Why Not?

Nathaniel sat in the VIP room of Narra, drumming his fingers on the table as he impatiently waited for Jay and Clark to arrive.

"We're here," Jay announced as he entered the room with Clark in tow.

"Have you had lunch?" Nathaniel asked Jay and Clark.

The two men looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Eat, I don't like wasting things," Nathaniel told them as the waiters brought in another seat.

Jay and Clark looked at one another, they could clearly tell that Nathaniel's date didn't go as well as he wanted it to.

But both men knew better than to ask questions, so they sat down and began to eat.

Nathaniel was still for a moment but he eventually picked up his fork and began to eat as well.

In between bites, Jay and Clark would wordlessly look at each other, somehow communicating their concern about Nathaniel.

Eventually, it was Jay that spoke up.

"Maya left?" he asked.

"She has an emergency to deal with at work," Nathaniel answered before looking at his assistant. "Do you have the documents I need to sign, Clark?"

"Yes," Clark nodded as he took out a stack of documents from his bag and walked over to Nathaniel's side.

"That's quite a lot," Nathaniel said with a frown as he took the pen Clark was holding out and began reading through the documents. "Do I have any meetings this afternoon?"

"A few video calls with the head office, nothing local, but…" Clark's voice trailed away as he whispered the second part of his statement.

"Clark," Nathaniel said in a stern tone as he put his pen down and looked at his assistant. "Out with it."

"A social event, tonight," Clark quickly stated.

"In Arlington?" Nathaniel clarified.

"A charity event, it's in celebration of its cityhood, we just so happened to arrive at the same time," Clark explained to his boss.

"The annual charity ball and auction is one of the biggest social events in the city," Jay explained. "You know this."

"I've never been invited," Nathaniel said with a shrug as he returned his attention to the documents before him.

Behind Nathaniel Clark look helplessly at Jay, begging for his help to convince his boss to go.

"Sir, boss, it's a very important event, you will be the guest of honor," Clark explained, practically pleading with his boss to go.

"Clark, I came here to win Maya back and to reconnect with the people I left, I'm not here to attend parties," Nathaniel grumbled as he signed a document before moving on to the next one.

Jay looked at Clark and shrugged, it was as if neither of the two men knew what to do to convince Nathaniel to go to the event.

"Not to mention if I went people would discover my identity Maya would find out," Nathaniel explained as he picked up a document and read through it.

He didn't like what was written so he scribbled some comments and put them in a new pile.

"Why are you even keeping it a secret, Nate?" Jay asked as he leaned forward to listen to his friend. "It's not like your identity works against you."

Nathaniel looked at Jay and raised an eyebrow as if he were asking if Jay was seriously asking that question.

"First of all, as I mentioned in the past, I want to mess with Oliver. He deserves to be taken down a peg," Nathaniel sighed as he rejected another document.

"And the other reason?" Jay eagerly asked.

"Maya," Nathaniel answered.

Jay's face suddenly lit up, as if he had realized something that could help solve their dilemma.

"You know," Jay began as a grin crept up his face. "I'm sure Mr. Lee, Maya's boss, will ask her to attend the ball."

Nathaniel didn't react, he simply continued to read the documents and either sign them or write comments and reject them.

"Why would he make her attend a charity event?" Nathaniel asked as he pretend to remain unbothered. But under the surface, he was itching to find out if Maya would be there.

Jay looked at Clark and nodded, they had discovered what would convince Nathaniel to go to the event.

"Because all the important businessmen will be there," Jay casually said as he smiled more mischievously. "And because the mayor has announced that the new President and CEO of DLR Enterprises will be the guest of honor, so Maya will have to go."

"Then they will be disappointed because he won't be there," Nathaniel said, not even bothering to lift his head.

Jay was not the type to so easily give up, he knew that if Maya was involved, Nate would be there. All he had to do was to continue pushing the narrative.

"Well, knowing Mr. Lee, he will ask Oliver to bring Maya as his date," Jay said.

As soon as he mentioned Oliver, Nathaniel stopped writing. That was when Jay knew what he had said had done the trick.

"Maya wouldn't agree," Nathaniel told his friend.

"She would, Oliver is a friend of Mr. Lee and Maya loves her job and the company she works at. She helped build that place, she wouldn't refuse such a small request," Jay said as he egged Nathaniel on. "Her job helped her a lot after you left."

This seemed to trigger something in Nathaniel's mind.

He slammed the pen on the table and turned to look at Clark.

"Tell the Mayor I'll be there, get an invitation for Nate Rue and another one for the CEO and President of DLR Enterprises," Nathaniel ordered.

"Yes, boss," Clark said as he quickly took out his phone to make a few calls.

Jay grinned before taking another bite of his meal.

"I'm curious though, Nate," Jay started to say.

"About what?!" Nathaniel hissed, clearly not happy with how his friend had manipulated him into agreeing.

"I can't help but wonder why you are keeping your true identity a secret from Maya, we both know that it will do more harm than good. I personally think it's stupid." Jay said with a shrug as he spoke as directly as possible.

Nathaniel leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

"I know that my identity will bring with it pressures that Maya isn't willing to face," Nathaniel explained. "It's hard enough explaining why I left, my identity will only driver her away. Plus I want her to fall in love with who I am and not the man people think I am."