Love Journal – As Told By An Emotionally Constipated Half-Genius - Chapter 254

The first thing that made Edward want to back away from his decision was walking beside Julian to the car park and looking at that sleek black Lamborghini.

“Get in,” the CEO ordered and Edward felt oddly out of place with what he was wearing. However, as they were quickly attracting stares from the employees on their way home, Edward didn’t spend too long hesitating.

Julian smirked at the obvious reluctance on Edward’s face. According to HR, this intern was underaged so there wouldn’t be any bedroom actions. He wasn’t a saint but he wasn’t a fan of sleeping with minors. There were still things he wouldn’t do and r.a.p.e was one of those things even though human trafficking, drugs and weapon trading were things he had to qualms about.

Edward strapped the seat belt on and waited for Julian to slam his side of the door shut. The CEO behaved like a deserving gentleman and Edward had to give him credit. If the spy didn’t already know that this cruel man was a mafia boss, he would have believed that Julian was simply a shrewd but successful businessman.

They drove to a high-end shopping mall in Manhattan and Julian walked Edward around, entering stores with price tags that Edward knew only the Wildes could afford. As a commoner, Edward didn’t know how to react to the ‘gifts’ for their date night. He tried to talk Julian out of it because of the guilt but Julian was having none of it.

“If I don’t buy you something more expensive than what I buy her, how can we make her jealous?”

Edward’s brain stalled for a moment while it tried to process what Julian was saying. The CEO merely glanced outside the window and Edward turned around to have a look. Indeed, there was someone acting suspiciously sitting on a bench at the other side of the shopping centre reading a newspaper. Seriously, who does that nowadays? Everyone uses their phones to read, newspapers were only popular on the subways with nothing better to do.

Looking back at the clothes Julian chose or him, Edward had an idea.

Julian was curious to see what else the intern was up to. He wasn’t disappointed when Edward acted spoiled and threw the expensive clothes onto the floor.

“I don’t like these,” he frowned and glared at the shop assistant who was stunned by the sudden change in attitude. Wasn’t this customer just refusing all the expensive items earlier? What made them act so arrogantly?

A glance at the person who held the black card made the shop assistant quickly apologise and rush to bring out the exclusive items.

“Not bad,” Julian smirked when he turned his back on the private investigator. “I guess you’d be able to write off your debt in just one date.”

Edward’s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. “I thought you said that I only needed to go on one date with you.”

Too naive. Julian smirked. “Do you think you’re in any bargaining position? I have your phone number, boy. Even if you leave my company and end your internship smoothly, I can still make your life difficult. Your only option now is to satisfy me by doing your part perfectly. Keep this up and I might even tip you.”

Edward swallowed. It was a really good thing the Interpol gave him a brand new identity and a new disposable phone number. He couldn’t fool around or treat Julian too lightly. The CEO was sharp and Edward did his best to balance between a meek intern and a snarky brat. Julian somehow knew that he wasn’t the fool he presented himself to be and Edward decided to keep the mystery to keep Julian intrigued but at a safe distance.

Besides, if Julian truly wanted to, he would hear all about Edward’s ‘true character’ from Randy and the HR.

The restaurant that Julian reserved for them was one that Edward had only heard about but never had the chance to visit because of the exclusive customer list. He didn’t know if the Wildes had access but Edward wondered if Scarlet would appreciate it here.

The restaurant was a famous three Michelin star french seafood restaurant. This restaurant only served thirty customers a day and every customer had to book reservations months in advance with the exception of a few VVIP rooms that only accepted patrons could have access to.

They were in one of those VVIP rooms now and Edward couldn’t help but feel nervous at the luxuries he was looking at. He could never understand why people spent money on wasteful things but more importantly, the room was so quiet without any servers. Anything could happen and nobody would know.

“Why are we here? Don’t we need to put up a show for your fiancée?”

Julian simply ordered a glass of wine for himself and a mocktail he thought the teen would enjoy seeing as minors shouldn’t be drinking.

“Leah doesn’t need to confirm the date, she just needs to hear about the venue to be furious.”

Edward didn’t follow and Julian was in a generous mood so he told Edward a little more about his history with the girl. The alcohol and the company must have loosened his tongue a little more because Edward wasn’t really expecting to find out anything useful from this date.

“That girl has been pestering me to bring her here for months now but I’ve never bothered. She doesn’t know that I have special privileges either but I guess now she will. Oh, I think she made reservations here once but I stood her up because of business. She must be furious by now.”

Furious? If Julian thought that Leah would only be furious, he was dead wrong. Edward paled when he realised what kind of target he has now become. Julian paid no attention and simply passed him a menu, telling him to order whatever he liked.

Edward’s mind wasn’t focussed on the menu and after ten minutes, he still hadn’t decided anything when the waiter came to take their orders.

“S-sorry,” he apologised to the waiter. “Can you recommend something? I don’t know what to order.”

Julian raised a brow. The menu had English translations and it should be simple enough. Was this teen too afraid to spend money? The CEO snorted and snatched the menu away, handing it back to the waiter and ordering on Edward’s behalf.

At first, Edward thought that Julian was just going to order one thing for him but as he listened to the long names of multiple dishes, he quickly interrupted the man.

“Are you crazy? How are you going to finish so many things?” Edward hissed and swore that the CEO just listed about ten items casually.

The waiter looked lost and Julian raised a brow, taking time to explain. “It’s normal. This is a French restaurant, they don’t serve you kid meals or combo sets like the fast-food restaurants. Everything comes in a set, I’m merely customising it as any ordinary VVIP customer would. In normal circ.u.mstances, you wouldn’t even get a menu. They serve you something the chef makes and you pay for it without regard to what you like or dislike.”

Edward blinked dumbly, unsure of how to react. The Wildes were not even this wasteful and Edward finally understood the class difference between those ‘rich’ people he encountered from his previous work experiences and the truly ‘filthy rich’ like Julian.

After Julian was done reciting the menu, the waiter left with their orders and Edward sat their mutely, watching Julian drink his wine.

“You seem a little stressed,” the CEO commented and Edward squirmed in his chair. This man knew how to make people uncomfortable and Edward wanted out of here. Mission or not, opportunity or not, Edward didn’t like Julian.

“Anyone would be stressed in my situation.”

Julian chuckled and agreed. He might have gone a little overboard but he truly wanted to get Leah off his back. This teen was merely a victim in his plans but it would be alright. After all, he didn’t expect to see the intern again after this. Leah would find a way to kill this poor lad after news about their luxurious date reached her. Julian was simply having fun with this side fling and getting rid of the girl. It was the best of both worlds for him, too bad this young thing didn’t know what was coming.

“Enjoy it while you can,” Julian said. “It’s probably not going to happen again in your life unless someone rich favours you.”

Edward blinked and couldn’t help but retort. “Someone like you?”

Mirthlessly, Julian stared at Edward. “Don’t count on it. I might be gay and have a thing for pretty young things like you but at the end of the day, it’s business that matters. You screwed up my deal and you’re simply compensating for it.”

Edward felt slightly better hearing that Julian was not truly interested in him but for his uses. Whatever it was between Leah and Julian, Edward now knew that EZ Express wouldn’t help Leah out if she was ever in trouble. They would cut the rope and let her take the fall for them. This wasn’t enough, they needed more concrete evidence.

The rest of the ‘date’ went smoothly and Edward insisted that he should be dropped off at the nearest alley from the subway station because he didn’t want to attract unwanted attention. Julian didn’t refuse, In fact, it was a good chance for him. Leah’s men would probably take care of the poor lad, he might not see him ever again but that was fine by him. The poor teen might never even have the chance to use the phone number he gave him.

Edward stood in the shadows of the dark alley and watched the black Lamborghini go. He sent a text to Elfie and waited for the men following him to appear. This was it, Eddie the intern was officially making an exit from EZ Express but they had a lot more work to do if they wanted to put the Anastasias away for good.