Chapter 12 - Enjoying The View
Chapter 12 – Enjoying The View
Shui Xian rarely attended these gatherings or parties. But just for civility, he'd still show up once in a blue moon. Today happened to be that once in a blue moon.
As they say, 'Life may not be the party we hoped for, while we are here, we should dance.'
Shu Xian was exactly following that saying in life. Since he had to interact with people in this circle, then it wasn't harmful to give them face once in a while either. It wasn't much of an effort. Besides, only appearing rarely, he also never stayed till the end. He'd just come to give some face to the host and leave silently.
But who knew one day at one of these parties, she'd wander into his life and occupy the seat right beside him without his permission, daringly without any care as if it rightfully belonged to her from the very beginning.
When Shui Xian noticed that someone sat beside him, his brows raised up inconspicuously in surprise. He knew well about what went on in such parties. But even though he always came alone, no one still dared to come close to him. Especially the ones of the opposite gender. Almost everyone knew about his passionate relationship with his ex-wife. And they all also knew how frigid he became after that passionate relationship fell apart.
Previously, right after his divorce, some ladies had their own ideas and tried to get chummy with him but his coldness might have frozen them to death. Because no one after that even bothered to disturb his peace.
However, today they all witnessed someone taking a seat beside Master Xian and were waiting to see a good show. But they were bound to be disappointed. After all, even though Shui Xian was cold, he had manners. He would never be rude to the fairer sex at least not unless they tried something first.
"Is this seat taken?"
When he heard this question, he took a moment to gaze into the girl's pitch-black eyes. The distinct black and white of her eyes looked dazzling under the lights. He slowly parted his lips and said, "You're already sitting. Why bother questioning now?"
Raelle had to agree, "That's correct. Now that I'm sitting here, the seat belongs to me." She leaned back in her seat and noticed how everyone's eyes were still trained on her. But she was very unfamiliar with these people. It didn't make sense. Why would they be staring at her? Slowly, her brows wrinkled and she looked straight at Shui Xian's side profile.
He was elegantly sipping on his red wine as his amber eyes darted around languidly. He seemed nonchalant but Raelle could tell that he was observing everything. He had a strong presence which meant he won't be a simple character.
This time it was Shui Xian who could feel her piercing gaze stuck to his face. So, he finally questioned, "What are you doing?"
"Enjoying the view," she replied pleasantly.
His head whipped around to look at her with confusion in his eyes, "Enjoying the view?"
Raelle nodded her head, "Enjoying…" she shaped his facial contours from her position with her finger and went on, "The view!" Seeing how his lips pressed into a thin line, she sighed out, "Everyone's eyes are on you. And you're also sitting here like a male god sculpture so I thought maybe, I'm supposed to enjoy this art piece like everyone else."
"Or maybe they are looking at you," he retorted in a calm voice.
"Nope!" was her response. "There are only two possibilities. Either they are looking at you or they are looking at me because I'm sitting with you. Either way, the root cause is, you!"
Shui Xian couldn't refute her words. Even he knew why everyone was looking this way. Even if they were trying to be subtle, it was very obvious. He didn't want to continue the discussion with a stranger but he still told her, "Stop paying them attention and they'll stop paying you any attention."
"Sounds about right," agreed Raelle.
Seeing how the girl beside Master Xian wasn't actually pushed away, the guests started speculating her identity. They actually believed that she was Master Xian's female partner for tonight. Although this idea seemed preposterous, however, they couldn't think of anything else especially when they could see that Master Xian was even talking amiably to the girl beside him.
And since Raelle sat beside Master Xian, soon the servers started treating her like an esteemed guest. Drinks and appetizers were laid out before her in a hurry.
Raelle felt a little amused at this treatment and looked at Shui Xian again.
"Still enjoying the view?" he asked.
"No, now I'm appreciating this view," she replied. Shui Xian raised his brow at her as she went on, "I'm being treated like an distinguished guest, all because I'm sitting beside you. It's making me very curious about your identity."
"You don't know me?" he questioned. Actually, he could already tell that she didn't know him. It was his own very first time seeing her around. Even though she was wearing a mask and he couldn't see her face clearly, she was certainly not someone he would forget easily. So, it was very clear that she wasn't from around here.
Raelle picked up a glass of red wine and swirled it slowly saying, "Now that I'm here. I'll eventually know who you are." She took a small sip of the red wine and tasted it with closed eyes. As she opened her eyes, she sighed out, "This bold fruity taste…" Then her eyes looked at the table full of different foods and picked up a plate, "This looks pretty. Are these wantons?"
"That's crab rangoon," informed Shui Xian.
Raelle looked at him and nodded, "Oh… Don't they all look similar?"
"No," was his sort reply.
Even though she curiously looked at everything on the table just to enhance her knowledge of things around here including food, she didn't actually eat anything. She'd at most take a sip of the wine.
She had no plans of talking to Shui Xian uselessly. And it seemed like he had the same idea because they both were just fine with being silent. Not only they both were perfectly fine with being silent, they also had the same thought; they had just come to look around. In a way, they both had very similar personalities; they were both people of few words.
Raelle was taking in the sight of this party when her cellphone vibrated in her clutch. She took it out and seeing that she received a message from Mu Chenyan, she unlocked the screen. But just as she looked at the content of the message, her lips curled up ever so slightly in delight.