Chapter 28 Happy Birthday

Mr. Perkin did not speak. He merely sat there, quietly watching Lyla Lowe emptied her cup. Technically speaking, any woman in the industry should know how to sate their customer, or client. In this case, the terms set by Mr. Perkins was to drink with him. Lyla Lowe was not a drinker. At any other time, she could have a glass or two. Any more and she would get drunk. She hesitantly looked at the glass set in front of her. She frowned as she drank the hard liquor. That being said, even if she could get past the first hurdle, there were still more to come. It seemed that Mr. Perkins was a tough client to handle. The glass was emptied and Lyla’s face immediately flushed red. As mentioned before, she was not a drinker. Mr. Perkins' eyes narrowed in. He was almost drooling. “Miss Lowe, you can really drink!” “Nonsense,” Lyla returned the glass politely and said. “Another,” Mr. Perkins said happily. “No, Mr. Perkins. Anymore and I’ll be too drunk to work.” Lyla shook her head. “We should start talking about the contract.” “We can always talk about the contract any other day!” Mr. Perkins said. At that moment, Lyla finally understood that Mr. Perkins had absolutely zero intentions of talking about the contract. “If Mr. Perkins does not want to talk about the contract, we’ll schedule another appointment next time,” said Lyla. Seeing as Mr. Perkins was dodging the topic, she could only go with the flow, in her own way, to get out of there. “Miss Lowe, don’t go. Even if we can’t talk about business, there are always other things we can talk about.” Mr. Perkins' desire for Lyla was unwavering; he was slowly revealing his true nature. Lyla's disgust for the man was turned up to the max when she saw his erratic behavior. He did not even bother to continue his pretentious facade! “I’m sorry! I have other work to do!” “What I see is Miss Lowe not wanting to spend her time with me.” Mr. Perkins’ expression changed. “Do you still want that contract signed?” “Mr. Perkins, surely you jest. Of course, I want that contract signed.” “Let’s just drop the pretense. You’re here now. Spend one night with me and I’ll sign that contact for you.” A sinister smile formed on Mr. Perkins’s face. His true motive revealed. Lyla wanted no more than to just give Mr. Perkins’ face a good tight slap. However, if she did that, not only she will be going back empty handed, that Kathleen Turner will not let her off the hook. At last, she took her handbag with her. “Please excuse me, Mr. Perkins. I’m going to the washroom for a while. I’ll be right back.” After that, she completely ignored Mr. Perkin’s objections and headed out of the room. In the washroom, she rinsed her face with water. She hurriedly took out her phone and dialed a number. When Mark Pattinson picked up the call, he was with his friends, having a meal together. When he saw it was Lyla calling him, he got up, frowned, and answered it. “President Marl, I need you to be here right now!” She sent Mark a short text, inclusive of the address. It seems that he was the only person that could help her. When that thought came to mind, she had to take deep breaths. No matter how, that night, she must go back with a signed contract. Everything was in place, readied, and only then did she return to the room. Mr. Perkins was delighted when he saw Miss Lowe return to the room. ‘Little minx is finally letting herself loose, eh?’ He came closer to her, slowly. “Miss Lowe, you are truly beautiful…” he said, as he prepared for a tackle. “Please wait, Mr. Perkins. I have invited two more people and I think you should know who they are,” said Lyla calmly. “W-Who?” Mr. Perkins was stumped. He would not want to lose his prey just when he was about to devour her! “When I was in the washroom, I gave your wife a call. I think she's already on her way,” said Lyla. Just waiting alone was enough to make her nervous. Upon hearing that, Mr. Perkins raised an eyebrow. A look of confidence appeared. “You think… I would believe that?” “Time will tell…” said Lyla with confidence. “I told her that you wanted to give her a surprise.” Mr. Perkins was truly stupefied when he saw how confident Lyla was. The woman was truly capable. To think she would actually call his wife over! The man was slowly leaking his fear. Not many knew but when Lyla was surfing the web, looking for information about Riddleson, she stumbled across a thread inside a forum. The topic was about Mr. Perkins and his hen-pecking wife. Out in the open, the man might look like he was carefree and untethered, but when he was with his wife, the man was a cowardly mouse. It was a desperate attempt. She had no idea whether the post was true. At that moment, she had to gamble pm her chances. Mr. Perkins was growing uncomfortable. If the wife knew about his little excursion, it would be over. When the shit hit the fan, he would not be giving his wife a surprise but straight-up, signing his own death warrant. At that moment, cold sweat started dripping down his forehead. “Calm down, Mr. Perkins. My boyfriend will be here in a while.” Just then, someone knocked on the door. Mark Pattinson put away his phone and drove like the wind. Evening before, he knew that Kathleen had given Lyla that sort of case and realized Kathleen’s intention was all but good. However, Kathleen insisted that it was for the good of the company and Mark could not say anything otherwise. Lyla sped to the door and opened it. “Oh, hi Mark! What took you so long? We’re just waiting for you!” said Lyla flirtatiously as she gave Mark Pattinson a distinctive look while she held his arm. ‘Fuck!’ The way she talked was so… Even Lyla could not stand her own voice. On the other hand, Mark Pattinson was stupefied. ‘What the hell is this woman doing? What is going on?’ “Please, Mr. Perkins. This is my boyfriend, Mark Pattinson.” Lyla pulled Mark Pattinson over to Mr. Perkins. Mr. Perkins himself was as responsive as a scarecrow. When Mark Pattinson came through the door, he was quickly overwhelmed by his choking aura. At that moment, he felt grateful for not resorting to any forceful maneuvers or the boyfriend might have “killed” him. “President Pattinson, your reputation precedes you,” said Mr. Perkins as he bowed a little too much. “Thank you, Mr. Perkins,” said Mark Pattinson coldly. Mark Pattinson was still in the blind about what Lyla Lowe wanted to do. At the moment, he played along. “Mr. Perkins, your wife will be arriving shortly,” Lyla said. The moment Lyla finished talking, the service crew came over escorting another lady. That must be the wife of Mr. Perkins. The four of them sat together, making the atmosphere incredibly uncomfortable. “Mrs. Perkins, it was I who called you earlier. Allow me to explain the situation. Today is your birthday and my boyfriend and I decided to throw you a small celebration!” said Lyla, taking the lead and breaking the silence. After that, she did not forget to turn to look at Mark Pattinson with eyes that dazzled with emotions. The other three people were clearly surprised after listening. Mark Pattinson immediately understood that was going on. He turned and looked deeply into Lyla Lowe. That woman was just filled with trickery! Mr. Perkins sighed with relief. Whatever it was, as long as his wife did not make a fuss over it. Mrs. Perkins was looking at Lyla suspiciously. “Oh? How did you know about my birthday when even myself would forget?” Lyla smiled and said, “Of course, I’ve heard it from Mr. Perkins! I was here only to discuss work and contracts and in the middle of the discussion, Mr. Perkins here mentioned how he was missing your love. He had been working for so long for so many years that he thought it would be nice to surprise you tonight!” said Lyla. Naturally, she would never confess about discovering it on the internet. Mrs. Perkins was filled with gratitude and she was not hiding it. She turned to Mr. Perkins. “Oh! What celebration and whatnot, you know that you don't care for such formalities!” Mr. Perkins, on the other hand, was smiling until his cheeks were stiff. “I’ve already ordered a cake for you, Mrs. Perkins! It should be right up! Please, let us celebrate your birthday together!” Lyla raised her cup high. The atmosphere, after that, becomes somewhat livelier but it would always turn and revert back to awkwardness. In a while, the hotel service crew had Lyla’s ordered cake delivered on a push cart. Mark was always perfectly matching with Lyla’s moves. Be it drinking or picking up the cakes, Mark would always be performing as the best “boyfriend” character. Lyla, herself, was always smiling gently at Mark. For others, they would assume that the two were a couple for the longest time. Lyla took the chance and brought up the contract back into discussion and let Mr. Perkins sign it. Mr. Perkins had to take the contract and sign it since the wife was there. As he took the contract and signed it, the man silently cursed at the woman. She was really competitive and someone he could not afford to “play” with. For the sake of getting the contract signed, she had actually thought up that absurd plan.