124 Face to Face 1

"Why don't we play and show you guys right now?"

As the CEO coughed and said these words to bring attention to the fact that the two in the restaurant had company, Keren and Luke looked to the side with their jaws falling in the process.

"Brother!"

"Liz!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Aren't you supposed to be working?"

Both of them spoke in perfect sync, throwing these questions to Will and Liz before zipping their mouths and stopping in embarrassment.

They didn't even know how they had gotten into that topic of comparing Will and Liz's proficiency in sports, so both of them felt slightly awkward.

Liz was feeling mostly puzzled right now. How the hell had they ended up having lunch together?

She wished she could run forward and grab Luke's ear to force him to answer, but she controlled herself due to where they were.

Keren was the first to recover, and she spoke while looking at Will with her usual self-confident voice.

"Brother, why are you here anyway? Couldn't you two have gone to a different restaurant to continue dating? I hear that last night was 'fun'…"

Now, it was Will and Luke's turn to feel embarrassed.

The way Keren said it, it was almost like they had done other 'fun' things during the night.

Luke, on the other hand, stifled a chuckle, which made Liz glare at him more.

"Oh, nothing. I got a call from your manager that she couldn't find you, so I asked someone to track your location. Imagine my surprise when I found out that you were here with someone who is supposed to be resting in bed. So, I came to find out what you two could be talking about."

With her mouth forming an "O", Keren took out the phone she had put in silent and checked it, seeing that there were many missed calls.

Also, seeing the time, she yelped.

"Wow! Its been that many hours?! Lucas, I need to go, I have a meeting with a diplomat. Liz, it's nice seeing you. And brother, I'll be having a talk with you later. Bye, everyone!"

Saying so, Karen quickly walked out of the room before anyone could say anything to stop her.

In fact, when Luke saw the clock on the wall, he was also startled that so much time had passed.

After the three of them found themselves alone in the dining hall, Luke rubbed his nose and said, "Ok. I'll go, then. You two take care." Before walking towards the door.

However, he was stopped by Liz who didn't control herself anymore.

Walking forward, she grabbed his earlobe and twisted, making him screech suddenly in pain before saying, "Liz, what the hell!"

"You. Are. Supposed. To. Be. Resting! Instead, you come out to sit for hours and hours with my boss's sister? Let's go home! We have some talking to do!"

Before, she had hesitated because Keren was also there.

It was at this moment that she realized that she had gotten closer to the CEO than she had imagined, as she had had no qualms against doing this even though he was looking.

Luke, on the other hand, was trying not to retort in a way that would make him lose even more of his image in front of the CEO.

However, he didn't have a chance.

"Miss. Liz, Rao is waiting outside. You can head home, we can talk tomorrow."

With that small smile which looked demonic to Luke, the CEO said this and made Liz smile with joy.

"Thanks!", she said, before dragging him out even while he made sounds of protest.

It was only after finally entering the Mercedes did she let go of his ear.

"Where to, Miss. Liz?"

"The diner two blocks away, Rao, thanks. Please wait for me there so that you can drop me home."

"Of course."

It was a short drive, followed by Luke grumblingly following Liz up the stairs to his room while trying to decide what he would say to her.

Well, lying was out of the question, because she had always had a knack since childhood of sniffing out even the smallest of his lies.

So, he just decided to tell the truth.

After they reached the room, Luke eased himself into the sofa while Liz locked the door and stood in front of him with her arms folded.

He understood her concern, as his sutures really did hurt. If he had exerted himself more, maybe they would have reopened.

So, he started with an apology.

"Liz, don't be mad. We really just lost track of time. I'm fine! I'll rest from now, and I promise that I won't go on any long trips outside. Ok? Besides, Keren dragged me to lunch saying that she would tell me more about your 'boyfriend'. When did that start, anyway?"

Hearing this, Liz felt slightly guilty in return, as she really had started dating Will without telling her best friend.

Well, things had been hectic.

"I was going to tell you about that as soon as we got some time. I liked the earnestness he showed to spend time with me, and he's awkward in a cute way. He isn't even my 'boyfriend', we're just talking. You tell me. Since when are you so chatty with my boss's sister? I even thought you didn't like him because he hurt me before."

In response, Liz watched as Luke drew a blank.

This made Liz feel shocked. This was just their first meeting, and Luke usually wasn't someone who got close in just one meeting, especially when there was a reason to mildly dislike someone. She knew him well; if he didn't like the CEO, he wouldn't like Keren either because of their association.

He took a minute or so to respond, but when he did, what he said surprised Liz so much that she looked for a chair to sit down.

"Take away all the riches and fame, and they are just like us, Liz. She said something which affected me, though, and made me realize something. If I proposed to you now, and wanted to be your boyfriend, what would you do?"