Chapter 298 - Ladies' Night
The Phantom's Empire was packed that Saturday night. It was still half-past nine in the evening, but there was already a long line outside. Gael's marketing personnel announced a "Ladies' Night" that evening, which allowed the women to enter the club for free and would also get their first drink for free. This pulled in many female patrons, which also drew in more men searching for potential new female "friends".
Gael and Giovanni took their spots in the exclusive area that's mainly reserved for them. They sat in a half-circle booth made with fine leather material. The luxurious feel set it apart from the other chairs and booths in the club. Other VIP booths that were open for patrons were also on the same floor but were located on the opposite side. Giovanni ordered their drinks, and their personal bartender prepared and then set them on the table.
Since they arrived an hour ago, Gael just stared at nothing in particular, drowning out the music and noise from the patrons. He sat in the middle of the booth while his uncle was a few feet to his left. Giovanni kept himself distracted with a woman he picked up on the way to their booth earlier, pressed against his side. He casually talked to her and occasionally smiled but didn't make a move on her like he used to do whenever they were in a club.
Gael was vaguely aware of what's happening around him, but his thoughts didn't stray away from the image he'd seen of Angela and the Rock. He stared at his phone screen, and in the past few minutes, he found more photos of the two uploaded on the photographer's page.
There were pictures of the entire event and the guests that attended that evening. But the only thing he cared about was if Angela was in the photos. Out of the five images posted, three of them had the Rock's hand on her waist, one with Angela laughing at whatever the douche was saying, and the other one with the Rock whispering something to her ear. What the hell could be so interesting that they had to stand so close together like that?
Bitterness settled on his tongue, and the longer he looked at the photos, the more pissed off he got. The crease between his eyebrows had been permanent since they came into the club.
"Why don't you call her?" Giovanni shouted from where he sat.
Gael scoffed. As if that was easy. "And tell her what?"
"I don't know… That you're horny or something. That's got to be an interesting way to start a conversation. Am I right?" Giovanni smirked at the nameless woman next to him. Her eyes sparkled, and her smile went wide as she caressed his thigh.
Ignoring his uncle, Gael squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, he tossed his phone onto the table, swiped the shot of negroni, and took a swig. He couldn't describe what he was feeling right now. There was a burning sensation in his chest and his jaw started to hurt from the way he'd been clenching his teeth.
He wanted to call Angela, but being mad about what he saw didn't seem rational. Surely there was nothing going on between the two. She made it clear to him that she wasn't interested in that Rock. But just why the fûck did they have to be in the photos? Wait—would it have been better if there were no photos and he wasn't aware that they were together at the moment? Neither of the two was better than the other. He finished his drink, and the bartender immediately replaced it with another.
His knees bounced up and down as he felt uneasy for being too far from her right now. Gael remembered what happened yesterday and wondered if this was how Angela felt when she saw the photo which Lauretta posted. If so, then he felt deeply sorry for her. Lauretta did that to provoke Angela while the photos of Angela and Vincent tonight were from a photographer that's hired by the company. Yesterday was staged; tonight was natural. The thought of that didn't comfort him, and it was so frustrating that there wasn't anything he could do.
"Uh-oh." Giovanni whistled, catching Gael's attention. He was reading something on his phone, and then he glanced at his nephew, saying, "I don't know if I should show you this."
Gael shot him a harsh and cold stare. "What?"
"You seemed to be so worked up about it, so I checked your competition. There's an article from a gossip column posted just twenty minutes ago. Here."
He received the phone from Giovanni and read the write-up. In bold letters, the title stated, "Spotted: Vincent Stone attends Su Corp's year-end party with his date Angela Su, the corporation's heiress."
Gael didn't bother reading the whole thing and just skimmed through the page. But the last part caught his attention.
[ According to sources, Mr. Stone had been sighted in Mayne City many times this year. Something tells me Chairman Su's daughter is the reason for his visits. Don't they just look great together? I don't know about you, but I approve of this ship! This might break the hearts of the fans of the Californian I.T. genius, but I wish he'd settle down now. #VinGela shippers, anyone?
Catch you on the flip side.
Yours truly,
Hermoine Whispers]
VinGela? A harsh laugh escaped from his throat before he tossed the phone back to his uncle. Tonight just kept getting better and better. Gael grabbed the drink from the table and took a long swig, letting the bitterness burn his throat. "The most fûcking ridiculous thing I heard."
Giovanni couldn't help but laugh as he spread his arms wide on the backrest. "You have your men watching over her. All you have to do is give the order. They'll take care of him."
As much as Gael thought that the idea was tempting, he couldn't do that. Angela would hate him more.
Meanwhile, a woman in a shiny red dress approached the booth only to be stopped by a guard.
"I'm your boss's fiancée," she said in a confident tone.
The expressionless guard stared at her while keeping his arm stretched out. "Nice try. Ma'am, please go back to your booth. This is a private area."
Lauretta arched a brow, looking condescending as she folded her arms under her breasts. "Why don't you ask him?"
Giovanni, who noticed what's happening, told the guard to let her in. Lauretta marched towards Gael and took the seat to his right. Gael didn't look up despite hearing and knowing who just arrived. He was too riled up to care.
"We were supposed to visit some venues today! You didn't show up!" Lauretta complained.
Gael downed his drink and poured two fingers of whiskey into the glass. "I didn't get the memo. I was working here the whole day," he answered in a lifeless manner. He wasn't lying too. Ruth was still on leave, and Giovanni had some business in Manhattan, so Gael had to work.
"I called you several times!"
'Oh, for fuck's sake!' he cursed in his head. He couldn't stand listening to this whiny woman. "I said I was busy."
"Lor!" a female's voice called from outside the booth.
They looked up and saw Lia standing by the guard. Her eyes flicked from Lauretta to Gael and then settled on Giovanni.
"She's with me!" Lauretta informed the guard, and Lia was granted access to the booth. The latter hesitated at first before she went to sit next to Lauretta.
'Great. The Morelli women are invading my space. Just what I needed.' Gael's head began to throb. When they planned the "Ladies' Night" event, he didn't mean like this.
He checked on Giovanni who was now purposely ignoring Lia's presence and had suddenly started being more attentive to the woman beside him. He called his uncle's actions bullshît.
Just as Gael thought his night couldn't get any more eventful, his phone rang. It vibrated on the table, and Angela's name flashed on the screen.