Manny and her two best friends kept staring at Chuck. Her two friends were really mad at Chuck the more they looked at him. Manny decided to remain silent and soon the dishes were served. There were all kinds of seafood that smelled incredibly tempting.
“Mom, aunties, please help yourself.” Zelda said. As a restaurateur herself, she was quite satisfied with the dishes she saw on the table. It was all very appetizing. She served shrimps to Manny and two of her aunties. She also served one into Chuck’s bowl and then whispered, “Eat more.”
Chuck was stunned at first. But he knew if a gorgeous lady served him food, he must eat them and so he did straight away.
Zelda was a bit weirded out. That move made it seem… a little too intimate! She had never personally picked up food for any men before, but it felt good to do it for the first time. Zelda watched Chuck as he ate and it reminded her of the time they kissed. Did this mean that they were kissing indirectly then?
Manny frowned at the sight of their intimate gesture. She had thought that they were not a good match, so she certainly would not allow her daughter to continue to fall further into this abyss.
“Girl, what does Chuck do for a living?” Manny asked.
The lady with tight jeans and the lady with hot pants looked up immediately at Chuck. What could he be doing for a living? He didn’t even have a car, so what else could he do for a living? He must either be a nine to five salaried worker or an unemployed loser.
“I’m still studying,“ Chuck responded.
Zelda, who was about to say something, was startled.
“Still studying?” Manny was getting even more upset. Their age gap was too huge, that would mean almost a seven or eight years difference.
“No wonder. So Zelda, how did you guys know each other?” The woman with tight jeans asked with a smile.
“Maybe they met each other through his part-time job.” The woman with hot pants said.
“If that’s the case, doesn’t that mean the employee is now dating his boss?” Manny felt even more embarrassed. “Oh my, what are you doing, my dear daughter?”
“No, he wasn’t a part-timer at my restaurants.” Zelda was angry. Yet, she could not show it too openly because they were her elders afterall. She had to be respectful.
“No? Then how did you get to know each other?” The woman with tight jeans added, “Well, Zelda, I didn’t mean to be asking too much. So if that’s the case, can I ask where the place he just reserved for dinner is then?”
“Exactly, this shouldn’t be a problem, right? I really want to know what kind of place he has reserved for us! Will it be more high class than this place?” The woman in hot pants was very ‘curious’ while enjoying the seafood.
Now that she knew Chuck was a student, she was even more convinced of her opinion. She thought that Chuck must have reserved a table at a low-class restaurant. How could they be dining at a restaurant that costs less than a hundred bucks per pax? It was too cheap!
Fortunately, she had booked this restaurant way ahead. Otherwise, she’d probably get a stomach ache if she dined at those kinds of cheap places. The woman in hot pants was frightened at this thought and realized she had made the right choice.
The more Manny looked at Chuck, the more she found Chuck less pleasing to the eye.
Zelda was really helpless.
“The place I booked was…” Chuck paused as he saw the waiter was coming their way to serve some food.
“Where was it? Why didn’t you finish your sentence? The place you booked was? Was it here?” The woman with hot pants said disdainfully.
“Do you know how expensive the food is here? It would cost around seven thousand dollars for their meal from what she just ordered. How could a student like you book a place like this?”
“How generous! This place is very expensive. I doubt that even if you pooled your month’s worth of living expenses, could you afford a meal here.” The woman in tight jeans sneered.
Manny frowned, “Tell us then, where exactly did you book?”
“Here. This was the place I booked,” Chuck said.
Zelda was surprised since she thought that Chuck had chosen other restaurants.
However, Manny’s face turned cold and she was very unhappy.
The woman with hot pants sneered. “What a coincidence that you’ve chosen this place too!”
Her tone was particularly harsh when she said “coincidence”.
“Yea, what a coincidence! For bookings like this in a five-star place, they always ask for your membership card. Since you said you’ve booked this place, why don’t you show me your membership card then?”
Chuck shook his head. He did not have a membership card.
“If you don’t have a membership card, how did you make a reservation then? Stop bragging!” The woman in hot pants shook her head disdainfully.
“Can’t I make a reservation without a membership card?” Chuck asked.
“You don’t even understand the rules of the restaurants in a five-star hotel, so please stop lying, could you? Who do you think you are to be able to book a place like this with a simple phone call? Are you kidding me?”
“That’s right. The hotel management needs to avoid prank calls. So to book a place like this, you need to either know someone internally or be a membership card holder, alright?”
“He doesn’t look like he understands anything. It’s not that shameful to be telling the truth, so then why are you lying? Even if you’re lying, you could’ve made up a better story. Young man, is that how you lied to Zelda?” The woman in tight jeans said.
“Men these days love to live on women’s support. They only say sweet things and don’t really put effort in getting a proper job. These guys are useless. Zelda, for your own good, I advise you to revise your decision! Finding a boyfriend is a matter of your lifelong happiness, you can’t just take it lightly.”
Pak!
Manny was getting angrier and angrier as she listened to their conversation. She was extremely embarrassed. She pounded the table, stood up, and said, “I’m done!”
“Mom!” Zelda hurriedly stood up.
“Why would you get a boyfriend like him? I’m very disappointed in you!” Mannhook her head.
“Mom, Chuck is…”
“What’s with Chuck? I will ignore his young age, but he’s full of nonsense too. Tell me, how is he reliable at all?” Manny was really upset. Her daughter was an outstanding young woman, so how could she have fallen in love with a good-for-nothing like him?
“Mom, you misunderstood. Chuck has…”
“Has what?” Manny glared at Zelda. “Let me tell you something. I hate people who lie the most. He’s not honest! You can’t rely on people like this! He said he had reserved a table here. So where’s the membership card? I’ll believe you if he shows it!”
“Oh Manny, he doesn’t have it. So how is he ever going to be able to show it? He’s just pretending and lying. Seeing how I’ve chosen such a good place, he decided to lie as well. But he’s not good at lyinecause he doesn’t even know how it all works here! We’ve unveiled his lies!” The woman with hot pants said disdainfully.
The woman with tight jeans also sneered. “It couldn’t really be like what I thought earlier that he was a male prostitute right?”
“Show it. Ask him to show it!” Manny was aggressive.
The two women were watching how the show was going to go on. No matter what, they could not let Zelda be with a loser like this.
“Isn’t it an absolute mismatch for a talented woman to be with a conman?”
Zelda sighed and turned around to apologize to Chuck. And right at this moment, three waiters brought forward the three plates of lobsters. The smell was phenomenal! There was even a waiter who brought over a bottle of red wine.
“Please enjoy your food!” The waiter said politely.
Manny and the other two stood stunned, the woman in hot pants was taken aback. Who ordered these three lobsters? She didn’t order them, and that wine… The woman in hot pants picked up the bottle doubtfully. It was a 1982 Lafite Rothschild, an authentic one in fact!
“We didn’t order these things!” She said.
“Yes, it was pre-ordered by this gentleman.” The waiter said in a respectful manner while looking at Chuck.
“What? He actually a table here?”
Those three women were absolutely shocked. How could this be possible? The three Australian lobsters in this humongous size would cost several thousands. But the highlight was the bottle of red wine. It was the authentic 1982 Lafite Rothschild.
It was one of those priceless wines in the market. It was even marked at eight thousand dollars a bottle at one point. Now that it’s sold in a five-star hotel, it would at least cost more than a hundred thousand dollars! Did he really book all these? The three women couldn’t believe it!
Zelda was stunned. Did Chuck know the boss of this place? Since he said he didn’t have a membership card, he must be an acquaintance of some sort.
“Did he really book this place?” Manny asked seriously.
“Yes, this gentleman is a VIP of our hotel.” The waiter said respectfully.
Manny looked at Chuck again, and the woman in hot pants immediately said, “Oh, I know now, you must be spending Zelda’s money with all the expensive food you ordered, right?”
“Exactly, this guy doesn’t even have a car. How could he have the money to order all these expensive foods? You’re just showing off with a woman’s money!” The woman in tight jeans said in an even more disdainful tone. That must have been it. How shameless!
Manny frowned. If this was really the case, she would be really disappointed with her daughter. How could she have fallen in love with someone like this? Were there no other men in the world?
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