Romancing The Tiger

Chapter 2

Shanghai, China

With skillful hands, Dylan grabbed his long black locks of hair together and binded them neatly in a high pony tail on the back of his head, revealing his short-trimmed side parts, which highlighted the manly features of his handsome face. Freshly shaved, and dressed in a black Armani suit, he checked himself in the standing mirror of his bedroom. He was very pleased with his appearance.

Now that he was playing the part of Ning Que in his newest drama Evernight 2, the director had asked him in advance to grow his hair to match the character's looks. Seeing himself smiling in the mirror, he decided to keep it long for the time being, as this new hairstyle highlighted his perfectly toned jaw line. 'You look smashing today, bro,' he thought to himself happily.

Feeling his cell phone vibrating, Dylan reached for his cell phone and his face beamed with the warmth of a thousand suns when he saw the caller's ID on its screen.

"Hi, Shen Yue!"

"Hi, Didi! How was your flight?" Her voice sounded sleepy but laced with a happy note, upon hearing his voice.

"It was okay! I am about to have a meeting with Mei Yee about my foreign project. It is finally making progress."

"Woah! That is great news, Didi!"

"Thanks! How are you, Shen Yue? Did you sleep well? Did that fan of yours send you flowers again?" Dylan teased, unable to hide the gentle sarcasm in his voice.

He heard Shen Yue laugh through the phone. "Yes," she teased him back, "it is the 3rd bouquet of flowers, this month. I begin to suspect he must be part of the famous Flower Four."

Dylan laughed loud at that, knowing all too well to whom she was referring. "He knows how to treat beautiful ladies," he smiled warmly.

"Haha, stop it. Tell this friend of yours, I am deeply grateful for the flowers. They are so colourful."

"I will happily forward the message for you."

They always did this; talking in secret code to one another, in rebellion to their management's new set of rules about maintaining a single status in front of their fans. Being a clever wolf at heart, Dylan had found a way to work around these silly rules, by continuing to send Shen Yue gifts and cards occasionally as one of her fans. His way of pampering her and this playfulness helped minimilize the burden of their time being apart. Being this vague, their managers had failed upon until now, to discover their real situation.

'Build in silence, and they won't know what to attack,' Dylan had thought to himself, determined not to be another pawn on the chess board. Only his brother Caesar Wu knew the truth.

"Okay, Didi, I better go get dressed now. I have a photoshoot today. Call me after work?"

"Yeah, I will keep you posted. Enjoy your photoshoot, Yueyue! Jiayou! Bye, bye!"

"Bye, Didi! Jiayou!"

Ending the call, Dylan took his house keys, and left his home to go to the head quarters of his management. His driver, Zhuo, was parked in front of his house, patiently awaiting for Dylan to come outside.

"I am ready, Zhuo!"

"Okay, Mr Wang!"

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Cotswolds, England

The next few days happened in a haze. Only a day after Mei Ling had sent the life-changing e-mail, did she got an e-mail back, requesting her presence in Manchester in a few days, where the interview would be held. Signed by a certain Chang Mei Yee. She had to confirm her appointment in pristine Mandarin during an unexpected phone call a few hours after that, which convinced Miss Chang Mei Yee of her possible suitability for the job. A second interview, this time in Manchester would be held by a panel of three HR recruiters. This was it! It was really happening. Bye, bye, office desk job! Woohoo!