The people at the table were initially stunned by Natalie’s generous gift and began to refuse. “Mrs. Larson, the wine is too expensive, and we’ve only just met. There’s no need for you to do this.”
Before anyone else could speak, Brandon wr*pped an arm around Natalie’s waist and complained in her ear. “You’re so nice to this people. I don’t think you’ve ever bought me such expensive wine before.”
“Stop it,” Natalie whispered as she tugged on his sleeve. “Or your employees will think that I’m stingy with you.” The others were quick to put two and two together. Brandon had always been distant and unapproachable to them, but he was openly intimate with Natalie. It seemed that their relationship wasn’t at all affected by the incident a while ago.
“I was going to come up to you and say hello myself, Mrs. Larson. But I was afraid I might disturb you.” The woman sitting next to Vivian wasted no time pandering to Natalie. “I’ve seen you in the Fashion Weekly. I honestly thought that most distinguished female designers were hard to please, but it looks like I was mistaken. You’re so gentle and easygoing, Mrs. Larson. It truly is a breath of fresh air.”
Vivian almost rolled her eyes at that. Just a few minutes ago, this same woman was backstabbing Natalie among her colleagues. She had to admit, however, that Natalie was a lot smarter than she initially thought. She didn’t expect the woman to turn the tables so easily. Moreover, Brandon didn’t even look angry in the slightest.
Vivian was not pleased, of course. Her grip tightened around her glass. Just then the man on her other side leaned over the table, accidentally knocking her hand in the process. The momentum caused her to throw the contents of her glass onto herself, staining her clothes and drawing everyone’s attention.
“Vivian?” Natalie said, surprised to see the other woman. “Are you here for the new employees’ dinner party as well?” It appeared that Vivian had been hired in the end. Natalie had a good imp**ssion of her, so she was eager to start a conversation. “It seems that your interview went well, huh? What’s your current position in the Larson Group?”
Vivian wiped the wine off her clothes and mustered a smile. “Hello, Mrs. Larson. I wasn’t expecting to see you here again. I’ve been—”
“Aren’t you supposed to be getting your purse, honey?” Brandon interrupted unceremoniously. “The car is waiting outside. We should hurry.”
His arm slid up to Natalie’s shoulder. He was just about to usher her away when the waitress returned with the wine.
“Your wine is here.”
After setting the bottles on the table, she turned to Natalie and said, “I apologize, ma’am, but you haven’t paid your bill yet. We took the liberty of adding the charges for your couple’s suite as well. If you no longer need the room, you may proceed to the front desk and cancel the reservation.”
Vivian’s eyes widened at the waitress’s words. She quickly averted her gaze and turned away.
The truth was, Vivian had known this waitress.
That was why when she recognized her at the restaurant, she informed the waitress that she was Derek’s friend and told the waitress that Derek and Natalie wanted to book a couple’s suite together. She then tipped the waitress heavily for her help in booking it.
Vivian was a little nervous now, trying her best to keep the waitress from seeing her. She kept biting her lower l*p to steady her nerves as she couldn’t afford to expose her intentions in front of Brendan and Natalie. 4
However, Vivian simply couldn’t conceal her nervousness. She knew she would be doomed if the waitress recognized her in front of Brandon and Natalie.
Vivian found an empty corner not far away and walked quickly over. She then turned away from the crowd, and lowered her head and pretended to look at her phone. “A couple’s suite!” echoed an employee from the Larson Group. Although the waitress had spoken softly when she was talking to Brandon and Natalie, many employees had overheard her and began speculating about the reason for them booking the couple’s suite.
“Mr. and Mrs. Larson must be feeling romantic tonight. I guess they just want a wild night out!”
“Was it Mr. Larson who booked the room? But why does he seem angry?”
There was a wave of murmur across the room as everyone started gossiping.
Brandon’s face darkened. They had already denied the suite before, so why did the waitress ask again if they wanted to book a suite? He was furious at the waitress ‘ lack of common sense.
“Well…” the waitress started timidly. “If you don’t want the suite, I can cancel it for you,” she continued as she realized that something was amiss. She turned around and attempted to hurry away, but Brandon stopped her. “Who…” Brendan’s voice trailed off as he was interrupted by Natalie.
“You don’t have to cancel the booking. We are taking the suite,” Natalie said with a bright smile. She then hugged Brandon’s arm and gave him a wink. “We haven’t had our alone time in a long while, have we?” she added.
Natalie knew that Brandon wanted to figure out who booked the room. However, the timing was wrong. He would only be embarrassing himself now if he asked the question. There were just too many employees around and they would figure out that it was neither Brandon nor her who booked the suite. This would only spur more gossip about who had booked the room for them.
Natalie did not want needless rumors to spread in the company.
She still suspected that it was Derek who orch*strated the situation. However, she wanted to wait for things to quieten down before finding out the truth. As such, she planned to ask the waitress another time when Everybody was gone.
“Mrs. Larson, you were the one who booked the suite?” asked a female colleague in surprise. She thought that Natalie was a reserved woman and didn’t expect her to be so open-minded. Natalie booked a couple’s suite for herself and Brandon so they could have a romantic night? No wonder Brandon was so obsessed with her.
Natalie pretended to be shy and placed her hand on her cheek as if to hide her blush. “Well, I didn’t expect that the waitress would announce it in front of all of you. But it’s true that I’ve thought about spending some quality time with my husband for a long time already. This is so embarrassing. Please, go on with your dinner. We don’t want to disturb your meal.”
With that, she took the key card from and waitress and tugged at Brandon’s arm. However, as he seemed unwilling to move, she gave him a hard sq***ze and said sweetly, “Honey, let’s go.”
Brandon felt a little helpless. He thought it strange when Derek denied booking the suite. He didn’t seem to be lying. However, if it weren’t Derek, who else would it be? Who would be so mean as to create a misunderstanding bet**en Natalie and him?
Brandon wanted to get to the bottom of it. However, he found it interesting that Natalie would say that she was the one who booked the suite in front of all these people. After all, she was a shy woman.
His heart skipped a beat when he saw Natalie acting so bold in front of so many of his employees. Before he knew it, he was being pulled along by her. Before they left, he nodded to the employees who were still standing around and announced, “Please, enjoy. We will be taking our leave now.” The employees all smiled and said their goodbyes.
After Brandon and Natalie were gone, the employee that flattered Natalie sat down and grumbled with envy, “Mr. and Mrs. Larson seem so in love.”
With a sigh of relief, Vivian went back to the crowd, pulled out a chair and sat down. Her back was covered in sweat. She was too reckless just then, she thought to herself. She should’ve paid someone else to do it to avoid any risks.
Luckily, Brandon and Natalie hadn’t realized it was her. “The rumors going around the company are bogus. Someone clearly doesn’t like seeing Mr. and Mrs. Larson happy and made them all up.” The others joined in the discussion at the table, while Vivian sipped her wine to calm herself down.
New Book: Beginning with a Daring Encounter
Celsie was tired of being labeled as an introvert, workaholic, and dull virgin by her friends. Determined to prove them wrong, she made a bet that she would do something daring on her 25th birthday. Now that the day had arrived, it was time to fulfill her promise. On her daring to-do list, there was one task: a one-night stand with someone.
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