Chapter 23: Lunch date
Daniel's POV:
I was about to press the intercom to call my secretary when Andrew suddenly came rushing inside my office.
"Sir, we have unexpected visitors." He said his words and breathing in labored.
"What do you mean unexpected ----" I didn't finish my question when the door opened and Mr. Norman Goivanni, our new European business partner came to our view. "Mr. Kelley." He said smiling widely at me.
"Good morning, Mr. Giovanni." I stood up immediately to meet him halfway.
"I'm sorry for the surprise visit, Mr. Kelley."
"It's okay, Sir." I smiled as I take his hand. "Let's have a seat. What do you want for drinks, Sir, wine, whiskey ----"
"Oh, no, no, Mr. Kelley. Actually, I didn't come here today for business." My eyebrows scrunched a bit. "My wife and I want to invite you and your wife for lunch today."
"Ohh.." I didn't expect that invitation. "I see, but you should have just called me or informed my Assistant, Sir, so you wouldn't have been bothered to go here."
"Well, honestly I was hoping to see your wife here with you to personally invite her. But I think you'll introduce her to us later because you won't turn down my invitation, right Mr. Kelley?"
"Of course not Sir. Actually, I will now call my wife to inform her about your invitation." I said getting my phone inside my pocket.
"That's good to hear. Anyway, I have to leave now because my wife is waiting for me inside the car. She wanted to go to the mall and buy some girly stuff before returning to Italy, you know women and their things."
I chuckled when he shrugged his shoulders as he whispered his last sentence.
"I will text you the restaurant's name later."
"Thank you, Mr. Giovanni." I said taking his hand.
I walked with him to the door and when he's finally gone I turned around just to see Andrew smirking. I furrowed my eyebrows and walked past him towards my chair.
"It seems like you're going to have a double date later, huh?" He said wiggling his eyebrows.
"It's not a date."
"Ohh.. you want me to call now your wife, Sir?"
I glanced up frowning at him.
"And why are you going to call my wife?"
"To inform her about your lunch date later with Mr. and Mrs. Giovanni." He shrugged grinning at me.
"No, I'll just call her later. By the way, why do you always want to call my wife, Andrew? We are still married so back off!"
"Whoa! Where did that come from, dude? I'm just doing my job here." He said his eyes turned wide in shock. "Ohh... you're freaking jealous, Mr. Daniel Kelley!" and he laughed at me.
"I'm not jealous! Can you go back to your work?"
"Okay, Sir, just call me if you need someone to talk about your feelings."
I just ignored him when he walked towards the door, but before he opens it he called my attention again.
"Uhm.. you know what, Sir, jealousy looks terrible on you, yet you continue to wear it."
"Fuck you, Andrew!" I threw him my pencil eraser but it just landed on the floor near his feet. He just gave me an annoying laugh before he exits the door.
Sophia's POV:
I took a deep breath the moment I exit from my car. I received a call from Daniel earlier and he said we were invited by his new European business partner for a lunch date today and they wanted to meet me personally. So I had to go home to change my clothes.
I was walking near the entrance of the restaurant, when I received another call from him.
"Where are you?"
I rolled my eyes when I heard his question. No even hi or hello, once a rude always a rude!
"I'm now at the entrance." I waited for his next words but he already ended the call. -'Forgodsake! What kind of a person he is?'- I mumbled to myself as I put my phone back inside my clutch.
The waitress standing at the entrance approached me.
"Good morning, Mam."
"Good morning, is there a reservation for Mr. Norman Giovanni?" I asked her smiling.
"Are you Mrs. Sophia Kelley, Mam?"
I blinked my eyes twice before I could answer her question.
"Y-Yes, I'm Sophia Kelley." I'm still not used to that name and I don't want to get used to it.
"Oh, they were actually waiting for you, Mrs. Kelley. Let me assist you to your table, Mam." She said with a polite smile.
"Thank you." I smiled back at her and followed her way.
My heart is literally pounding inside my chest. This is our very first time to pretend as a real couple in public, and the pressure is really eating me inside.
Daniel immediately stood up when he saw me approaching their table. And I noticed the two people sitting across his seat also turned their heads on me.
I didn't miss the look of surprise in his both eyes when I finally reached him. His lips curled up into a small smile when he took my hand and pulled me into a hug. But he didn't stop there, he cupped my cheeks and kissed me in front of them.
I was surprised by his sudden action so I was left motionless even when he's kissing me, that he had to bite my bottom lip for me to return his kiss.
He smirked as brushed my lips with his thumb when he pulled back.
"I like your dress, sweetheart. You looked hot and sexy at the same time." I gasped when he whispered them to my ear.
I am wearing a tight and sexy black dress that ended two inches above my knee.
I glared at him as I felt my face turning into a thousand shades of tomato.
"Sweetheart, I want you to meet, Mr Norman Giovanni and his wife Mrs. Amelia Giovanni. They were our new business partners in KI Corporation.'
Sudden shivers run down my spine when I felt his hand on my lower back.
"Mr. and Mrs. Giovanni, this is my lovely wife, Sophia Kelley."
I gulped when I heard the word 'lovely' but I smiled and offered a hand to the man in his late fifties in front me.
"Wow! What a surprise to finally meet you, Mrs. Kelley. The woman who tamed the heart of the young businessman here."
I mentally rolled my eyes. 'Tamed the heart of Mr. cold and arrogant' that is too impossible to happen.
"You looked more beautiful in person, Mrs. Kelley." He added as he kissed the top of my hand.
"Thank you, Sir, the pleasure is mine to meet you and your wife today, but please just call me Sophia. And thank you for trusting my husband and the KI corporation."
"Oh, we believe that this partnership will bring both companies more success and progress in the future."
When it is my turn to greet his wife, I noticed the frown on her face while giving me a smile.
"Have we met before, Sophia? You looked familiar to me."
My breath hitched as my smile vanished from when I heard her question, and I gulped when suddenly all their eyes landed on me. These couple came from Italy, and I'm not sure if Mrs. Giovanni saw me or met me six years ago.
"I'm sorry if I'm gonna ask this but..." I was almost become deaf by the loud pounding of my heart. "Are you a dancer?"
My hand automatically lifted up to my chest as an instant relief washed over me when she finally released her question. "Yes, Mam." I answered smiling at her.
"Ohh... tell me, have you joined the latest dance competition in Sydney Harman Hall in Washington?"
My smile widened and nodded at her.
"Oh my God! Honey, she's the one I've been telling you remember, my most favorite among all the contestant?" She suddenly squealed and grabbed her husband arm.
"Yeah, I remember, honey." He said smiling at her before he turning to Daniel. "I can't believe this Daniel, you didn't tell me your wife is a dancer!"
He just smiled and held by hand under the table. I glanced at him and tried to pull it back, but he just tightened his hold and completely ignored me. He intertwined our hands and brought it on his knee. I gulped as I felt the heat radiating from his skin.
"Sophia, you have no idea how surprised I was, you were my favorite and my bet to win the grand finals!"
"Thank you, Mrs. Giovanni." I said appreciating her words.
"Come on, dear just call me Amelia or you can just call me Aunt Amelia." She suddenly turned to the men in the table. "Excuse us, honey, Daniel, Sophia and I were going to discuss a different matter. You can talk about your business and we will talk about our passion." She winked at the two and turned to me again.
During the lunch, me and Mrs. Giovanni just talked about the upcoming competition, while our husbands we're discussing about their business. But in the middle of our discussion, I stiffened when I felt Daniel's hand on my knee. I gulped as I glanced at him with a silent question written in my eyes.
"Sweetheart, Mr. Giovanni was asking when are we planning to have children?"
I smiled sweetly when an idea came across my mind. I grabbed his hand from my knee and put it over the table as I suddenly kissed him on his cheek. I noticed the look of shock in his eyes and I can't help the victorious smile that crept on my lips.
"Oh, Mr. Giovanni, you don't know how I always tell to my husband to reduce his workload, he's always busy and always coming home late. And sometimes he doesn't have time left for me."
I made sure my voice sounded disappointed and when I looked at the face of my husband, I wanted to laugh when I noticed that he's just looking at me open-mouthed. I'm sure he wasn't expecting my answer. "Oh, young man, you should prioritise your wife."
I raised my eyebrow at him in a mocking way when the two started to throw him advice on how to make me always happy. But I was taken aback with his next move, he suddenly cupped my cheeks and sealed my lips with a deep and a hard kiss.
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart I didn't know you feel upset about it." He said when he pulled back, still cupping my cheeks. "I promise from now on, I'm going to reduce my workload and have more time for you." He smirked before he kissed my forehead.
"Is that true, sweetheart?" I asked returning his smirk.
"Yes, you know how much I love you, right?"
Fuck. I wanted to laugh on his face if we're just in a different place and situation and not in front of his biggest investor.
"Of course, sweetheart." I just mentally rolled my eyes when he hugged me again and give me a peck on my lips.
"Ahh... You two are so sweet." Mrs. Giovanni said placing her head on her husband's shoulder.
"Young love." Mr. Giovanni added and kissed her wife's head.
I just smiled and later on, I felt a hand over mine and intertwined with a big and calloused hand under the table. And in the next second, I felt a pair of warm lips over my head. I glanced up at him only to be kissed by him passionately in front of the two couple sitting across our seats.