Chapter 227 - 30: Stop The Car

One evening, Ed was ordered to pick Kate up, saying that the boss would have dinner with somebody. Finding her still not seeing the light, he said, "Hurry up and change your clothes."

When she came downstairs after getting dressed, Ed put his hand to his forehead exaggeratedly, "I say, could you please wear something a little bit more…expensive? Jeans and a down jacket? Are you going to the market? The aunties shopping in the market even carry a fake LV."

Then he went upstairs personally to pick her clothes. With the help of Laura, after she changed, Ed raised his eyebrows and commented, "It is OK now. Not stunning, but not losing face for the boss."

When they arrived at the hotel lobby, Tristan happened to arrive.

They went up to the restaurant, and half a dozen guests were there already. They stood up and greeted each other. Someone who had a similar accent to Kate's claimed that he came from the same city as her.

The waitress brought their food. All kinds of nice-looking seafood, meat, and desserts, made with material from either deep sea or organic farms, grown overseas and cooked by the notable chef.

The men started talking.

Kate caught one or two things they were saying.

One guy was a construction material supplier, and he wanted to cooperate with Chasin Group. A pretty young girl seated next to him, about 20 years old, was his niece. She was gorgeous and smart, talkative, and straightforward.

The construction material supplier introduced his niece as an Ivy League graduate and said jokingly, "This girl admires Mr. Fox very much. She always wanted to meet Mr. Fox in person. She would not let me come alone when she heard I was coming to meet you."

Tristan said, "You are not disappointed, are you?"

The girl giggled.

Another guy said, "A hottie like Tristan surely loves pretty girls."

Kate curled her lips down.

When they ordered drinks, the waitress recommended a low-alcohol wine when Kate said she didn't want alcohol. Tristan also confirmed that it was almost like juice. Kate got that wine, and it did taste like juice with fruit fragrance.

When she raised her head, she met the girl's contemptuous glance. She had a glass of cognac in her hand.

After some drinks, the men got drunk. The construction material supplier told about his story of hunting elks.

He invited Tristan to go to Oregon for hunting in the season. He said he once shot a female elk and found it was pregnant. The bullet went through her w.o.m.b and hit the baby elk inside.

Everyone laughed, and Kate felt her stomach start to roar, and she had to take a couple of sips of the fruit wine to suppress the sickening feeling.

The construction material supplier detected Kate had been quiet for some time, so he introduced the dish to her when the waitress served it up. "This is moose meat, roasted with many kinds of spices. Tastes wonderful. Try it."

The food looked appealing, brown-colored meat roasted to the perfect temperature, decorated with some green leaves. Tristan also smiled and said to her, "Try it. It looks great." And he helped cut a piece and put it onto her dish.

Kate put down the fork and said, "I don't want to eat this."

Seeing everyone looking at her in the puzzle, she explained, "Moose is a protected animal."

There was silence. And someone chuckled and said, "Well, it won't be extinct if we just eat one or two of them."

"If everyone thinks this way, then it won't be one or two of them."

The girl blurted out, "You are quite an eco-activist. But how about the fur you are wearing? Why don't you protect that animal you wear?" Her uncle coughed to imply her to hush.

Kate was taken aback. She didn't really notice the clothes in her wardrobe.

Tristan said, "It is artificial."

The crowd laughed understandingly. The uncle said, "Tristan is humorous."

Kate looked at him, and he just smiled lightly at her. He passed her a currant bun. She suddenly thought of once he said that whatever he gave her, she could only accept.

On their way back, Kate felt it was stuffy inside the car. The fruit wine seemed to ferment in her stomach and made her uncomfortable. It also made her dizzy and excited, with a new d.e.s.i.r.e to speak. She asked, "Did I make you lose face just now?"

Tristan replied calmly, "My face cannot be lost just by one or two words."

She curled her lips. He was right. She looked down the snow-white fur coat, rubbing it and pulling it as if to see if it was real or not.

"Don't bother to study it. It is real."

"What animal is it?"

"Fox."

She thought of the smart animal she saw on the Discovery Channel.

Tristan said casually, "If it is in the market, someone will buy it."

"If nobody buys it, then it will have no market."

Tristan raised his eyebrows and looked at her quietly.

"You are all killers of animals."

"The grudge has been a long time? Want to vent it out tonight? Why not take it off."

Out of his expectation, she took it off immediately and handed it to him. She only wore a thin evening dress underneath.

Tristan frowned and reached his hand to slide down the window on her side. "Just throw it." He said.

The freezing wind blew inside the car. Kate didn't expect this from him. She held the coat and paused.

Tristan sneered. "What? Cannot bear to lose it?" and then he muttered as if speaking to himself. "Not everyone is capable of doing what he boasts about…"

Before he finished, he heard the sound of retching.

"Stop the car." She cried.

When the car was stopped, Tristan pushed the door open and pulled Kate, who was still vomiting, out. She was bending down and still spitting and heaving. He put his hand to his mouth but found it smelled.

Tristan looked down and saw some vomit on his sleeve. He was annoyed so much that he almost wanted to give her a kick on the b.u.t.t.

The driver brought a bottle of water, and Tristan signaled him to give it to her directly, but he immediately changed his mind and grabbed it from him. He twisted the cap off and caught Kate by the back of her clothes rudely, and asked her to gargle.

After she rinsed her mouth, she wanted to drink the remaining water in the bottle, but he padded on her back and ordered, "Spit it out."

The car was dirty, and the driver knew his germ-phobic boss would never sit in it again. He had to call and ask somebody else to drive a car to pick them up. But it was dark, and the wind was blowing hard.

The driver suggested they find a warmer place to wait.

Tristan looked at the woman who had already stood up, said angrily, "Just wait here."

The driver could not say anything, so the three of them had to stay in the wind waiting.

Kate was still grabbing the fur coat. She only wore a sleeveless dress. She seemed to want to put on the coat but found it was dirty and had to put it down.

The tight-fitting dress outlined her body; with the 3-inch high heels and shoulder-length hair, she looked feminine. But her pose and gestures were childish.

Tristan sighed and said to the driver, "We will not wait. Let's call a cab."

Kate became sober in the cold wind. She knew she made a mistake. When she saw Tristan walking towards her, she stepped back out of fear.

But to her surprise, he walked to the front of her and took off his coat and put it on her without saying anything.

Kate looked at him and met his eyes. She asked in a low voice, "You are not cold?"

Tristan pulled the front of the coat closet for her and said, "I am a man."

Kate didn't know what a man being had to do with being cold, but he did look manly standing there in the wind with just a shirt.

Then she realized he was standing in the direction from which the wind blew, and her heart got warmer.

No cab came by for quite a long time. And there was something crystal coming from the air.

"Snow!" Kate exclaimed and stretched out her hand to catch one flake. She always liked snow. She observed its shape and watched it melt in her palm. This was what she liked to do when she was a child.

After a while, she found Tristan was quiet. She looked at him and met his eyes. He seemed to be looking like an idiot.

He said calmly, "Haven't you seen snow in your hometown?"

"Yes, but Los Angeles rarely has snow."

"What is the difference?"

She hushed and put down her hands.

They finally got into a cab. As soon as they got in, Tristan sneezed.

"You caught a cold?" Kate asked with concern.

"No."

She wanted to take off his coat and give it back to him, but he said, "Just wear it."

The fur coat with vomitus started to give smell in the confined space of the car, and Tristan frowned, "You really cannot drink a drop of alcohol?"

"I said I couldn't drink."

"Then it is my fault?"

Kate squinted at him and said nothing.

She thought of the time she celebrated with Jimmy on his transfer to criminal police. She had had half a glass of red wine. She didn't feel uncomfortable after drinking it.

She remembered the fragrance of it now that she recalled this memory.

What he was up to now? Did he crackdown on a lot of big cases? Tristan didn't know what she was thinking. Perhaps he thought she was in her stupid trance habitually. 

He said, "No alcohol for you from now on."

The episode that night passed, and they soon forgot it.