King's Guard

Chapter Five

Kingsley fixed his collar as he stood in front of the restaurant. He was a little surprised when Lorenzo told him where they would be going. It was a fancy place, and one usually had to wait weeks if not months to be able to book a reservation there.

Kingsley knew that very well. His dad owned a chain of hotels and restaurants all over the world, and the building he was standing in was one of them.

Kingsley finally walked inside, and the attendant immediately lit up when she saw the man she was quite familiar with. She didn't know exactly who Kingsley was, but just that he was a very important guest.

"Mr. Kinsgley! I wasn't aware you were coming tonight," she said as she looked down at the list of reservations, "but I'm sure I can get a table for you! Give me just a—"

"The reservation should actually be under the name Lorenzo Salazar tonight," Kingsley said.

"Oh, yes! Mr. Salazar is waiting for his guest, I'll walk you there myself," the attendant said. Kingsley thanked her, and followed her as she led them to where Lorenzo was, "if you would like me to upgrade you to a private room, then I can do that as well."

"That won't be unnecessary, but thank you," Kingsley replied with a polite smile. His eyes fell at the back of Lorenzo's head, as he continued, "also, Hilary? Could you do me a favor?"

"Anything, Mr. Kingsley."

"Could you send a server that doesn't know me?" He asked, Hilary gave him a confused look, but immediately nodded nontheless.

"Of course."

"Thank you."

Once Kingsley reassured her that there was nothing else she could help him with, she walked away back to her post. Kingsley made his way towards Lorenzo, who gave his employee a polite smile as he noticed his arrival.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I still tend to forget how bad the city traffic is," Kingsley said as he sat down.

"You're still a couple minutes early, actually," Lorenzo said as he looked down at his watch, "besides, I got here barely a minute before you. No need to apologise."

"So, we're settled on the fact that nobody is going to apologise to anyone today? Good," Kingsley said as he opened the menu. Lorenzo chuckled, before doing the same.

They placed their orders shortly after that. The server came first with their drinks, and there was a slight awkwardness between the two men till then. It was their first time hanging out alone outside work. Kingsley could tell that Lorenzo was still embarassed about his behavior the whole weak, and he didn't know how to help him get past it.

The two made small talk. They talked about what their weekend plans were, Lorenzo asked if Kingsley watched the football game, to which Kingsley replied saying he wasn't a sports fan. With each new topic, it was getting harder and harder to find a middle ground or common interest to talk about.

"If you don't mind me asking... Why is this presentation so important?" Kingsley decided that talking about work was probably the best idea.

"Well, it's to raise funds for the company, so of course it's really important," Lorenzo answered.

Kingsley noticed that his boss had immediately gone stiff, as he answered while looking away and then taking a sip of his scotch. As if he wanted to avoid the topic. And it was very unlike Lorenzo to not want to talk about work.

"You know what I mean," Kingsley continued, "I've never seen you quite so worked up over one meeting."

"It's noticable?" Lorenzo asked, looking back at the other man, a frown appearing on his face as Kingsley nodded.