CHAPTER 8: ...NICELY

Michael stood outside Sean’s office door for a good 10 minutes deciding whether or not to enter. He lifted a fist to knock but changed his mind. Lowering it, he turned around to walk away but again, hesitated. Damn it, man. Just do it, he told himself. This time he plucked up enough courage to knock.

“Come in.” the voice within said.

Michael opened the door a crack and peeped his head in. “Hey!”

Sean looked up from his work. “Come on in,” he chuckled. “There’s no one here who’ll bite your head off.”

Michael gingerly stepped into the office and sat down.

“So? What’s up?” Sean asked him.

“Oh, I was just wondering if you wanted to do lunch,” Michael said nonchalantly.

Sean looked at his friend suspiciously. “Don’t you have to have lunch with Natasha?”

“Err...she’s not free today.”

“Riiiight...” Sean nodded sarkily. “Well, I’m meeting Ellen for lunch. You could join us but I know how much the two of you hate each other, so it’s your choice.”

Michael’s heart leapt for joy. Bingo! It took all his energy just to control himself from jumping up and doing a little victory dance. He had guessed that his friend would very likely be meeting Ellen. If I had asked him to ask her out for lunch, it would look suspicious but now, he’s already meeting her, so it’ll just seemed like a coincidence. Hehehe, I’m just so smart, he gloated to himself.

“Erm...” Michael pretended to hesitate. “Erm...I don’t mind.”

Sean gaped at his friend, a little taken aback that Michael had so easily consented. “Did you hear me correctly? I said I was meeting Ellen.”

“Huh? Oh yea, I heard you. Sure, I mean I don’t mind if you don’t mind me tagging along,” Michael muttered.

Sean frowned suspiciously.

“Hey, don’t worry okay? I won’t murder her or anything like that,” Michael quickly reassured Sean.

Ellen was already at the bistro waiting when they arrived. Oh my god, he’s here too, she exclaimed to herself when she saw Michael walk in with Sean. Is my hair okay? I hope my makeup’s not running. Arghh! Of all days, why did I have to wear my Astroboy t-shirt today?! I must look so silly, she moaned and buried her head into her hands unconsciously.

“Ellen?” Sean stared at her. “Are you all right?”

Ellen quickly removed her hands when she realised what she was doing. She looked up sheepishly, her face flushed. “Uh, hi Sean,” she grinned.

“Hi,” Sean returned her greeting. “You don’t mind if Michael joins us, do you?”

Michael looked at Ellen anxiously and tried a little smile. Ellen’s heart skipped a beat when she saw it. Oh boy, calm down Ellen. A few days ago, you couldn’t stand the sight of him. Now, your heart’s beating like 50 bloody bongo drums. What the hell is wrong with you, woman?! Just play it cool, just play it cool. She smiled back at him.

“Yea, sure,” Ellen replied as unperturbedly as possible.

Natasha burst into Michael’s office without knocking as usual. “Michael.” But he wasn’t there. Throwing a little pout, she went to look for him in Sean’s room instead. She breezed pass his secretary and was about to open the door when Sean’s secretary stopped her.

“Err, Miss Yang, Mr. Cheung isn’t in.”

“Not in? Where is he then?” Natasha asked indignantly.

“He’s gone out for lunch with Mr. Koo,” Sean’s secretary told her.

Natasha frowned. Michael didn’t tell me he was going to have lunch with Sean today. “Doesn’t Michael have a business lunch with a client today?” she asked.

The secretary shook her head. “I’m sorry, Miss Yang, I’m not sure about that.”

“And you call yourself a secretary? Hrmphh!” Natasha scowled at her before she stormed off.

Sean looked at Michael then at Ellen then at Michael again. “Ahem...are we just going to sit here and stare at each other or are we going to pick up the menu to order?” he inquired, carefully phrasing his question and also quickly checking the table for any cutlery that could possibly be used as weapons. So far, they’ve been rather civilised with each other but you can never be too sure, he thought.

“Oh, I’ve already decided. I’ll have the set lunch,” Ellen muttered.

Michael hastily grabbed the menu and pretended to peruse it. “Err...I’ll have the set lunch too,” he said.

“Ohhkayyy...” Sean nodded. “Three set lunches then,” he told the poor waiter who had been standing there for the past 5 minutes. Then he broke out in a little chuckle.

Ellen looked at him. “What?”

Sean shook his head. “Nothing, nothing. I just realised that for once, the both of you agreed on the same thing.”

Michael raised a brow at him. “What do you mean?”

“He means we both ordered the set lunch, Neanderthal,” Ellen said with a grin.

“Ohhh...” Michael returned the grin. Shit, she looks so adorable. Those eyes. That nose. Those lips. That smile. They’re driving me crazy. She’s driving me crazy. And she looks so elegant in that...that...Astroboy t-shirt? Hmm...okay, maybe elegant isn’t the right word here. Cute. Real cute, that’s what she is. Adorable and lovely. Sighhh...All right, all right, control yourself. Keep calm. Just talk to her like everything’s normal. What do I say though? Michael wracked his mind for a topic.

“Err...urm...nice t-shirt,” he smiled. Nice t-shirt?! Geeezzz...that was real smooth...

Oh my god, he noticed my t-shirt. I’m just going to die. And he said he liked it? Was he being sarky? Damn, someone give me a shovel. I’ve got to dig a hole to stick my head in, Ellen panicked. “Ehh...errr...” she stuttered. She didn’t know what to say.

“You like Astroboy?” Michael continued.

Ellen nodded a ‘yes’. Oh what the hell, she thought. Since we’re on the topic and it is something to talk about. “It’s a holographic t-shirt. See, if I move this way, you can see the insides of Astroboy,” she blabbered on as she shifted around in her seat, moving her body so that the holographic picture of Astroboy changed as she moved.

“Cool...” Michael grinned. “Where did you get it from?”

And so, they carried on throughout lunch. From Astroboy to Sailormoon to The Sandman to Ally MacBeal and even Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ellen and Michael just talked and talked and talked. Sean had to pinch himself a couple of times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. He couldn’t believe his eyes and ears. Wow, we actually got through the afternoon without any bloodshed, he mused.

Chance and Eros lifted their glasses in triumph.

“Beautiful, just beautiful,” Chance remarked.

“Thank you, thank you. I’m such a genius, aren’t I?” Eros smirked.