Chapter 10. Lunch Date

Sienna started trembling on her own feet after she walked into the lobby. She followed Hamuza from behind. He would escort her to meet the man who invited her on this special lunch.
Sometimes she tried to fix her clothes. She was only wearing a bright pastel shirt covered in a knitted yellow cardigan, blue denim jeans, a sling bag, and a pair of comfy slippers. Her modest appearance was so much perfect to become a local florist.
But here she came. The fancy restaurant was just not where she expected to go.
She had to caress her long dark brown hair a few times to make sure that she looked okay. She got so anxious because she didn’t know this restaurant would look so expensive.
Daniel didn’t say anything but to invite her to come in. She hoped she didn’t wear the wrong dress code in this place. Most people here were wearing casual clothes like her, but they looked richer and glamorous for sure.
Her self-esteem was just so low, she didn’t have so much confidence left anymore. She kept staring down at her own pace when walking behind this big man dressed in a blue suit.
Moreover, she was not feeling confident since Jonathan had not arrived here yet. For how long he would be stuck in a traffic jam? Sienna kept on asking that same question over and over from the inside. She was not being patient in waiting for her boyfriend to come over.
She already imagined hundreds of different scenarios inside of her head. She thought she would feel uncomfortable meeting face to face with Daniel. It would not look like another ordinary lunch break, but something more personal.
She hoped Hamuza would sit down together with her, being an icebreaker in between. But somehow, she knew he wouldn’t sit with her. He said himself, it was called *the etiquette.*
As soon as she entered the arched door with Hamuza, she saw a big room with a wide range of glass windows. She could see the city view from above here.
The room felt peaceful with only some people were chattering. And the jazzy music was played in the background.
Over there near the windowsill, she finally saw the charismatic figure had been waiting for her arrival. When he stared back at her, it was like an electric jolt instantly sent a chill down her spine. His dark eyes were icy cold, but there was a deep sense of magnetic attraction behind them that was kind of flattered her as an opposite attract.
“Please, Miss Moss. Have a seat,” said Hamuza as he dragged out the chair for her.
Sienna walked forward with a heart pounded pretty fast. She took a deep breath a few times to calm herself. She had to look fine in front of Daniel. She didn’t want to make Jonathan worried later about her attitude against that man. She already promised her boyfriend to be nice.
Once Sienna sat down in front of him, she took off her black sling bag. Afterward, she gathered the courage to face him. She greeted him and smiled, “Hello, Mister Wilson, thank you for having me here. How are you today?”
Daniel smiled back and murmured, “I’m very much in a good shape today. Thank you for asking, Miss Moss,” then he slightly stole a glance at the empty chair beside him, “but it seems that your boyfriend…”
“Jonathan said he still gets stuck in a traffic jam. It’s so unfortunate…” Sienna shouted out as she grabbed out her phone from the inside of her pocket jeans. She quickly checked the last message that Jonathan sent to her.
“Yes, it is so unfortunate,” Daniel agreed. “A traffic jam can be bothersome.”
Then he gave a silent gaze at Hamuza. That big man immediately nodded, understood.
Sienna felt kind of shuddered when she noticed what Daniel just did.
Hamuza left to give them privacy. Soon, there were only the two of them at the table.
Before it felt too awkward for her, Sienna finally started off the conversation, “Mister Wilson, thank you so much for the sweet package you sent me yesterday. I enjoyed the waffles. They were very delicious.”
Daniel smiled happily at her. “I’m glad you enjoyed it, Miss Moss. I can always deliver you for more if you want.”
Sienna grasped the air as she muttered to him, “Oh, no! Please don’t burden yourself.”
His eyes were slightly popped out when Sienna suddenly raised her tone.
Sienna added, “You’re just too kind, Mister Wilson. That’s what I meant,” then she shook her head deliberately when talking, “I will feel bad for you if you do more.”
However, she only felt bad because she had been accusing him to be a dangerous man. Her suspicion toward him seemed faulty.
She had met him a few times already. Daniel only showed how nice he was as a gentleman. Sienna eventually started to feel like a bad person to ever think badly of him.
He chuckled and said, “Why would I feel bad for being kind toward you, Miss Moss? You know that I also delivered the waffles to Mister Brown, right?”
She slightly tossed her dark hair behind her ear nervously. And then she nodded at him. “Yes, I knew that.”
Afterward, a waitress came to deliver a silver tray of their menu. There were three plates of sweet pastries and three cups of hot milky coffees which Daniel had ordered ahead before she arrived. And he also ordered his own menu, which was a Bolognese pasta.
After a while, the clock kept ticking in the room, but Jonathan had not arrived yet.
Sienna unconsciously started to stomp her foot on the floor. She had drunk half of her milky coffee. She was quiet during the lunch. Daniel also didn’t talk to her when he was eating his pasta food.
Soon, Daniel noticed her anxiousness at the time. He had been observing her expression since the beginning she sat down with him.
“Miss Moss, are you alright?” He finally asked.
Sienna blinked her eyes, surprised. “Ah, yes, Mister Wilson. I’m just…”
“While we’re waiting for Mister Brown to come here, why don’t you tell me about yourself?” He asked in a friendly manner. “We haven’t actually got to know each other since our first meeting in that pub’s party.”
Sienna’s lips trembled to talk. She didn’t know where to start telling him. His question felt too sudden. She wasn’t prepared to say anything.
But when his eyes lingered hypnotically on hers, Sienna quickly snapped out, “Ugh, I thought I already told you that I work as a florist. And you know I’m also a part-time local librarian. That’s all.”
Daniel chuckled. “No, not about that.”
Sienna blinked nervously. “Then about what?”
“Something about you. Something interesting,” he said, then he took a bite of the pastry.
“About me… uh…” it took Sienna a few seconds before she could arrange the words for him to hear, “I don’t know what’s so interesting about me. I just feel like another ordinary girl, who is living in the city, having a double job, helping my family pays the bills.”
“Have you ever lived outside the country before?” Daniel was suddenly curious. “Traveling? Go see the world out there?”
Sienna chuckled shyly when he asked that. “Well, no longer these days. But yeah, that was the story from a long time ago.”
Daniel took a sip of his coffee, then he pinched his eyes at her. He seemed interested to know more about her story, “Oh, really? Have you gone to Canada before? Like having a boat trip to a goddess island for instance?”
Sienna was a bit taken aback that he was asking her for something a little bit too specific. She thought that was odd.
Then she hated herself for quickly judging him again. She inherited her suspicion mind from her dad, who used to be a private investigator.
“Well, I’d like to be sure that I haven’t been anywhere but New York since I got sick,” Sienna finally decided to tell him. “But the truth, I had a college life in Canada. I was only eighteen. It was around the time my dad had the money to enroll me to the university.”
For a second, she paused and stared down at her plate filled with half of the pastry she had not finished eaten yet. And her hands shuddered.
Daniel noticed the frustration that was engraved on her face at the time. She was quiet.
“Miss Moss?” He whispered, looked worried for her.
She closed her pink lips tightly before she could talk it out to him, “At the time, my mom died from a brain tumor.”
Daniel immediately paused his breath when listening to what she said.
“It was just the most terrible times of my life. I’d wish I didn’t remember,” she muttered.
Daniel stared quietly at her, sympathizing.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Miss Moss. My deepest condolence. It must be the hardest times,” he murmured carefully. He didn’t mean to break her heart by bringing up the topic. He had to walk on the eggshell for her this time.
“It’s okay. It was a long time ago anyway. I’m twenty-eight years old now,” she tried to hide her pain behind her sweet smile. “I just can’t look back and stuck in the past anymore. Life is about moving on to a better place.”
Daniel slightly licked his lips. Then he nodded at her. “Yeah, that’s life, Miss Moss.”
“The future awaits,” Sienna chuckled, tried to break the ice. She just didn’t like to feel the uncomfortable atmosphere with him.
“Just don’t hold back to the past when you can. It’s just better off like that, I think,” once she said that, Daniel stopped chuckling.
He suddenly went silent. It was as if he was drowning in his own thought. His hand looked tense while holding on to his cup of coffee.
Sienna wondered what he was thinking at the time. Was there something wrong that she said earlier? Or did her past story get the best of his sensitivity?
She quickly shouted out to break the ice again, “Look at the two of us here without Jonathan. It’s like a lunch date, huh?” She said and chuckled awkwardly. “Gosh, where is he now? Is the traffic jam really that bad?”
Sienna felt weird with his sudden silent treatment. Daniel was still quiet as he glanced at his wristwatch. And soon, she saw Hamuza went into the room with Jonathan. Sienna immediately waved at him.
As Jonathan approached them, he apologized for his tardiness. “Please blame the traffic jam! I should have been here an hour ago. Oh, God, I make you wait for that long…”
Daniel shouted, “It’s alright, Mister Brown. Please have a seat and enjoy your meal,” and he suddenly raised from the chair, “I have a sudden business to attend now.”
Then he went away quickly, leaving them behind.
Before Hamuza left as well, he said to them, “Please just enjoy the meal. I have taken care the bills for you two.”
Once he walked away, Sienna and Jonathan exchanged a bewildered stare at each other.