Me After Meeting You

Ian didn’t respond to Amber at that time, but after she got home and started making dinner with Trysta, he suddenly showed up.

He brought flowers, a bottle of wine, and a whole pile of snacks with him. Also, behind him was an unfamiliar young man.

According to Ian, it was someone from a big family. Trysta knew of him, but Amber hadn’t even heard his name before.

After all, she wasn’t well connected with high society.

Nevertheless, Amber was still relatively surprised that Ian had brought anyone over at all. She even thought that this was a possible sign that he was recovering from his mental disorder and had made a new friend.

But unexpectedly, after Ian introduced his companion, he looked directly at Trysta and said, “I’m introducing him specifically to you. His background, character, education, and intellect are all superior to Frank’s.”

Upon hearing Ian’s distasteful words, Amber barely stopped herself from chasing him out the house with the gifts that he’d brought.

He even went on to calmly turn his head around and say to that man, “Isn’t she pretty?” And then he pointed at Amber. “At least, much better looking than her.”

Amber was speechless at Ian’s brazen behavior.

Amber was initially a bit disgruntled, but she found Ian’s last statement so funny that she couldn’t help herself from letting out a hearty laugh.

All right, Mr. Axton indeed had some talent to be able to make her laugh like that. Exasperated, Amber welcomed the two of them inside. The friend whom Ian had brought along didn’t show even the slightest hint of embarrassment after Ian’s mortifying introduction.

Later, behind Ian’s back, he explained his situation to Amber and Trysta. “Actually, I’m here on a mission. My grandmother … oh, Ian’s grandmother is my mother’s godmother, so I also call her my grandmother. She’s always wanted my brother to invite you to their house, but my brother was never able to do so. And she was apprehensive of randomly showing up in person to invite you over, so she had me come over with my brother.”

He then paused and scratched his head awkwardly as he said, “As for a blind date or whatnot, that was just an excuse to come over.”

He looked at Trysta. “Of course, Ms. Wilson is truly outstanding.”

Trysta naturally knew that he was just being polite, and she coolly smiled back at him and thanked him. “His family seems to truly care for you quite a bit. I feel like Director Axton isn’t a bad choice at all.”

Amber was unable to explain her relationship with Ian, so she simply smiled, turned around, and went back to cooking. She silently added two more cups of rice to the rice cooker and prepared two additional portions of the other dishes.

***

The four subsequently ate dinner, and, afterwards, with nothing to do and no desire to go out, Ian’s godbrother suggested, “How about we play some cards?” He ran downstairs to buy a deck, and the four of them started playing Hearts.

Amber and Trysta were partners, sitting opposite each other, and Ian and his godbrother sat to Amber’s left and right, respectively. Amber was very lucky at mah jjong and very talented at studying, but at Hearts, she was a total mess.

Trysta was dragged down by Amber’s lack of skill, and the duo were unable to win even a single game. Ashamed by their string of losses, Amber began to count cards.

At the very end of the next round, Amber and Trysta finally saw a shot at victory. Before playing their remaining two cards, Amber flipped through everyone else’s discarded card piles seriously.

When she went to inspect Ian’s stack of cards, he suddenly grabbed her hand midway.

Amber was shocked, and Trysta opened her eyes wide to look at the two of them. Ian’s godbrother stilled for a moment before happily saying, “Good block! We can’t let her check the cards. If we win this round, then we’ll have the overall victory too.”

Ian ignored him as his gaze was focused solely on Amber. “Kiss me.”

The three, in unison, went, “Huh?”

“I’ll tell you my cards if you do it.”

Ian’s godbrother took a moment to process those words before an expletive ran through his mind.

After abruptly witnessing a public display of affection, Ian godbrother’s eyes were about to go blind!

This effect was especially magnified by the fact that Ian and Amber had behaved pretty coolly toward each other during the rest of the night. But just when the other two were beginning to suspect that they weren’t an actual couple, their eyes had been struck by an overwhelming glare of sappiness.

‘My goodness! Who was it that said Ian didn’t know how to pick up girls?!’

Even as all these thoughts raced through the two bystander’s heads, Ian continued to hold Amber’s hand and look at her with a cool expression. It was as if all he had merely said was something like, “Quickly play your cards. I can’t wait.”Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

A crack had appeared on Amber’s detached veneer, but she was at least used to his antics by now, and could quickly adapt to his erratic behavior.

At times, she could even act in concert with him and reply appropriately, like now. She firmly wrenched her hand out of Ian’s grasp and then warned him seriously, “Next time, don’t say it so suddenly.” She looked at the other two. “You’ll scare the little children.”

The two little children were speechless.

Ian’s godbrother slapped the table angrily. “Keep playing, keep playing! Don’t go easy on them!”

He was one of those people who turned very serious when playing games, Amber naturally followed suit. The last two cards in her hand were enough to give her and Trysta a strong finish, allowing them to eke out an arduous and timely victory against Ian and his godbrother.

Amber started to play more seriously, and the luck of the draw slowly started favoring her more and more. One full deck of cards lasted them the entire night; Amber and Trysta eventually ended up losing by two games, so they only had to pay up 100 dollar per person, which was about the cost of a round of drinks.

Except for Ian, the other three were quite tired after the game, and even Trysta commented, “Losing these 100 dollar was quite difficult.”

Ian’s godbrother gave her a supercilious look. “Then you should’ve admitted defeat earlier.”

“How could I do that? A defeat has to be glorious! With the way you do things, would you be excited even if you won?” Trysta’s words seemed to have a hidden meaning. Amber’s eyelids twitched, and she looked towards her.

But Trysta’s smile was casual, as if she were just discussing the game.