Reunion
"Did I hear that you run your own shop, Ms. Elowen?"
In the bright, spacious restaurant, the blind date sat in a sharp suit, an unconscious hint of arrogance in his tone.
"Yes," Lira Elowen took a sip of warm water and smiled.
"So it's not a 'real job' then?" he asked.
"Is running a flower shop not a job?" Lira kept her eyes on cutting her steak, asking calmly in return.
"Ms. Elowen, don't misunderstand me," he paused deliberately.
"I certainly don't look down on you."
"It's just that running a shop must keep you so busy."
"No holidays, I suppose."
"If we get married in the future, who's gonna watch the kids and handle the housework?"
"As you know, my annual income is well into six figures."
"I simply don't have time to deal with such trivial matters..."
Lira sliced off a piece of steak and interrupted him.
"Sir, I never planned on marrying you."
"Ms. Elowen," he gave her a look that clearly said "Don't pretend."
"I don't believe you can find a better partner than me."
"And besides-" He glanced subtly at Lira's ear, where a small red hearing aid rested, and put on a magnanimous air.
"I can even reluctantly tolerate your little 'disability'."
"But I can't," Lira finished her last bite of steak, pulled out her phone, and set an alarm.
"I can't stand someone with a one-track mind."
"You-" The man frowned.
"You are so rude."
If she weren't so good-looking, he would've walked out ages ago.
Lira thought the man was absurdly pretentious.
She never should have trusted Eleanor's taste in men.
Just then, her alarm went off.
Lira picked up her phone and made a crude sign toward him-a gesture any native speaker would recognize as an insult, meaning "Idiot, goodbye."
The man looked confused.
"What does that mean?"
"You don't even understand that?" Lira held up her phone.
"I said, sorry, I need to take this call."
She swiped to turn off the alarm and deliberately said, "Oh, dear, we have a meeting to attend this week, right? Okay, okay, I'll pick you up at the airport."
Half a minute later, Lira slipped her phone back into her bag and started gathering her things.
"Sir, let's end this blind date here."
"I need to get back to my shop."
"I wish you luck finding someone Ivy League-educated, career-obsessed, who can tolerate your... intellectual shortcomings-man or woman."
The only good thing about today was her flawless makeup.
Of course, the blind date caught the sarcasm in his words.
A faint anger crossed his face as he finally dropped his gentlemanly facade, sneering.
"Are all people with hearing problems this touchy?"
"I think I've been very considerate of you."
"At least I haven't asked-" His tone turned almost harsh.
"-whether your hearing loss might be hereditary."
Lira nearly threw the remaining water in her glass at the arrogant man, but that would be beneath her.
She held back, grabbed her bag, and was about to leave when the blind date grabbed her wrist-his fingers digging into her skin.
He looked confused and angry.
"Aren't you going to apologize to me?"
Over my dead body.
Lira said calmly.
"My top priority right now is posting this on social media for advice."
"What?"
"Asking netizens what to do when you meet a total jerk on a blind date."
She lowered her eyes, imagining how badly she wanted to cut off the hand gripping her wrist, and said impatiently.
"Let go."
The blind date stared at her.
"Apologize."
"Aren't you the one who owes me an apology?"
She frowned, wrenching her arm hard in an attempt to break free-but the man squeezed her wrist almost roughly, making her bones ache.
Lira grabbed the glass from the table and splashed the water onto him, raising her voice slightly.
"Let go!"
Caught off guard, the man was drenched.
Enraged, he raised his other hand high-She was pinned in place, with nowhere to dodge.
Lira shut her eyes, lifted her free hand to shield herself, and turned her face to the side.
She clenched her teeth, ready to strike back the moment his slap landed.
But the slap never came.
Instead, she heard a voice-familiar yet distant, one that only occasionally appeared in her dreams.
"Take your hand off her."
Lira opened her eyes, feeling dazed for a moment.
She blinked slowly, then looked up gradually-What came into view was the man's side profile, sharper and more composed than she remembered after all these years.
He firmly restrained the blind date's descending hand, his jaw tightening faintly as he noticed the red mark on her wrist, then turned his head and asked her.
"Are you alright?"
Lira met his eyes unexpectedly.
At that moment, she even had the presence of mind to think that this was likely the first time she had ever truly met his eyes in all the years she had liked him.
So distant. So cold. And in such an awkward situation.
She lowered her eyes, shook her head, and said softly-her voice wavering a little despite her effort to stay calm.
"I'm fine."
Thorne Voss noticed the vivid red mark around the girl's wrist, which was tightly clutched by the man in front of her.
He increased his grip and said coldly.
"Let her go."
"Who the hell are you?"
The man's face turned pale with pain, yet he still protested.
"Who asked you to meddle in other people's business?"
"Let go," Thorne repeated calmly.
A sharp pain shot through the man's forearm, as if his bones were about to crack.
Only then did he reluctantly let go.
"What?"
He rubbed his arm, glancing back and forth between the two, and sneered.
"Already have a lover but still going on blind dates?"
Thorne frowned, about to refute, when the girl beside him quickly refuted in a low voice.
"No-we don't know each other."
He looked down and noticed that the girl's eyes were glistening with unshed tears, her lips pressed tightly together as if she was about to cry.
So he asked her.
"Does it hurt?"
"Yes," Lira rubbed her wrist nonstop, her voice barely above a whisper.
"It hurts a lot."
Before Thorne could say anything, a woman's voice suddenly inserted itself.
"Thorne, what's wrong? What happened?"
A woman with fire-engine red lipstick and a sleek tailored blazer walked over naturally and stood beside him, asking.
Thorne handed her the burgundy wool cape in his hand-one he'd been holding for her while they were chatting.
"It's just a small incident."
"Oh," Clara Bennett frowned, glanced at Lira's red wrist, then stared at the blind date with a bad expression.
"Did this jerk bother you, honey?"
"No," Lira rubbed her wrist, her expression having returned to normal completely.
She looked up and smiled.
"Thank you for your concern."
She then turned her head to Thorne, her bright, clear eyes sincere.
"Thank you."
After speaking, without waiting for their response, Lira picked up her bag, ignored the blind date's staring eyes, and nodded politely to the two.
"I have somewhere to be, so I'll take my leave now."
As Lira turned around and walked toward the door, she heard Thorne say two things.
One to the blind date-"Keep staring and I'll gouge your eyes out."
And another in response to the beautiful woman standing beside him-"Do you know that little beauty just now?"
"No, just someone I ran into."
