4 – Cypress Mosaic
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Tribeca. A neighborhood where artists once gathered to live in abandoned warehouses and lofts.
However, that area was now undergoing active development, with modern high-rise buildings steadily rising. And at the center of it all stood Lockhart Real Estate Development.
A newly constructed skyscraper overlooking the Hudson River.
Hidden within it was a private lounge bar without a single sign.
Joshua Lockhart appeared there with a boisterous group of four or five people.
They all seemed to be already quite tipsy and loud. A few of them were regulars at the bar, faces familiar to Elian.
As soon as they sat down, they glanced at Elian and giggled among themselves. Elian could easily sense that Joshua Lockhart’s gaze, filled with interest, was fixed on him.
Unable to let the opportunity slip, Elian volunteered to be the server for that table.
Even as he approached the table with the menus, Joshua Lockhart’s green eyes remained locked on Elian. He made no [visit our site]effort to hide the fact that he was staring.
“Hello. I’m ‘Rian,’ and I’ll be taking care of your table today. I’ll start by getting you the menus.”
Elian handed the menus to each member of the group.
“What do you think?”
The man sitting next to Joshua Lockhart asked in a low voice, glancing at Elian. Joshua played innocent, pretending not to know what he meant.
“About what?”
Another member of the group nudged his arm, pressing him more mischievously.
“We were right, weren’t we?”
“Shut up. Where are your manners, talking like that with someone standing right in front of us?”
Despite the reprimand, he observed Elian intently.
His gaze was different from the young man in the paparazzi snaps—the one sitting in a relaxed posture at a cafe [visit our site]on Melrose Avenue, laughing and chatting with friends, possessing a bright smile that lived up to the nickname ‘California Sunshine.’
It was a gaze that openly revealed the excitement of having found something he wanted.
At that moment, Elian felt certain that he had succeeded in piquing his interest.
After passing the group’s order to the bar, Elian stepped away for a moment after being called by the manager. While briefly checking next week’s schedule on his way back to the hall, he noticed someone lingering in the hallway. Elian paused and instinctively hid behind a shaft.
“I told you I’m not interested in that. Don’t waste your energy. Since when do I ever listen?”
It was Joshua Lockhart.
With one hand shoved in his pants pocket, he was on the phone, pacing around a marble statue decorating the center of the wide hallway. Depending on what the other person said, he scoffed and tapped the statue’s thigh with his fist.
“How could that be? Do you think there’s enough affection for that? Between Lorenz and me?”
A sarcastic tone.
Thud. This time, he landed a punch on the statue’s knee.
“I own 15% of NOVA Media. Including my father’s shares, it’s 25%. Do I look [unauthorized copy]like an unauthorized copyidiot who would [Read on Read BL Novels]let NOVA be taken away too?”
As he lowered his head, his soft, voluminous curly hair fell forward. His lips, red as if intentionally painted, twisted in anger. He ground his teeth lowly, expressing his displeasure.
“That’s how it sounds to me.”
Joshua Lockhart ended the call unilaterally. Still unable to shake off his anger, he paced the hallway, spitting out curses for a while before finally disappearing.
It wasn’t hard to deduce that the conversation had been about the succession of the Lockhart Group.
Joshua Lockhart seemed uninterested in the position of successor, while the person on the phone seemed intent on pushing him toward it.
The most obvious point was that the call had left him in a foul mood.
By the time Elian returned to his post, the drinks ordered by Joshua’s group were almost ready. In addition to their order, Elian placed a few pieces of chocolate on a small plate and added it to the tray.
Behind the sofa where Joshua Lockhart sat, the night view of Tribeca unfolded. However, he didn’t spare a single glance for such scenery.
Slumped back in a high-backed single sofa, Joshua rested his head on his hand, his gaze fixed in one direction. His interest was solely on Elian. The look fixed on Elian as he approached with the tray was rough and explicit.
If it had been a look that said he wanted to go on a date a moment ago, now it was…
“Excuse me. Here are the drinks you ordered.”
Negroni, Vesper Martini, Macallan.
Serving the drinks one by one while announcing them, Elian placed Joshua Lockhart’s drink down last.
“Mezcal Negroni. And… some dark chocolate.”
Joshua Lockhart’s brow furrowed as he looked down at the plate in front of him.
“Dark chocolate?”
“Sweet food helps when you’re in a bad mood.”
His gaze shifted back up to Elian. A faint smile played in his green eyes.
“Did you eavesdrop on my call?”
“I didn’t eavesdrop; I simply heard it. The hallway is a public space.”
A gaze like a fastball—one that knew nothing of curves or sliders—stared intensely at Elian. It was a gaze so heavy that even Elian, who was used to such attention, found it overwhelming.
He’s probably the type to skip the push-and-pull even when seducing. Because he’d reach out the moment he wants something, believing that simply reaching out is enough to possess it.
“I apologize if I offended you. I’ll take the chocolate back—”
As Elian leaned over and reached for the plate, he was stopped by Joshua Lockhart. Joshua snatched the plate away, placed it on the armrest of the sofa, and began to unwrap one piece.
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t eat it.”
Elian let out a hollow laugh at the sight of him acting grumpy, like a child who didn’t want his chocolate taken away.
“Then, the chocolates are on me.”
At Elian’s words before leaving the table, Joshua frowned. He asked as if to confirm he hadn’t misheard.
“Buying them? For me?”
“Is that not allowed?”
The group burst into laughter. Someone nudged Joshua’s arm and chuckled.
“Lucky you, Josh.”
This time, Joshua Lockhart didn’t reprimand his companions. In fact, it seemed he couldn’t hear anyone at all. He was simply staring at Elian’s back as he walked away from the table.
After finishing their drinks, Joshua Lockhart and his group left without further incident. They were likely moving on to find another amusement somewhere else in this massive city.
The opportunity that had come after three months had vanished, but strangely, Elian wasn’t anxious at all. He was certain that Joshua Lockhart wouldn’t let the situation end like this.
When it was time to clock out, Elian changed from his uniform into civilian clothes in the locker room and grabbed his helmet and backpack. He found his bicycle in the underground parking lot and took the elevator out of the building.
“……”
A car with a sleek, streamlined design, like a bullet, was parked in front of the building. And Joshua Lockhart was leaning against it, staring this way. Because of the height and build he had developed from years of playing ice hockey, the car looked smaller than it actually was.
Elian slowly approached him, wheeling his bicycle.
“This is like a movie.”
Contrary to the content of his words, which sounded like admiration, his tone was dry.
Brushing back his dark brown curly hair, Joshua spoke.
“You have a look on your face that says you expected me to be waiting.”
“To some extent.”
“I suppose you’ve been hit on once or twice before.”
“I have.”
A short laugh.
“I’ll give you a ride. Get in.”
“I decline.”
“Why?”
“I know you’ve been drinking, so there’s no way I’m getting in. Drunk driving is an act that threatens not only your own life but the lives of others.”
After a brief, scoffing laugh, he flung open the driver’s side door. A chauffeur was already sitting in the seat.
“Satisfied now? Are you getting in?”
“As you can see, I brought my bicycle.”
Elian tapped the handlebars of his bike.
Joshua Lockhart bit his lower lip and let out a long sigh. It seemed his shallow patience was already running thin.
“You’re the one who seduced me first. Why are you backing out now?”
This time, Elian was the one to scoff, as if he had never heard anything more absurd.
Then, with a condescending look as if dealing with a childish brat, he gave Joshua Lockhart a crooked smile.
“Are you really attaching this much meaning to a single piece of [Read on Read BL Novels]chocolate? You don’t look stolen contentlike someone that naive.”
“I’m not naive,” Joshua Lockhart added, emphasizing the point.
“I’m not naive. Not so much that I wouldn’t know that giving out chocolate as a ‘service’ while working at a bar frequented by the upper class isn’t a pure intention.”
Elian sighed and faced him head-on.
“You’re right. I’m not naive either.”
“……”
“Not so much that I wouldn’t know that the curiosity you have for me right now is nothing more than a cheap desire for conquest.”
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