with Ron.  If only he had instilled more value in him when he was younger then perhaps he wouldn't be the spoil, irresponsible bastard he was today.  But it wasn't too late for him to change that.  Once he clears Ron of the rape charge, he was going to take Ron on an extended vacation where they can spend some quality time together.  He was confident that Ron isn't as bad as he may appear to be.  He just needs some guidance in the right path and Damien was sure Ron would become the model son.  That is if he can get the charges against Ron dropped.  Making up his mind he picked up the phone and dialed a series of number.  He waited for the person on the other end to answer.  "Hello, this is Damien Ng.  I need a favor from you."  There was a pause and then he said, "Her name is Yoyo Chen.  See what you can do."After Damien hung up, he felt more at ease, more confident.  He strolled out of his home office and saw their housekeeper crossing the hall.  "Ho Yee, where is my son?""Master Ron left the house ten minutes ago.  I overheard him on the phone talking about a new club."A thunderous look overtook Damien's features.  "When will he ever learn!"