The Billionaire's Revenge

Chapter 7

The Pethroa de liuo looked every bit as stunning as she had imagined it to be, Pearl decided. She had never been to the five star restaurant before, but she had heard and read about it. She had also seen pictures online but now she was here in the flesh, breathing in the verdant fragrance of it while the car moved onward and thinking of sweet smelling roses.

To either side of the road the beechwood trees soared overhead on smooth, massive, silvery trunks, like mighty marble columns. Their branches fanned out far overhead like an intricately fretted ceiling. The entryway alone inspired awe and elegance.

As the car approached the front entrance, they could see lanterns-hundreds of them in every color of the rainbow-strung among the branches of the trees.

Suddenly the whole scenery had a different type of enchantment–a man-made one, more human, more intimate, more romantic. It was just as appealing in its own way as the natural beauty Pearl had just been lost in.

"Isn't it simply magical?", she asked the driver whom Derek had sent over to her apartment to pick her up.

"Yes Ma'am, it really is, and everytime I'm opportuned to drive someone here I get enchanted in its magic all over again." He replied.

Pearl smiled at him as the car came to a stop at the entrance. "Thank you very much for the lovely ride here." She said as a valet opened the door for her to alight. She was now being led into the restaurant by a waitress who looked exquisite in black and red.

Small tables had been arranged inside, each laid with a crisp white cloth and set formally with fine china and crystal and silver. Each had a small colored lamp glowing at its center. She could hear music. It was being provided by a small orchestra seated on a wooden dais farther back from the tables.

Whoever had planned this for him, Pearl thought, had obviously done an expert job. Mr. Edensor had gone as far as to reserve the entire restaurant for the evening and the scene left her quite speechless.

As the waitress led her into the building, Pearl could see that Mr. Edensor was rising from his seat. He was looking very splendid clad all in pale gray and black. He was dressed formally in a dark shirt and trousers with a coat over it, she could see. He was smiling that rather lazy smile of his and looking really handsome.

He helped her into a seat and took the seat opposite her. His eyes were on her, Pearl noticed, as she felt rather short of breath. "Well how are you doing Pearl?" He said.

"I have had quite a long day today, but it has been amazing so far," she said with a glint of humour in her eyes as she remembered watching him teach children to paint. "What about you, what was your day like?" She asked.

He didn't reply immediately, he was still staring at her laughing eyes until her cheeks became flushed as it almost felt like he could read her thoughts.

"Well it has been quite a day for me, as I had several places to go to and quite a lot of tasks to handle." He said just as their meal came and was being served.

And there it was again, Pearl thought, the rather vague descriptions he gave which made him more mysterious than ever. They were served with a cold supper of fine and sumptuous foods while listening to the orchestra play and a tenor sing.

"How do you like the setting?, the lanterns for instance, I fear that they might spoil the effect of the natural environment." Derek said

"Lanterns like these, strung just so, enhance the beauty of nature for such an occasion," she said. "They do not spoil it."

"I would have been devastated," he told her, "had you said otherwise."

She laughed outright.

How could one take such blatant, theatrical flirtation seriously? She was not meant to, she guessed. She also guessed that Derek Edensor was somewhat cleverer than she had expected. He had realized, of course, that she would know what he was up to and so was making no attempt to hide his motives. He was deliberately making her laugh and enjoy herself instead.

Well, she was enjoying herself too and this was better than boredom. She decided.

A little time passed after the singer finished her rendition of Adele's "set fire to the rain", which they both applauded. Now while the singer got prepared for another song, Derek looked at Pearl and asked

"What about these tables and chairs, would you have preferred blankets instead?" He asked with some mischief in his eyes

Pearl gazed at him quite suspiciously and she noticed that he was flirting again. "No Mr. Edensor, tables and chairs are more comfortable than blankets," she said. "And they looked very picturesque when I arrived, formally set as they were."

"I would have been crushed," he said, laying his free hand over his heart, "if you had spoken in favor of blankets."

Despite herself she smiled and all the while Pearl noticed that he had hardly taken his eyes off her since she arrived.

“You have a disconcerting way of looking at me so directly that I feel as though you could see right through into my soul, Mr. Edensor,”

she said. “I suppose it is the artist in you, but I would be obliged to you if you would stop.”

Derek regarded her with lazy eyes for a moment and said

"Artist? What in the world would make you think of me as a man having an artistic tendencies, please do say" He said smirking at her as his eyes now seemed to come alive afresh with her statement.

Was he trying to lie to her, Pearl thought, or did he truly not know about her visit to the foundation school today. She had been a little confused about Derek Edensor When she had gotten home from the school earlier, and she had spent over an hour on the internet trying to find out all she could about him but she had come up with almost nothing. All the information she could find were not as personal as she had wanted. But what exactly had she hope to find though?

The man was more of a mystery than William Shakespeare. Pearl had concluded on her way to the dinner that evening.

Everything she wanted to know about him, she was going to have to ask, and that did not quite sit well with her. She had found out that she was quite interested in knowing more about him.

He stared plainly at her now, the smile that usually lurked in his eyes was gone Pearl noticed. His posture had also stiffened a bit as she could see, though he was trying to conceal it. She was going to have to decide whether to tell him about her visit to the school or not. But how was she going to get any information from him if she didn't, she thought.

No, she would not. She would not fall for his games. She would sit through this dinner and that is that, she would not see him again neither would she accept any of his perfect little gifts again. She would even delete his number whatever effect that has. She would not let him in her heart, he did not know anything about her inner self, and he never would know.

She would see to that. It was time she put an end to this her infatuation of getting to know him.

Pearl felt as resentful toward Mr. Edensor as if he had been the exact same man who had lied to her, played her and broken her heart just to rid her of her virginity.

.

Derek was the one that broke the silence. “You had better come and have pasta with me,” he said abruptly, surprising himself. “Have you ever been to Cho's? You have not lived until you have tasted one of the delicacies named after him. They are famous.”

Pearl was surprised by the sudden offer, they had not even spent so much time in the Pethroa de liuo and she was rather quite tired from the day's work that she would have loved to stay seated where she was, but she surprised herself when she said "yes, I've heard about him and I've always wanted to go but I never had the time to. I would absolutely love to go there."

.

Cho's was located on the North Dover Passage, quite close to the Pethroa de liuo. It was a tall, narrow building with a bow windows jutting onto the street. Inside, it was tiny. Pearl became quite exhilarated with the view, she took in the warm environment as Derek took her hand and led her through the crowded room.

She couldn't quite describe how she felt but it felt more like relief. There was also that feeling of community and togetherness, it all seemed to her as the best place to unwind and relax after a long day of stress.

Derek, she noticed, was now taking shorter strides to accommodate her pace and was at the moment being signalled to a free table by a waitress who looked vibrant and pretty with her blonde curls. He must have brought a lot of women here, Pearl thought disdainfully. But there was something on the inside of her that didn't quite agree with the state of mind.

When had she become so presumptuous, she thought. It was so unlike her to judge people right off the bat but she seemed to have a rather shocking dislike for Mr. Edensor. But if that was the case, why had she agreed to have dinner with him? She had told Cian that it was just a means for her to stop his further advances on her, but deep down she knew there was more to it.

The tables were crowded together, cheek by jowl, and all of them seemed to be occupied, as was very often the case. Derek did not come often—until fairly recently when a friend had invited him to indulge in a little extravagance—but he was recognized by a waitress, who smiled warmly at him and indicated a vacant table in the far corner for them to sit.