Louie drove Mia to the bus stop for Bus 23. Mia only needed to take two stops to get back to school.
"Have you ever had red wine?" Louie asked as he drove towards the market. "How about we buy a bottle and enjoy it with pasta?"
Arabella had never tried red wine. She was a well-behaved girl, raised by parents who were both teachers. If it weren't for her major in marketing and the difficulty in finding a job, her parents wouldn't have allowed her to work at Infinity Group.
Arabella hesitated, calculating in her mind. If she drank some red wine at lunch, her parents probably wouldn't find out when she got home in the evening. Looking at Louie's smiling face, Arabella slowly nodded.
"Wait for me." Louie got out of the car and headed towards the market.
The market was crowded, and it felt like things were practically free. Louie struggled to make his way through the crowd to the wine section. Glancing over, he saw that the red wines in the supermarket were all ordinary, and their prices were only a few dozen yuan. It seemed challenging to find high-quality French wine in the supermarket.
Louie regretted not going to 'Vin Paradis,' the specialty store that sold authentic French wine.
Quickly dismissing that thought, he picked up a bottle of wine that cost over a thousand yuan and wondered if he would be beaten up for it.
Following the shelves, Louie walked all the way to the end. Finally, at the end of the shelves, he found a bottle of French wine. Glancing at the price tag—260 yuan—Louie curled his lips and thought, "Indeed, imported goods are expensive. This bottle, which is considered low-grade in France, dares to have a price tag of 260 yuan. It's not as enjoyable as robbing money with a gun."
Just as he was contemplating, a familiar and unmistakable voice came from the opposite shelf, "Excuse me, where can I find lingerie?"
Immediately following was the response from a sales clerk, "Just keep going forward, turn right at the third row of shelves, and you'll find the lingerie section."
Louie showed half of his head, following the sound. To his surprise, he saw Edith pushing a shopping cart and asking a sales clerk for directions. His eyes gleamed with a mischievous idea. Holding the bottle of wine, he quietly followed her.
Edith pushed the cart to the lingerie section, picked up a piece of underwear from the shelf, tried it on, but didn't find it particularly satisfying. So, she moved to another section, selected a classical-style bra, found it comfortable, and placed it in the shopping cart.
While she was bending down to look at a piece of lace lingerie, suddenly, her buttocks were nudged. Edith instinctively stood up and turned her head, only to see Louie standing behind her, staring at her with innocent eyes.
"It's you." Edith felt a rush of heat surging to her head. She knew what had nudged her, and it was Louie. In an instant, Edith's cheeks turned red. Since her divorce, Edith had kept a distance from men. But at this moment, with Louie's accidental nudge, the suppressed impulses between men and women burst forth. Despite being a mature woman, she couldn't control the rush of emotions. "What do you want?" Edith sternly asked, trying to conceal her overwhelming feelings.
In the lingerie section of the market, where women were busy selecting undergarments, many eyes turned towards them. The curious gazes were now fixed on the scene where a beautiful woman seemed to be scolding a man. Louie didn't pay much attention, pretending to be surprised, he said, "Oh, it's Edith. I hadn't seen you, what's wrong? Oh, you see, it was an accident. Are you okay?" Louie put on a concerned expression, reaching his right hand towards Edith's beautiful buttocks. "Edith, let me see if I damaged it."
Edith blushed at Louie's words, unable to figure out if this guy was intentionally teasing her or being genuine. However, judging by Louie's expression, it seemed sincere.
"There's nothing wrong," Edith took a step back, cautious in case this guy was really going to touch her.
"Be careful," Louie wrapped his arm around Edith's waist. "Edith, there are shelves behind you; be careful not to bump into them."
Edith suddenly realized she was indeed leaning against the shelves. If she stepped back, she would definitely hit the shelves. Just as she was about to thank Louie, she remembered that she might have been manipulated by this guy. Looking again, Louie's right hand was hugging her waist. She hadn't been held so intimately by a man in years, and that warm feeling surged up again. Blushing, feeling powerless, she bit her tongue to counteract the overwhelming heat. With force, she broke free from Louie's embrace, carefully stepping back to put some distance between them.
"Manager, I still have things to do. I won't chat with you." Saying this, she quickly turned around, pushing the shopping cart, and hurriedly left the lingerie section.
Watching Edith leave in a hurry, Louie grinned. He had achieved his goal with this intentional act. He was curious to see how Edith would react to his teasing.
After settling the bill, Louie returned to the car with the purchased wine. Arabella, seeing the smile on Louie's face, curiously asked, "Manager, why are you so happy?"
"Ah, it's a good thing," Louie chuckled. "I just offended someone from the upper echelons of Infinity Group."
"Is that a good thing?" Arabella stuck out her tongue. "Manager, are you joking with me again?"
"This is true; why would I joke about it?" Louie pointed to the Audi A6 that had just passed by his car. "Did you see that? That's Edith's car. I just offended her at the supermarket."
Arabella gasped, believing Louie this time. She sweated for Louie, quickly asking, "Manager, what should we do?"
"What to do? Just eat pasta with a fork. Do we eat pasta with our hands?" Louie had an indifferent expression, joking with Arabella. Then he started the car, laughing. "Arabella, let's go eat some Italian noodles."