CHAPTER 10 Meet Again

　　"Babe, what's wrong?" Joe Warren's deep voice resounded in the reception as soon as he walked into the room. He heard his woman arguing with someone, and wondered what the problem could be.

　　He walked up to her and placed his right arm around her neck, then looked down at her. "What's the issue? You said you wouldn't take up to five minutes, which was why I didn't get down from the car. It's almost ten minutes already, so I came to check what the delay was all about."

　　"My love," Clarissa looked at him with an obvious look of annoyance on her face, though her expression softened a bit when she saw him.

　　"Do you recall that before we went on a business trip, we ordered a set of bedding from them?" She asked him and he nodded affirmatively.

　　"Wasn't it the one you originally planned to put in our new home?" He asked her as he squinted his eyes as if trying to remember something.

　　"Exactly, babe. That's what I'm here for now, and guess what this lady is telling me?" She pointed to the receptionist and gave her a scornful glare before facing Joe again.

　　"She told me that it has already been sold to another customer. What audacity!" She exclaimed and scoffed. "I even picked a suit that you like on purpose, how could they do this? Do they not know who we are?"

　　"What?" He asked, a look of unbelief on his face. He immediately stretched out his hand to wrap her shoulders to try to calm her down. "I'll take care of this," he patted her reassuringly. Then he looked at the receptionist in front of them.

　　"Since it was ordered by my fiancée, you can no longer sell it to others without authorization," he said with a straight face and a very firm voice, which made the receptionist feel shivers all over her body.

　　"Call that customer immediately and ask him to send the item back now!" He looked at her and ordered coldly, making the receptionist move backward in fear.

　　"This..." The receptionist began to stutter, unsure of what to say to him. "I can't... I'm sorry, but..." Her voice trailed off as she thought of what to do. She was almost having a headache as she glanced at Clarissa, then at Joe, she looked to see if Sophia was still seated. Seeing that she was still there, her heart skipped a beat before she turned to face Joe again.

　　Shivering, and her forehead filled with heat, she added. "That... Uhm, I'm so sorry about it. It can't happen anymore because it has already been sold. She only just looked at it at the beginning and didn't pay a deposit in advance, so strictly speaking, it's not a... It's not a reservation," she explained to Joe, hoping he would understand her.

　　Clarissa chuckled and then scoffed. She couldn't believe the receptionist could talk to her that way. "Although I didn't pay the deposit, I asked you to reserve it for me. Didn't I?" She raised her voice at her.

　　"It's the rule of the company, ma'am. The rule is that we don't pay a deposit in advance, we generally don't reserve it for customers. They have to pay in full," she explained. Then, she muttered to herself. "Not like you even deposited in the first place."

　　Unfortunately for the receptionist, Clarissa heard what she had just said. She turned to face Joe, who was beside her, angrily.

　　"Did you hear what this bitch just said to me?!" She tugged at his sleeve, "I like that set of bedding, babe. We have to get it no matter what. Even if we don't, just show her that we have the power to do whatever we want!"

　　Joe nodded in affirmation, supporting his woman's words. He turned to face the receptionist once again. "Communicate with that customer, as long as he is willing to give up the item, I can compensate him with double the price." He said to her with a stern and commanding look on his face, with a deep voice.

　　There was a little hesitation on the receptionist's face, as she looked in Sophia's direction, where she was seated and her eyes were closed on the sofa. The receptionist let out a sigh and looked at Joe again. "I'm sorry, sir, but I can't give out the—"

　　"Who the fuck is the customer?!" Joe cut in and banged his hand on the table, making her jerk backward in shock. "Are you gonna tell me who the customer is or do you want me to speak to your manager and get you fired immediately?!" He glared at her.

　　By now, the receptionist was already so scared. She knew the only thing she could do now to save herself was to speak up, so she tried to. She bent her head in embarrassment and pointed toward the direction where Sophia was seated. "That... That's the—"

　　"And why the heck do you people keep yelling?! Do you think you're the only ones in the building?" Sophia, who had been silent all along exclaimed as she opened her eyes and looked in the direction the noise she had been hearing came from.

　　Clarissa looked in the direction the voice came from. She was about to yell at the person, but when she turned to see who it was, her body froze. Her eyes and mouth opened wide in shock, but no words came out. It was as if she had just seen a ghost, literally. She took several steps backward and wiped her face to be sure she was seeing well.

　　"Vanessa?" Joe, who had also turned to look at who the receptionist had pointed to, was also stunned, looking at the woman in front of him. He called out her name once again with some uncertainty, "Vanessa?"

　　"How have you been, Joe?" Sophia said with a wry smile on her face.