Take My Breath Away

Although Carlos had heard Debbie's words clearly, he didn't respond, choosing to look out the car window instead.

"You are not calling your lawyer? Fine! I'll call Emmett and ask him to call your lawyer!" Debbie said as she called out the address book on the vehicle navigation screen.

"Without my consent, he won't call the lawyer." The man finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Then call him!" she demanded.

"Focus on driving. I'm a man of my word. I won't rescind my decision."

As the light changed, Debbie had to restart the engine. While focusing on the road, she asked, "What do you prefer to eat?" After all, he was the boss.

"Eat whatever you want," he said indifferently.

Undecided on where to go, Debbie ran a few names of familiar places through her mind. At last, a restaurant popped up.

She drove to the destination and pulled over.

When they got out of the car, Carlos' face soured at the sight of the restaurant.

Debbie gave him a big grin, and pointing to the restaurant said, "I suddenly want to eat durian pizza. That's why I drove here. I know the restaurant might be a little too cheap for your fancy, but it's much better than street food, right? Come on. Just give it a try."

It was a national chain restaurant and the food was pretty good. The chain operated stores in most of the leading shopping malls. To Debbie, it was a nice restaurant. To Carlos, however, it was one of those low-end places he associated with needless penny-pinching.

After a moment's thought, he acceded, albeit begrudgingly, and walked towards the entrance of the restaurant.

Debbie immediately followed after him.

It was 8 p.m., but the place was still bustling with customers. Debbie and Carlos sat at a table near the window. Among the patrons, a few heads turned to greet the arrival of the beautiful couple.

A waitress came to them, and when she noticed Carlos, her eyes widened. Debbie shook her head with resignation and looked at the menu. "A large-sized durian pizza, a durian multi-layer cake, paella and Spanish mackerel dumplings. I'm done. What would you like to eat?"

She put the menu in front of Carlos, but he didn't give it even the mere dignity of a cursory glance. "I already ate," he said, the disinterest in his voice showing.

"What?" asked a bemused Debbie. Why did he have to come along if he thought it was low-grade? Whatever the case, he could as well walk out, because she was not holding a gun to his head.

'Is it possible that he just wanted to accompany me?' Her heart raced at the very thought.

But she had to calm down, because she needed to talk to Carlos about the ownership of that club. So a

t for words.

Every time she finished a piece of pizza, Carlos would add another slice to her plate.

Apparently, she must have been very hungry. She went through the food faster than a hot knife through butter.

It was only when she realized she had wiped all the plates clean that she felt embarrassed. "Did I eat too much?" she murmured. Wasn't that too much food for someone to finish in one sitting?

She felt even more embarrassed. Anyway, she chose to focus on Carlos. That guilty trip she was starting on was not necessary for now.

"Uh-huh." She hesitated, trying to find the right reaction to Carlos' admission.

Why had he changed his mind to bite on her pizza, which he thought was too cheap for his sophisticated tastes?

Again her mind went back to how much she had eaten, while he watched. 'It's up to him, if he wants to compare me to his many girls who only nibble at food, ' she dismissively thought.

None of that was important to Carlos, though. Like a gentleman, he picked up a serviette and wiped the rice at the corner of her mouth. "A good appetite is a blessing," he commented.

To see if he was kidding, Debbie studied him up and down. However, from the look on his face, she realized he must have been as serious as her life.

"Oh, that's so kind of you," she said, giggling like a teenage girl in love.

On second thought, however, she told herself not to get carried away.

There was nothing special about Carlos' words. Her father had always said the same. All the same, she began to feel at ease in his presence again.

When they walked out of the restaurant, it was about 10 o'clock in the evening. Carlos went to a nearby convenience store, bought two bottles of water and handed her one. "Rinse your mouth," he suggested.