The Apple of My Eye

Sheryl rushed to leave after she picked up her satchel and made up her mind, but she realized that she hadn't changed her clothes. She rummaged through the closet in the office lounge and managed to pull out the silky satin evening gown she wore last time to a party.

A quick once-over to check how she looked in the mirror, and then she went back to hurriedly stomping out.

'Fine, that was it!'

After the change of clothes and grabbing her handbag again, Sheryl rushed to the appointed restaurant.

She found Duke was already waiting for her when she hurriedly arrived at the restaurant. It looked like he had been waiting for a while.

"I'm so sorry that I'm late. There was something that I had to take care of..." Sheryl apologized as she quickly walked over to him.

"That is alright, President Xia. I just arrived. Please take a seat." Duke gestured to the seat across him and really didn't seem like he minded at all.

Sheryl felt a bit strange as she sat down, 'Where was Duke's assistant?'

It only took a quick glance for Duke to understand Sheryl's confusion, and he didn't miss a beat as he explained, "Danny met an old friend, so he won't be joining us this evening, President Xia. I hope you don't mind?"

There was a surprised pause before Sheryl said, "Not at all. Well, let's order something to eat."

"Oh. I already ordered," Duke replied abruptly.

Feeling a bit stunned, Sheryl stared at him because she didn't understand why he already ordered.

"You see...I saw many people here when I arrived, and I was thinking that you haven't eaten before coming here since it was immediately after work. I didn't want you to wait for a long time for the food, so I ordered food without waiting to consult your opinion, President Xia. I think the dishes are almost ready. How about we try it first? We'll order something else if you don't like it. What do you think?" Duke explained.

Sheryl was speechless as she thought, 'This guy is so thoughtful. He must be a good guy since he is taking such good care of me, even on our first dinner together.'

"Well...Thank you very much for your consideration, President Li." Sheryl could only express her thanks.

Duke shook his head immediately as he said, "You're welcome. Actually, I'm the one who should be thanking you. Thank you in advance for taking the time to show me around tomorrow. But since tomorrow is the weekend...I'm not sure if it would be convenient for you, President Xia. It is fine to reschedule if you have to be with your family. It doesn't have to be tomorrow."

Hearing those words made Sheryl like Duke a bit more because he was really considerate of others.

"President Li, I'll keep my word since I promised you. It might be a weekend, but my two kids will be under perfect care of their nanny. They'll be okay even if I'm not home with them," Sheryl explained to Duke. "That is very nice. Well, what about your husband? Would he mind?" Duke casually added.

'Husband?' Sheryl's face turned ashen at the word but quickly recovered and deflected, "President Li, what are your hobbies? Please don't be offended. I just want to do my homework, so I'll have an idea about where to take you tomorrow."

Seeing that Sheryl had obviously changed the topic, Duke answered cooperatively, "I don't have any special hobbies, other than doing sports like hiking. I used to invite my friends to go hiking, or things like that, during the weekends if I'm not busy."

Sheryl didn't know how to continue the conversation after hearing his reply. How could she take him to hike around?

"Well, do you have any other hobbies aside from hiking?" Sheryl asked hesitantly, hoping to get more information.

Duke smiled as he replied, "Relax, I'm not a difficult guest. Well, Sher...Will it be okay with you if I call you Sher? I heard Alan call you Sher before, so..."

It was weird for Sheryl because Sher was her pet name that only her close friends and relatives used, so hearing it from Duke was strange.

But it would be too petty to turn him down since he had already used it, so she just smiled. "It's just a name. It's okay. I don't mind at all. President Li, you..."

"I called you Sher. Why are you still calling me President Li? You can call me Duke, or Du."

That was moving too fast for her!

It was so sudden that Sheryl couldn't react and could only recall what Isla told her.

"I think Duke likes you. See? His eyes have never moved away from you even for a second..."

'Good Heavens! This couldn't be true.' All she wanted to do at the moment was to get away from the restaurant because the more Sheryl thought about it, the more awful she felt about the trouble she had gotten herself into.

She had just declined the eager Damian, but now another one came along-Duke. Was she lucky about love this year?

"Well then...I'll call you Duke...Duke, what else do you like to do other than hiking?" Sheryl mustered her courage to repeat her question.

It wasn't easy for her to call him Duke since she didn't think that they were friends, and all of her courage might be used up by tonight.

On the other hand, Duke didn't feel any reservation about the way they called each other and even seemed to be in high spirits as he asked, "Sher, what do you like to do in your spare time?"

Sheryl couldn't stop the shiver that went through her when she heard the question.

This man liked her. That much was true.

There were only regrets that she didn't listen to Isla before. If Sheryl had foreseen this outcome, she wouldn't have come at all, no matter what.

"Duke, I'm a married woman. I'm used to going home to take care of my kids after work. It's the same for my weekends. It is all about my children and my husband. Even if I wanted to go out, I would need the consent from my kids and my husband," Sheryl replied as her smile twitched uneasily at the edges.

It was obvious enough that she wanted Duke to back off since she had kids and a husband. Although Sheryl couldn't understand what attracted this man to her, she needed to shoot it down quickly and save them from an embarrassing situation in the future.

Duke didn't seem to mind at all as he smiled and said, "Sher, I didn't expect that you are such an excellent person. You're a successful businesswoman in the company and a good wife and mother when you're not working. You're a rare treasure! I really admire you."

'It made him like me more?!' Sheryl thought with great horror.

The entire dinner was a torture for her because when Duke raised questions about her personal life, Sheryl had to scramble and try her best to change the topic. Yet this dreadful man always managed to lead her back to the topic he wanted to discuss, and it exhausted her to try and keep up with the troublesome dinner.

Once they finished dinner, Sheryl was filled with relief because she thought she could finally get out of this embarrassing situation.

'Everything would be fine once I send him back to the hotel.'

Yet the cruel reality went against her wishes.

"Sher, you don't have to rush home yet, do you?" Duke asked unexpectedly.

He didn't give Sheryl time to respond as he continued, "If you don't have to hurry home, can you go to the shopping mall with me? I need to buy some daily supplies. What do you think?"

'What do I think?' Sheryl felt completely helpless as she sighed to herself. 'What else can I think? Since you've already asked for my favor so bluntly, how could I turn you down? Wouldn't it sound rude if I turned my back on you?'

There was nothing she could do to stop it. 'Fine! It isn't that I've never gone shopping before. I went shopping with other women. Now I have to go shopping with a man. What is the difference? Right, it is not that big of a deal!'

Sheryl made up her mind to send Duke to the hotel as soon as possible after they finished shopping and that she would stand up to him tomorrow. No, that wasn't enough. She had to try and politely reject any invitation from this guy unless there was a formal occasion she had to attend.