Waylen grabs her jaw and turns her face to him. Seeing her worried expression, he gives her a soft kiss.
Her head is still spinning, and she feels like a mess.
“What kinds of food do you want to eat?” he asks her casually.
“I haven’t seen the menu yet,” she answers.
“Never mind,” he replies, “I’ll order a variety of dishes.”
Waylen looks at her thoughtfully, before continuing, “I’ll let you choose what we eat.”
Several waiters bring the dishes, and Robert asks Michelle to place them on the table. Waylen has ordered so much food, the waiters form a sort of line, passing plates from the kitchen, through the restaurant, and to the table. Every type of dish and cuisine appears before them.
Michelle alone presents the plates, and she’s busy rushing back and forth. The dishes fill the table and spread to other surrounding tables. By the time all of the dishes have arrived, Michelle is sweating. As she works, Michelle stares at Leilani, wondering if she’s ordered all the dishes so she can try them as the new owner.
Leilani feels overwhelmed. She didn’t expect there to be so many, and just looking at them all makes her feel full. She has to admit, she’s enjoying watching Michelle rush back and forth.
“I can’t reach everything because there are so many dishes,” Leilani says, “Michelle, you’ll have to help serve me.”
Michelle grits her teeth with hatred. She and Leilani were classmates before, but now, the difference between them couldn’t be more obvious. Michelle is furious that Leilani has asked her to serve—the woman continues to humiliate her.
“Well, hurry up,” Leilani says, threatening her with a look.
Leilani can’t believe that Michelle is the same arrogant woman who taunted her in the bathroom and bullied her in school. Michelle bites her lower lip and tries to smile, if Leilani is the new owner, she’ll just have to find a way to endure.
After struggling to arrange her expression, a flattering smile appears on Michelle’s face, “Mrs. Bamford, what do you want to eat?”
“Please introduce these dishes one by one,” Leilani orders.
Michelle’s smile stiffens. She introduces the first dish which is far away from Leilani, “This is a creamy potato salad with bacon. This is a hot dog. This is—”
“I want to know what ingredients they contain and how to make them,” Leilani says.
Michelle nods with a forced smile. There are dozens of dishes. If she introduces all of them, the dishes will cool and lose their flavor and her throat will hurt.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know what they are,” Leilani says, “I never thought that the staff of Zuri Hotel would be so uninformed and unprofessional.”
“Creamy potato salad with bacon: the traditional American dish,” Michelle says in a dull voice, “Crunchy bacon bits add a smoky twist to this herby and tangy down-home potato salad.”
Michelle twists her hands and continues to introduce new dishes. She’s introduced over twenty dishes already, but Leilani still hasn’t told her what she wants to eat.
“What was that first dish called again?” Leilani asks mischievously.
Michelle digs her fingernails into her palm, “It’s creamy potato salad with bacon.”
Leilani looks at Waylen. He’s resting his chin or her shoulder, and she finds it rather uncomfortable.
“What do you want to eat?” she asks, shrugging her shoulders to move his chin.
“I’ll eat whatever you want to eat,” Waylen says putting his chin back on her shoulder.
If he’s being honest with himself, he’s been too distracted by her body to notice the food. He smells the fragrance from her body and wants to lick her throat.
“Are you sure?” she asks.
“I want the first one, and the third one, and that one over there,” she said pointing.
She remembers that all of these dishes contain some form of mustard. Although Michelle is reluctant to help, she’s keeping the polite smile on her face. Quickly she takes the plates and serves the food onto Leilani and Waylen’s plates.
Leilani takes a silver fork and tastes the food, then tries to feed Waylen. He raises his eyebrows and looks at her as if he knows everything about her. He refuses food.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you like it? I can get you something else,” Leilani says.
“I’m allergic to mustard,” he says.
“Really? Is there mustard in this?” Leilani pretends to be surprised.
She knows that Waylen will get hives and even have difficulty breathing if he eats even a little bit of mustard.
“Please, every single dish you picked has some form of mustard,” Waylen says, “You did a very good job. Don’t pretend it’s just a coincidence.”
“It is indeed a coincidence,” Leilani says, “If you don’t want to eat this, I’ll ask the waiters to bring back the other dishes.”
“Do you want me to be sick?”
“Of course not!” Leilani says, “If you really can’t eat it, don’t eat it. If you think I made some sort of trap for you, I have nothing to say. I honestly didn’t know,” Leilani says angrily.
Everyone in the restaurant is scared to see Waylen’s response.
“What will he do to this woman who dared to yell at him?” they wonder.
Michelle struggles to contain her excitement.
“Men dislike being yelled in public,” Michelle thinks, “Leilani is stupid. She’s not as smart as the Summers sisters. Sooner or later, she’ll be replaced.”
Waylen squints his eyes. Instead of getting angry, he affectionately pinches Leilani’s face.
“Take away all of the dishes that contain mustard,” he tells Michelle.
“I’m not going to get angry before I have the results of the examination,” he whispers to her, “Now you can serve me some food.”
He kisses the lobe of her ear. Leilani thought he would be furious. She thought he was ignoring Michelle, so she made careful mental notes of all the dishes containing mustard. She had no idea he was paying attention to the ingredients. The whole time he pretended to be distracted by her neck and her hair, but he saw right through her.
Onlookers want to roll their eyes at Leilani and Waylen’s PDA, but Leilani is too preoccupied with the physical exam to care about what people think. She’s so nervous, she has lost her appetite. After a few bites of food, she feels full.
Robert approaches Waylen, “Sir, Dean Meyer has been waiting for you at St. Meyer Hospital for a while.”
Leilani pauses in the middle of wiping her mouth with a napkin. She realizes she’s finally run out of time: there is no escape from the physical examination.
The drive to the hospital is idyllic. As the car winds down the mountain, it passes old chinar trees growing on both sides of the road. Their leaves rustle and shake when the wind blows, but Leilani is too unhappy to appreciate the beauty.
The hospital is situated at the foot of the mountain. Waylen’s car descends from the zig-zag mountain path followed by dozens of cars filled with bodyguards. Nurses and patients pause to watch the ostentatious arrival.
“It’s impossible to avoid drawing attention when Waylen insists on traveling like this,” Leilani thinks ruefully.
Waylen’s car pulls up to the front entrance where a middle-aged man with gray hair and a white coat waits with several dozen white-uniformed nurses. St. Meyer Hospital has a long-standing reputation as one of the finest hospitals in the world. Celebrities and royalty frequent the hospital with great regularity but few receive personal welcomes from Dean Meyer himself.
Waylen parks his dark Ferrari by the entrance. He emerges from the vehicle and Leilani follows reluctantly.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
Leave a Reply