Feeling slightly embarrassed, Eva stuck out her tongue playfully and added two sugar cubes to her coffee.
Observing the two charming young women, Wern’s initial reservations about his business trip vanished completely. He offered a polite compliment, saying, “The coffee here is superb, with a rich, mellow flavor. It brings back memories of a café I used to frequent in Lanster with my friends.”
“Espresso is unique.” Estelle started talking about coffee because Wern seemed to be interested in it. “We can directly taste the aroma of the coffee beans. In my opinion, espresso tastes much better than Americano coffee.”
Wern smiled with his eyes lit up, thinking that the lady in front of him was not only elegant but also had good taste. “Exactly. I think Americano has a watery taste. My friends think Americano is as horrible as Hawaiian pizza with pineapple.”
Estelle felt that the topic of coffee could bring them closer, so she talked about the cafés and restaurants she went to in Lanster, which she knew a lot about. She smiled, “I miss the days when I was in college. Back then, all I needed to worry about was the assignments and exams.”
Estelle was talking about the days when she was in Milan, but she was thinking about the days she spent with Cristofer here. Cristofer was like a shadow that kept following her, and suddenly, she didn’t know what she wanted to say. Fortunately, Wern seemed in a good mood. He was happy that Estelle knew a lot about Lanster.
“I also went to that restaurant before, and their dishes were wonderful. Just like London, famous for its black tea, I think the cuisine in Italy is the best,” Smiling, Wern said.
“Actually, there are some fine French restaurants in London.” Estelle smiled while talking because she thought of the time when she went to all kinds of restaurants with Cristofer.
They had similar tastes in food, so they could always agree on what to eat when they dated. Even if they wanted to eat different things, Cristofer would always let her eat what she wanted. One time, she was interested in a dessert on the menu called Starry Sky, so she said, “I want to try this.”
Cristofer was also curious about its taste, so he said, “Okay. Let’s see what kind of dessert deserves such a poetic name.”
Because of Estelle, he was interested in things related to stars. But their jaws dropped when the waiter put two pieces of black sesame cake on the table. ‘Sesame cake? It must taste weird.’ After one bite of the cake, neither wanted to eat more. They decided they must see a dish’s picture before ordering it.
Thinking about the past, Estelle suddenly felt cheerful and beamed with joy, though it had happened long ago.
At the same time, however, Wern misunderstood her and thought his humor made the beautiful woman smile. Then he said, “Well, the food in London is a nightmare, but the black tea is the best. Maybe we can try it together sometime?”
Wern and Estelle hit it off, talking about business and European culture and customs. Eva listened to them with great relish and soon started drinking the second cup of coffee.
Estelle naturally started talking about jewelry with Wern. She first showed him some of her drafts and then took out a pair of earrings. “These are my new products.”
“Wow!” Wern said in amazement, “This is exactly what I want. It’s so simple but so stylish.”
Judging by his reaction, Estelle knew there was a good chance she could get this order, and she continued, “Our company cooperated with a fashion show a few days ago. You can watch the video if you are interested.”
Then she looked at the video sent by Wallace on the iPad and handed it to Wern. While holding the earrings, Wern watched the video and asked, “Did you make all the jewelry by yourselves? It must have taken you a long time to design so many different products.”
“It will not be a big problem if we can produce each product in a large amount,” Estelle said thoughtfully, “We had to design different jewelry for each model to match their clothes so that the show could be wonderful. But if you want to sell them or display them, we can produce the jewelry on the assembly line, which will be much more efficient.”
Wern had heard about Hudson Group before. And he found Estelle was cute when she talked, so he said straightforwardly, “Okay, let’s talk about the contract.”
Having been prepared for this moment, Estelle handed a contract to him. “This is the first version. Please have a look.”
Considering the budget and the possibility of future cooperation, Wern offered a number much higher than Estelle’s expectation. He smiled, “It’s a deal then.”
Estelle’s eyes lit up after she quickly calculated her profit. She gave Wern a glance with a bright smile as if she was looking at a big wad of bucks. Later, she said happily, “Thank you, Mr. Wern.”
They reached an agreement and quickly signed the contracts. Eva put away the contract and gave Estelle a thumbs up to compliment her quietly. There was no reason to stay longer after they finished the business, so Estelle was thinking about how to say goodbye to Wern.
Much to her surprise, he asked her enthusiastically, “Estelle, why don’t we have dinner together? I think we have the same taste in food, so maybe we can talk about more things while eating.”
Estelle frowned slightly as Wern blinked at her with his beautiful green eyes, which were like emeralds. Meanwhile, Eva was alerted.
Just then, Estelle said politely, “I’m sorry. Maybe it’s not a good time because I need to pick up my children.”
“Children?” Wern said in disbelief, looking at her young face, “You mean your younger brothers or sisters, right?”
A soft smile appeared on Estelle’s face when she thought of her three children. She answered, “No. I mean my own children. My eldest child is just a primary school student, so I have to pick them up. I’m sorry, but I can’t go to dinner with you. However, the coffee is on me.”
“No need. How can I let you pay for the coffee? I’ll pay for it.” Wern quickly refused.
After hastily settling the bill, Wern realized that Estelle didn’t have any romantic interest in him. In reality, Estelle didn’t even understand his intentions; it was merely his misguided notion of a potential date.
Though Estelle noticed Wern’s slight embarrassment, she didn’t dwell on it. She thought, ‘We’ve already signed the contract; there’s no turning back now.’ With this thought, she swiftly left the café, eager to reunite with the children.