Her Asian Billionaire’s Perfect Match

Chapter 5

It was a disaster! She had left work early and gone home to get dressed and told him that she would meet him at the restaurant. She had dressed carefully, in a slim fitting black and white pants suit and a white silk inside blouse. The weather was sultry and humid so she had chosen to wear her hair up in a classical French roll.

“You look lovely,” Robert told her warmly giving her a peck on the cheek. The restaurant was fairly new and was a thriving business in the heart of the town. It served mainly Italian and Chinese cuisine and had gotten good reviews in the restaurant section of the papers.

“Thank you,” she told him politely, determined not to think of John Masaki the entire evening.
“What would you like to eat?” he handed her a menu while he perused the other one that had been placed on their table. He had chosen a table at the far end of the restaurant that gave them some amount of privacy.

She glanced at the list of items available quickly and her eyes caught the Chinese beef and broccoli. “I will have this one please,” she told the young waiter hovering around the table.

“I will have the same,” Robert told the young man with a beaming smile. He ordered a bottle of Cabernet without consulting her and Leonie let it slide, not bothering to tell him that she was not especially fond of red wines.

“I was so surprised when I got your call girl,” he slurped his wine instead of sipping it and Leonie was dying to tell him that was not the way to drink wine but she resisted the urge. She was not planning on marrying the guy; she just wanted to ease the pressure inside her head.

“There I was having this open house and the couple had just left when I got your call inviting me out to dinner.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and Leonie cringed as he wiped his hand on the leg of his trousers. He was not bad and maybe she was comparing him with someone else and that was totally unfair. He did not allow her to carry on the conversation but continued by telling her about the house he had been showing and how he had been awarded salesperson of the quarter.

“There is a certain magic to all this,” he told her with a grin. “You have to know the people you are trying to sell the houses to, kind of like what you do at that place. You match a man with a woman and make sure they have things in common.”

He paused as soon as their food came over and took the time to sniff the meal set before him. “Smells kind of garlicky,” he made the observation to the young man still standing there.
Leonie smiled and indicated her satisfaction so the man could leave. She was trying not to yawn and appear interested but it was a tiresome effort.

“Look at me going on and on about my business,” he said halfway through the meal as if suddenly remembering that it was not all about him. “Now my dear, tell me what has been happening to you since we last saw each other.”

“The business has picked up somewhat,” she ventured with a smile, relieved that he had gotten back on track. “We have gotten quite a few-“

“Excuse me there young man!” he called out interrupting her in mid sentence. Leonie looked at him in consternation as he beckoned furiously to the waiter who had served their food.

“What’s wrong Robert?” Leonie asked him, trying not to die of embarrassment at the attention they were receiving.

He waited until the waiter reached their table. “This beef is a little dry and the broccoli is soggy. What kind of establishment are you people running here?” he asked bristling.

“Mine tastes fine,” Leonie said trying to diffuse the situation and get out of a very embarrassing situation.

“Let me deal with this please Leonie. I work too hard to pay good money for this kind of swill. I insist on speaking with the manager.” He had stood up and by now the entire restaurant had turned to look in their direction. Leonie wanted to die and she felt the anger rising inside her. It was her fault. She had asked him out to dinner to try and get John Masaki out of her head and look what happened!

“I am sorry sir but the manager is not here just now,” the poor waiter said trying to calm him down. “If you like, I can return the food and bring back something else for you.”

“You are darn right you are going to bring back something else. You think because I am black you can treat me this way?”

That was the last straw as far as Leonie was concerned. He had played the race card and that had never been acceptable to her. She had never believed in people using the color of their skin to prove a point or to receive a favor and she certainly did not associate with anyone who thought they needed to do that.

“I am sorry about this,” she told the harried young man and reaching inside her pocket book and took out some cash and handed it to the surprised waiter. “Could you give me mine to go and have the valet bring around my car please? Thank you.”

“You are leaving?” Robert looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. “You are ending the date that you called me up in the first place to come to? Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Someone who realizes that she is better than to be out with a brother like you.” She told him frostily. “Goodbye Robert.”

“Screw you!” he shouted at her retreating back.

She did not realized that she had left the food she had asked to be packaged until the waiter ran out and handed her the white restaurant bag. “Here you go miss and thank you very much.”

“You are welcome and you should tell the chef to add a few drops of hot sauce in the meal you are taking back for him,” she told him with a straight face.

“I will do so.” The young man grinned saluting her as she drove off.

*****

“You left in the middle of having dinner?” Simoniel stared at her friend in amazement.

She had not gone home but had driven to her friend’s house and now they were sharing the meal she had brought over. Leonie realized that the chef had added more to the meal. Her husband and son had retired to the basement to watch television as soon as they had greeted her, leaving the two friends to talk.

“I had to leave before I died of embarrassment,” Leonie admitted as she chewed on the delicious beef. “I had planned on staying in spite of everything but when he played the race card that did it for me.”

“What a complete moron.” Simoniel said shaking her head.

She got up and went to get them some fruit juice from the fridge. Her house was a nice and cozy three bedrooms two bathrooms place in a large enough yard where her husband did his farming as well. The basement had been transformed into a living area for when guests came over.

“So did you get to prove your point?” she asked the minute she came back inside the room.

“What point?” Leonie asked her.

“The one you were so eager to prove by going out with a brother who was clearly not your type.” Simoniel looked straight into her eyes. She was frustrated at how her friend was letting the past color her views on having a relationship and wondered why such a beautiful woman as Leonie was determined to run as far away from love as possible.

“I just wanted to go out and have a good time,” Leonie lied, avoiding her friend’s stare.