Unexpected Encounter: A Second Chance at Love

Tina frowned and retrieved the phone back assuming that he knew where she wanted to go.ﾂ’

Throughout the ride, she kept stealing glances of him. He was usually calm and quiet. She wasn't getting a good feeling from it.ﾂ’

The fact that she looked so calm and cool after hearing that she was going on a date with some other man also bothered her.ﾂ’

'Does he really not care?' she asked herself.ﾂ’

"Why would he care?" she muttered and scoffed before looking out of the window.ﾂ’

"Did you say something?" Ben looked at her.ﾂ’

When she shook her head, he continued driving in silence.ﾂ’

After a few minutes, Tina frowned when she realised something.ﾂ’

"You were supposed to take a right窶能" She looked at him.ﾂ’

"I know." Then he took a left instead.ﾂ’

"What are you doing?" She was confused and annoyed. She couldn't figure out what was going on in his head. Was he purposely trying to make her late for the date?

When he did not answer, she snapped at him. "Stop the car."ﾂ’

"No."ﾂ’

"Ben, I will be late." She sighed. "Look, I don't know what you are trying to do but this is not gonna work, okay?"ﾂ’

"I know what I am doing," Ben remarked. "You wanna go on a date, right?"ﾂ’

When she frowned, he added, "I am taking you on one."ﾂ’

窶ｦ.

[Collins Mansion]ﾂ’

After ordering their food, Andrew took a quick shower before going down to grab the takeout.ﾂ’

While he was waiting downstairs, Samuel called him.ﾂ’

"What is it?" He inquired.ﾂ’

"Ben rushed out of here without saying anything," Samuel explained. "Is everything okay?"ﾂ’

"Hmm, everything is okay," Andrew assured him. "Ben had something important to do, something personal."ﾂ’

"Oh I see." Awkwardly clearing his throat, Samuel added, "I thought something happened so窶能"ﾂ’

"Is that all?" Andrew knew Samuel had something else to say but he was hesitant.ﾂ’

"I heard about the plan from Ben," he sighed. "Is it okay for Owen to talk to the investors directly? I mean, won't that affect your guys?"ﾂ’

Though they had agreed to help him out, Samuel didn't want their names to be directly involved. This was a rivalry between two brothers. He had no intention of completely involving the Volkovs in it as their involvement would make the whole thing a different issue.ﾂ’

"Don't worry about it, Owen will handle everything," Andrew remarked.ﾂ’

"That is what I am more worried about," Samuel sighed. "What if Owen's name gets sabotaged?"ﾂ’

"Do you think he cares?" He chuckled. "Owen is his own boss, he has his own ways of doing things. Don't worry about him. And moreover, Justin and I will be there too."ﾂ’

"All three of you are going?" Samuel widened his eyes in shock. He was quite surprised.ﾂ’

"Hmmm, we all will go and窶能" Andrew stopped midway when he saw Rachael coming down the stairs.ﾂ’

"Is the food here?" Rachael rubbed her stomach. "I am starving."ﾂ’

"Is that Rachael?" Samuel inquired.ﾂ’

"Yes窶派old on a second."ﾂ’

Andrew looked at her and said, "It will be here soon babe, why don't you take out the plates and I'll go bring the food."ﾂ’

She gave him a thumbs up, before walking towards the kitchen.

"You are really a family man, aren't you?" Samuel chuckled. "To be honest, I am jealous of you."ﾂ’

"Jealous of me?"ﾂ’

"Uh huh, you are fully settled now. You have a perfect home and the most wonderful woman I have known as your life partner. It's a perfect life." Samuel smiled.ﾂ’

Before Andrew could say anything, he added, "Alright, you should go and eat. I'll call you later."ﾂ’

"Hmm, okay."ﾂ’

After hanging up the call with Samuel, he called Ben.

窶ｦ.

[Ben's car]ﾂ’

Tina was still very confused after what he had told her. He was taking her on a date?ﾂ’

She looked at him and pursed her lips. She couldn't understand if he was serious or joking.ﾂ’

Ben knew she was confused and probably had many questions revolving in her head. But he still chose to continue driving without explaining anything to her.ﾂ’

The corners of his lips curled upwards when he realised that she had actually believed that he would drop her off to go on a date with some other man. It was funny and triggering at the same time.ﾂ’

As soon as he heard about the DATE she was getting ready for from Andrew, he had immediately made up his mind not to let her go anywhere close to the stranger who was waiting for her at the restaurant.ﾂ’

But he knew she was still mad at him and would definitely turn him down if he asked her not to go. So in order to save his face from rejection, he tricked her into getting in his car so that he could drive her anywhere he wanted to..

"If you keep staring at me like that, how I am supposed to focus on driving?"ﾂ’

His sudden question startled Tina and she immediately looked away. "I am not staring at you."ﾂ’

After a few minutes, she asked him again. "Seriously Ben, what are you trying to do? Are you doing this because you don't want me to go on the date?"ﾂ’

"What do you think?" He raised his brows.

Before she could answer, he added, "You want to go on a date, right? I mean, you got all dressed up for a date only."ﾂ’

She frowned and looked at the simple maroon dress she was wearing. What dressed up? She had dressed as simply as she could and had minimal makeup on her face.ﾂ’

But before she could refute, Ben said, "So since you wanna go on a date, I am taking you on one."ﾂ’

"This is not a joke Ben."

"Who said I am joking?" He stopped the car at the signal and looked at her. "I don't have time for jokes anymore. I think we have wasted enough time, we really need to窶能"ﾂ’

His words were interrupted by a phone call.ﾂ’

Ben picked up his phone from the dashboard. "It's boss窶能" He looked at Tina. "Give me two minutes."

窶ｦ.