Cree immediately put on his disguise the moment they were secured inside the Mini that he normally assigned for Ye Qi's usage. His disguise was simple: he would just go without Cree's fancy shades and donned a newsboy cap to hide Cree's signature hairstyle. Of course, when he was working as Ye Qi, Head of the Design Department at Qing Tian Group, he went with his hair slicked back as opposed to Cree's waxed spiky hairstyle. Occasionally, a few professional black wigs would help with the masquerading part. As Qiao Ruo was still wearing his jacket, he reached for his casual jacket from the back seat of his car and swiftly put on the jacket, zipping it over his designer clothes. Given that he was wearing black jeans, his Cree attire would be unnoticeable and expected to be regular streetwear comparable to that of the new generation of youths.
"I actually need to submit this, Cree," she said straightforwardly while hugging her notebook bag close to her chest.
"Well, we can go to the Wifi cafe," Cree offered, putting a hand on her shoulder as he shifted the automatic gear into driving mode. She absorbed the fact that he had made the transformation to Ye Qi and quickly corrected herself, "Okay, Ye Qi."
He chuckled, and the car took off swiftly to stop before a traffic light. She eyed him curiously, 'Ye Qi, could you let me try to drive your car for once?"
Cree was puzzled by her sudden request. He had expected most women to wish for monetary items like jewelry and handbags, but what she wanted was simple - she would like to try to drive his car!
"Have you ever driven, Miss?"
"I am licensed to drive a car, but in answer to your question, I have driven a car, yes. I just have not driven your car, Ye Qi."
"What's special about my car?" he inquired further, making a turn at the junction before the cafe.
"Well, it's your car. I would like to drive your car," she said with an endearing smile, that he could not say no to.
"There'll be a chance for it," he stated just before he entered the parking lot. It would be the first time a girl actually drove his car. He had never allowed anyone, apart from the mechanics, near his car, and this beauty before him would be the very first.
He watched her cautiously as she focused on the article and typed word after word into the article, including some photographs she had ripped from the video recording earlier. He observed like an eagle, how her eyes were glued to the screen of her notebook, and how she concentrated so hard while she was at work. An unbelievable sight. At her tender age, most women were taking advantage of their good looks and curves to acquire what they needed. However, she appeared to be unlike those women, instead, she was putting in her own blood and sweat to work for what she wanted. An admirable beauty indeed, he thought to himself.
"I've submitted the article," she said some minutes after.
"Good. I've made the orders," he said, turning off the screen of the iPad that had been offered by the cafe to customers for them to make their orders electronically.
"What are we having?" she asked with a hopeful look. After being with him for so long, she enjoyed this warm and thoughtful side of him, but yet, she also yearned for his cold and seductive side, which would trigger occasionally, which she had noticed earlier at the office when he was jealous and likely insecure of her exposing her skin to others.
"You'll see soon," he said, smiling broadly. A waiter soon arrived with a tray.
"Burnt basque cheesecake?" she exclaimed, thrilled by the delight before her. "What about you?" she curiously eyed the slice of cake before him. "Tiramisu? Is that your favorite?"
"Definitely," he said. "When would I ever say no to a good coffee?"
After the meal, he would be sending her home as he would need to head downtown to acquire some supplies for his home. Qiao Ruo wondered why he didn't commission a servant to do the work for him, but she didn't feel the need to ask. Perhaps, this man did have a lonely part to himself.
It was a long journey involving a travel time of forty-five minutes from the cafe to her home, but they didn't realize the time spent for him to drive such a distance. He asked about her work, and she answered him truthfully without further thought. He shared with her about how he had to tackle and deal with difficult customers and clients, and how his career had not exactly been smooth-sailing for him. She didn't know either why he had to adopt two different identities in his work, but she assumed it was to avoid suspicion by the various employees and partners in the group.
Cree stopped the car at her parking lot, and whispered, "Could I walk you up to your unit?"
She was bewildered by his request. She lived at a very run-down apartment and even the lift was rather old-fashioned and did not stop at every floor. Fortunately, the lift reached her floor, so Cree would not have to sweat by walking up a few additional flights of stairs.
If that was what he wanted to do, and since it was not her own place either, she didn't mind. She answered him with a fervent nod, and he did not ask her any further questions about the flat. It was surprising someone like Cree would be interested to enter such a place, but it was probable that he didn't mind at all. Perhaps he had friends during his younger days who lived in such discommoding places.
"The lift is a bit old, I hope you don't mind," she said sheepishly. He shrugged and followed her into the lift. "I have nothing better to do but walk around since the person I'll be getting my supplies from later is not available now."
She seemed a little dismayed at the fact that he wasn't being a gentleman by sending her home himself, but she reminded herself that what she had with him were just sharing a few kisses for fun, and a bit of pretense in front of others to convince the public they were dating. In fact, there wasn't even the need to send her home.
He closed the lift door immediately and hit the button leading to the highest floor in the building. "But that's not the floor I live at," she objected, but the short span of a wink, he was leaning over her and staring into her eyes with the most seductive pose ever. Due to the narrow width of the interior of the lift, her petite body was pushed into a corner in an extremely compromising situation, and again, they both tasted the sweetness of each other.
She closed her eyes to indulge in the passion of his kisses, and when the lift stopped at the highest floor, he broke the kiss momentarily to allow for others to enter the lift, and she nervously pressed on the button to get to the floor she lived on.
He bade her good night at her doorstep, and before he left, she hugged him tightly and whispered in his ear.
"My real name is Qiao Ruo."
He smiled charmingly, and said, "Good night, Xiaoruo. Don't forget your promise."
And the last thing he gave her before he departed, was the tender kiss he had planted on her forehead.
What she didn't know that he was already madly in love for her, and was beginning to lose himself around her. She thought a lot about him, but she didn't understand her own feelings for him just yet. He was charming, rich, and had a stable career, and what about her?
She was merely getting by with her job, and she hadn't completed her university degree yet. The two of them were as different as day and night, and one day, their pretense had to come to an end.
------------------------------------------------------------
Picture of cheesecake credited to norecipes.com for their Burnt Basque Cheesecake recipe images.
