Hey, look at me go! Another update already! This is my late Christmas/ early new year present to you. Hope you like it since you lot complained about Drew so much in the last chapter!

Chapter 5: Dinner Date/ Cue Rival Entrepreneur

15th April 2011

May finished applying the last touches to her face by putting on a layer of lip gloss, which really brought out the beautiful glow of her flawless, pale skin. She stood up and went over to the bed and picked up the dress that she had bought today instead of going to work like Drew had insisted (or more like demanded). May felt nervous about her dinner date tonight but nonetheless, she had to be completely dressed and ready by no later seven.

"May, you done yet?" Drew yelled from the corridor as he neared their room.

May heard his voice and hurriedly made her way into the bathroom and shut the door, her dress dress halfway up her body.

Drew entered and found no one in the room. He figured May was in the bathroom hogging it again so he took this as an opportunity to change into his own attire for the night.

May now regretted choosing the dress she was struggling to zip up. It seemed a lot easier when she tried it on in the shop.

Outside the bathroom, Drew could hear May knock over a few things as she attempted to get the rest of the zip up without getting it caught in her carefully curled hair.

Drew had a plain white shirt on, leaving the top few buttons undone, and a pair of black suit trousers that were not too snug or loose on him. He watched the door, waiting for it to open and eventually it did.

May came out, looking sharp in her red and slightly crinkled dressed that came to just above her knees and hugged her figure, nicely showing off her hips. She wore a pair of sparkly black Jimmy Choo's and a black lace clutch to finish her attire for the evening.

Drew looked at her, giving her the visual voyage. "Not bad." he said to her.

"Not bad yourself." May said coolly, but her cheeks were still slightly flushed from wrestling with the zipper. "Though I think you're missing something." May said. She walked over to the dressing table and pulled out a small box. "These." May said as she flicked open the box and revealed a pair of shiny cufflinks in the shape of roses. She helped him put them on his shirt, instantly making it look neater.

Drew examined himself in the mirror. He had to agree with May, the cufflinks really pull the rest of his look together.

"I'm guessing the bill for this will come up on my next statement?" Drew said casually as he admired his shirt cuffs.

"Well, I've not exactly been paid for the month so..."

"In which case, I've bought myself a very nice gift."

May looked at him with an amused expression. "You bought yourself?"

"I paid for it." He reminded her to which May responded with a dumbstruck look.

xxxxxx

The chauffeur pulled the car over at the entrance of the restaurant. May managed to catch a glimpse of the sign. Little Corsola.

Fancy. May thought as she stared at the fancy glass doors and the door man that stood next to it in his navy blue embroidered jacket, opening the doors for them and allowing them to enter into the building which greeted them with a glamorous looking red carpet. They made their way to the podium, arms linked, and waited to be escorted to their seats by their waiter.

Drew pulled the seat out and pushed the seat in for May, being the perfect gentleman. She would've wondered why he was being so nice to her but after skimming through a magazine earlier on during the day and reading about her and Drew's leaked wedding photos; she managed to work out why.

"Nice place." May said casually, looking at the old paintings that hung from the cream painted Walls. Their table had two layers of table cloth over them, a pale green followed by a white, complimenting the colour scheme of the rest of the place, May noted. She took a particular liking towards the chandelier that hung grandly over the giant circular flower arrangement in the centre of the restaurant.

"Yeah, it's one of my personal favourites." Drew said as he scanned the menu, even though he already knew what he wanted.

May nodded as she read the menu. Everything was so expensive and posh sounding. Luckily this type of restaurant wasn't new to May; she went to similar places with her ex-boyfriends. "I had a feeling it might be." May said.

"Yeah?" Drew looked up from the menu. "What makes you say that?" He asked.

"Just my intuition." May replied in place of the real reason. She did not need to remind him that she'd done her research on him.

"Are you ready to order?" the waiter asked. May noticed that his posture was exactly the same as Alfred's.

May and Drew shook their heads and ordered their food along with a bottle of Champaign and complementary wines for each course.

"Who are we trying to fool now?" May asked in a quiet voice, keeping their topic of conversation strictly between them though she already knew the answer.

"The public." Drew answered simply.

"Thought so." May replied, "I thought it might be just to keep the act going." she added.

They stopped their conversation when the waiter returned with their bottle of Champaign and poured it into glass flutes for them. They raised their glass at each other and drank. May took a small sip as did Drew.

"You surprise me at times." Drew said, surprising May slightly at his statement.

"In a good way or bad way?" May asked with an arched brow.

"Mostly in a good way. I didn't think you'd be able to catch onto work so quickly like that but you did." Drew explained.

"Well I did major in interior design." May replied.

"True." Drew gave an agreeing shrug.

"But I could say the same about you." May said slyly. Drew looked into her deep blue eyes, waiting for her to expand on that. "You can be very nice to me at times, like now but at other times you can completely ignore me or even be mean to me." May said, thinking back to their 'wedding' night. "You do make me wonder if you're bipolar."

Drew had to laugh at that one. "As if. And like I said last night, it wasn't me who was doing the ignoring."

They paused their conversation yet again when the waiter brought along their amuse bouche, a teacup-sized serving of lobster bisque. They finished that within seconds and resumed their conversation.

"I did not. I had to do my job." May defended, "If I didn't get it done you'd probably yell at me in front of everyone again!"

Drew smirked. "I won't anymore." He said and May looked at him sceptically. "You work well; I won't make things hard for people who work well. Assuming you won't screw up."

May looked at him, a smile tugging at the edge of her lips. "Let's hope you stick to your word then." she said just as their starters came.

May and Drew ate their starters in silence. She tried not to eat like a pig and inhale her food which she had a tendency to do when she was as hungry as she was now. She glanced at Drew from time to time to see him eating his mussels delicately. It served as a reminder to May to eat delicately too.

Once their starters had been taken away, May and Drew started to talk again.

"You know May, I had my worries about you when I first hired you to do the job." Drew said, "But now I have to admit, you're a pretty good choice."

May felt flattered that she managed to get more than one compliment from Drew in one night and prove his thoughts wrong. "Why did you choose me and not some other girl?" May asked. She remembered clear and well what he had said to her the day he proposed the offer.

"Most of the girls I dated were already rich but absolutely brainless." Drew answered. "You were different. A girl who knows what she likes and will trade her soul to the devil to get it. I admired that in you."

"According to your logic, essentially you have also sold your soul to the devil." May said, lifting her glass to her lips.

"There is no need for a soul anyway." Drew said, "In a way I think it was pretty daring of you to take my offer."

May shrugged. "I guess. Cheers to the soulless people then." she raised her glass.

Drew raised his to meet May's. "Cheers to someone who thinks on the same wavelength as me."

They clinked their glasses and took a sip out of them. Their eyes met as they watched each other drink.

"So where did your mother jet off to this time?" May asked, making some conversation.

"Probably off to the family villa in Pastora City in Sinnoh." Drew replied with a shrug, though he wasn't entirely sure himself. "Probably there to get some sun. She loves her tan."

May nodded. "I've never been there before but I heard it's nice." She said.

"Mother goes there a lot so she's bound to take you with her at some point." he informed her. "You'll hate it by the end of the year." He added matter-of-factly.

May gave him a doubtful look. She didn't think she'd hate it: She'd never been on holiday before! "I don't think I will." was all May said in return. She could picture herself lying on a chaise under the sun whilst sipping on some perfect cocktails.

Suddenly they heard some music that wasn't part of the orchestral music playing in the background, snapping May out of her fantasy. Drew excused himself while he answered his phone. May nodded to acknowledge it. She sat there and watched as Drew walked away from the table and over to a quieter area. His expression changed. His forehead crinkled slightly at the sound of the voice on the other end and he looked like he was trying to refrain from yelling at whoever was on the other end.

When they get along like do now, May felt like the luckiest girl in the world, being married to someone she loves. But she always has to remind herself that it's only for a year. This time next year she won't have him. But she'll have the penthouse apartment, more money than she could ever want, a permanent job and a good view of Drew five days a week for the rest of her working life (which May could never decide if that's a goof thing or not).

Drew finished up his phone call just in time for their main course. May couldn't wait to dig in to hers but she remembered to pace herself this time or she'd have to wait for Drew to finish again.

"Work again?" May asked.

Drew nodded. "That fashion designer Paris is so hard to deal with." Drew started. "She's just so nit-picky."

May listened to Drew complain about one of May's other favourite designer. "Maybe I could try dealing with her." May offered. "It'd probably be easier for a girl to deal with her."

Drew shook his head. "Brianna couldn't even handle her and she's pretty well known in this profession." he explained. "It seems unlikely that you'd be able to convince her. Especially given your brash nature."

May nodded. If that was Drew's decision then maybe she should let it go. But she felt like she just couldn't. "But I'm daring, like you said."

Drew watched her. "What are trying to do, May?"

"I bet I can convince her." May said with confidence, "I know her designs inside out, I'm young and I'm a fan so I can relate to her."

"Brianna's young and a Paris fan too." Drew pointed out bluntly.

"But I bet I can convince her." May repeated. "I managed to sell to you, one of the men's boutique's pickiest customer, some shoes." May pointed out. "Also, I'd like to point out that I'm more fun and sociable than Brianna." May added as an afterthought.

"May, you're just an interior designer. Stick to your strengths." Drew said sternly with his gaze tamed to his dish, "And just so you know, you don't have to go to work if you don't want to. I only hired you to be my wife."

"I know," May said, "But I don't want the other employees to think something's going when you don't fire me after we divorce. Given the mental capability of some of your staff, I'm sure even they'd be able to sense something's not right."

Drew was impressed. "Thinking ahead. Smart girl." he praised.

They continued to eat their meal in silence and didn't start to speak again until their main courses were taken away. In the back of May's mind was a picture of Drew's face if May did manage to seal a deal with Paris. She'd give anything to make Drew look at her in awe.

"So do you think we fooled the public tonight?" May asked, leaning forward with a devious smile playing on her lips. She was starting to feel the effects of the wines and Champagnes.

"Think so." Drew said, mirroring May's action. "My main concern is that my mother has sent someone to spy on us. She's did things like that before when she suspected I was doing what we are now. She has people watching me in the office and giving her updates on my every move."

"That's creepy." May commented and Drew nodded. That reminded her of something. She hadn't worked out who the snitch in her department is. Like mother like son, May concluded.

"Hello Drew." said a voice that May didn't recognise. "Fancy seeing you here. Having dinner are we?"

May looked up to see who it was.

"No, Brendan," Drew started sarcastically, "I'm here to bird-watch." Already May had gathered that Drew was not keen on this Brendan guy. She'd have to remember that for future reference.

"You're as funny as ever." Brendan chuckled. "This beautiful lady must be your wife, I presume." Brendan said as he picked up May's hand and planted a gentle kiss on it. "Pleasure to meet you." he said.

"Likewise." May said with grace and a gentle head curtsy. Seeing Drew and this guy managed to sober her up.

"Drew, aren't you going to give us a proper introduction?" Brendan asked as he looked at Drew expectantly.

"Brendan, this is my wife May," Drew started impatiently, "May, this is Brendan Birch, an ex-business associate of mine."

"Ah, May Maple, a star student from the University of La Rousse." Brendan stated, "I've heard a lot about you from your professors. I was going to snap you up for my own company but I don't really see that happening now since you're the same May Maple that married Drew."

"Thanks but it's actually, it's May Hayden now." May corrected smugly.

Drew looked around the room, subtly. "I think your date over there is getting a bit restless." He said in attempt to get rid of Brendan.

"My date must be getting impatient." Brendan said, "After all, we were meant to be celebrating our successful deal with Paris." he gloated. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you May. If things don't work out with Drew, give me a call." He said and pulled out a business card with his contact details and handed it to her with a wink.

The way he spoke made May suspicious of him. He sounded like he knew a lot about her and Drew. May quickly scanned the card. Brendan Birch of Birch and Co. May opened her clutch and pulled out her card too but by the time she had retrieved hers, the guy had already retreated back to his table.

Drew's mood had drastically turned from his light hearted one to one that showed his annoyance. Meeting Brendan was annoying enough but when he added that last part about the deal with Paris was what really stung Drew's pride. He was the one who told Brendan about Paris and now he was stealing his clients and potential clients.

May gathered that Drew was in a foul mood.

"Would you like to see the dessert menu?" the waiter asked. He had already brought them along.

"Just bring the check." Drew replied coldly.

May was disappointed that their date was ruined by one guy in a matter of minutes. She was really going to have to be careful around him. She was bound to come across that Brendan guy again if even Drew acknowledges him. But at least something good came out of tonight. Her next aim was more evident than ever now. Meet Paris and seal a deal with her. She'd prove Drew wrong and get the gloating rights to which she could use against Brendan when they next cross paths. Nothing sounded better than that. Absolutely nothing.

x

So the main point of this chapter was just to introduce Brendan and to have a cute contestshippy moment (which is what I assume most of you readers are here for). I can't remember what happens in the next chapter so I can't give hint (good for me, bad for you) but I'll hopefully get that up pretty quickly!

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed Christmas and have a good new year!

silver-hedgehog