21 Learnt To Be Cocky,

When he came, their eyes met for a split second. But shortly after, they looked away from each other. There was a time when his presence used to be her happiness, but now all left within her was deep tension and some pieces of never-ending memories.

It was the third time they were meeting since the day she came back to county 'C', but every time they met, his eyes seemed to be saying something. Something which Lucy couldn't figure out, or maybe she just don't want to. In past, she fall for the unspoken words in his eyes, because she considered her life to be a romantic movie, but it turned out to be his saga of revenge. She was not going to repeat the history once again by reading his eyes.

And of course, Li Xuan was able to read her unreadable face, he understood exactly what was going on there.

"Hey," he greeted her. And she in response gave him a nod.

Li Xuan who thought Lucy will ignore him, was left surprised when she nodded to him, acknowledging his presence. But it didn't take him long to figure out that she did it because little Omisha was there, and Lucy would never do anything which could be a bad example for her Omisha.

Silence mixed in the atmosphere as no one dared to make a sound. Thankfully, there was a little fairy to save the situation.

"Prince! where have you been?" Omisha expressed her happiness with her twinkling eyes as she said "I looked for you so many times, but your door was locked from outside."

Li Xuan smiled and crouched down in front of the little girl who was an expert in giving a sense of belongingness to everyone around her. "Sorry chocolate, I was out for some work issues." Then he added, "But from now on, I'll be always there whenever you look for me." He then took out a small card from his pocket and handed it to the little girl. "And in case I'm not there, just ring on this number, hmm?"

Omisha looked at her Angel as if asking whether to accept the visiting card or not. And she happily accepted it as soon as her Angel gave the indication. "Okay, Prince!"

Lucy turned to Li Bohai who was silent all this while and said "We will be on our way then, Bába."

"Why? we just met a few minutes ago!" Li Bohai was completely not willing to part with his daughter whom he met years after. "Why not we go to a restaurant and dine together...?"

As well-mannered she was, she can't possibly say no to the elder whom she respected so much. "As you say, Bába."

And that was it, they were off for the restaurant.

...

The restaurant they came wasn't fitting of their status because father Li never became comfortable with the idea of luxury. It was a crowded place where any ordinary person will go to fill their stomach. But the aroma of food was no less than any five-star hotel.

They ordered sweet corn soup and dumplings as they settled on their respective chairs. The seat arrangement was something like Lucy and Omisha one side of the table while Li Xuan and father Li on another side. This arrangement made Lucy and Li Xuan directly face each other, and of course, as hopeless lover Li Xuan was, he didn't let go of the chance to stealthily admire his favourite person. Lucy was well aware of his gazes directed to her, but she played indifferent.

Soon, their food arrived and father Li took the liberty of taking care of Omisha while she was eating.

Lucy picked up the bowl of sweet corn chicken soup and put the spoonful of soup in her mouth. It was heavenly tasty, but... something was wrong with the soup...which she was unable to figure out. Li Xuan noticed the small frown on her face and he too took a spoonful of soup to check what was wrong there. But before the spoon could even touch his lips, her voice rang in his ears,

"Stop!" Lucy literally shouted as she figured what was amiss in the soup. Then she explained as she faced Li Xuan's questioning gaze "Pepper, It has black pepper in it."

He was allergic of black peppers, and she still remembered that. Li Xuan was lost in his thoughts, while Lucy was busy with her food as if she hasn't uttered a single word just a moment ago.

"You still remember that..." Li Xuan uttered under his breath in a barely audible voice, but she heard him.

Lucy stopped chewing on her food as she replied in an equally quiet voice "Can't help it, I have a good memory after all." and once again, she was back to being indifferent.

He chuckled as he realized something 'You have learnt to be cocky,'

Father Li noticed some of their interaction, but he played cool.

When they were done with their dinner, father Li paid the bills. And of course, no one argued with him on that.

As they were about to leave the restaurant, a clumsy waitress who was holding a mug of coffee, bumped into Lucy. The coffee spilt on Lucy's sweater sleeve. Thankfully, the coffee was cold and not the hot one, but it still left a dark stain on her spotless sweater.

The waitress lady cursed her clumsy nature as she started to apologize to Lucy. "I'm sorry ma'am, I'm so sorry! please forgive me!" The waitress lady continued with her begging as Lucy and her companion gave not-so-ordinary vibes. And she has witnessed how cruel some rich people could get.

Lucy examined the stain on her sweater and approached the lady waitress who was on the verge of going insane by her continuous apologies "Calm down," Lucy softly said, "No damage, the stain is washable." And even if it wasn't washable, shouting over the waitress lady was surely not going to be of any help, so all well.

The waitress lady sighed in relief, "Thank you, ma'am, thank you so much!" After saying that, she vanished out of the sight.

Lucy turned to Omisha and said "Omisha, stay with bába. I'll be right back after cleaning this, okay?" Omisha nodded to her Angel and Lucy dashed toward the washroom, to clean the stain.

....

When Lucy was done cleaning her sweater sleeve, she came out of the washroom. As soon as she came out, a certain someone who was waiting outside of the door gently griped on her wrist.

Without even looking at that certain someone's face, she recognized him. Because she was not only familiar with the hand which was gripping on her, but also the smell of cologne coming from him.

Lucy eyed Li Xuan then she meaningfully looked at her wrist which was under his grip, It was an indication for him to let go of her hand. But he didn't let go, even after knowing it may anger her. Because that's what he wanted, to make her vent out her anger.

But who was he kidding? The woman in question was none other than Lucy, the epitome of calmness. Of course, making her pour out her emotion wasn't piece of cake. She was an expert in burring everything inside her heart and suffocating herself with it.