After that, Leaving the house, Ella took a taxi as she directly gave the taxi driver the address to the restaurant she and her friends were going to meet tonight.
She was going out to have fun with two of her best friends and she was actually happy about it because this was their only night out after a long time.
A while later, the taxi finally stopped in front of a restaurant which you could see the inside of, from directly standing outside.
Getting off the taxi, Ella walked in front of its window as she looked at the seats on the other side of the glass.
Finally, spotting her two best friends, she began walking inside the restaurant, when a man who seemed to be the receptionist in charge of allowing entry to the customers stopped her as he asked, “Excuse me miss, do you have a reservation for tonight? And under what name is it?”
“… I don’t, but my friends should have… look, there… they are my friends.” Pointing at two girls who were sitting on a specific chair, Ella uttered with a half smile.
“I see, enjoy the meal, miss.” The receptionist smiled as he no longer obstructed her path.
Afterward, Ella walked beside her two best friends and began talking, “You were both here earlier than me… Mary… Jess. What are you two talking about without waiting for me?”
“Elle! Is your boyfriend really that mysterious Chairman of the Virus Industries like Jess says?” But without even saying hello first, Mary began questioning her in a hurry.
“Sigh, this girl, at least wait for her to sit down before bombarding her with questions will ya!” Jessica uttered in a helpless tone as she shook her head.
Listening to this, Ella looked at Jess as she asked with a bit of frown, “Who did you hear that from, Jess?”
“Hey Elle, you’re finally here… sit, sit…” After Ella sat down, she continued, “Mm, Actually, Grace told me… she said you confirmed it yourself! Other than that… there are also rumors spreading in the campus about this.”
Listening to Jess’s clarification, Ella voiced angrily, “Grace!!! I should’ve known she can’t keep a secret from you guys!”
________________
A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE – IN THE CAMPUS
Right now, Ella and Grace were sitting on the lawn of the campus as they seemed to be conversing.
“So! How was our beauty’s date with her prince charming?” Grace asked right away, just after they sat on the lawn.
“Hehe…” Ella giggled happily as this was what she was waiting to hear, then she began talking, “It was amazing Grace!!! Can you guess where he took me? Uh… it was so romantic… my heart’s still not calming down…”
“Hmmm…. a restaurant?” Grace guessed.
“Nope.” Ella shook her head.
“Shopping together? Or doing a particular sport together?” She guessed once more.
“Nope nope!” Ella shook her head once again.
“Just tell me already!” Finally frustrated because of her curiosity not being sated, she yelled.
“Hehe, okay… you won’t be able to guess it anyway… sooo… here is the answer… for our date… he took me to his personal helicopter as we had our date above the city in the skies!!!” Ella answered with her eyes still shining in happiness just thinking about her date.
Listening to the response, Grace was speechless and astonished as she thought to herself with a bit of jealousy anyone would feel, ‘Oh my God, seriously, wish I had him as my boyfriend…, just how rich is he? Could he really be…?’
“You’re shocked speechless right? Hehe, well… that’s understandable…” Ella uttered giggling seeing Grace dazed and deep in thought.
“Oh my God Elle, I want a boyfriend like him too… doesn’t he have a rich friend or something for me to date?” Grace asked afterward in a jokingly manner.
“Hehe, who knows, if you want, I can ask him?” She replied with a chuckle.
“Please do so!!!” Grace said with an exaggerated voice, then she continued, “By the way Elle, there is something I’ve been wanting to ask…”
“Eh… what is it?”
Then, she began, “… So he’s called Aizen Vee, right? That’s quite an uncommon combination which will be seen rarely… but I keep hearing that name on the television as the News and the other programs keep talking about the mysterious Chairman of the Virus Industries which hasn’t even publicized himself yet.”
“Tell me, Elle, are they the same person or am I overthinking things?” Grace questioned staring doubtfully at her as she further added, “Also, he’s filthy rich! How many Aizen Vee’s could we have in New York who happens to be filthy rich?”
Ella was a little surprised listening to Grace’s deductions, but soon, she sighed and replied, “It wasn’t that I was trying to keep that a secret or anything from you… I just hadn’t found the right moment to tell you about it, anyway, yes, he is that Aizen Vee, the Chairman of that famous company… though I haven’t talked about this with him at all. You see, even I came to know of this just because I’ve gone to 4 Times Square before.”
Grace was almost certain with her own deductions as she was mostly asking to hear it from Ella’s mouth, but listening to Ella really confirm it, she couldn’t help but to be truly shocked.
Ella gave her some time to digest the matter as she understood her astonishment and also gave her the right to be shocked.
“You never talked about it with him? Are you for real Elle? How could you not ask anything related to that?” Grace inquired speechlessly.
“Well, he never mentioned it, but he never tried to hide it either, so I’m just doing the same for him, I’m waiting for him to talk about these stuff with me whenever he feels like if he wants, as it’s also not that much of a big deal… what matters is that he didn’t hide it.” Ella explained with a tone like she seemed to be talking to herself rather than Grace.
“I see… you’re such an understanding girlfriend, haha.” Grace said jokingly with a laugh.
Afterward, Ella requested, “Keep it a secret for now, okay?”
“Uh… of course I will…”
_____________________
BACK AT THE RESTAURANT
“…” Remembering that day, Ella couldn’t help herself but be speechless when she thought about Grace’s loose mouth.
Then, looking back at Mary, she responded, “Anyway, Ai is the Chairman of the Virus Industries, It wasn’t like I was trying to keep it a secret from you guys or anything…”
They were both amazed hearing her response, but right after, Jessica said, “Actually, we were just talking about a News which is somehow related to the Virus Industries, and thus, our topic finally arrived at your boyfriend, Aizen.”
“Oh… what is it?” Ella asked surprised.
“Don’t you watch the News?” Jessica asked with a helpless tone looking at her friend’s ignorant face.
“Do you remember those Allied Phone Companies’ CEOs who tried to go against the Virus Industries? Its news had startled the whole world at the time… and in the end, one of them was even revealed to be the mastermind behind the ‘Ghost Theft’ which the CEOs were trying so hard to accuse the Virus Industries of… do you remember?” Jessica uttered.
“Of course I remember them… what about them?” Ella asked back in doubt.
