Free Web NovelChapter 722: Chapter 693: Love in a Parallel Universe [015]
The restaurant is on the twenty-fifth floor of The Imperial Hotel, where a small string orchestra plays. The elegant pure music washes over people’s hearts like a gentle stream, making them feel at peace.
Sienna rests her chin on her hand, absentmindedly gazing at the night view of Brimfield outside the floor-to-ceiling window, her thoughts on Simon Forrester.
"Hi, we meet again." The boy’s voice is clean and clear.
She snaps back to reality, retracts her gaze from the window, and looks at the person standing in front of her.
The boy looks very young, wearing a denim jacket, his hands tucked in his pockets, smiling brightly, quite different from her impression of a tough police officer, resembling instead a handsome, carefree Korean style guy.
As Sienna recovers, she quickly stands up and nods, "Hello, I’m Sienna Thorne."
"Hello, I’m Seth Sutton." Seth Sutton pulls out the chair opposite her and sits down, "Have you been waiting long?"
"I just arrived too."
The waiter brings the menu over, Seth quickly scans it and looks at her, "What would you like to eat?"
"Filet steak, medium rare."
Seth closes the menu and hands it to the waiter, "Two medium rare filet steaks."
"Alright, Mr. Sutton."
After the waiter leaves, the atmosphere suddenly becomes awkward.
Sienna lowers her eyes to drink water, while Seth looks at her with interest, seeing she doesn’t intend to speak, he smiles and asks, "Don’t you remember me?"
Sienna raises her eyes, "Have we met before?"
Seth smiles brightly, "Mooncrest, and the worker’s rooftop incident."
Sienna looks at him and thinks for a moment, several fragmented images gradually overlap in her mind to form a complete impression.
She exclaims with surprise, "It’s you!"
Seth was the officer who escorted her to the rooftop the day Mr. Wang jumped, and later drove her to the construction company’s office.
Remembering that day, she thinks of Simon Forrester again.
Seth sees her expression is not good, and thinks something might have happened to Mr. Wang’s family, he asks hurriedly, "Is the worker alright? Did his son make it?" freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Sienna nods, "The construction company covered the child’s surgery and post-operative costs, the child completed a bone marrow transplant a month ago, and is doing quite well."
"That’s good."
Because of the conversation about this matter, the atmosphere between the two becomes slightly more natural. Seth, typical of a Jadeston boy, talks a lot and can crack jokes, making Sienna giggle quietly with a few sentences. But this relaxed atmosphere doesn’t last till the end, as she remembers the purpose of her meeting tonight.
"Officer Sutton."
Seth smiles at her, "Hmm? Go on."
Sienna hesitates and says, "I know it’s rude to say this, but I don’t want to waste your time, you must be quite busy."
Seth chuckles, "Work is busy, but there’s still time for romance."
He suddenly puts away his smile, and says seriously, "I quite like you."
Sienna’s heart sinks, feeling awkward and troubled, hesitating for a moment, yet insists, "I’m sorry."
Seth responds, "Feelings need to be cultivated, just meet more often."
He speaks naturally, seeming not to believe Sienna is genuinely rejecting him, perhaps thinking she’s just being shy.
Sienna worries about causing trouble, bluntly says, "I already like someone, sorry."
She thought Seth might ask why she came for a blind date since she likes someone, but he just smiles and nods, "No worries, if we can’t be lovers, we can still be friends."
Business may fail, but friendship prevails, waiting for a chance to upgrade from a friend’s role.
Sienna doesn’t want to drag things on, and doesn’t have the heart and time to invest in a friendship awaiting a romantic response, she almost blurts out "it’s inconvenient," but thinking of Quentin Thorne’s relationship with Seth’s father, she swallows her words.
With the meal finished, there’s no need to stay any longer, she wants to leave. But before leaving, she needs to pay, can’t reject someone and let them pay.
She grabs her bag and stands up, "Sorry, I need to go to the washroom."
"I’ll wait for you."
"Alright."
Sienna slings her shoulder bag and heads towards the restaurant’s service counter.
Just a few steps out, the man seated behind her greets his companion, buttons up his suit and leaves the seat.
The man is tall and robust, wearing a perfectly tailored navy winter suit, with one hand in his trouser pocket, the other naturally at his side, striding elegantly toward the counter.
.
"Madam, a gentleman has already settled the bill for you."
"Ah?" Sienna is surprised, "Which gentleman paid?"
After placing the order, Seth hadn’t moved his gaze away from her, so it’s definitely not Seth who paid.
The restaurant cashier apologizes repeatedly, "Sorry Ms. Thorne," refusing to reveal who settled the bill.
Sienna loses patience, directly pulls out twelve hundred yuan from her wallet and tosses it onto the counter.
She turns to leave, casually glancing up, suddenly seeing the longed-for figure.
The cashier takes the money and comes out, looks at Simon Forrester, then Sienna, bows to Simon Forrester, "Mr. Forrester, this...?"
Simon Forrester gazes deeply at Sienna, tells the cashier, "Settle Ms. Thorne’s bill."
"Alright Mr. Forrester." The cashier turns back to the counter.
Sienna understands, it was Simon Forrester who paid her bill.
She gazes at Simon Forrester with complex emotions, unable to smile.
They face each other silently, each seeing only the other.
Seeing him again after half a month, Sienna wants to cry, wanting to say nothing.
The cashier comes around from the counter, "Ms. Thorne, here’s your change."
Sienna snaps back to reality, takes the money, stuffs it randomly into her bag, and when she lifts her face again, forces a smile, "Hi, what a coincidence."
"Could we have a word?" Simon Forrester asks, his face carrying a smile.
Sienna glances at Seth Sutton still sitting and waiting for her, swallows, "Sorry, my friend is waiting."
Simon Forrester smiles slightly, turns sideways, making a gesture of "please," "Then let’s meet next time."
"...Alright."
Sienna doesn’t look at him again, directly walks back into the restaurant.
She walks with a straight back, each step exceedingly elegant, daring not to look back, to see if Simon Forrester is still standing there.
She believes he should have left.
.
Sienna returns to her seat in a daze, the restaurant has already cleared the plates and brought a small fruit platter and two desserts.
Seth puts away his phone, nods towards the restaurant entrance with his chin, "Ran into a friend?"
Sienna purses her lips and nods.
Seth smiles, "Your friend sat behind you all evening, yet you didn’t notice."
"Ah?" Sienna turns instinctively to look.
There’s no one at the table behind anymore.
"The man who just talked to you was sitting behind you." Seth says, "When you got up, he followed."
Sienna’s mind explodes, stunned.
So Simon Forrester heard her entire conversation with Seth Sutton? Including her telling Seth she likes someone?!
Seth sees her face turning pale, quickly asks, "What’s wrong? Do you feel unwell?" freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
"Ah?" She snaps back, shakes her head, "I’m fine, let’s go, I want to go home."
