Chapter 6
Roxanne suddenly felt super awkward. She didn’t give a hoot if Harrison was broke or loaded. However, if Harrison tried to flex like Oliver, showing off his abilities that he clearly didn’t have, it would leave her feeling pretty helpless.
She looked at Harrison with disappointment.
Just then, the chubby manager hurried back, took a look at the people waiting outside the Lotus Luxury Hotel, and finally fixed his eyes on Harrison. Was this the big shot the boss said they couldn’t offend?
He clearly had an unusual strong presence, but the chubby manager still felt unsure. Would such a rich person dine at their three-star hotel? The hotel was all dolled up because of his arrival,
The chubby manager cautiously approached Harrison. “Excuse me, are you Mr. Rodriguez?”
“Mhm, Harrison replied indifferently.
The chubby manager was pumped. He immediately said respectfully, “Mr. Rodriguez, our boss just called. He has prepared the best private room for you. Please follow me.”
Oliver, Roxanne, and other staff were shocked.
“Let’s go eat,” Harrison said to Roxanne, who was still stunned. “Harrison, do you know the hotel owner?”
Harrison replied, “No.”
Everyone watched in astonishment as they were ushered into the private room.
Once seated, Oliver swallowed his sarcastic remarks amidst the murmurs of the staff.
“Is this the most luxurious room in the hotel? It’s huge, spacious, and so luxurious.”
“I heard the minimum charge for this room is over five thousand dollars, plus a fifteen percent service charge. Will they waive the service charge?”
“Definitely, didn’t you see how respectful the hotel owner was to Roxanne’s husband?”
Oliver was not happy. He glared at Harrison, who was pulling out a chair for Roxanne. “Harrison, the minimum charge for this room is over five thousand dollars, which is well above the staff dinner budget. Are you going to foot the bill?”
The chubby manager respectfully answered for him, “Mr. Rodriguez, our boss said, whatever you want to eat or drink today, he’ll foot the bill. It’s his treat. Also, our boss is on his way here. He wants to toast to you in person and hopes you will accept.”
Oliver’s face was as grim as could be. Why would a rural, bankrupt guy receive such respect?
“Harrison.” Roxanne gently tugged at Harrison’s sleeve, looking puzzled. “What’s your relationship with this hotel owner? Why is he so respectful toward you?”
Harrison handed her the menu. “Check out what you want to eat. You can order anything.”
Roxanne had a lot of questions and no appetite to order.
Hamson reminded her, “Order.”
Throughout the meal, the chubby manager and several waiters served them like they were royalty, waiting respectfully at their beck and
call.
During the meal, the staff asked Harrison some questions, most of which Roxanne helped answer, or Harrison responded with a few words. As for Oliver, he looked gloomy the whole time.
After the meal, everyone was ready to leave. The chubby manager respectfully stopped them, “Mr. Rodriguez, our boss is stuck in traffic. Could you wait a few more minutes for him? He really wants to meet you. It will only take a few minutes.”
Harrison knew why the hotel owner wanted to meet him.
He thought for a few seconds, looked at the chubby manager’s name tag, and said, “Come here, I have something to tell you privately.” Harrison pulled the chubby manager aside. He said straightforwardly, “I really appreciate the hospitality of the hotel today. I’ll have my secretary come and settle the bill. If your boss has any trouble in the future, he can contact my secretary. I have some things to do now, so I won’t be able to thank him in person.”
The message was clear that he couldn’t be held back any longer.
The boss had instructed that if they could keep this important guest, it would be best. But if not, they must present him with the most expensive and finest wine from the hotel. So the chubby manager insisted on gifting Harrison a bottle of wine.
After gracefully declining, Harrison walked over to Roxanne.
“Did that manager just give Roxanne’s husband a bottle of wine?”
That bottle of wine is worth eight thousand dollars. They not only waived off a few thousand dollars for their meals, they also gifted a
1/3
bottle of fine wine.”
“Mr. Lewis, you really shouldn’t have mocked Roxanne’s husband. Look at Roxanne’s husband; he has quite an influence in this hotel.
Oliver sneered with envy and discontent. “What’s so great about him? He’s bankrupt, penniless. What’s the point of respecting him?” At this point, Harrison walked over.
Roxanne asked, “Harrison, what’s your relationship with this hotel owner?”
Harrison replied casually. “The hotel owner is a friend of a friend. He owed my friend a favor, and my friend owed me a favor.”
To Roxanne, this explanation seemed reasonable. But it also didn’t seem weird. What favor could make them waive off a few thousand dollars for their meals and gift a bottle of wine worth eight thousand dollars?
She was still puzzled, but Roxanne decided not to press further. Maybe Harrison did have some high-end connections before he went broke.
Then, Harrison, who was next to Roxanne, looked at Oliver, expressionless. “I remember someone saying before dinner that if I could book a private room, he would bark like a dog on the spot, right?”
Oliver’s face turned pale, not knowing what to say. He felt humiliated and publicly ridiculed. He was speechless, wanting to hide away. Harrison coldly said, “You don’t need to bark.”
His gaze was icy cold. “But you’re doing business with Roxanne, mate, you better not mess with her. She’s not alone anymore.”
Oliver wasn’t sure if Harrison knew about his confession to Roxanne or even his intentions of taking advantage of her. If he did know, he might’ve hated Oliver’s guts.
“You’re overthinking, how could I mess with her?” Oliver muttered, then slinked away with his tail between his legs. He felt utterly embarrassed, like a total loser.
On the way home, Roxanne wanted to ask about Harrison’s connections. But she eventually dropped it. She gratefully said, “Harrison, thanks for speaking up for me in front of Oliver.”
Harrison shrugged. “I just don’t like him.”
“Whether you like him or not, or whether you wanted to help me, I’m really grateful.” Roxanne didn’t really care about his true motives. She started to text Chloe, but Chloe didn’t reply. If this was before, she would think Chloe was busy taking care of her kid, so she couldn’t reply. But since yesterday, she sent a lot of messages, and Chloe didn’t reply to any of them.
Was she sick? Or something happened?
Roxanne was really worried about her good friend, so she decided to call.
After five calls, no one picked up. Roxanne started to feel anxious, should she go check on Chloe?
“Aren’t you going to ask me anything?” Harrison asked.
She turned her head, looking at Harrison. “Ask what?”
“Like what happened in the hotel just now.” Harrison also looked at her.
“You already said it, your friend’s friend helped you out because of something from the past, so why should I ask anything?”
If that was the reason, then asking would be redundant. If it wasn’t, and he was deliberately hiding something, she wouldn’t get anything out of him by asking. So, she decided not to ask.
Harrison nodded, not saying anything further. This interaction made him feel relaxed, so he took out his phone, checked his email, and opened a file, while Roxanne kept trying to reach Chloe.
The two of them sat in the car and didn’t talk again.
Back at the rental, Harrison was still not used to the cramped space. But it was okay. At least he was getting more accustomed to it than he was yesterday.
Only he had a rough night sleeping on the couch, and his sleep quality took a nosedive. Worried about another sleepless night, he did some workouts while Roxanne was taking a shower.
Roxanne showered for half an hour, during which he also exercised for half an hour. When Roxanne came out, she was surprised by his workout routine
120 push-ups + 120 plank jacks. All in one go?! The guy’s stamina was insane.
His clothes were soaked in sweat, his muscular arms were dripping. And that wasn’t even all the exercises he did. His stamina was just top good!
Seeing him getting up, Roxanne felt a bit awkward, and quickly asked, “Are you into working out too?”
“Couldn’t sleep well last night.” Harrison wiped off his sweat. “Working out helps with sleep.”
2/2
Roxanne glanced at the couch. “If you’re not comfortable sleeping on the couch, I can let you have the bed?”
“No need,” Harrison replied. “There are mosquitoes in the living room, buzzing all night, do you have any solution?”
Roxanne thought for a moment. “I can light a mosquito coil for you before we go to bed. The house isn’t well insulated, so mosquitoes tend to fly in.”
“But,” she continued, “the house I bought will be ready soon, after a few months of airing out post-renovation, we can move in.”
“You bought a house?” Harrison asked.
Roxanne nodded. “Yeah, I took out a loan, and have to pay around eight thousand dollars every month.”
Harrison asked again, “Which development?”
“It’s not a big development, just a small one. But the environment would be much better than here.”
In Seraphim Haven where they lived, even the houses from small developments would cost close to a million dollars. The down payment would usually be one-third of the total price, which meant tens of thousands of dollars upfront.
Roxanne, being at the bottom of the social ladder, able to afford a house here, surprised Harrison.
He said, “I’ve found a new job, once I start getting paid, I can help with the loan.”
Roxanne didn’t reply. They were legally married now, and if he was willing to help ease some financial pressure, she wouldn’t refuse. At night, although there were no mosquitoes, the pungent smell of the mosquito coil kept Harrison awake. Since he couldn’t sleep, he started to reassess his relationship with Roxanne.
Over the past two days, he found that he didn’t dislike their relationship; in fact, he thought Roxanne was unlike most women.
The next morning, Roxanne got up early as usual. She saw Harrison’s unwashed clothes from last night, so she put them in the washing machine. His underwear, she hand-washed and was about to hang it out on the balcony.
As Harrison woke up, he saw her holding his underwear, his eyebrows furrowed.
“Who gave you permission to wash my underwear? Harrison strode over, face dark.
