Angela looked in the direction the waiter was pointing and saw two men standing in front of the French window. The younger one among them, who was at graceful-looking man, raised his glass at her as though he admired her very much.
Angela gave the man a nod out of courtesy, but she put the glass of red wine. aside without drinking from it. When she stood up, the man stood up as well.
While she was walking toward the private room, the man came to her side, saying, “Miss, you played the piano very well. I wonder if I have the honor of getting to know you. Let’s be friends.” The man looked at her fervently as if he was desperate to get to know her.
Not wanting to draw the attention of anyone, Angela replied thankfully, “Thanks for the compliment.” With that, she decided to leave.
However, the man really wanted to get to know her, so he stretched out his hand. and stopped her. “Miss, I really wish to get to know you. I’m not some bad guy; I just want to be friends with you.”
Angela was stunned. Facing such a passionate man, she found herself caught in an awkward situation. Suddenly, an icy male voice sounded behind her, saying, “She already has a boyfriend.”
Angela was startled and dismayed by the voice she heard and turned around to find Richard standing behind her. It was as if she were dreaming, seeing him in person. “You…” Her throat dried up, her heart raced, and her chest ached.
Before she could respond, the man grabbed her shoulders and led her to a corridor. At that time, a waiter wheeled a cleaning cart around the table to clean it up after several customers had left the room. Then, Richard told the waiter, “Clean this up later,” as he opened the door and ushered Angela inside. The waiter realized what was going on and only stood near the entrance.
Slightly out of breath, she asked, “Why are you here?”
He answered, “I’m having dinner with a friend here.”
Angela’s eyes were slightly red and close to tears. She thought Richard and his group had left and had no idea he was
still in Averna. When she suddenly thought of her family, who were in another room, she asked with her lips. pursed, “My grandpa, aunt, uncle, and Annie are all here for dinner. Do you want to come over and. say hello?”
He didn’t say anything but stared at her with an intense gaze. As he looked at her, he observed the tears that started to swim in her eyes. “I’m not going over,” he said helplessly.
His response caused her to look away in embarrassment, and she wiped away the tears that had already formed in her eyes. “Why won’t you go?” she asked again.
Richard reached out and grabbed her chin, turning her face to look at him even though she was resisting. “Do your tears indicate that you haven’t completely forgotten about me?”
Looking at his expression, she panicked and pushed his hand away from her chin. “Stop it.”
“In the future, if a man approaches you, you should express your rejection clearly and protect yourself better,” he reminded her.
In response to his words, Angela felt a spark of anger rise and said bluntly, “You don’t have to tell me that. I can protect myself.” Soon after, she remembered Annie’s countless text messages to him. Hence, she raised her head and asked, “Why didn’t you reply to Annie’s text messages? Do you know how hurtful it is?”
“I’m not going to waste my time on women I’m not interested in,” Richard stated coldly. His eyes softened when he looked at her as if trying to convince her that she was the only woman worth his time. No one else but Angela Meyers.
