"Can you truly like someone just from meeting them once?" Lillian asked honestly.
She was simply curious because she never liked someone beyond attraction at first sight. She was the type who takes a long time to fall in love and finds it hard to believe that people could fall in love so easily.
"Ah, I see. I understand what you mean. I also don't end up liking someone so easily. It seems I forgot to tell you something important. This isn't the first time we've met. We have already come across each other in the past," Leo said.
'We did?!' Lillian was wide-eyed.
Leo smiled at the look of surprise on her face.
"What do you mean? When?!" Lillian tried to think about it, but she could not recall meeting him in the past.
"I have encountered you repeatedly, but you never seem to notice me. I was even a client at your business. You booked plane tickets and accommodation for me and my companions for a trip," Leo said and smiled further at the look on Lillian's face.
"You did?! Oh my gosh! When?!"
Lillian racked her brain to recall and realized that Leo did seem familiar when she first saw him the previous night. She thought that it was probably because he looked like a model.
If she had even booked tickets for him, then it would make sense. However, no matter how she racked her brain, she still could not recall when they met.
"It seems I am truly easy to forget for you," Leo sighed when Lillian remained silent, trying to recall to no avail.
"I'm so sorry. I speak with and cater to a lot of people in a single day, so I don't remember everyone who visits our office unless they become regulars. When did you book with us?" Lillian spoke politely in a different tone and voice, the way she did with her clients.
"Please don't speak to me formally. I didn't want to tell you if I didn't have to, since I knew you would treat me like a client. We're more than that, aren't we?" Leo kissed the back of her hand. "We've already declared we like each other."
Lillian blushed and tried to calm her racing heart. Just a kiss at the back of her hand sent shivers down her spine (in a good way).
This man was so smooth and shameless at the same time. She usually always had her guard up, and her behavior usually drove away men trying to hit on her, but it's failing to work on Leo.
She ended up the one embarrassed and feeling self-conscious, even if he was the one who got his proposal rejected repeatedly.
Lillian thought she was immune to men's flattery by now, with all the ones she had heard before, as various men tried to pursue her because they knew in her workplace that she had not said yes to anyone who tried to go after her. There were men in her workplace who even bet on who could make her their girlfriend, but of course, no one succeeded since she wasn't blind or deaf. She knew exactly what their goal was. Simply the bragging rights to say they conquered the girl who said no to everyone else. Thus, it had been years since Lillian last felt truly appreciated by a man's words of praise and declarations of love or interest.
But now, Leo was making it too easy. Was it because he was a person who simply said what was truly in his mind, albeit a bit too honestly, even after consecutive rejections, and still tried to flirt with her?
Lillian concluded that he was a person dangerous to her heart.
But how was she able to forget a person like him after meeting him in the past? He's someone who leaves a lasting impression.
Noticing what she was wondering about, Leo said, "It was more than a year ago. I had to fly to Dubai, so I went to your office to book a ticket for me and my companions. One of your interns was the one who assisted me first, but she seemed nervous and asked for your help."
"!!!" Lillian was wide-eyed in realization as she finally recalled. "You are the man with the black card?! You're Mr. Leonard Zhao?!"
"Yes, I'm glad you do remember me," Leo chuckled. "Was the black card more memorable?"
"It's because my interns got scared by it. They're afraid to deal with black cards," Lillian clarified and stared at Leo as she recollected when she first met him.
More than a year ago, on a Saturday, at her travel and tours business, there was a man named Leonard Zhao who asked for business class tickets to Dubai for 10 people.
It was peak season back then, so tickets were expensive, especially for the upper classes, and her intern, who was tasked to be the one assisting clients, got terrified of making a mistake when the total amount of the ticket was so high that it could ruin her future if she made a mistake.
On weekends, it was Lillian and her interns who manned her travel and tour business. Her employees usually only worked on weekdays. Only two still worked on weekends and had their off days on weekdays instead. However, those two were out for a break.
Lillian was working on her dissertation at that time, so she was busy with her laptop. But when her intern asked for help, she stopped typing on her laptop and went to help as requested.
With her experience in the hospitality and tourism industry and in dealing with their business partners in her current role, Lillian immediately recognized that Mr. Zhao was among those they usually categorize as VIPs. After realizing this, Lillian, as the owner of the small business, personally did the work. Her interns were still in training, so it was understandable for them to panic when faced with a client like him.
Thus, Lillian instructed one of her interns to serve tea to their client instead. There was a very expensive box of tea she had reserved in the office for clients like Mr. Zhao, and she already had instructions on how and when to serve it.
This was also part of their training in the hospitality and tourism industry. Of course, they treated all clients as best they could, but in this world that functioned with money, money bought privilege. So they won't be on the losing end; they could only serve a very expensive tea to a client that earned them so much more than the price of the tea.