18 | Craving Caviar

Kei's POV

"Hey, Ryan!" I greeted my friend rather gratefully. Thank God, he came over. The akwardness and tension between Jace, Ralph, and me was just too heavy for my liking. And I was still doubtful on why Jace was here with us.

Ryan gave me a clap on the back, before looking between the French siblings. "Can I...?"

I nodded and gestured for him to sit down on the vacant seat beside Ralph. He complied happily, but when he noticed Jace looking hard at him, he cleared his throat and distracted himself by looking down at the menu. I gave Jace a jab on his hips with my elbow, making him grunt quietly. Somehow, Ralph noticed it and chuckled at what I did to his brother. I smiled smugly.

"So, Ryan. How was your job as an intern?" I asked casually.

Ryan glanced at me shortly, before shrugging. "Meh, it was fine."

The waiter finally arrived with our orders, and Ryan politely added in his own too before the waiter walked off. I looked at my food. It looks... decent. I expected something more like a gooey kind of food, but damn... the aioli smells good. I couldn't help myself but dug on right into my food. I heard Ralph chuckling before he also started to eat his food.

"You like it?" Jace suddenly asked me.

I nodded, my mouth full of fries. Jace smirked smugly, satisfied with my response. As I ate, I didn't notice when Jace casually put his arm on the back of my chair. I looked up just in time to see Ralph shaking his head defeatedly.

"So, mon minou. Do you have any classes after this?" Ralph said, finally coming up with a topic to talk with.

I put my fork on the table and gave him my full attention. "Nope. But I have an essay to write that is due tomorrow."

Ralph pouted. "Well, that sucks."

Jace choked on his food all of a sudden, making the rest of us on the table look at him curiously. It's so not like Jace to get out of character like that.

After Jace sipped some of Ralph's red wine, he cleared his throat and wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin. "I'm sorry. I was just shocked."

"Shocked of what, exactly?" Ralph drawled.

Jace glared at his brother. "Since when did you know some vulgar American expressions?"

I blinked when I realized what he meant. Yeah, he's got a point alright. As what I have observed, Ralph speaks with a heavy French accent and barely uses some common American phrases. Like the one he said a while ago: that sucks.

"I have been in your mari's school a while ago. College boys always have useful mouths sometimes." He explained.

This time, Ryan choked on his drink. Ralph glanced at him with a teasing grin on his face, just in time when the waiter arrived with Ryan's order. Ryan thanked him before drinking another gulp of water.

"You okay?" I asked with concern.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Your name is Ryan, correct?" Ralph asked.

Somehow, I hinted a strange tone in his voice, almost like teasing or mischievous-like. I don't know why, but I suddenly felt like this lunch won't be as normal as I would have thought.

Ryan sat up straight and nodded. "Yeah."

"He works as an intern in Jace's company." I informed.

Ralph raised an eyebrow intriguingly. "Really? That's nice. My brother doesn't give you a hard time, does he?"

Jace grabbed his fork and pointed it dangerously close to Ralph, but his older brother didn't even blink. He just ignored Jace and went on observing Ryan closely, as if he's trying to find something in him.

"At first, it was kinda hard to adjust. People in business wear sorta makes me... small, I guess." Ryan said.

I smiled in agreement. "I know what you mean, Ryan. Businessmen just have that particular aura around them. Like, they look so intimidating and kinda condescending."

Ralph snorted. "Condescending? Well, that fits my brother's personality very well."

I couldn't help but laugh in agreement. Yep, Ralph sure was right on target. Since I married Jace, he's got that tough front around him and whatever he did pisses me to no end. Until now, even though he's changed quite a little, I still hate his attitude. I still haven't forgotten those times when I ran away from him and how he technically threatened Ryan to stay away from me. God, Jace Langlois is just one big lump of pure evil.

"Just shut up, Ralph." Jace commanded.

Ralph shrugged nonchalantly before digging back into his food. I was about to come up with another topic when I noticed Ryan fidgeting on his seat. Not too obvious, but enough to make me look at him curiously.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh, n-nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep."

I frowned. I didn't believe him, but for his sake, I ignored it and looked at Jace instead. He's currently playing with his food with a fork.

"What are you doing?"

He glanced at me. "Eating."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Real immature, asshole."

At that moment, Ralph decided to butt in. "Whoa! He got you there, mon frère!"

Jace glared at his brother before turning his attention back to his own plate. "I'm craving-"

"Oh! Ryan, I almost forgot. Can you fix my laptop for me? I can't write my essay if my laptop's broken."

Ryan chuckled. "Why? What did you do to it that it broke?"

"I dunno. The cursor sometimes blinks very fast and disappears for a few seconds. And every time I open a new tab, the screen shuts off then lights back up after a little while."

Ryan hummed thoughtfully. "Yeah, I think I can fix that. Where's your laptop?"

"At home. But I'll just call you when you can come ov-"

All of a sudden, Jace cut me off. "I'm craving caviar."

Much to my surprise, both Ralph and Ryan grimaced in disgust. I smirked to myself. Well, well... it looks like I'm not the only one who hates Jace's food choice either. That totally cheered me up quite a bit.

I moved in my seat to face Jace properly. "Can't you just order here?" Then, I raised my hand to call the waiter but Jace pushed my hand away. I turned my head to glare at him, but he just held a stoic face on. I don't know why, but I felt like he's angry at me.

"What is wrong with you?" I asked.

He stood up, put a hundred dollar bill on the table, and grabbed my hand. I was forced to stand up with him then he faced Ralph and Ryan who wore matching shocked faces.

"I think it's already time for Kei and I to leave." He announced

"What?" Ralph asked in surprise.

I gave Jace a curious frown, but he ignored me and led me towards the door and out the restaurant. His hand was still gripping mine. Tightly, might I add.

"What the fuck are you doing? What do you mean it's time for me to leave? How about your brother? And Ryan?"

He took out his phone and called someone. He said something to the other line, but I didn't clearly hear what he was saying. I kept pulling my hand away from his tight grip, but all my efforts were futile. I eventually got furious and waited for Ralph or even Ryan to come get me, but when I turned to look inside the restaurant, the two of them were in an animated conversation. I can't believe this! They're talking like Jace didn't drag me away into the sidewalk!

After a couple minutes of helplessly tugging my hand away from Jace's, a black car stopped right in front of us. Jace pushed me inside the backseat, then he followed suit before closing the door and the car drove off.

"Are you going insane? Because if so, then I seriously need to punch you in the face."

He leaned back on the leather seat and crossed his legs like a king. "Like I said, I'm craving caviar."

My jaw dropped in utter disbelief. "What the hell? You kidnapped me just for that?"

"It's not kidnapping."

"Same fucking thing, smarty-pants! And why the hell are you craving caviar? You could have just fucking ordered it there at the restaurant, dipshit. Are you, what, PMS-ing or something?"

He didn't spare me a glance and just stared straight ahead. "Let me rephrase, mon beau. I'm craving your caviar."

I blinked. "What?"