The Engagement | COMPLETED

THREE.

ALEX.

We entered the Korean restaurant and was immediately greeted by the smell of barbecued meat and kimchi stews. I took a deep breath in, letting my senses savour the aroma in the air. Oh my god, I think I'm in heaven.

Nathan got the waitress to show us to our seats. Both of us sat down, flipped through the menu and ordered our food in silence. Once the waitress was gone, the silence only got louder.

"Why are we here?" I said as I couldn't take it no more.

"Ain't that obvious? Having dinner of course," he replied as he leaned forward.

"No, I meant why are we even here?" I said as I gestured my hands between us. "Like, why did you even agree to go through with the engagement? There are clearly no benefits in being with me. I'm sure as hell we didn't know each other before all this happened. So I REALLY don't get what all this is even for!" I'm pretty sure I almost shouted at him right at the end, but somehow I managed to hold it in.

You're in a restaurant, Alex. Keep it together.

"Well, you're right. There's no benefits here and I barely even know you." He stated. "'For one, your father's company needed some help. I needed something for him to comply with."

"So what? I've become someone you're holding hostage to? Hostage minus the hand cuffs and rope?"

"Or maybe I just needed someone to talk to." Now, that was something I was not expecting. someone to talk to?

"Yes, someone to talk to." I raised my eyebrows, he can hear me?

"No, I can't hear you but I can tell what you're thinking. Your thoughts and emotions show on your face, you know. Look," he continued while stirring his drink, "before your father stepped into my office, I never thought I would be engaged any time soon, but here we are. Since we are both bound by the contract, why not we see where this goes? We still have eleven months. Let's try to make the best out of it."

"Why?" I asked him.

"Because I want to give this a shot." He stated.

"Give what a shot?"

"Us. Look, I know it's sound weird so let's just start by being friends? Even I know we got off on the wrong track."

"I don't think it's getting off the wrong track, we weren't even at the station to begin with." Okay, now I was being a little difficult. I usually don't give these kinds of remarks but whatever.

He smirked. He does that a lot doesn't he? "Then which station do you suppose I get on for us to start?"

I leaned back and crossed my arms. "I don't know. You're so.... serious all the time. You know it's difficult for me to talk to you normally outside of the office right? I'm sure you can tell because we barely talk elsewhere. When we reach home, we don't even say anything to each other before heading for our own rooms. May I add we have our dinners in silence?"

He nodded. "I get that a lot. That I have a wall around me. My friends would always say that to me."

Wait, he has friends? Why haven't I seen them?

"You'll see them in the future. They're not in town right now but let me tell you they are pretty dang excited to see you, that's for sure." I could hear the hesitance in his tone. Does he not want me to meet his friends?

"Like I said, you'll see them soon enough."

"Stop reading my mind damn it!" I face-palmed and I heard him chuckle a little.

"So what do you say? Shall we start over?" He asked.

"Well, we didn't 'break up' or anything but....." I gave it a much needed two-second thought before answering. "Sure, let's start over."

"Great," he replied with a smile. God, he's so handsome when he smiles. Did I just think that? "But for this to work, you need to be open with me too. You have also placed a wall around yourself if you have not noticed already." 

I nodded. I didn't notice that I have put up barriers against him. Was I being too harsh on him since I have been hating the fact we were in this situation? Okay, maybe I was a little too defensive. 

He stood up and straightened his blazer before extending his hand out to me. "Hi, my name is Nathan Chia. Nice to meet you."

I looked at him in confusion before bursting out laughing. God damn, this man is so formal. He gave me a quizzical look, unsure at what I was laughing at.

I reached out my hand, grabbed his and gave it a firm shake. "Well, nice to meet you too. My name is Alex Lim."