She turns her back to the men’s room, her palms wet with sweat. What is this terrible sense of familiarity?
She thinks she has forgotten it, but now she realizes that she could remember all the details with just one glance. Even if the figure is vague, it seems that he never left; as if for all of these five years he was standing just one-step behind her. She can walk however far away she wants to but as soon as she turns around he will be there, and all her hard work will be invalid.
Lily hides behind the door in the women’s room. She could hear the sound of the water running in the men’s room, and then someone drawing out tissue papers to wipe his hands. Then a dark shadow appears outside the door, getting closer and closer towards where she is hiding…
Through the crack in the door, she sees a pair of black leather shoes, and then an oriental looking man with dark eyes follows. Lily cannot see his features clearly in the dim light, but she is relieved.
It’s not him.
The feeling of being suffocated alleviates. Lily relaxes, her whole body becoming light again. She thinks it was him. Fortunately, it was not.
She raises her hand and pats her chest. The next second, she scoffs at her worries. How could he be here? He lives tens of thousands of kilometers away, across the ocean. How could he just suddenly appear in the same city, the same bar and the same toilet?
It’s too small of a chance. She’s being paranoid.
Lily can’t explain the feeling in her heart. She’s glad that it’s not him. But there’s a faint inexplicable sadness.
She must be drunk to be this sentimental. She must be.
…
On a small round table on the southernmost side of the bar next to the wall, the tall man sits down with his back to the toilet. He picks up the glass on the table and drinks it up. No matter how much it burns his throat, he just drinks it in one shot.
His yearning for her has finally become an illness, making him feel he can smell her here in a foreign country.
Rex, people say you’re crazy. Even if you don’t believe them, it’s apparent that you are not far from being crazy.
His Adam’s apple bobs up and down, and he couldn’t calm down for a long time. He could no longer blend with the wonderful and relaxed music here. He raises his hand to signal the waiter for bill. As the waiter approaches, he gives him a gold visa card to settle the bill.
“Please sign here, sir.” The bartender points to where the signature is needed.
The man picks up the pen and drops a word — Rex.
…
The day of the party, Lily and her assistant Sarah drive to the door of the dinner party. They wait in the car to wait for Ken. Soon, Ken and another woman come.
“This is my former colleague, Lydia, and her assistant Sarah.” Ken introduces them to his partner.
Lily politely shakes hands with the woman and then the group of four people goes to the security personnel at the door. The party is relatively high in security. There are two staff members on the left and one on the right side of the door checking the invitation cards.
Ken and her female partner have one invitation card each. With eloquence and acting skills, they succeed in bringing Lily and Sarah into the party.
The party venue is very large. The party is spread over indoor and outdoor two parts, outdoor venue is not too fancy, overall white, green, and gold-based decoration, very elegant.
The waiter carries a tray with champagne and wine on it. One’s favorite can always be found.
Lily picks up a glass of champagne and looks around at the venue. After looking around, she feels a bit disappointed, the main boss of the company is nowhere in sight.
“Maybe someone will show up after the official opening.” Sarah comforts her.
Lily laughs, “We have all night. I’m not in a hurry.”
Anyway, since she is free, she begins to use this opportunity to socialize with the people on the scene and publicizes her law firm. It takes a lot of time to do that.
There are many foreigners too. Today, she is wearing a pink fishtail dress, embroidered with a darker pink petals and some sparkles. It is a comfortable dress and not too eye-catching in style and color.
Many people notice that she only returns their smiles with a mannered polite smile. Lily has been standing for a long time. It is a bit cold in London in October. She is ready to go indoors to relax.
Just as they reach the glass door between the outside and inside venue, it suddenly opens. Then a line of men in suits come out of the door. Everyone around her starts whispering and exclaiming as they come out the door, the atmosphere immediately becomes a bit more official.
Looking up, Lily’s eyes fall on the person who is the director of Public Relations Department of Bit Inc. He is more than 1. 8 meters tall. He has a pair of black rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. His facial features are slightly flat.
She recalls the name on the list. It is Kingsley.
Her eyes light up. She doesn’t go to him directly. Instead, she waits for him to finish exchanging greetings before she walks towards him, “Hello, Mr. Kingsley. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Kingsley’s eyes flash in surprise, and then he looks at her questioningly with a smile, “Hello, beautiful lady.”
Lily smiles, thinking that soon he might feel that she is not beautiful or even find her disgusting.
She takes out her business card and hands it to him. There is her name and position on it. Kingsley receives it politely. He said, “You don’t look like a legal worker.”
Lily waves a hand noncommittally, “Yeah. Umm… I wanted to talk to you about something. If it is convenient for you right now. Can we go somewhere a bit quieter?”
Kingsley looks a bit surprised. Although everyone drools at the sight of a beautiful woman, he still looks around the venue and says a bit puzzled, “It looks fine, can’t you talk here?”
Lily nods, her eyes follows his line of sight around the venue, but then she says, “I’m fine with this, but I am afraid you might feel inconvenienced.”
“Me? Inconvenienced?” Now Kingsley is even more puzzled, “How could I…”
“Are you familiar with Humphry Davy?” Lily interrupts Kingsley in a low voice.
The smile on Kingsley’s face goes stiff. Davy is not a strange name for Bit. This is the first major industrial accident that Bit is facing. Because of various reasons and pressures, the company has not been able to deal with it.
And to hear this woman mentioning it on such an occasion…
Kingsley looks at Lily again, but this time he looks at her not like he looks at women but rather as if she is an opponent, “Are you threatening me?”
“No.” Lily refuses without thinking, “I am discussing it with you.”
Her tone becomes more serious, far more chilling than her directly admitting that it is a threat.