Chapter 12: Off the mask👿

"Hold on.” Callum says into the phone, his eyes still fixed on the lady walking over. He watched her, her eyes was on him too as she walks over. “She is here.” He tells him. “I will call you back when I am done. Your men can stop searching.” He says just as this lady gets to his table.

Offering a heart seizing smile, “Hi, we meet again, Callum.” She says.

~

It had taken her less time to get ready because she had figured out everything about how she wanted to look, even before she had got off her sofa. Again today, she was going with the ‘Rich Heiress’ look, but not something as sophisticated as last night. She had picked out a simple nude colored gown, one she had bought during one of her numerous trip to Mexico. It had a low neck that exposed some part of her bosom, a fair share, nothing too revealing, and the gown clung to her body perfectly. She had chosen a tear drop earring to go with it, with a necklace that was curled around her neck, plus, a Stephano five inches heels to go with it. When she had looked into the mirror before leaving, she had been glad with the result she had.

She had reached out to the same man who had been her chauffeur last night, and he had come over to pick her up, taking her to D’Casala. It was a big establishment, not just the regular restaurant one got to see every day, the special kind. And when she stepped inside it, she realized even more how different this particular restaurant was. A server had walked up to her the moment she had stepped in, and had asked for her seat reservation number.

“No, someone is here waiting for me.” she says scanning her eyes around the hall but finding no sign of anyone who made her believe he was Callum. They had been wearing a mask last night, she had no idea what he really looks like, but she knew deep down that the moment she sees him, she will know. But as she looks around the hall again, she still found no one and got no sign.

“Do you know the booth number? Or perhaps a name?” the server had ask.

“Callum. His name is Callum.” She had no idea how that one name would help, but she gave it out. Or was she wrong? Had her analysis of the situation been wrong? Was he not as desperate as he had assumed? Had he got tired of waiting for her and left? Slowly, she begins to panic. If things went wrong, she was also going to suffer a hit. A big one. She needed that money he was offering more than he needed that contract wife he was looking for. Gulping, Sophia begins to reach into her purse in search of the card he had given to her last night. It at least had a phone number on it. She will call, and beg if she had to.

She had just got hold of the card when the server returns to her side with a smile. “Mr. Callum is waiting for you in booth one at the VVIP section.” Smiling even more, “Please, allow me to take you there.” He offers.

Internally, Sophia lets out a sigh. Smiling back at the server. “Thank you.” She says with a slight nod of head. The server begins to lead the way and she follows, going into the lift that took them to the last floor up. They walk out of the elevator and take a turn into a new hall. This one had a different look and feeling. It had colored lights, with everything that made it look like a different world of its own.

No wonder the server had called it the VVIP section!

Looking up, her eyes come in contact with that of a man who was on the phone with someone. From his facial expressions, he looked unhappy with whatever the situation was. He looks away from her, but his eyes return just as quickly back on her. It was brief, but she saw the way his eyes widened as they took her in. As he ran his eyes down her frame, her heart raced, like it had on more than one occasion last night, and that was all she needed to know that this man, was Callum.

“This way.” The server says still leading her forward, and with a smile on her face, she begins to walk over to him. She arrives at his table just as he ended his call and puts down his phone.

“Hi, we meet again, Callum.” She says to him with a smile on her face.

~

Callum gulps, slowly rising to his feet. “Sophia.” He says more like a question because he could not still believe that she was standing right in front of him. She smiles at his word. Callum walks over and pulls her seat for her.

“Thank you.” She says taking a seat.

Callum walks back to his seat and takes his seat just as he nods for the server to leave. “You look … beautiful today.”

She smiles at him. “Thank you. You look great yourself.” She says to him.

He nods. “I was almost leaving. I had come to believe you will not be coming.” Callum says to her.

“Why? What happened to all that confidence from last night?” she asks with a smile at the curve of her lips.

He shrugs, “Gone. Somehow, you managed to bring that down a notch. I had no address, no number, nothing more than two names I am beginning to doubt are real, that is all I had from you.”

Sophia chuckles. “At least I gave you two names, you gave me one.”

“And a card, with my number. But you did not call, not once since you walked away last night.”

Smiling, her eyes on him, “Because somehow, I had a feeling you were used to people always calling you. It was another confidence I didn’t want you to have.”

“Hmm.”

“Yeah. Besides,” she shrugs, “you never asked for my number or address. Not that I would have given it.”

Eyes on her, he stares for seconds without saying a word. He had no idea what it was with her, or what was her angle. He could not really tell if she was some penniless lady, or actually an heiress like she was pretending to be. She was doing well

at keeping her hand hidden.