Chương 18: Buffet Encounter
Emma unconsciously fell asleep after Kale left to go to his cabin.
"What time is it?" Emma looked around as she woke up and tried to find a wall clock but there was none visible.
She took out her smartphone and opened the home screen which displayed 9 pm.
Sitting up, she stretched as she had fallen asleep curled up without changing her clothes. She went to the bathroom to wash her face.
As she came out, she decided to go down to the buffet to fill her empty stomach.
"I should probably change before going," Emma looked at her wrinkled dress. Only to face another issue.
"My luggage isn't here yet?" She remembered how she had been scammed and gotten lost until Kale found her and led her to her cabin which added to her sour mood.
"I forgot to ask Kale about my baggage." She face-palmed.
"Should I call him to ask about my luggage or should I just go and eat?" Emma asked herself.
Deciding against calling Kale and struggling to get an answer that made sense, she grabbed her phone and went out.
This time she didn't forget to bring her keys along with her.
Just as she stepped out of her cabin, she met with Kale who looked like he was about to knock on her door.
Emma was startled by his huge stature. Kale remained quiet and didn't make any move to explain his reason for coming here.
Rather than asking and infuriating herself, Emma settled for making a wild guess,
"Are you here to take me out for dinner?"
"Yes," Kale answered instantly.
'Ah, I see, I can communicate with this wooden block by guessing his intentions instead of waiting for him to answer by asking a million questions.' Emma noted.
"Let's go. I was going to the buffet in Hall 18. Or do you want to go to a restaurant?" Emma asked.
"I'm fine," Kale replied. The context was he was fine either way and it depends on Emma's mood. He'll just follow her.
Emma was surprised that she was able to decipher the meaning behind his code-like words.
"Buffet it is then," Emma didn't waste time, closed the door, and started to walk.
"Your clothes-" Kale became quiet after pointing out.
"What's wrong with my clothes?" Emma twirled around as she once again examined her dress. It did look a bit wrinkly but otherwise, it was still beautiful and clean.
"Nothing," Kale didn't elaborate on the reason.
"You're weird," Emma added another word to the description of Kale in her mind.
"Where is my luggage? It wasn't in my room." Emma decided to ask Kale about her missing suitcases.
The staff should have placed her luggage in her room before she checked in but they seem to have neglected their duties.
"Hung," Kale answered.
Emma thought for a while and didn't get angry this time as she guessed, "You hung my clothes in the closet?"
Kale only nodded in response. He lacked the necessary skills required for communication.
Surprised, Emma felt impressed by his meticulousness.
The buffet was in full swing when they arrived and Emma regretted her choice of wearing a wrinkled dress.
Everyone was dressed exquisitely; some even had their makeup done by professional artists.
'I should have listened when Kale pointed out my dress. Even though I didn't get what he meant by just those two words.' Emma was embarrassed because of her wrinkled dress and bare face. She wanted to go back and change her dress and apply some makeup before coming back.
However, when did things ever go her way? Just as she turned around to go back, she was stopped by the aide that had helped her in the afternoon.
"Miss, Are you enjoying the buffet?" The aide smiled as he saw Emma.
He had a good impression of this child since earlier in the evening. He had seen many bratty rich children but this was his first time seeing one that cooperated with the crew to the extent of getting scammed.
"Sir, Good evening. I just arrived here and haven't tried anything yet." Emma gave him a generous smile and answered honestly.
"I saw you leaving so I thought you were done eating. Is there anything you disliked here?" The aide frowned as he looked around to find the manager. He wanted to make this trip a memorable one for Emma.
"Everything's fine. Thank you for your concern. I was going back to change my dress as it doesn't look appropriate for the occasion. I just woke up and came here without a thought. It was mismanagement on my part." Emma tried to reason. She didn't want to make things difficult for anyone. Besides, there wasn't anything uncomfortable, to begin with.
"We don't have a specific dress code so there's no need to worry." The aide encouraged.
"Thank you. I'll have dinner then," Emma politely excused herself. She didn't want to keep the aide here longer than necessary. She waited for a moment but the aide had no intentions to go out.
Unwillingly, she went around as she wanted to have a look at her options before settling on something specific to eat.
Kale followed her as she went around. As they passed by the meat aisle, Kale stopped, took a plate, and began loading it with meat.
He loved to eat meat, which showed by how he made a steak tower on his plate.
Emma took notice and was a bit astonished but then smirked. "Kale, that's not very compassionate of you. Is it?"
Kale was confused by her words but remained expressionless.
"I mean your name is Kale but you are a carnivore. Shouldn't you be a vegetarian?"
Emma teased Kale. Seeing Kale motionless, standing there like he didn't understand what Emma had uttered, she was a bit piqued.
But she was interrupted before she could further explain her joke to Kale.
"Would you not call him a Cannibal if he was vegetarian? Saying he's heartless for eating his kin." Asher interjected. He had seen Emma the moment she entered and was waiting to make his presence known.
As he had expected, Emma scrunched up her nose and her eyes shone with anger. 'Guess she hasn't forgiven me for not helping her.' Asher thought without an ounce of guilt.
"Did we ask for your opinion?" Emma bitingly said. She had come out to have dinner in peace but now since this con man had found her, he would give her indigestion by spouting nonsense.
Asher continued smiling as if he hadn't heard her at all. "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself before. I'm Asher Maximilian. Since we are next-door neighbors, I thought it's better to get to know each other." Asher held out his hand as if he wanted to shake hands with her.
"I don't care about what you think. So, it's better to keep your thoughts to yourself." Emma had reached her limit.
She was enraged by his outrageous behavior. He had taken advantage of her but refused to help her in turn. She had never met anyone so indecorous before.
She was going to get back at him one way or the other. Con artists like him needed to be taught a lesson.
"You might not know but there is an unspoken rule you have to follow," Asher said sounding mysterious.
Although Emma was not interested in his useless banter, the way Asher spoke roused her curiosity. She raised her eyebrow as if to ask 'What'.
Asher gestured to come closer and whispered, "You need to introduce yourself in turn when the other person has taken the initiative to introduce themselves." Asher acted as if he was teaching Emma basic etiquette so she doesn't embarrass herself later in public. He had a self-righteous look on his face.
Emma's face went red at his words. She had forgotten how many times this man had angered her.
She wanted to smack him across his face to wipe his smirk off his face. She glanced back and forth and saw many people silently observing them.
Instead of acting on her thoughts, she said loudly, "You have bad breath. I feel nauseous."
The surrounding people inched away from Asher at this declaration.
Emma controlled her expression and appeared disgusted. Inwardly, she was laughing. 'How do you like that? Now that everyone at the buffet knows about your bad breath. I'm sure no one wants to get near you.' Emma smirked devilishly.
Asher was dumbfounded. His face grew grim. He had expected Emma to get angry and yell at him or even hit him.
But he had never thought Emma to react in such a passive-aggressive manner. For a moment, he couldn't refute her words. He even felt enraged as he saw people giving him strange looks.
He was silent for a moment. Emma thought he was finally gonna reflect on his actions and apologize to her. But she hadn't anticipated Asher's response.
Asher smiled as he said, "I thought you said you liked your men how you like garlic bread. Smelly and Crunchy." Asher didn't hold back at all and spouted nonsense.
It was Emma's turn to be embarrassed. People were giving all kinds of looks to these two.
Emma glared at Asher who raised his eyebrow as if to ask 'Do you think I can't retort in the same way as you?'
Emma couldn't deal with his shameless persona and went away holding Kale's hand who had been standing there like a bystander the entire time.
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