Charmaine and Wayne sat down at the table just as Ron approached them.  "Hello Barrister Lai and Barrister Sheh," he greeted silkily.

"Mr. Ng," Charmaine greeted in return.  "I bet you must be celebrating your freedom."

"Ron," he corrected and without being asked sat down on the chair beside Charmaine.  "And if you don't mind I prefer calling you Charmaine.  Barrister Sheh makes you sound too old and impersonal."

Looking uncomfortable at Wayne, Charmaine kept a small smile plastered on her face.  "You can call me Charmaine if that's what you prefer."

"I plan to," Ron said and edged his chair a little closer to Charmaine.  "Thank you for everything."

"I didn't do anything," Charmaine stressed as she shifted in her seat to distance herself away from him.  "The charges were dropped against you.  Our firm had nothing to do with it."

Chuckling softly, Ron said, "I know that.  I was thanking you for believing that I'm innocent."

"You're my client and I have to believe in your innocence before taking on the case," Charmaine responded casually.  However, deep down alarm bells were going off all over the place.  The subtle way in which Ron was now pressing closer and closer to her made her all too obvious of his intentions and that didn't suit well with her.

Wayne too, noticed the way Ron was moving closer and closer to Charmaine and a fit of jealousy made him snap, "Mr. Ng, I also helped with your case.  Don't I get a thank you as well?"

As if seeing Wayne for the first time, Ron turned his attention towards him with haughty amusement.  "Forgive me for my negligence Barrister Lai.  Of course you have my thanks," he said smoothly, with a touch of sarcasm in his voice.  "In fact, since you guys are here, let me buy the drinks."  Turning his attention back on Charmaine, he asked sweetly, "What would you like?"

Charmaine gave Wayne a helpless look and stammered, "I… We…"

Saving Charmaine the trouble of finding an excuse to refuse, Wayne stood up and said civilly, "Thanks for the offer Mr. Ng but we only stopped in to check out the place.  We have to go now."

Not used to taking no for an answer, Ron said stubbornly, "You just got here.  Besides, how long will one drink take?"  He forcibly pushed Wayne back down on his chair and quickly summoned a waiter to order a bottle of champagne.  "The best one you have."

Raymond watched the scene from a distance.  Although he couldn't make out what was said, but one thing for sure was that he didn't like the way Ron was slowly moving closer and closer to Charmaine.  Judging by the look on her face, she didn't like it either.  Making up his mind, he picked up his beer bottle and walked towards their table.  "Hello everyone."

Surprised to see Raymond again, Charmaine could only stare up at him as waves of emotions course through her.  She felt Wayne nudge her arm and quickly dropped her eyes.

"Mind if I join you guys?" Raymond asked politely and took the seat beside Wayne, which positioned him directly across from Charmaine.  With his eyes still on her, he asked softly, "Am I interrupting anything?"

"Of course not!" Ron leaned towards Raymond and said, "Let me introduce you to Barrister Wayne Lai and Barrister Charmaine Sheh.  They represented me in the case."

Without any sordid reason, Wayne found himself having an immediate dislike for the two younger men. "What a coincidence.  We also represented Mr. Lam against charges.  As a matter of fact, it was only a few weeks ago."

Stunned by the news, Ron chuckled with delight and said, "Oh man!  Why didn't you tell me?  We could have commiserated on our misfortunes," he joked then laughed out loud.

Raymond glanced uneasily over at Charmaine and saw the disdain on her face.  He knew what she must be thinking.  Ron was exactly the type of guy that he himself was at one time.  Seeing him and Ron together would only lower her opinion of him.  Giving Ron a cool smile, he said grudgingly, "It's not something to brag about."

Missing the true meaning of Raymond's words, Ron said with good humor, "I guess you're right.  At least we showed those women not to mess with us again."

Charmaine abruptly stood up from her seat.  Casting a look at Wayne, she said, "We better get going.  We have an early meeting tomorrow morning."

"Yes!" Wayne agreed a bit too eagerly jumping up from his seat.  "Enjoy yourselves tonight gentlemen.  We'll see you guys around."  He hurriedly ushered Charmaine to the door before the men could voice any objection.  Once outside, Wayne let out a breath of relief.

"I feel the same way," Charmaine said softly from beside him.

"How about we skip bars and pubs from now on and stick to restaurants and cafes?"

Giggling, Charmaine nodded in agreement.  She started trekking up the street and said over her shoulder, "I told you we shouldn’t come here."

Wayne quickened his steps to catch up with her.  "One of my clients owns the place and I figure since he's a decent guy, the place can't be all bad."

"The place is nice, however, the customers aren't."  Charmaine halted in her steps to look at him with a serious expression.  "Wayne, something is bugging me."

"What?"

"It's Ron Ng.  I get this bad vibe from him and I'm starting to wonder whether he really that girl."

Wayne knew what she meant.  Somehow the Ron Ng they saw tonight differed from the one they have met and spoke with in their offices.  With the lawyer in him kicking in, Wayne said rationally, "Whether he did or not is not up to us to decide.  The victim already dropped the charges against him.  The police aren't going to do anything without a victim."

"You're right," Charmaine acknowledged and continued walking.  After a couple of steps, she said, "Let's skip the drinks and get a cup of coffee instead."

Wayne laughed, "Sounds like an excellent idea."

A couple of feet behind them, Ron emerged from behind a lamp post to stare after them.  He clenched his hands into fists as he continued to follow them.

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Inside the pub Raymond had to fight off the dozen of women that were openly throwing themselves at him.  Word spread like fire when his presence was made known.  He looked around for Ron but didn't see him anywhere.  Ron went to the men's room right after Charmaine and Wayne left.  That had been over twenty minutes ago.  Where the heck was he?  Thinking about Charmaine brought a smile to Raymond's face.  Seeing her again after two years told him that even time can't change the way he feels about her.  He also knew that it might be too late for them.  He had seen how protective Wayne Lai had been of her and can easily guess at their relationship.  He had hurt her once and although he would give anything to have her back, he also knows that if he had to let her go, he would.  But that didn't mean he would give up on her without giving it one last shot.

Taking out a piece of paper from his jacket he opened it up.  He read the address on it.  Charmaine's address.  A private investigator managed to get that for him.  Refolding the piece of paper he quickly placed it back into his pocket and signaled for the check.  Ron was nowhere in sight and he had better things to do that to waste his time waiting for him.  For all he knows, Ron probably found himself a willing girl and have left the pub without bothering to tell him.  That was typical of Ron.  After paying the bill and smiling apologetically at the cluster of girls, Raymond took off.

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Wayne opened the passenger door for Charmaine and helped her out.  "Need me to walk you up?"

Charmaine smiled and shook her head, "My building is very secure.  Plus, there's a twenty-four security guard that can even take down Jet Li."

"Alright, but please call me when you get upstairs," Wayne ordered in a low commanding tone that made Charmaine's smile widen.

"Yes Sir!" Charmaine shrieked and after giving him another warm smile turned.  She was halfway up the drive when she heard Wayne's car take off.  Wayne was such a sweet and caring person.  She knew he was interested in her and she was flattered by it.  Maybe she should give him and herself the chance to see how it goes for them.  She had never dated anyone after Raymond.  It's time for her to really move on instead of just saying it.  And who's a better choice for her than Wayne.  He was smart, funny, caring and handsome in a rugged way.  Who knows?  Perhaps Wayne was her Mr. Right.

Charmaine almost made it to the building when she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder.  Turning around all she saw was a masked face just before a hand covered .