The next day.
A restaurant inside a five-star hotel.
Lunch time.
The tables and chairs covered in pristine white cloths looked like clouds floating over a carpet of lava. Tall stalks of yellow calla lilies were simply yet artfully arranged in transparent glass vases at the centre of the tables. Golden chandeliers casted soft light throughout the restaurant, complementing the gold and red walls.
Jiong Jun sat at a table by the windows, sipping a glass of dry martini. He looked at his watch. Two minutes before the agreed time. He was already feeling impatient.
The girl better not be late. He, a famous and award-winning music producer, was giving the time and effort to meet her personally. She should be grateful and arrive on time.
One minute left.
He once again looked at the entrance. He saw the maître d' greet an elegant young woman.
The two spoke for a few seconds. The maître d' glanced at Jiong Jun, and began leading the young woman to his direction.
Jiong Jun subconsciously straightened, sitting tall and puffing his chest out while he observed the woman walking closer to his table.
She was tall. Not model tall, but taller than the average height of Chinese women. Great hourglass body, but a little bit on the thin side.
She was wearing a black, long-sleeved wrap dress with bright pink lotus flowers print. The V-neck provided just a tiny glimpse of full cleavage. A waist tie accentuated her tiny waist, while the rest of the dress hugged her hips and flowed past her knees.
A simple yet elegant black high heels added to her height. Her long, straight, silky black hair framed a small face. Big, mirrored aviator sunglasses covered her eyes but could not cover her beauty.
Jiong Jun gasped inwardly and narrowed his eyes, as the maître d' led the beautiful woman to his table. The woman stopped in front of him.
"Mr. JJ. I hope you didn't wait long." It was the same lovely voice as the one he talked to on the phone yesterday.
"Miss Iris Long?" He frowned, a bit taken aback.
The woman nodded and held out a hand.
He blinked, looking at her pale white hand. No rings. No colourful nail polish. Just a simple clear French manicure.
After a few seconds, he finally regained his senses and stood up to shake her offered hand.
"Miss Long, wow! I didn't recognize you! You look...different!"
She just smiled at him, her expression half-covered by her big sunglasses.
The maître d' pulled a seat for Iris and waited for the two of them to sit down. He took their orders and left. In the meantime, hot herbal tea blend was delivered to Iris.
Jiong Jun, or more known as JJ in the music industry, watched the beautiful young woman sitting across him as she blew over her steaming cup and sipped tea. Her actions were delicate and elegant. They were very natural and not contrived at all.
He was shocked. The young woman sitting in front of him was not the one who he expected to meet today. He found it difficult to match this young woman to the image of Iris Long in his head.
"Be honest. Are you Iris Long's twin sister?"
A sweet, light chuckle. "Of course not, Mr. JJ. I am Iris Long and I don't have a twin sister."
"No way." He leaned back, shaking his head.
She just smiled, continuing to sip her tea.
Their food arrived and they began eating while chatting about the weather and other harmless topics. Finally, the atmosphere turned serious after they finished their meals.
"Alright. Let's talk business." JJ leaned back on his seat.
Iris nodded.
"You already know that I love the demo tapes you sent me. But I'm not convinced by you because of your bad reputation, and you won't agree to have my other singers sing them. I invited you here today because I initially planned on persuading you to hand over your songs and release them as the composer."
Her eyes narrowed a little, an imperceptible sharp look glinting on them, hidden behind her sunglasses. Only her lips pressing together into a straight line showed her reaction.