"Yes, he’s already on the way," Sam answered with a smile.
Sam found it amusing that Harper looked so tense. "Relax, boss. He might be frightened when he sees you so agitated."
"What do you an?" Harper asked.
"You look like you want to swallow him whole the mont he arrives and exits from his car."
Harper rolled her eyes. "O yeah? Stop teasing ! I’m worried that he won’t show up. This is my only chance to et him before I fly back to New York tomorrow." She was afraid she would miss the opportunity to express her feelings to Sean.
Sam chuckled.
Before long, a faint knock on the door could be heard.
Sam imdiately stood up and opened the door; Sean appeared before him.
"I’m sorry I’m arriving late. I drove as fast as I could, but there was an important matter I had to take care of before coming here," Sean said, feeling wrong about being late for their scheduled eting.
"Yeah, sure. It’s fine, man. You’re not late at all. Let’s co inside," Sam said, smiling at him. "I already ordered. You ca at the right ti; the server was about to serve."
"Thanks, man. Well, let’s—" Sean’s sentence stopped as he saw Harper in the room. His cheerful expression slowly turned to confusion. He didn’t rember Sam telling him that Harper would co with him.
His steps halted before he entered the room, and he turned his gaze to Sam.
"Sam, you two...?" he whispered, curious why Harper was there.
"Ah, sorry for not telling you," Sam said faintly when Sean’s expression turned frosty. "I ca here with Harper. She happened to be in town and would only return to New York tomorrow, and she had nothing else to do tonight. So, I, uh, I thought to myself, why not invite her to join us for dinner? So I invited her to have dinner with us."
Sam felt terrible about this, knowing Sean dislikes socializing with others.
"I hope it’s fine with you, man. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you ahead." Sam said again.
Sean shook his head before smiling at Sam. "What? No, no. Nothing like that. I’m just wondering if you two are dating?"
"WHAT? Pffft!" Sam almost choked. "No... No... of course not." He imdiately explained, "We are not dating. She’s an excellent friend, and I simply wanted to ask her to join us."
Hearing Sean’s comnt, Harper almost fainted. ’Oh my goodness, why did he think of Sam and as a couple?’
Afraid that Sean had misunderstood the situation and jeopardized her chance, Harper rushed to explain.
"Sean, we’re not dating. Sam is like a big brother to . There is no way I can date him. You don’t have to worry about that. I’m single." she said with an alluring smile.
Sean could only laugh inwardly and felt amused by his own thoughts. "Oh, sorry!" he said softly, realizing his mistake.
"No, no. It’s not your fault. It’s Brother Sam’s fault for not telling you. Anyway, you two, take a seat. Let’s eat," she gestured for them to sit.
Sean sat across from Harper, with his back facing the entrance, while Sam sat beside him.
Not long after, the waiter ca to serve their dinner. While the waiter served, Sam tried to lighten the mood because he could feel Sean’s awkwardness with Harper around.
"Sean, did you say you were doing sothing important before coming here? Any new assignnt?" Sam asked. This is the only topic that cos to his mind now.
"Yeah! Yeah." Sean answered before drinking his tea.
"I’m sorry, man. I dragged you here to have dinner with ," Sam said, feeling guilty. "I wouldn’t have asked you to co if I knew."
"Oh, no worries, Sam. You know my work, right? You’ve been there. Anyway, may I ask sothing? It’s just a trivial matter about this restaurant. You know this place is owned by my family, right?" Sean asked with curiosity, hinting at his tone.
Sam nodded before answering, "Yes, this is your family’s restaurant. That’s why I chose this place, the more reason for you to co, besides that this place is also near my office."
"Ah, I see."
The room beca silent again as they started to eat.
Sam began out of friendly words and confused. He didn’t know what to say to get Sean to engage in a conversation. Sean seed uncomfortable talking about the military when Harper was around. He tried to signal Harper to speak, but she was busy chewing her food and didn’t seem to care about her image in front of Sean.
He wanted to remind Harper about her goal to et Sean. Still, he hesitated, worried that Sean would realize their true intention. He continued to eat while trying to find the right mont to leave the room.
However, before long...
Sam’s cell phone rang, and Stefan’s voice was heard on the other end.
"What are you waiting for? Leave the room now. Pretend you want to speak about important things," Stefan said.
Sam was confused when he heard those words but realized what Stefan ant a few seconds later. He nodded.
"Yes, sir!" Sam said, then he looked at Sean, who was also enjoying his food. "Sean, I’m sorry, but I have to go out to talk about office matters," he said, pointing at his cell phone. "I’ll be back soon."
"Sure, man," Sean nodded.
After Sam left the room, the awkwardness grew thicker. Sean didn’t know what to say, so he continued finishing his dinner.
anwhile, Harper was too busy figuring out what she wanted to say to Sean.
The room fell silent. All that could be heard was the sound of cutlery hitting the plate and the faint music from the hidden speakers on the ceiling.
Harper was upset with herself because she found it hard to start a conversation with Sean. She felt too nervous to say anything, and every sentence she had thought of faded from her mind, leaving her feeling empty.
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