Raymond's eyes bored right at Charmaine as he scanned her from head to toe. She still looked as she did five years ago. Beautiful as ever and he felt a momentary softening of his heart as he looked at the face that once haunted his dreams. Then he recalled what she did and the barrier surrounding his heart went up again. Now he looked at her with hate in his eyes.

Charmaine met his gaze fully and saw the coldness on his face. She was infuriated by it. After all, she was the victim. He had deserted her when she needed him the most. So why was he staring at her as if he hated her. If there's any hate going around it should be her hatred for him! Then it hit her. He's probably thinking that she would tell everyone here of how cruel he was to her years ago and therefore ruining his reputation. That was the only explanation for the way he was looking at her. Well he has no need to worry about that. Charmaine would not rehash the past and neither would she spend another minute in his presence. She forced a weak smile for Bosco and Selena’s benefit and said, “Hi guys. I won’t be staying. I feel a bit dizzy.”

Selena grabbed her arm, “Are you alright?” she asked as she peered closely at her friend.

Feeling flustered by her little lie, Charmaine squeezed Selena’s hand then gently removed it from her arm, “I’ll be fine.”

Kenneth took her elbow and said, “I’ll take you home then.”

Charmaine shook her head, “There’s no need to. Stay and enjoy the evening. I’ll hail a taxi outside.”

“I can’t let you do that,” Kenneth injected. “I brought you here and now I’ll take you home. I’ll come back after I drop you off.”

“He’s right,” Bosco said. “If you’re not feeling well we can’t let you go home alone. What happens if you faint during the ride?”

“I won’t,” Charmaine persisted. She turned to look at her three friends, ignoring Raymond altogether as he stood slightly behind listening to their conversation.

“Stop arguing with me,” Kenneth scolded softly. “I’m taking you home and that’s the end of it. If anything happens to you it’ll be on my conscience.”

“Excuse me but my car is right outside,” Raymond said smoothly causing four surprised faces to look at him. “I’ll just ask my chauffer to drive her home. That way she gets home safely and you three won’t miss out on the party.”

Bosco smiled at Raymond and said, “That’s a great idea!”

Kenneth turned to Raymond and it suddenly dawned on him where he saw Raymond from. It was years ago at the Club. He was an employee of Steven’s father and Steven was the one who introduced them. He wagged a finger in front of Raymond’s face as he broke into a wide smile, “I remember you! Raymond Lam! You used to work for Steven’s father.”

Raymond smiled, also remembering Kenneth, “I remember you too.” He held out a hand, “It’s been a long time.”

Kenneth took his hand and said, “Yes it has. Didn’t think we would meet again and now look at you.” He took a step back to survey him, “You really made it big time!”

“I worked very hard to do it,” Raymond said softly gaining Kenneth’s admiration for his modesty.

Kenneth patted Raymond’s shoulder and teased, “I’m going to make you my role model from now on. If I follow in your footsteps, do you think I would be all over the news too? I’ve been dying for some sort of publicity.” The two men chuckled at the joke. Kenneth then turned to Charmaine and nudged her arm, “Remember him? We met him together at the Club years ago.”

Charmaine eyes darted fleetingly to Raymond’s face and then shook her head vigorously, “No,” she lied.

Raymond’s jaw clenched at her response and he coolly said, “I don’t remember meeting you either.”

Unaware of their growing tension, Bosco placed a hand on each of their shoulders and said, “Well let me reintroduce you guys then. Charmaine this is Raymond. Raymond this is Charmaine.”

Raymond and Charmaine both said in a strangled voice, “Nice to meet you.”

Kenneth frowned at their answers. He was puzzled by it. Not so much the words that were spoken but their clipped tones. He looked at the two and felt that there was an intense dislike between them. He couldn’t understand why and before he could ponder on it, Raymond spoke again, “If you’re ready, I’ll take you to my car,” he said in a low voice to Charmaine.

Charmaine knew there was no way to reject his offer without arising curiosity from her friends. She smiled at them and said, “I’ll talk you guys soon.” She then followed Raymond outside.

Outside the restaurant, Charmaine waited in silence while Raymond called his chauffer.

“He’s parked at the corner and will drive up now,” Raymond said curtly.

Without looking at him, Charmaine mumbled, “Thank you.”

The car pulled up in front of them in less than a minute. Raymond held the door open for her and when she was seated inside the back row, she thought he would leave. Instead, he got in and sat down beside her. She turned alarmed eyes on him, “What are you doing?”

Raymond grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward so that their faces were inches away. In an ugly voice he asked, “So you really don’t remember me?”

Charmaine refused to meet his eyes as she struggled to pry his hand from her wrist. “No I don’t,” she cried out. “Let go of me!”

Raymond laughed and jerked her closer. In a low voice he said, “But I remember you and I would never forget what you did to me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Charmaine said heatedly as she felt tears of frustration forming in her eyes. “Let me go!”

Abruptly Raymond flung her hand roughly away causing her to fall back on the seat. He was out of the car in seconds slamming the door behind him. He bent and spoke to the driver, “Take Miss Seh wherever she wants to go,” he instructed. Without another word or glance at her, he walked back into the restaurant.