Whispers of My Sweetheart

Chapter 4 ~ Surprising Dinner

Zhi-Jian arrived at the restaurant to see groups of fans and media surrounding either side of the entrance, obviously alerted by the various announcements the companies had released. He was signing some autographs when someone walked past him, inciting comments about their outfit from those nearby. He looked up to see the dark green material shimmer slightly under the light of camera flashes.

As he fell in step behind her, he allowed his eyes to travel from where the dress met the ground as it lightly trailed like a leaf, all the way up to wear it opened up to reveal most of her upper back. There was intricate detailing of vines and leaves growing up the left side of the opening until it crossed over the back and up the right shoulder, as to hide the back of the wearer's bra strap.

He knew he shouldn't be staring at the pale skin that the dress was hugging but the contrast against the green was entrancing. After an extra moment of gazing, ZhiJian pulled his eyes away and smile and nodded at the gathered crowd.

What had seemed like minutes walking behind the woman was really mere seconds, and they soon arrived at the door.

“My gosh, Lucy, I do believe that you might be worse than Andy!” the woman suddenly uttered to her companion, who was a step before her and dressed in a pale blue cocktail dress.

“I can't believe you got me wearing this dress” the woman's voice lighted with a chuckle as spoke again. Her companion giggled as if the two statements had been the best compliments in the world.

It became obvious to him, listening to their muttered conversation, that neither lady had realised he was behind them. So when Lucy opened the private function room door and saw him over the green shoulder, he wasn't surprised to see her eyes widen. Quickly recovering from shock, the little secretary bowed and greeted him. The forest dressed woman turned at the same time to see what was causing her friends reaction, her smile disappearing fast as she looked at him. He thought he saw a brief flash of negative emotion before her eyes turned cold.

“Hello,” she said, her voice deadpan.

He scoffed, remembering the woman’s rude behaviour when they first meet days before. Deciding to not to speak, he just watched the woman looked him up and down briefly before she entered the room.

While he followed her in, he started to mentally kick himself. How had he not realised that it had been that uneducated, impolite, rough woman in front of him? She had been speaking in English after all.

Stuck behind her as she paused to look around the room, he couldn't help but noticed how green highlighted strains stood out amongst plaited hair that looped around the base of her hairline. Had he been that distracted by the radiance that the gown had created that he had ignored all other obvious factors?

Now that he knew the identity of the mysterious dress owner, he looked the outfit over again as she walked away and decided it wasn’t as beautiful as it first appeared.

Going his own way he walked over to where the cast members were grouping together in a corner. Some knew each other from previous projects while others were introducing themselves. They all chatted away, as well as taking several selfies to post on their social media pages.

~*~*~

Aster realised that Lucy had paused midway through opening the door with eyes wide at something behind her. Turning, she saw Liu ZhiJian standing there with a smirk on his smug face. The giggling mood from Lucy and herself had quickly fled, leaving Aster feeling tense.

How long had he been behind them? She thought, annoyed by the idea. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her ruffled she instantly cooled her expression.