Chapter 213
Chapter 213 We Can Come Here Anytime You Like
Molly asked Ashlyn with a shocked expression on her face. Unexpectedly, Ashlyn immediately took out a wade of cash from her bag and stuffed it into Molly's hand. "I left something behind just now, so I came back here to retrieve it, but I hope you won't tell anyone about seeing me here this time."
Molly looked at the cash in her hand that was worth two months of her salary. She had a rather odd feeling as she mused, Why did she give me so much money all of a sudden?
However, Ashlyn thought that Molly was thinking that it was too little, so the former took out another wade of cash. "Take it and you keep your mouth shut."
To Molly, Ashlyn was being too generous.
This is a lot of money! Would it be a bad thing to take this?
But I have to pay my rent soon, and I'm running low on money. Hence, Molly looked around and quickly took the money.
"Don't worry, Miss Lawson. I won't say a word."
Satisfied with the outcome, Ashlyn immediately left.
When Elise returned to the design studio again, she felt that something was off, as if someone had touched her design. "Molly, did anyone come here after I left?"
Though Molly was slightly surprised, she did not reveal it. "I came here alone in the afternoon. No one is around at that moment."
Maybe I'm too sensitive, Elise thought, brushing away her concern.
"Alright. You can carry on with your work now."
As Molly walked off, Elise took up a pencil and continued to work, drawing one line after another on the drawing paper. She was so engrossed with her work that she completely forgot about the time. It was only when evening had fallen that Alexander pushed the door open. Looking at her figure, he knocked on the door politely.
Meanwhile, Elise did not even lift her head. Thinking that it was Molly, she murmured, "Molly, I'm a little thirsty. Please get me a glass of water."
Upon hearing that, Alexander turned around and went to the pantry to pour her a glass of warm water. Walking over to her, he placed the glass in front of her and said, "Here you go."
As soon as Elise heard his voice, she immediately stopped all her movements and lifted her head. It was only at this point that she noticed his presence, so she was rather surprised. "W-Why are you here?"
"Look at the time," he countered.
All this while, Elise did not notice the passing of time at all. Hence, she quickly took out her phone to look at the time-it turned out that it was already 8 PM.
No wonder I'm so hungry now!
"I was drawing just now, so I didn't notice the time," she explained.
Looking at the designs in front of her, Alexander put all of them away without a word.
"No matter how busy you get, don't forget to eat; otherwise, your stomach won't be able to take it."
Elise was slightly flustered when she heard that, but she immediately stood up. "Let's have dinner, then." Alexander, on the other hand, gave her a doting smile as he caressed her head. "What would you like?" And so, Elise thought about it before saying, "Hotpot! It's been a while."
"It's quite spicy, though. Are you sure you want to have that?"
She quickly nodded. "Yes! Let's go."
With that, she put her designs safely away and took them back with her. Truth was, Alexander would usually grant all her requests; since Elise said she wanted to have hotpot, he then brought her to a famous hotpot restaurant.
The restaurant's business was booming, which was why there was already a long queue in front of the entrance. However, as soon as Alexander and Elise arrived, the owner of the restaurant welcomed them himself. "President Griffith, you are finally here today! I've already reserved the private room upstairs for you."
Upon hearing that, Alexander nodded and told Elise, "Let's have some hotpot."
She was over the moon to hear that and quickly opened the door to get out of the car. After following the restaurant owner to the private room on the second floor, she immediately ordered all her favorite dishes from the menu. "I'd like to have some beef, prawns, ham—”
She went on and on, and it was obvious that she really loved hotpot.
"What would you like?" Elise asked. However, Alexander drank a sip of water to hide his nerves. He didn't like spicy food and he seldom had hotpot. However, seeing how happy she was, he replied, "I'm sure your taste is quite good. I'll just eat whatever you ordered."
"Alright! Let's have these for the time being." With that, she passed the menu back to the waiter. In no time, all the food that she just ordered arrived one after another.
It had been a while since Elise had hotpot, so she immediately put the ingredients into the soup herself. After making sure that the beef was cooked, she put it in Alexander's bowl and urged, "Try this-it's very nice."
After looking at the beef in his bowl, he immediately picked it up and placed it in his mouth without any hesitation. As soon as the meat entered his mouth, he felt spiciness flood through his entire mouth, so he quickly swallowed without chewing. Apart from that, he also did not forget to say, "It's not bad. The taste is quite good."
However, Elise asked, "Is it crispy? This part of the meat has to be crispy to be nice."
Alexander froze for a moment before he hummed in agreement. However, he subconsciously took the glass next to him and gulped down a huge sip of water.
"You can go ahead. I'll help myself."
And so, Elise took another piece of beef excitedly and placed it in her own mouth. She then revealed a look of pure enjoyment as she commented, "It's delicious! It's been so long since I had a taste of this!" Elise was someone who loved spicy food, especially spicy hotpot. Since it had been a while since she tasted something authentic like this, she enjoyed it a lot. Meanwhile, Alexander merely looked at her with a smile on his face.
Feeling his gaze on her, Elise asked, "Aren't you eating?"
However, Alexander replied, "You go ahead."
Elise thought that it was rather odd. After seeing him drink a few glasses of water, she could not help but ask, "Is it possible that you can't eat spicy food?" Meanwhile, she could see a hint of awkwardness flash across Alexander's eyes.
Sure enough, she got it right.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier that you can't have spicy food? I'll ask the waiter to change the pot so there's a mix of spicy and non-spicy soup base."
"It's fine," Alexander said. "I can eat spicy food, just not to this extent."
Seeing that he had not been eating much while she had been enjoying herself all this while, she said hastily, "Uh... Let's change the pot."
With that, she asked for the waiter to change the pot so that there were two different types of soup bases.
"Do you know what is the biggest compromise for hotpot lovers like me?"
Alexander did not know the answer, so she continued, "This-the mixed soup base."
Looking at the pot in front of them, he asked, "But are you used to this?"
Upon hearing that, Elise gestured airily. "Oh-this is nothing. It doesn't affect things. However, you should stop sitting there without moving your cutlery. Let's tuck in now."
After both of them finished the hotpot, Elise felt extremely content that her stomach was now filled.
"Let's come here again next time."
Seeing how happy she was throughout the meal, Alexander could not help but flash a smile at her. Even though he did not really like hotpot, he agreed after seeing how much she liked it. "We can come here anytime you like."