SA 6

A waitress walking the crowd stops before the two of you, allowing you to take the offered glasses of champagne.

"If I may have your attention," Mr. Aldric's voice somehow manages to raise above the crowd. After a few seconds, everyone realizing what is happening, the large crowd falls silent. The boss clears his throat. Now that he was having to be professional, his trophy date was not plastered to his side. "I would like to congratulate all of you on the hard work you've put in over recent months. All of our standing clients have been reporting highly effective returns on your projects," many of the guests cheer and applaud, "and, of course, we have finally signed a contract with Kishiyo Company, thanks to a month of pitches and negotiations, and a final push from our newest employee, Lukas Amantius." The crowd as a whole cheers, many turning to look at him. He blushes at the attention, managing a shy smile which broadens as you give his arm a hug. "Tonight, I urge you all to enjoy yourselves-- you have all earned it." He raises his glass. "To our latest victories and continued success!"

"Cheers!" A cacophony of glass clinking against glass with no synchronization rings out all around, including immediately in front of you as both you and Lukas participate as well. Almost on cue, once everyone has taken a drink, a set of double doors across from the entrance swing open, three waiters wheeling in carts of what appears to be some sort of salad course. The two of you follow the crowd over to a clustering of tables, everyone taking a seat. Before either of you can even consider a place, Mr. Aldric reappears at your side, arm wrapping fully around you to put his hand on Lukas's arm, leading the two of you along with him to a table nearly full of very important looking men. Glancing up, you find your date looks a bit nervous at the seating arrangement.

Clearly, his boss won't take "no" for an answer, so the two of you are soon seated alongside himself and five other people. Three of them are older men in suits, two are middle aged women-- presumably the wives of two of the men. You end up between Lukas and Mr. Aldric, the older man's date between himself and the single man.

"Happy to see you made it, Lukas," one of the married men greets with a smile. "Hello, miss," he turns his eyes towards you as one of the waiters starts placing plates before you. "I'm Eric Cenrick; this is my wife, Hila." The woman gives you a sweet, motherly smile. "My associates, Ryan Oswald and his wife, Mary; and Henry Velda." The first two also smile in greeting, while Mr. Velda gives a stern nod.

"This is Eris," Lukas speaks up, "my girlfriend."

"It's a pleasure to meet the young lady behind the man of the hour," Mr. Cenrick smiled broadly.

"It's nice to meet you, as well," you respond, managing to return the expression nervously. As the waiters move on to the next table, all of you begin to dig in. The silence which descends is a relief. Your mind has started to run through all of the subjects you will likely have to address-- you doubt Lukas would want to admit that you literally met on his way here. You glance his way, finding his eyes focused on you-- clearly, the same thoughts were on his eyes. The only real option you have is to go along with whatever each other says.

"How did you two meet?" Hila asks in a soft voice, the object of the question obvious. Lukas is the first of you to swallow.

"We ran into each other in our apartment building recently," he states honestly. "Somehow, we'd been missing each other for months." He smiles. "We were both heading out for the evening. I just decided to ask if she would go to dinner with me, and she agreed." The woman smiles.

"A chance encounter," she summarizes.

"Where did you go?" Mary questions as Hila returns to her plate.

"Just a little hole-in-the-wall Chinese place close to home," he states with a slight shrug, not meeting anyone's eyes. "It was a good place for such a spontaneous thing."

"He didn't know it's one of my favorite restaurants," you add, gaining a pleasantly surprised look from your companion. "He won me over then and there." You giggle, earning a similar laugh from the other women-- even Dahlia the trophy date.

"You both had great luck that night," Mary concludes with a smile. You nod in agreement. Beneath the table, Lukas takes your hand, giving it a light squeeze. At this rate, you are not going to be able to hide this night from Skye-- you make a mental note to brace yourself for her teasing later.

The meal continues with more idle chit-chat, the two of you concocting a few more details of your pretend relationship-- how it started a month ago, you've been out on just a few dates, etc.

"What do you do for work, then?" Eric-- as he asked you to call him the first time you addressed him as "Mr. Cenrick"-- asked you during the main course. You swallowed your bite of brazed lamb before responding.

"I'm actually still in university," you admit shyly. "I'm studying photography." His smile somehow manages to broaden, almost as if his face cannot contain his happiness.

"Well, I'd love to talk to you sometime," he replies. "I've been looking for some new talent in the advertising department."

"Of course," you agree with a nod. Before you can take another bite, you jump slightly. A hand is rubbing your leg, unabashedly running along your thigh. It does not belong to your date. You glance sideways, meeting the grin on Mr. Aldric's face. You feel your heartbeat hasten, your breath hitching as his fingers find the hem of your dress. Trying to hide your reactions, you take another bite, chewing slowly as you draw deep breaths from your nose. He carries on as if nothing is happening.

You decide you have had enough as he tries to slip the digits under. Setting down your fork and lifting your napkin from your lap, you move to stand up.

"E-excuse me," you say, turning to find one of the waitresses nearby. "Um--?"

"Down the hallway over there," she points towards a small corridor across the room. "It'll be the first door on your right." You smile-- she read your mind.

"Thanks."

With that, you hurry off to the restroom.