Chapter 20: Give Her A Room
Does he think that just because he’s rich, he doesn’t actually have to be a nice person too? No. Chuck is nice and fun, Scarlett thought to herself. Why was Francis behaving like this?
Scarlett turned away, pulled out her cell phone from her bag, and started to play games. “You can’t drink at dinner.” All of a sudden, Francis broke the silence and commanded. Scarlett was not sure who he was talking to. “What?”
Francis closed his eyes for a moment and said, “I won’t take you home if you are drunk again.”
Scarlett pinched her thigh to vent her anger; her desire to jump out of the moving car got even stronger. But she had to fake a smile. She said, “Well, I won’t drink.”
Mr. Sandler’s secretary, who was sitting in the front seat, was hearing all this back and forth. The secretary felt like she wanted to do a real-time broadcast about her boss’s love story. It would be titled: “How My Icy Boss Melted For A University Student,”
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At the table, Francis asked the waiter to serve Scarlett a glass of juice. Scarlett had to explain to the Russian partners that she was allergic to alcohol.
Francis was sitting on her left side, causing her to go almost completely numb to the left of her body. Russian people are, of course, famous for their ability to drink lots and lots of alcohol– particularly vodka– without getting drunk at all. In accordance with the stereotype, these Russian businessmen drank one bottle after another but still looked amazingly sober. Francis had to drink with them and almost finished two bottles of wine.
Scarlett asked the waiter for a cup of celery juice and placed it in Francis’s hand. “Drink it to avoid getting a hangover tomorrow,” Scarlett said to Francis in a low voice. Francis glanced at the green juice and frowned. Although he felt disgusted at the sight of it, he endured half a glass.
Generally, dinner and drinks are followed by entertainment when it comes to high-level business meetings. While sitting in the car heading for the private club, Scarlett was thinking about what she would do when they got to the club. Since she was not even allowed to drink, what was she supposed to do? Would she be able to flirt with some cute guys? Or would there be none around? As it turned out, the only thing she could do was absolutely nothing.
Francis kept her at his side but didn’t even talk to her once. While the Russians were flirting with the women at the club, Mr. Sandler just sat calmly and talked to one of his employees about an upcoming project. Scarlett and the employee sat on the left and the right side of Francis, respectively. They both felt pity for each other in their hearts.
The Russians all grabbed some girls and left the bar, and Scarlett’s assignment was finally done. It should have finished earlier, though, she thought, slightly bitter. “Mr. Sandler, Could I leave now?” Scarlett said in a cautious voice. Francis reached out his hand and pulled Scarlett back to her spot, “Wait for me.” His big, warm hand covered Scarlett’s and then held it tight. Scarlett was flushed in the face. She cast a quick glance at Francis to find that he still looked calm, and his tone remained stable.
“He is drunk.” Scarlett thought that this was the only possibility. She remembered that she once had a classmate who behaved like this: the drunker he got, the calmer he looked. Although he was not slurring his words or anything, he was completely intoxicated.
Scarlett wanted to extricate her hand from Francis’s grip. But as she moved it, he held on more tightly. Francis turned around and gave her a look that seemed to be saying, “Hang tight, I’ll be quick.” The dark lights and Francis’s deep voice made Scarlett feel sleepy. She couldn’t help but lean her head on Francis’s shoulder and fall asleep.
Francis was probably tired too. He proposed a toast for the successful deal and ended the party. He then turned to Scarlett and patted her face gently, “Let’s go.” Scarlett quickly awakened. “Oh, good!” Scarlett got up and held Francis’s hand to stand up. Now everybody could see that they were holding hands. Everyone grew unusually silent in a moment. Feeling awkward, Francis and Scarlett let go of each other’s hands.
When the driver pulled over the car and got off to greet Mr. Sandler, he was asked to get off work. Scarlett was taken to the driver’s seat. “You drive the car.” Francis took the passenger seat and said. Scarlett blinked. Without asking any questions, she started the car and stared at the navigation for a long time. Francis did not urge her but leaned his body back and rested.
Scarlett tried the throttle and glanced at the dashboard– what amazing acceleration! She thought that Mr. Sandler ought to pay her more for her driving services. Scarlett flashed the headlights, and the gates of the villa opened. She drove the car into the house and began to park it in the garage. The housekeeper was a bit startled when she opened the door and saw Scarlett. Francis said to the housekeeper, “Give her a room.” After that, he went straight upstairs.
Since it was her second time here, Scarlett gave the housekeeper a bright smile. The old housekeeper and cook were also glad that they could have a regular guest. She thought of the breakfast the lady had enjoyed last time and couldn’t wait to make another perfect breakfast for her. Scarlett was about to take a shower when the housekeeper brought her a nightgown. Francis Sandler must have had so many women around at his house that he had dresses of every size lying around. The dress was exactly Scarlett’s size.
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By the time Scarlett had gotten up the next day, Francis had already flown to China for another business engagement. After her morning routine, Scarlett walked downstairs to the kitchen to have a friendly exchange with the housekeeper.