Chapter 43

OLIVIA

"Have you ever visited this beach before?" I asked Chandria curiously.

As we approached the beachside eateries, I noticed the way she looked around. She seemed very amazed at this place, as if she had never been here before.

The beach was, indeed, breathtaking. The sound of the waves hitting the shore and the salty fresh wind made my mind so relaxed. Kids were playing on the seashore, while some were enjoying a dip in the waters.

"It is my first time visiting this beach. Mom is a bit strict, so it is difficult to ask for her permission whenever I want to travel. I can only travel if they tag along or if there's a family reunion," she replied. A bitter smile escaped her lips.

I was quite surprised to hear it from here. Given the wealthy life they had, I thought Chandria was able to travel to every place in the world, but I bet I was wrong to even think about it. Perhaps their mother was so uptight and strict that she would not let her travel all by herself even though she had already come of age.

"Don't worry, because you already have a sister-in-law, I will make sure to tag along whenever you want to travel, so your mom will let you," I reassured her.

She gave me a wry smile. "Just so you know, mom still dislikes you. If you want to help me travel whenever I feel like it, perhaps you should try to get along with mom first."

"Well, I am glad that you mentioned that. I will visit her soon and try to win her heart like how I won yours. How does that sound?" I winked at her.

She rolled her eyes, but a ghost of a smile could be seen on her lips.

"Do not push your luck too much, Reese. I still dislike you too," she remarked, but I did not feel any worry about it. It felt as though she did not mean it, and it only made me grin at her.

"We will see, Chandria!"

I grabbed her hand and dragged her. I heard her complain, but I did not mind it all. Since we were here on the beach, I would make sure that we would both enjoy spending time together.

We found an exquisite restaurant as we roamed around the beachside. We went inside so we could eat and drink some coffee. I craned my neck as I glanced around the place, hoping to find an available table for two when a member of the staff approached us.

"Hi, there! Table for two, please," I said politely and offered her a smile.

The lady looked like she was in her mid-twenties. She was wearing a reading glass, which she adjusted as she eyed me carefully. She did not smile back at me, and even though I noticed her grim expression, I still managed to keep a smile on my lips to be polite to her.

"Good afternoon. I would like to know if you made a reservation for today, please?" she asked.

I looked at Chandria who only shrugged at me. I looked back at the lady and slightly scratched my nape.

"We actually do not have any reservations. We are walk-in customers," I replied softly.

"I am afraid we are currently not accepting walk-in customers, Madame. Our customers can only dine in upon making a reservation, which should be done before twenty-four hours from the reserved date."

"Isn't it possible to let us in only this time? We traveled from a far away city, and we would like to dine here to celebrate some great happenings in my life."

I didn't mean to be so pushy, but this restaurant caught our attention. This might have been the best restaurant we've checked out here in this place, and I could not pass up the chance to dine here with Chandria. I offered the lady a hopeful look, but she appeared to be tough enough to decline my request.

"Again, Madame, I apologize, but we are not accepting walk-in customers. I have already made myself clear and please do not have me repeat the rules," she responded, which made me gasp.

She sounded so rude and emotionless. I looked at Chandria who seemed to notice the lady's behavior too, as she raised her eyebrow while looking at her.

I clenched my jaw as I felt too embarrassed at the moment.

"I apologize, but I do not like your tone of voice. Is this how you interact with your customers?" I complained, a little annoyed.

"I already explained the rules, Madame. It is you who's making things complicated here," she said and rolled her eyes.

I could have sworn that my annoyance grew deeper at what she did. I did not want to become Karen at this point, but this lady needs some proper customer service training.

"You're so rude!" I almost yelled, but I still managed to keep my emotions under control.

I reminded myself that I was not Olivia Miller at the moment, and thus I had to act as Reese Jones-Maxwell, a prim and proper wife of the well-known Chase Maxwell.

"Keep your cool, Reese. I swear you do not want to humiliate yourself here. People will start talking about you and it might spread on social media," Chandria softly mumbled through her gritted teeth as she tried to calm me down.

I huffed in frustration and ran my fingers through my hair. She was right. I could not do something that would only cause people to talk about and make fun of me… I could not afford to humiliate my husband.

"She did not mean to yell at you. We are sorry," Chandria said to the lady.

I swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah, I am sorry if I was a bit pushy, but I clearly understand now. I guess we have no other choice but to leave."

I heard Chandria sigh. She seemingly liked to dine here, if not for the restaurant's stupid rules.

Why wouldn't they accept walk-in customers in the first place? I could not see the sense in restricting people from dining here only because they did not have any reservations.

If I ever started a business like this, I would never implement such a stupid policy. Every customer should be able to dine without any issues.

"Let's go?" I asked Chandria.

"As if we have any other choice?" She shook her head.

"Is there something wrong here?" A gravelly voice of a man asked.

Chandria and I both looked at the man who came out of what seemed to be a manager's office.

I could not help but look at him from head to toe. He had neat brown hair, a full-trimmed and groomed beard, brown skin, and a broad body. It was noticeable that he had a fit physique.

Based on his clothes and the way he stood with the utmost confidence, I bet he was the manager or even the owner of this restaurant.

"Hailey, what is going on here?" he asked the staff.

"Sir, they didn't make any reservations, yet they insisted on dining in." The lady explained to the man who was standing next to her.

"Is that so?" he asked, then he casually walked towards us and introduced himself as the owner of the restaurant.

"My name is Matthew, the owner of this restaurant. May I know the reason why you insist on dining in without a reservation?"

"We did not know that we needed to make a reservation before we could dine here. I just want to celebrate my admission to an international business school and also treat my sister-in-law. But I understand that you have some strict policies here and we are leaving now," I explained and held Chandria's arm.

"You can dine here. No need to leave, ladies," the owner said which made my expression light up. "Hailey, please prepare a table for them."

The staff seemed shocked that their boss somehow broke the rule. She glanced at him and then at us with a confused look.

"Hailey."

"G-Got it, Sir Matt…" She then glanced back at us. "Please follow me."

I fought the urge to giggle upon seeing the staff's reaction. I glanced at Chandria who was grinning from ear to ear as she watched the staff, but when she glanced at me, she suppressed it and raised her eyebrow at me.

When we walked inside, I was amazed at the array of luxurious interiors of the place. Beautiful flowers were hanging around each corner of the restaurant, some vintage pieces of vinyl, old cameras, a pile of books, a bicycle, and a retro painting of some famous actors from years ago.

Then each corner was filled with transparent glass mirrors, which would allow us to see the beautiful beach outside. I also noticed that they had a hallway, and if we walked straight there, it would lead us to the alfresco dining area where we could enjoy the scenery and the salty fresh air.

"Miss, is there a spot available outside?" I curiously asked as I would like for me and Chandria to experience the beautiful scenery while sipping a coffee from their alfresco.

"Sure thing, Madame."

"What do you think, Chandria? Would you like to try their alfresco dining?" I asked her.

I saw a glimpse of excitement through her eyes, but I guess she was fighting the urge to let it out given that we hadn't made up. Instead, she simply nodded.

We were finally able to secure a table in the outside dining area of this restaurant. While we waited for our food, which I had already ordered for the two of us, I could smell the salty seawater from the beach nearby. The scenery was breathtaking and could give a person a feeling of being at home.

The sun was about to set and had already reached the horizon.

"This place is so cool! Do you like the breathtaking view, Chandria?" I asked her happily.

She shrugged her shoulders, but I could really feel that she was only holding back her emotions and trying to pretend as if the entire place did not impress her in any way. But I had a way of observing people and their feelings, and that included her.

Whenever she glanced sideways to hide her expression, I could see from the corner of her eyes that she was, indeed, astounded by what she was seeing in front of us.

She even took a picture of it with her phone, which she kept hidden. I pretended to keep myself occupied by checking my phone, allowing her to take it all in at her leisure while I stayed busy.

I was too aware that she would likely be concerned about compromising the persona she let me see from the beginning. I thought that she was too bitchy and pure evil. However, when she called me earlier and scolded me for not going home, I came to realize that she was only concerned with her brother.

Deep within her, she was also similar to Chase, who tends to admire someone's effort even without verbally expressing it.

When the food was served, I could feel my stomach rumbling at the side of the pasta, pastries, and coffee. I was drooling!

Chandria's face lit up too, and she could not take her gaze away from the food that was served on her plate. In fact, she asked for permission to photograph the food before we started to eat.

"Come on, do it. You do not need to ask for my permission. It is kind of weird of you!" I giggled.

She rolled her eyes, but then she took pictures of our food with a smile on her face.

"Should we take a picture of us, too?" I asked her carefully and offered her a thin smile.

"Sure…" She nodded and rolled her eyes again.

I used my phone and took a picture of us. I played wackily, and Chandria made a peace sign. I thought it was so adorable that I did not hesitate to send it to Chase.

He then sent me a text message:

From: Chase

It seems like you two are having fun. I wonder if the world is ending and you two decided to hang out with each other.

I could not help but giggle. I typed a reply to his text message:

To: Chase

I can confirm that your sister is innocent and isn't the person who sent me the death threat. We are still arguing at times though I could feel that we will become best of friends very soon!

I was all smiles when I typed the message and sent it to Chase. I looked at Chandria, who was surely enjoying her food and coffee. The fact that we had an argument over the phone and at her school but ended up having a great time here at the beach made me feel the warmth inside my chest.

It was as if I had finally gotten her approval to be with Chase, and all I felt was nothing but pure joy and peace.