Raymond awoke to the sizzling smell of bacon cooking.  He glanced at the clock on his nightstand – it was already 10:00 a.m.  He never slept past 7:00 a.m.  Then again, he never had such sweet dreams where he never wanted to get up from.  Sitting up in bed, he slowly brought his fingers to his lips and recalled the kiss with Charmaine.  Her lips were so soft and she tasted as sweet as she looks.  Smiling at the memory he got up from bed and headed out his room and towards the kitchen.  Gigi was standing in front of the stove scooping up scrambled eggs onto a plate.  "Good morning Mom," he said cheerily.

Gigi gave him a disgruntled greeting without even turning to look at him.

Raymond walked up to her and bent his head forward to peer at her face, "Are you not feeling well?" he asked.

Gigi turned the flame off and marched out the kitchen with the plate of scrambled eggs.

Raymond followed her out and jumped a little when Gigi slammed the plate of eggs onto the dining table.  Seeing the frown on Gigi's face he asked, "What's wrong Mom?"

"What's wrong?" Gigi echoed sarcastically.  She jabbed a finger at Raymond's chest and said, "I should be asking you that question."

Raymond grabbed her finger and held it away from his chest.  Smiling lazily at her he said with mirth, "I take it you're angry about something."

Gigi snatched her hand away.  Glaring hotly at him she raged, "Why did you have to hurt Mandy like that?  Mandy is such a sweet, wonderful girl.  Why did you break up with her?" she demanded.

Raymond didn't know how she found out about the break up.  He was planning on telling her in a few days when he had rehearsed what to say.  He knows that Gigi already thought of Mandy as a daughter-in-law and was used to having her around.  But dammit, he didn't love her!  And he wasn't going to spend the rest of his life with a woman he didn't love just to please his mom.  "Mom, I was going to tell you."

Gigi rolled her eyes with disbelief and asked, "When?"

"In a few days," Raymond confessed, "When I could find the right words to tell you why."

Gigi folded her arms across her chest and ordered, "Tell me why."

Raymond sighed with frustration.  He didn't want to tell his mom this way.  He wanted his mom to be in a rational state of mind when he explained his breakup with Mandy so that he could then tell her all about Charmaine.  If he even mentions Charmaine at this time, his mom would automatically assumed that Charmaine was the reason for the breakup.  Grabbing Gigi's shoulders he pushed her down on a chair.  "Mandy and I have grown apart in recent months."

Gigi snickered, "That's because YOU never spend any time with her.  You're always working."

"No, no, no," Raymond denied.  "It's not because of that."  He covered his face with his hands while he thought of how to explain it in a way she could understand.  Realizing there is no way he decided on telling her the truth.  Dropping his hands he placed them on her knees and knelt down in front of her.  "Mom, Mandy is not the person I want to spend my life with."

"What is wrong with Mandy?" Gigi persisted stubbornly.  "She does everything for you and never complains about it.  Where else would you find a girl like that?"

"There is nothing wrong with her!  It's me!  I don't want to be with her!  Why can't you accept that?" Raymond practically shouted at her.

Gigi stood up stiffly from her seat and said coolly, "You're making a big mistake.  Hopefully, Mandy would still be around when you realize it."  She then walked away.

"Mom!" Raymond called after her but Gigi walked into her room and quietly shut the door.

---------------------------------------------

"Someone looks mighty happy this morning," Kenneth teased.

Charmaine blushed at his remark and lowered her face from his probing eyes.  She quickly poured coffee into her mug and attempted to leave but Kenneth blocked her path.

"How was dinner with Lam Sir last night?" Kenneth asked with a knowing grin.  Surprised that he knew Charmaine's eyes flew to his face.  Seeing the surprise on her face made him chuckle and explain, "I saw him waiting in his car yesterday.  I hid behind a van to see who or what he was waiting for but I've already knew it was you."

Remaining silent, Charmaine gave him a small smile and tried to walk around him but Kenneth shifted along with her.

"You're not leaving until I hear all the details," Kenneth stated and gently guided a rigid Charmaine towards a corner of the office kitchen.  "Come on… tell me.  Do you like him?  Are you guys dating now?"

The color on Charmaine's face deepened with Kenneth's questions.  "We shouldn't talk about personal things in the office," she clucked softly.

"In that case," Kenneth said with a sly smile, "Let's talk about it when we're at lunch."  He glanced swiftly at his watch and announced, "Why look at the time.  It's already 12:30 pm and don't you usually take lunch at this time?"

"I-I…," Charmaine stammered but Kenneth wasn't interested in hearing a refusal.  He took the mug of coffee out of her hand and set it back down on the counter.  She was then ushered towards the elevator bank.  She tried to resist but Kenneth held firmly onto her.  "My purse," she objected softly.  "My wallet is in there.  I can't have lunch without money."

Still maintaining a firm grip on her arm, Kenneth used his free hand to summon the elevator.  "You don't need money.  I'm treating."

Once inside the elevator and the doors have closed, Kenneth relaxed his hold on her.  Charmaine gave him a reprimanding look and said tersely, "You're a very nosy person."

Kenneth laughed and placed an arm around her shoulders, "I'm just excited about the whole thing."

Unable to remain angry at Kenneth, Charmaine asked curiously, "Why?"

"Because I just am," Kenneth retorted and gave her an impish grin, "I like seeing two good people together."

Charmaine let out a small smile at his simple reasoning and asked, "So where are you taking me for lunch?"

"Kenneth!" Ben's voice boomed across the lobby.

Kenneth smiled happily at seeing his brother, "Are you here to visit Derek?"

Ben shook his head, "I was in the area and stopped by to see if you're available for lunch."  He cast a brief glance at Charmaine and asked, "Are you guys heading out to lunch now?"

"As a matter of fact we are," Kenneth responded jovially and turned to Charmaine, "Would you mind if my brother joins us?"

"Well, I…I…" Charmaine stammered as she rummaged in her mind for an excuse to back out of lunch.  Although Ben Wong had only looked at her for a few seconds, it was enough for her to catch the flare of undeniable interest in his eyes and it made her uneasy.  As she was still trying to summon a reasonable excuse Ben took matters into his own hands.

"There's a great Japanese restaurant just around the corner.  I've been there with Derek a few times and he told me you guys go there quite frequently as well."  Looking directly at Charmaine and guessing what she was thinking he stated quietly, "It's only lunch."

Charmaine was left with no choice but to go.  How can she tell Kenneth that his brother makes her skin crawl or that she feared him for no known reason.  The more she thought about it the more she realized she was just being silly with her worries.  Giving Kenneth a faint smile she said, "Alright."