Mister Villain

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

She didn't know how a dinner with her parents turned out to be a set-up for a love match gone weird but like some things in the world, one has to have room in one's life for "pleasant" surprises – she'd stretch that far out to call tonight's dinner that despite how it began.

Joyce Ching looked at RJ Faulkerson and Kris Martin, eating dinner, one right across her and the other one sitting to her left, and thought about how this plot by her parents escaped her notice.

Had she been so consumed with work that this slipped pass her?

So far, she has been really successful in dodging their efforts to set her up like this.

Though, technically, she has escaped this one too.

The Ching's middle child was sure that once she told her mother about how tonight's event turned out, the older woman will continue to be in tenterhooks over her daughter's supposedly unfortunate singlehood.

Nangiti si Joyce thinking how she would be in for the same kind of shock that Joyce experienced a while ago when she answered her mother's call the moment their family car arrived at the restaurant, informing her that her parents won't be able to make it.

They told her that they were actually meeting the Faulkersons at this dinner and she should continue dahil andun na ang mga guests nila sa restaurant.

Kinalma niya ang sarili dahil it would do no good to scream.

However, she did feel na gusto niyang kainin siya nang lupa because other than the embarrassment of knowing that her parents have finally succeeded in their plans to set her up, the realization that she was being set-up with RJ (dahil alanganamang si Gab ito), who was not a stranger but almost like a friend, mortified her.

She wanted to run out of the restaurant then and there but knew that her good breeding (which could be a bane to one's existence in situations like this, sa totoo lang) won't allow her.

Naisip pa niya na her mother could be lying to her about the Faulkersons having already arrived at the restaurant but she still had to make sure.

She wished na wala pa ang mga ito so she could escape and create her own version of an excuse pero nung sumilip siya sa loob at nakita na RJ was indeed present, it wasn't his parents who sat with him.

Laughing like a pair of devils hatching plans for world domination, seated with RJ was her boss, the Kris Martin, who left the office earlier than she did because of a supposed meeting.

The need to pry as to how Kris ended up there along with her supposed love match coming over her, Joyce approached their table.

They were indeed waiting for her and had just wrapped up a discussion.

"Akala ko Joyce medyo male-late ka pa dahil sa traffic" RJ told her as Kris helped her to her seat.

"Uhmmmm... thank you" she told Kris and then faced the other man "I have to just know, iba ang intindi ko sa dinner na to o mali ba ako dun?"

Both gentlemen laughed.

"Tama ang intindi mo" RJ responded "But we're both rescuing you from that."

"Huh?!?"

"Actually Kris is rescuing the both of us from this dinner being awkward."

Her curiosity abating, the feeling of embarrassment caught up with her. She covered her face to compose herself befor speaking up again "So... you knew why they scheduled this dinner?"

"Yes. It became obvious when Tita Minda informed Mommy na she and Tito Michael were not feeling good but they were not canceling it. We expected them to not be able to make it for dinner."