Chapter 47: Diner invitation

Rene was stunned. He had been so busy dealing with Raven and potential threats against his company he had completely forgotten about the big deal they were about to make with the Austrian business mogul. Orchid Wagner was meant to arrive two days from now, and their meeting wouldn't be until after she settled in, so he had at least three days to handle everything.

Her change in schedule put him in a difficult situation now.

This meeting was part of the book plot. He would now meet the female lead in the story, and was supposed to fall madly in love with her and start pursuing her, after she had impressed him in this meeting. Of course, President Li Naihe was no longer the real secondary male lead in the story, since Rene had now taken over; he doubted very much this woman could impress him, but he still had to play along. Luckily, this was quite a conservative story, so outside of a couple of stolen kisses, there was nothing more going on. With Raven in the picture, he didn't even want to go through that in case his chances with her would be completely doomed, but he was sure she would understand; if she ever saw him more than 'that guy she decided randomly to help'.

These thoughts unsettled him a little bit. Could she really not be attracted to him at all? Thinking about everything that has happened in their every encounter, he was starting to see how she might think he was a bit of an idiot actually, not worth her time. He was mentally smacking himself to wake the hell up. He was going to chase her, so he needed to get back to his old self to woo her. He had tried to hide his true nature whilst in this unusual circumstance, but now he wasn't willing to anymore. He had planned to only reveal his true self when the plot coincided more with his personality, but he feared that if he hid that part of himself from Raven, she would write him off completely. He was more afraid of that, than her finding out who he really was in the real world. After tonight, he had a feeling she wouldn't be afraid of him, at all.

Realising he was still on the phone, not saying anything, he cleared his throat and asked for his new business partner's phone number. He would invite her to dinner tomorrow, before her team arrived, and negotiations would begin. He wanted to get a head start on this, and also get a sense of who this woman was. She was more successful than he was in this world, and she was a self-made woman.

He knew from their conversations and industry gossip she was very young and that she was a genius. Of course, she had to be to create such an empire at such a young age, but she couldn't be better than his Raven.

As soon as the conversation with Liehen ended, he decided to text his new business partner to welcome her to City M and invite her out to dinner. It was quite late at night now and she was probably resting, so a phone call would not be appropriate. He wasn't sure how to address her, but in business, her royal title didn't quite mean much, and he knew she didn't really associate herself with the royal family. It didn't seem like it was important to her to be called 'your highness' so he opted not to.

"Miss Wagner, this is Mr. Li, president of Lanhua Corporation. Please forgive my assistant for sharing the details of your arrival with me, but it was unavoidable. If you would be so kind, please join me for dinner tomorrow night, at 7 PM. If you are able to, I will send further details and arrange a car for you. I look forward to our meeting, Li Naihe."

He decided to add in the day as well when saying tomorrow night. She would only read the text in the morning and Mandarin was not her first language, so better not create confusion.

Confident he had been polite enough, he sent the text.

He was going to review the details of the business deal before going to bed, to prepare for their meeting tomorrow, when his phone buzzed with an incoming text message.

She was still up it would seem, Rene concluded looking at his phone.

He quickly opened the message. To his surprise the reply came from one of the assistants, not Miss Wagner herself. 'Didn't his assistant say she travelled here ahead of everyone else? How would her assistant know to reply?' not wanting to overthink without having the means to get answers, he continued to read. She would meet him for dinner, there was no need to send a car, she would prefer a light meal to help with her jetlag.

He liked how straightforward this reply was. No fuss, just clearly expressing her preferences. Yes it was the assistant's reply, but it did convey the way she did business. Clear cut, no bullshit; it made him think of Raven again.

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair ruffling it in frustration. Would Raven come back? He understood he could call for her somehow, but he didn't know how.

Deciding he was going to wait until she or her assistant would make contact with him, he put his work aside and decided to sleep.

In the morning Raven woke up feeling refreshed. She was now more at ease with everything in this fantasy world. She had a way of communicating with the real world and her support system was here. All she was missing was Victor and she would have a complete family. Thinking of her dear best friend, she sighed. He probably would be more of a nuisance in this world, but she still very much enjoyed his company and his antics.

When the story was over and she would go back for good, she might tell him about her experiences; even if just to see the shocked look on his face and hear him rage about missing out. Victor was a true sufferer of FOMO [Fear Of Missing Out]. The thought put her in a good mood.

A light knock on her door announced the arrival of her breakfast, as Blinky was excitedly running her through the details of her businesses in this world as Orchid Wagner.

She was impressed with the background this book had created for her. It was relatively close to reality. Instructing Blinky to connect with everyone else so they could compare notes, she decided to have breakfast and wait for her new wardrobe to be delivered.

Before she could lose herself in her plans Blinky surprised her once again "Ah! Lady Mommy, before I forget, you have a dinner reservation with President Li or Lanhua Corporation at 7 PM. I have already communicated your dietary requirements to recover from jetlag and that you will be driving to the location."

She frowned. She couldn't fault Blinky for arranging this for her, it was their way of operating and he probably learned about it from Dominic, but this dinner interfered with her plans to tease Rene. It was fine, she couldn't avoid it forever; Raven was sure she could still get a few giggles out of this.