Chapter 383 - Her smile

"So, how did you get the tickets?" Amy asked, trying to break the silence as they settled into the silver-grey Mercedes Benz. As soon as the words had left her mouth, she realized what a silly question that was.

This was Edward Wu. There was nothing he could not do. She bit her lower lip to hide her embarrassment. But his reply was nothing like she had expected.

"Mei Mei Chung used to bring them to me every year. I have no idea who sends them," he answered with genuine interest, and then realizing how that might have come off, he chuckled lightly.

"A lot of people send things to the Company, and to me. It's industry goodwill. The Company does the same for some of our most loyal clients too," he added in explanation.

Amy nodded her understanding. She had had few people do anything for her. In fact, she could count them on two fingers.

Her parents and Chynna. She could not imagine what it was like to have people randomly give one stuff.

"Must be nice," she muttered absentmindedly.

"Sorry?" Edward asked.

"Oh! I said it must be nice having people give you free stuff all the time," she responded, clearer this time. She looked up at him and smiled shyly.

Edward's heart melted and then did a crazy summersault at the sight of Amy's smile. He nodded, his throat too clogged with emotion to speak.

He was afraid he would embarrass himself if he tried to respond right away. She was a hardworking girl and she it deserved the whole world, including a slice of the moon, maybe. And yet, it seemed like she was not even getting the least.

He felt compelled to fix that. To bring her all the good things she deserved and more. His heart righted itself, then flipped over again. He looked away.

The car drove on in silence for a few more minutes before he spoke again.

"So, tell me, Red, what rock bands are you a fan of?"

"Black Panther!" she replied enthusiastically as if she had been waiting to be asked the whole time.

"I used to sneak around the house with my best friend so we could listen to them on her iPod. We would lie to my parents that we were doing homework or something school related but what we were really doing was whiling away time, catching up on music."

She laughed at the memory, and then continued. "I like Dou Wei too. But that's probably because he used to work with Black Panther. And then, there's Hedgehog too, but my absolute all-time favorite just might be Queen Sea Big Shark.

I'm certain it's gender bias, but it just is such a breath of fresh air having a woman be involved in what is mostly a male dominated space and excelling while at it. Because damn! You and I know the girl is good! Heh!"

Edward could not help but smile at her excitement. He was seeing a whole new vista to her. And he almost immediately regretted the limited role she had to play back at the office. In this very instant, she had been transformed from the monosyllabic one liner robot into a fully animated, bubbly, and interesting character.

When they pulled into the parking lot of the arena, Amy was startled at how swiftly two huge men she later recognized as bouncers materialized before her and Edward.

Their effusive and respectful demeanor towards Edward was however uncharacteristic of all the other bouncers she had been unfortunate to encounter in her young life.

They fussed and kowtowed and bowed so much that they started to look like overinflated inflatable teddy bears. Amy was reminded yet again of the power of influence and wealth. As if she was ever allowed to forget, even, being surrounded by Edward's fortunes as she was.

While her mind wandered, the two men in their black uniforms, together with Edward, started to move forward. She quickly dragged her mind back to the present and hurried to meet up with them.

She wanted to ask why they were not going through the proper entrance but was scared of sounding stupid to Edward who looked unruffled.

'This must be normal for him' she thought, chewing on her lower lip. The interior of the elevator looked okay and nothing like the rustic contraption it had seemed like on the outside and soon, they were ushered into an open rooftop area.

The loud music hit Amy all at once and she involuntarily brought her palms over her ears to curtail the impact. Edward laughed and leaned closer to her as he yelled, "They'll adjust to the sound, trust me."

Then he grabbed her hand and led her towards the edge of the concrete deck. He crouched down and sat, letting his legs dangle freely off the ledge. He looked up to Amy whose eyes were wide with surprise and some other emotion she could not quite place at the moment.

"It's fine, Red. You don't need to be afraid," Edward said, raising his voice but failing to be audible over the sound of clanging cymbals and humming guitars. So, he just settled for extending his hand to her.

She took it and proceeded to sit down beside him with the utmost fear of someone not accustomed to having nothing but air under them.

"This is beautiful," she said, after finally settling in and getting back some control of her erratic breathing.

"It is," Edward concurred. And for a moment, they both stayed silent, drinking in the music as well as the view of gyrating bodies below them, chorusing along soulfully with the performing artistes. 

Their enjoyment was punctuated by one of the bouncers from earlier. When Amy turned back to see the cause of the intrusion, she was pleasantly surprised to see that the huge fellow had come along with a picnic-like basket. He dropped it off and made a quiet retreat as Amy and Edward nodded their thanks.

"Did you plan all of this?" she stuttered, looking over at Edward.