Cha Eun Sang stood nervously at the grand entrance to the magnificent Zeus Hotel, the flagship entity of the pan-global business house. She was ill at ease, her hand was clutching Sunny’s tiny palm, for reassuring herself as much as for keeping Sunny from wandering. It had been a long time since she went to someplace fancy. She had dug out one of the out of commission, formal numbers, from the back of her closet for this occasion. It was a suitably elegant and understated pale coral dress with clean and simple lines, with a touch of lace overlay. She wanted to look appropriately dressed for the grand venue but careful not to draw attention. But now that she was here, she had doubts as to whether it was a very bright idea to begin with.

After a quiet fortnight, during which she only got the most frustratingly concise texts from Mr. Yoon, telling her that everything was alright, everything had gone off track since the day before. Mr. Yoon had left on a business trip for a week, to China. Inexplicably, she felt like he was abandoning her. Try as Mr. Yoon did, to explain that this was a trip planned long ago and that it was essential for him to act as if nothing unusual had happened, she just couldn’t rest easy. And then, this morning a bomb had landed on her doorstep. She chided herself for overreacting but the file that was delivered, was nothing short of a predicament for her. It was a renewal contract for a foreign vendor, involving millions of dollars for a period of 3 years. There was a note from Mr. Yoon, attached to the file, telling her to sign it as Kim Won’s agent. But she just couldn’t bring herself to do that. She knew nothing about the business as Choi Young Do had so succinctly pointed out.

She wanted a second opinion. She wanted to speak to Choi Young Do. But she did not know his phone number and did not want to risk ruining her long standing relationship with Mr. Yoon by asking him for it. Formal lines of communication were out of question as well. So, she had asked herself, how does one get somebody’s attention, especially Choi Young Do’s? And the answer jumped to her mind effortlessly; by doing something bad or outrageous. She paused to wonder if that’s what they mean when they say that in order to hunt, you have to think like the hunted. She only had a vague notion as to how she was going to do that though. And here she was at his doorstep. She had been here before but that seemed like a lifetime ago.

She proceeded to the 24 hour café on the 6th floor, casual and yet expensive. Only a handful of people were about since it was just before dinner time and most people preferred the more formal, ultra-exclusive, themed restaurants that were also housed in the same building, for dinners. She was relieved on that account as she sat herself and the maître de helped Sunny into a chair that was clearly too big for him. She ordered coffee and desserts. She carefully asked the maître de for his recommendation as to what was the best dessert on the menu and ordered the very one for herself and Sunny. When it arrived it turned out to be a feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds. But she could hardly savor the delicacy as she was about to execute the trickiest part of the plan.

As the check was brought to the table, she took out her premier credit card and pretended to think about something. Then she took a shuddering breath to steady her nerves and waved the maître de over to the table. In a casual manner, she made sure that he saw the credit card that she was holding and then proceeded to spin the craziest yarn of her life.

“Excuse me but there seems to be a bit of miscommunication here. You see, I was invited here by Choi Young Do. You know him, right? Well, we are old friends from school and just the other day, at the school reunion he was telling me about this place and he had bragged that this restaurant had the greatest dessert menu in the city. On the other hand, my mom is a chef so I had to contend that nobody could compete with her culinary skills. So, he invited me to try it out myself as his guest. It seems like he has forgotten to mention that to the relevant staff here.  Never mind that since he is busy and this is but a trifle between friends. But please do mention to him that as good as that the dessert was, it was not like what my mom rustles up.”

With that and the most amiable smile that she could muster in spite of jittery nerves, she proceeded to tuck the credit card within the check presenter. By this time she could see that the maître de was in a quandary. She knew that he couldn’t discount her claim as Choi Young Do’s friend outright but at the same time could not waive the check without any formal communication from Director Choi or his office. She was sorry to put that poor man in that situation but desperate situations do call for desperate measures.

He smiled politely and decided to tread a neutral path for the time being, “I am extremely sorry for the misunderstanding and apologize to you for the inconvenience. Perhaps, Director Choi has left instructions already. Allow me a minute to check please. May I ask your name Madame, so that I can run an enquiry?”

On an impulse, Cha Eun Sang gave Sunny’s name. If he did call Choi Young Do, that name should ring a bell with him and if it got lost among his office staff, then at least her identity would stay shielded.

Choi Young Do was in route to a formal dinner, when he got a call from his personal assistant at the hotel, telling him a strange tale of a lady guest at the hotel’s swanky café, who claimed to be Choi Young Do’s old school friend and his guest. Young Do’s forehead furrowed in concentration as he tried to remember if he had invited somebody off handedly. Nothing came to his mind so his next question was obvious.

“What is her name?”

His assistant was well prepared with the answer but that only bewildered Choi Young Do further.

He repeated as if he could not believe his ears, “What did you say? Sunny? A lady named Sunny?”

He was incredulous, for the only Sunny had ever known in his life and that too very recently, was a little boy. A lady called Sunny? He pondered an even wilder possibility as his assistant waited patiently for his response. Then he made up his mind to ask.

“Can you find out if the lady in question, is accompanied by a little boy?”

He waited impatiently as his assistant related his query to the maître de at the restaurant, who was on the other line with him. Choi Young Do in the meanwhile was trying to figure out what would drive Cha Eun Sang to do something so outlandish, so against her nature…..that is if he was correct in his deduction.

His assistant soon confirmed that indeed she was. Choi Young Do took a deep breath, more anxious now that his guess was proven right. He asked his assistant to conference the call.

The maître de almost dropped the phone when he realized that he was speaking to Director Choi himself. He was the most respected, most feared and most admired among the employees, depending on who one spoke to. Choi Young Do told him to convey his message and instructed David to head towards the hotel.

Cha Eun Sang tried hard not to let her nerves get the better of her. She concentrated on making small talk with Sunny and waited on pins and needles. Soon, she saw the maître de hurrying towards her with an anxious smile on his face. He stopped short near her table and almost bent double in a stiff bow.

“I apologize again for this terrible miscommunication, Madame. I was able to speak to Director Choi himself and he asked me to convey his apologies as well. He further instructed me to ask you to kindly wait for his arrival. He is already on his way here. He wants to apologize in person. In the meantime, may I offer some refreshments?”

He deftly removed the check presenter lying on the table and took out Cha Eun Sang’s credit card and politely offered it back to her.

Cha Eun Sang had to suppress the sigh of relief that she felt in her heart from escaping her lips. She smiled back and asked for more coffee. The maître de smiled in obvious relief as he felt that his apology was accepted and hurried away to get her order. This afforded Cha Eun Sang the time she needed to gather her thoughts and face Choi Young Do. It was a fine line to walk, asking for his help and yet not to let him think that she, for one moment, doubted Mr. Yoon’s instructions.

Choi Young Do was curious as to what made Cha Eun Sang act so blatantly against the social norms. She was not a natural risk taker like Kim Tan but she was obstinate and knew how to f