Alex held the gaze from the blue eyes, looked deep inside them with a meaningful smile in his brown eyes, then let his lips curve higher as he replied to the self-introduction:
"I know who you are, Sharon Kenner, just like you know who I am. After all, this is not our first time meeting, is it?"
Looking at the meaningful smile in the dim corner, Sharon felt her heart stop, literally, then drop.
'Alex Lenner has recognized me.'
For a moment, that thought took over all her processing capabilities, and she lost all ability to think. It took her a few seconds to pull her mind out of the mire of the oncoming panic and realize that she had been to a party a month ago, one organized by the best friend of the playboy, and which had been transformed into an even wilder event later.
Sharon's mind cleared up, and the heart that had stopped resumed beating, but not without the fuel of the adrenaline that had flooded her body by now. She had really thought she was done for. But now she seemed to have thrown herself in a worse situation because of the slip just now, though her pounding heart gave her no leisure to think about it at the moment.
The blonde raised her hand and downed the contents of her glass in one smooth motion.
The heat traveling down her esophagus helped the blonde center herself, before she lowered her glass, and smiled at the playboy:
"Indeed, it is not our first meeting. It is especially because I cannot forget your impressive performance a month ago that I came to introduce myself when I saw you all on your lone self in the corner here."
In the dim light, Alex Lenner's smile felt a little unsettling, especially to a guilty conscience, but Sharon tried not to pay attention to it, just like she tried to ignore the brown eyes that felt too clear, too bright, like an illusion.
His smile — or rather, half-smile — unabated, Alex pushed the bottle before him toward the blonde:
"Here, help yourself."
Sharon had recovered much of her composure by then. Covering the rest of her lingering nervousness with her acting skills, she took a deep breath that made the exposed skin on her chest conspicuous under the contrasting dim atmosphere in the corner, then gave a naturally beautiful smile:
"Thank you, heir Lenner."
As she said that, Sharon reached for the bottle, only to freeze, again, but this time for a different reason. Her face twitched in pain as she wrinkled her brows, but she powered through the sudden, unreasonable pain coming from her left side to hold the bottle of liquor and pull it in front of herself.
Alex took his gaze back to raise his glass again, and just like before, only took a sniff at the aroma of the expensive whiskey.
Sharon calmed down with an exhale, and served herself.
She turned around just in time to see Alex lowering his hand, but without taking a single sip of his drink. She was surprised, but didn't get to think much before frowning and taking a sip of the strong drink to battle the growing pain.
Alex glanced over and swept his eyes over Sharon. His gaze paused on her frown, then he calmly asked:
"You have been calling me heir Lenner since arriving, but I don't remember ever introducing myself as such. So, why do you keep doing so?"
From a single sip, Sharon went on to tilt her head and finish the whole glass of alcohol. She would have looked bold and uninhibited if not for the growing pallor on her face.
Forcing down all other outward signs of pain, she turned to Alex while replenishing her glass:
"I heard that at the party a month ago. I was told that you are the designated heir of your family, so you are called heir Lenner. Is there a problem calling you so?"
A smile carrying innocent curiosity adorned Sharon's face. Alex's gaze lingered on it, before he looked away while correcting:
"I am no heir."
Sharon blinked, then smiled:
"Then can I call you Alex? You can call me Sharon."
Alex looked at Sharon for a while longer, then seemed to lose interest. Turning away, he brought his glass to his nose while dismissively answering:
"Suit yourself."
Not minding the change of tone, Sharon raised her glass again for another sip before throwing a statement:
"I heard that you invested in my last movie."
Alex replied without turning to her:
"I invest in many things."
The blonde continued smiling and shifted into an attractive posture, her knees toward Alex as she subtly closed the distance between them:
"It is said that you are a playboy, but why do I think that you are more than that?"
Alex paused, then gave a casual, empty smile as he plainly confessed:
"I am indeed a playboy."
His answer made Sharon raise her eyebrows, then smile with obvious interest:
"Oh? Then, will you hit on me and take me home?"
The obvious intent in the blonde's tone managed to rekindle the interest that had died down in Alex's mind. He stopped swirling his drink and turned to Sharon.
Passing his glass to his left hand, he turned sideways, crossing his legs and placing his right hand on top of the backrest as he faced the blonde. He smilingly replied while attentively observing her:
"That depends, do you want me to take you home?"
Sharon didn't hesitate to nod as she faced the brown eyes:
"Yes. I want to see how different the home of the famous Alex Lenner is from the stereotypical, hmm…"
"Playboy's love nest?"
"Right, love nest. Can I?"
Sharon looked at Alex with bright eyes while bringing her glass to her lips.
Alex searched the face across from him for a while, then prodded:
"But have you ever thought that it might not be any different from the stereotype?"
Before Sharon could formulate a response, Alex went on with a shift in tone:
"Though, I have many houses, so I might be able to satisfy your curiosity of something different if you tell me your requirements."
"No. What I want to visit is your home, not one of your houses."
"I thought you hate playboys."
"You are different."
"I have never taken any woman home."
"I can be the exception."
By now, Sharon was having trouble keeping the smile on her pale and sweaty face. Even keeping her eyes steady was becoming difficult.
Alex looked at her, his gaze deep as he searched the depth of the trembling brilliant blue eyes carrying a fragile beauty in the dim light. The atmosphere turned quiet for a second, then two, then…
By the third second, when the struggle was about to prove too much for Sharon, Alex put his glass down and stood up:
"Have a good night, Sharon Kenner."