Chapitre 11: Not Like the Rest of Them

Once completely makeup-less and changed back into her comfortable jeans and blouse, Natalie left the dressing room and headed to the back door. Her eyes kept drifting around as if that drunk man was about to appear at any minute.

"Calm down… No one is following you." She whispered.

When she left the hostess club, Natalie was greeted with the sight of a black Audi parked sideways next to the stairs of the back door. He was leaning casually against it with his tall legs, but Mr. Moneybags straightened up when Natalie's eyes met his.

"Hello." He began with a serious expression on his face.

"…You again?"

It must be him; he must be the one who bought that phone instead of my broken one. She wondered if he came to see her so he could brag about that.

"I am here to apologize for that man's behavior yesterday."

After fully processing what he said. Natalie hugged herself and raised her chin.

"…I don't understand. Why are you the one apologizing?"

"I came here because that man was a customer of mine. I wanted to assure you personally that we are no longer affiliated with him."

Pulling the edges of her jacket closer together, she went down the metallic stairs and got close enough to look up at him and measure the sincere expression on his face. She knew nothing about this charismatic, filthy rich man, but as irrational as it was, she felt that he was different from the other men she knew.

"…I get what you're trying to do now but it's still not fair for me to hold you responsible for the events of last night."

"You're right, it might not be fair," his puppy eyes smiled at her, "But I still feel responsible for what happened, it wouldn't have happened if I had been more attentive to him. Nothing can excuse his insolence and my negligence, but will you still accept my apology?"

"..."

The smile inside of his eyes slowly faded away during a moment of silence between them. Although she didn't see any meaning in accepting his apology, she still wanted to bring back that same smile to his eyes.

"…All right. Even though it's not your fault, will it help you sleep better at night if I accept your apology?"

A slow grin stretched on his face as he nodded.

"Then I accept your apology."

Natalie got what she wanted when he looked genuinely happy; those small happy wrinkles that appeared around his brown eyes were like extra bones to her. Something moved inside of her in response to that thought; it made her want to bring this stranger more happiness.

"…I haven't had the chance to do so yesterday, but thank you for meddling between us, Batman."

His throaty laugh tickled her, causing her to laugh along with him.

"Why Batman?" He asked.

"I don't know, maybe because of the secret identity?"

"Allow me to reveal my true self then." Reaching inside of his pocket, he took out the same black and golden business card he tried giving to the Uber driver the evening before and handed it to her. Even the texture of the business card screamed of wealth as she felt it between her fingers and read what it said with her eyes.

Alonso Valois

CEO of Valois Holdings for Real Estate Development.

"My name is Alonso. Yours is Natalie, right?"

Her eyes traveled up to his face again, it was her turn to be happy that he remembered her name from that one time she said it out loud when she was singing on stage.

"Right. My name is Natalie."

The mood behind his eyes changed, and the attraction she felt towards him seemed reciprocated when it became palpable between them.

"Nice to meet you, Natalie." He said in a deeper tone.

"Nice to meet you too," she said, slightly embarrassed and looking away then rubbing her cold nose nervously, something popping into her head right then.

"Um, how come you're here at this hour? I mean… How did you know that I would be singing again here tonight?"

His eyes drifted to the building behind her, "I own this club."

The attraction left, making way for intimidation. Here she was, subtly flirting with a man who was considered her ultimate boss even if only for one more night.

Both of them turned around when the club's back door opened.

"Nati?" Kevin said with a surprised tone, his eyes drifting between her and the man in front of her, looking as if he was trying to decide if she was in another difficult situation like the one she was in yesterday.

"Are you done with your solo performance?" She asked.

He shook his head, still looking a little confused at the unknown situation he stepped into then quickly deciding that he did not like it.

"They postponed my solo performance until tomorrow. It's good that I caught up to you here; let's be on our way now, your uncle must be waiting for you."

"If you'll excuse me, have a good evening," Alonso interjected with a smile that did not touch his eyes this time. He then walked to his Audi, stepped in, and started the engine.

The car had not left yet when Kevin came to Natalie's side.

"Was he bothering you?"

She shook her head, "No, he wasn't." Her eyes still followed the Audi until it took a right turn and disappeared behind the Ubers. A strange thought passed through her mind after that.

Will he be here tomorrow as well?

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