A Touch of Sweetness

By the time Finnick left for Q City, Vivian and Fabian were already on their way. Over in the business class cabin, Vivian sat beside Fabian uneasily. The cabin crew just served an in-flight meal and it was paella. Vivian hated seafood so much she did not even touch the food. “Still don't fancy seafood?” Fabian asked with a smirk on his face. “I can tell the Chief Editor's memory is still functioning alright,” Vivian replied nastily. She had had enough of Fabian today. “Of course. I remember everything about my first love,” Fabian said slowly after taking a sip of coffee. Vivian closed her eyes and took deep breaths. She did not want to get into a fight with him on the plane. But Fabian did not seem to realize her reaction. “Besides, how can I ever forget the feeling of being played for a fool by my first love?” he added. Vivian's face turned pale as bad memories came flooding back. “Mr. Norton, I'm not sure who's being played for a fool here. I'm not the one who hid my real identity on purpose.” Fabian's expression changed slightly before he chuckled. He was not expecting her to retaliate. “Of course. I should've told you earlier, shouldn't I? Then you probably wouldn't have betrayed me and thrown yourself on a sixty-year-old saggy old man.” Fabian was not even trying to lower his voice. Other passengers and flight attendants widened their eyes in astonishment. “Fabian Norton, what do you think you're doing?” Vivian finally snapped. Fabian leaned closer and looked at her. Her face was pale with shame and anger. For a moment, he felt sorry for putting her in a tight position. But he really could not get over what he saw yesterday night. “Vivian William, are you afraid of people judging you after all the brazen things you've done?” Vivian glared at him unreservedly. Fabian had been hurling vexing insults ever since they got on the plane. “What I do has nothing to do with you!” she shouted. But Fabian did not raise his voice this time. He eyed her and said coldly, “You're not the one who gets the say here. I'm never going to forgive you for what you've done.” Vivian glared at him and her heart pounded intensely. She finally understood why Fabian insisted she came with him on a business trip. He wanted to shame her and torture her for the pain she had inflicted on him. All he wanted was revenge. True enough, after they arrived in Q City, Fabian made Vivian attend a business meal with him, knowing full well that Vivian hated formal gatherings like this. Since Vivian was the only lady around the table, she naturally became the center of attention. Each of the business partners took turns to toast to Vivian, but Fabian did nothing about it. Even Vivian herself lost count of how many shots she took after toasting to every man around the table. “Mr. Norton, I didn’t know you have such a cute secretary!” Mr. Hark exclaimed as he eyed Vivian from top to toe. He was in his forties and was a chief editor from another company. Vivian lowered her head awkwardly, not knowing what to do. She had always felt out of place during social gatherings like this. “She's yours if you like,” Fabian replied with an easy laugh, without even explaining that Vivian was not actually his secretary. Upon hearing this, Vivian looked up in shock and stared at Fabian. She could not believe he would insult her publicly in front of a group of strangers. “Come on, Mr. Norton. You must be kidding!” Mr. Hark burst into laughter. “I'm serious. You can take her if you want. Just take this as a token of appreciation from our company!” Fabian repeated. Vivian's face grew hot and red from the alcohol and shame. She could not believe Fabian used to be the young man she loved. He used to be a timid young man who would shy away from strangers. But he had changed so much after two years. Vivian even wondered if she knew the real Fabian to begin with. Fabian looked at her from the corner of his eyes and tilted his head. “What are you waiting for? Pour Mr. Hark a drink!” Her hands trembled when she saw Mr. Hark smiling creepily at her. She was utterly disgusted but she did as Fabian demanded nonetheless. “Mr. Hark, here's to our successful collaboration,” Vivian said coldly. Forcing a smile on her face, she stole a quick look at him as she handed him a glass of wine. But instead of taking the glass from her, Mr. Hark grabbed and rubbed his coarse fingers against her hand. “Come on, young lady, you don't have to be this polite. We'll definitely be working together on a lot of other things in the future!” Mr. Hark grinned lewdly as he emphasized his words to make sure she understood what he actually meant. Vivian struggled to retract her hand but Mr. Hark refused to let her go. Beside her, Fabian's grip tightened around his glass as he saw Mr. Hark harassing Vivian. Anger suffocated his chest and he finally stood up. “Mr. Hark! Here's to our working together!” Fabian spoke up. Mr. Hark finally let go of Vivian reluctantly and toasted to Fabian. Realizing it was her chance to free herself, Vivian scrambled to leave for the washroom. But she felt nauseous as she held on to the wall and made her way slowly toward the washroom. / must be drunk. When she finally reached the washroom, she quickly turned on the tap at the sink and washed her face. Her stomach churned uncomfortably and her head was throbbing in pain. Darn it! Vivian really did not know what was Fabian up to. She knew he hated her all this while. But she did not know why he would channel all his fury toward her all of a sudden. Vivian rubbed her temples, hoping it would help her feel better. She really hated the meeting today. Fabian was being annoyingly unpredictable; Mr. Hark was checking her out like an old pervert. Vivian had a feeling things would go haywire as soon as she walked out of the washroom, so she sent Fabian a message saying that she would go back to the hotel first. But just as she was about to turn the corner, a familiar but annoying voice rang from behind her. It was Mr. Hark. “Ms. William! What took you so long? I've been waiting for you!” She turned around nervously and saw Mr. Hark leaning against the wall. He must have been waiting for her all this while.