CHAPTER 5.1:  A Mile

“Where the heck were you?” 

The girl turns to see her on and off boyfriend lying on the bed, his long slender fingers wrapped his gun preciously as if it would scare her. But it didn’t, it wasn’t enough to scare her. She was immune to it… because she the mafia’s daughter―Reen Yu.

“Tell me, was it fun? Did you have such a grand time with him that you forgotten all about this bad boy right here?”

In a blink of an eye, he trapped her against the wall and lifted her face so that they would meet eye to eye.

“That’s more like it.”

He whispered and in a whiff, she could smell the alcohol in his breath. She rolled her eyes and took this chance to maneuver him. She took his arm and twisted it around so that she could look at him from behind. When she heard him swirm, she kicked his away as he fell on the cold floor. She didn’t bother looking at him because she already knew that he lost all will to go up against her.

“I was in town; there was a club so I went to check out.”

“And you saw something you liked?” she met his piercing gaze. “Something like that.”

She poured herself a glass of alcohol. It was enough to slur her senses but it wasn’t enough for her to lost control. She had her first alcohol at the age of thirteen and if it wasn’t enough, she challenged herself to take in as much alcohol, growing the tolerance for it. Luckily, her body accepted that challenge and with every bottle, her tolerance grew exponentially. She was on par with the majority of the guys around her and she didn’t want to be held down by some lame stereotype that focused on gender inequality.

“Then what about me? Where is me in all of this?”

“Oh hun, we are just a fling.”

He got up and tosses his shirt on the floor; he lifted her up on the table and closed the distance between them, leaving a dangerous distance between their lips. He was so close to tasting that alluring red lips of hers, he was practically ready to pounce on her like a ferocious tiger but he couldn’t take that step… they were both teasing each other and we all know who had the upper hand right? He slid his hand between her thighs and roamed up slowly while his lips trail along her neck.

“I want him Kenji...” He heard her whisper as she pushed him off her. “Help me get him.”

The man ran his thumb across his lips; he picked up his shirt and smirked. “It’s rare to see you serious, who’s the guy?”

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“Exquisite.” Jiro stated as he scan through the menu. He has been reviewing his menu since his flight to Taiwan and he never found a flaw with it. His team has worked their hardest and best, with designing the menu so that it met his client’s tastes. “Good work everyone, you can go back now.” His team nodded as they made their way out, leaving Jiro and his assistant at the table.

“Can I finally taste some?” Jiro passed him some dishes and smirks, “eat as much as you can.”

“FINALLLY!” He shouted out as he dug his fork into one of the deserts on the table. There were lava cakes on the plate, white chocolate and dark chocolate with some sweet sauce as presentation. His assistant smiled happily as he fed himself a piece of the cake and melted in his seat. Jiro laughs as he watch his assistant pick his food from plate to plate.

“What do you think of these sweets?”

“You talked about mixing sweet with pleasure right? Yes, this is exactly it!”

Jiro smiled as his assistant reached over to get his glass of water. “But I got to say, maybe it is just me or something but these deserts is a bit too sweet. Nowadays, ladies are concentrated on their weight and this desert plate is a bit heavy on the sweet tooth. Don’t you think?” His assistant picked up another desert plate and smiled. “All of these deserts are awesome! Don’t get me wrong but if I find it sweet, wouldn’t it be too much? I love sweets, I can eat them all day and not worry but in my point of view, these deserts can knock out someone in one punch.”

Jiro took a look at all of his deserts on the table and sighs. “That cupcake I had in the afternoon, I can’ stop thinking about it! That little bud had all the right sugar and icing on it, it was made out of love.”

Jiro stares at his assistant and crosses his arms. “Made out of love?”

His assistant laughs. “It’s weird right? I don’t know why but that cupcake really is a good! These deserts made by Jiro Wang and his team are all awesome, presentation and ideas are probably at the top but in terms of providing the pleasure part for clients… I think that girl―Cyndi was it? Yeah, Cyndi did a good job bringing that out.” Jiro leans back and gave it a thought. “Think about it, why don’t we offer a collab with their shop or sponsor them? It could be one of those rare gems you find once in a millennium.” After saying it, his assistant continued to gobble all the deserts and he smiles happily. “That was good, I love my sweets.”

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The Next Morning

“Belle Fleur…” He gently whispers as he stares at the shop. He wasn’t sure what possessed him to come this far to visit a neighbourhood sweets shop but seeing how he came all the way here, it must mean something right? He took a look around the shop and sighed, it was as bubbly and cute as he remembered it to be. If this was his store, he wouldn’t do it, he can’t. It’s too bubbly and cute for his taste.

“Mommmy! I want a cupcake!” Jiro turns around and his eyes widen. “Ying Jie?!” Gui stops in her place and stares at the man in front of her. He was as dashing as she remembered him to be. He was sporting a blue collar shirt and jeans and what man would be complete without cologne?

“Jiro?” She whispered and he nods, looking down to see her holding onto a little boy. “And who is this little guy?” He asked as the boy looked up at him while tugging on his mother’s dress. “Mom, who is he?”

‘Mom?’ Jiro looks at Gui with a surprised expression. “He is your son?” Then Jiro bent down and looks at the little boy and he could tell, that this boy bare some resemblance to Aaron, but that might be his eyes playing tricks on him.

“It’s like a miniature Aaron…” He whispered as Gui weakly smiles. “Want to come in and have a cupcake with us?”

“YAY CUPCAKE!” The little boy shouted out happily as he ran over to the shops door and dressed the button for the automatic door. Seeing how happy he was, Gui made her way into the store with the boy. Jiro scratches his head and followed the two.

“MOOMMY, I WANT THIS ONE AND THIS ONE! NO WAIT, THIS ONE!”

Jiro laughs as he picks up the boy so that he could see all of his options. Gui smiles as she watches Kris chooses all of them, ending up in a dilemma because he couldn’t pick JUST pick one. He picked the cupcake that said ‘chocolate dream’, ‘berry splash’, ‘strawberry crumble.’

“Tell you what little man, why don’t you pick your top six.”

“Why six?”

“Because Uncle Jiro will buy you the pack of six, so pick your six cupcakes.” Kris smiles happily as he picks his six cupcakes happily.

When the little fella saw the lady gave the bag of cupcakes to Uncle Jiro, he ran over to an empty table and sat down with a huge smile on his face. Jiro laughs as he looks over to Ying Jie who laughs long with him. “Is he usually like this?”

“He is our very own sweets monster!”

“MOMMY, UNCLE! I WANT MY CUPCAKE!”

“Kris, what is the magic word?” On cue, he sat up straight and held his two hands together in front of him. “Pretty please.”

Jiro laughs as he opened the box to see Kris scream happily for a cupcake. Seeing how Kris grew up, one wonders how one does it. He heard being a single parent was a tough job, how did she bring up Kris all these years? It must’ve been hard for her. She could’ve told Aaron she was pregnant but she never got the chance to tell him because they stumbled on a bump along the way. He leans back and observes the interaction between a mother with her child. If he were to have children one day, it would be after his career skyrockets. To have a child this early in the game is not in his books, nor was it his idea of settling part of it. Nonetheless, being called an uncle isn’t so bad.

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“OH MY GOSH! HE IS BACK, HE IS BACK!”

“Who is?”

Cyndi didn’t bother looking over to see what the commotion was all about. She was focused on her cupcakes to pay attention to what the big fuss was about. It was one of her male coworkers who went into the kitchen with the biggest grin on his face. It was a normal workplace environment so Cyndi didn’t think much of it… not until the male co-worker slipped out to see the international chef Wang’ significant other. She came to a halt to see a bunch of her female coworkers come running into the kitchen with the look she couldn’t decipher. It would be the look of envy, jealous and happiness all wrapped into one expression.

“OH MY GOSH, WE ARE GOING TO BE FAMOUS! WHY? BECAUSE EMMA WU, HEAD DESIGNER AND DAUGHTER OF VI WU IS HERE! EATING! WITH THAT GUY―CHEF WANG! THEY ARE EATING TOGETHER!”

One of her female co-workers brought out her magazine and smacked it on the table. Forget about working for a moment and focus on the juicy gossip. Cyndi casually looks over at the magazine to see a spread of Chef Jiro Wang’s interview (which was broadcasted yesterday night) and there was another magazine for Emma Wu, fashion designer who is marking her place in the fashion world with her partner, Alien Huang.

“Are they going out with each other?”

“OHMO! DIDN’T YOU SEE? There was this adorable sitting with them, if you can’t piece one and one together, how are you going to survive?”

‘They a have a kid?’ Cyndi looks away from the magazine and thought back to the interview she saw last night. It was clear that Jiro said he wasn’t seeing anyone… could it be? This is his way of covering his reputation… clearly, this man has big ambitions but how can this man be as shallow as to let other women in the city think he is still single and looking? To think that he would be the type of person to hide his child from the public, it could be seen as a negative and a positive. In Cyndi’s mind, it didn’t sit well. Men should be courageous and tell everyone if he has a child or not, or else the girls will start lining up and claiming him. Cyndi sighs, she knew it wasn’t her business to convene in his business but she couldn’t help but feel bad for the child and the mother.

“… Jiro is someone who is out of our league. I knew it was too good to be true! Did you know? All his friends are H-O-T! One is the famous lawyer and one of them is the board of directors for NTB! And to add, his one other friend is getting married to his long-time girlfriend. GOSH, TALK ABOUT HOTNESSS! I wonder if I will be able to score something on par with that!”

Cyndi rolls the magazine up and taps each of her co-worker’s heads. “Back to work!!”

“Yes Ma’am! I am going back to the front to see how handsome he is and how cute the little boy is.”

Cyndi sighs as she watches her coworkers take back the magazine and dashes to the front of the store. She shakes her head back and forth before carrying her finished tray of cupcakes out to the front. Not even a few minutes and she already saw him sitting with a girl and little boy.

“That’s them.” A co-worker continues to talk away. “If the girl isn’t so pretty, I would’ve got to him.”

“Can you ev