Later at night.

Zaria was on a phone call with Desmond. The man didn't want to end the call and talked about many things—none of which was sensible. She decided she may as well use the company while she decided on what to wear the following day.

"What do you think I should wear tomorrow?" He asked, reminding her of the morning he woke her up to simply ask this.

"A blue suit." she responded without thinking it through. It was the first color that crossed her mind since she had just checked out a blue dress.

"What about the tie?" Came another question. It seemed like he was taking her suggestion seriously.

"Red." Once again, it was only because she had touched a red blouse.

"Shirt?" He asked yet again, making her want to beat him up.

"Can't you choose that yourself?"

"I don't know what shirt would go well with a blue suit and a red tie."

She shook her head but still answered him, "White. Change the tie to burgundy."

She heard a shuffle on the other side and guessed that he was seriously selecting the clothes she had suggested.

"Is burgundy the color you like best on me? This is the third time you are suggesting it." He asked with a hint of mischief in his voice.

She didn't remember the first two times she made any such suggestion, but she did like the color on him. "It makes you seem more friendly and less arrogant."

He laughed at her response and did not retaliate. "Boxers?"

"Desmond!" She couldn't believe he was asking that too.

"What? Isn't that part of clothing? Let me see. White?"

She rolled her eyes. "Who is going to see your briefs? You can wear pink for all I care!"

He searched for a while before sighing. "Unfortunately, I don't have any pink pair. But I can order it online."

She had said pink to shut him up and was puzzled by his response. "Wait. Pink boxer briefs exist?"

"Why not? Isn't pink a color?" He answered with a question and she burst into laughter.

"Haven't you seen one before?" He was amused by her reaction.

"No." She didn't want to imagine the thought of it and focused on her clothes instead.

"What colors have you seen?" He asked shamelessly, and when he didn't get a response, it was his turn to be shocked. "You haven't seen any before?"

"Don't make it sound like there is a medal for women who have seen men's intimate clothes." She pulled a hanger with a red dress out of her closet, frustrated by his tone.

The man on the phone was still at it. "I'll pretend that I didn't think about what else you have never seen. If you want, I can let you see mine. I'll wear my best one specifically for you."

Her jaw dropped at her boss's insanity. "Who said that I have never seen one?"

"You did." His tone sounded like he was accusing her of feigning memory loss.

"Are you crazy? Haven't I watched movies before? Haven't I gone to male clothes stores?"

"So you haven't actually seen a man sans his pants before." He picked the main point from her words. "Zaria, can I ask you a question?"

"Don't." She knew what he wanted to ask and she was not ready to answer it.

"Are you going to sleep now?" He changed the topic after pausing for a few seconds.

She was glad that he knew when to stop. "Yes. See you in the morning."

She said her goodnight, and as soon as she hung up, she accidentally answered an incoming call from Ximena.

"There you are. You have been unavailable for ages. Were you discussing with the entire republic?" Ximena complained.

"I'm sorry. I was speaking to Desmond. It's quite late, do you need something?" Her tone was a little flat after her previous call.

"Aren't you free with your boss?" Ximena's tone raised, but she did not linger on the trivial matter. "Are you free on Saturday?"

"No, I'm attending a banquet." She sat on the bed, feeling bummed that she had to miss out on fun.

"What a bummer. I wanted to invite you to go somewhere with me." Ximena was disappointed but she didn't blame Zaria. "Have you already selected what to wear for the banquet? You know that I have to approve of it."

Zaria smiled. Ximena had not changed the slightest bit. Being a stylist, she took it upon herself to ensure that her friend looked beautiful no matter what occasion she attended. It was she who had taught Zaria all the makeup tricks she knew. "I have. I hoped you could do my makeup, but…"

"Count on me. I'll squeeze in a few minutes for you." Ximena interrupted before the other could talk about her being too busy.

"What would I do without you?" Zaria sighed.

"Cry in front of the mirror over the bothersome details." Ximena teased. "Of course, there isn't such a thing as free service. You will have to pay for it with lots of food and chocolate."

"I'll get you an entire factory of chocolate." Zaria exaggerated before they decided on the time to see each other on Saturday.

...

The following evening.

As agreed, Desmond and Zaria met up with Evan at the resort of West Golf Course.

The casanova was silent at first, but when Desmond stepped away to answer a phone call, he turned active as though a button had been pressed on him.

"You said you were curious about me. What are you curious about?"

Zaria had food in her mouth and didn't respond immediately, but Evan took it as her being too shy to speak. "Nothing? That's alright. You have all the time in the world to figure me out. On the other hand, I'm curious about this. Why do you look so beautiful? Did you dress up for me?"

Her beaded sheath dress was nothing out of the ordinary, but because it was red, he allowed himself to overthink.

"Don't be silly." She found it amusing that someone was able to constantly think up so much crap. She wondered what his brain was made of, but that was none of her business. "Why are you helping Desmond?"

"Because he's my friend." He gave the most obvious answer, then realized that she didn't believe it. "Fine. That and because whether or not I help him, he will get himself out of the fix either way. Why not owe him a favor by force?"

She frowned for a moment and then her eyebrows raised. "Your logic isn't impossible. However, it only works for people who have no abilities and can only resort to sneaking their way out of situations."

He was intrigued that there was a woman who dared to directly diss him. "That's not a lie." He cut his roast duck into pieces as he focused all his attention on her. "In the business field, it's not the means but the results that matter. Don't you agree?"

"I mind the means." She shut him up, but soon realized that his eyes were glued onto her, making her look up at him quizzically.

"I want to know. Why do you look so familiar?" He came up with some random bullshit when he was caught staring. "Ah, I remember. You look like someone I saw in my dreams several times—my bride."

She ignored his words and focused on looking around, taking note of a few things while the owner of the place wasted his time jabbering on.

Desmond finally returned and sat next to her. "You didn't get swayed away in those few minutes that I was away, did you?"

She shook her head. "His pick up lines are cheesy—not that he would have swayed me otherwise."

"I'm still here, you know." Evan complained about being discussed in his presence.

...

The dinner turned out to be a waste of time because Evan promised to give Desmond the evidence over the next dinner.

Zaria didn't mind since she had not wasted her time. She had gotten a few ideas which she brought up when she was alone with Desmond. "Do you have any plans to change the ambience of Regal Hotel?"

"What do you have in mind?" He looked up from his laptop, knowing that she would not have brought it up without thinking about it. She hesitated so he added, "You are in charge, in case you have forgotten."

She felt free to give her suggestions after obtaining his permission. "I want to get rid of the current swimming pool and replace it with one of mixed style. If possible, I would add an artificial hot springs bath."

"And?" He knew that there was more to it.

"Have the restaurants serve food from as many parts of the world as the space can allow this includes Olphirian. I don't want guests being unsatisfied." While having lunch with Evan, she had seen a tourist ask for Olphirian food and he got upset when he was informed that there was none. The tourist had disappointedly remarked about how ironic it was to be in a popular resort in Olphire and not get a taste of Olphirian specialties.