Chapter 2 She Had Also Been Naive

As luck would have it, the woman sitting before him was, indeed, worthy of this taste. Her features were exquisite and she looked ravishing, with an hourglass figure that was beyond comprehension. James Holland gave her ninety points in his heart.

However, the man's ignorant gawking was starting to make Sarah feel uncomfortable. She coughed to draw his attention and then waved her hand at the waiter who was standing nearby. "What would you like to drink?"

The waiter immediately approached the table and asked, "What can I do for you?"

James smiled at the waiter as he took the menu and then squinted his eyes to read. "Just a cup of black coffee for me, please."

Sarah's eyes hovered over the coffee in her cup without conscious thought and that was when James realized something. "Miss Swain, you like black coffee as well?"

Sarah shook her head. "I don't actually like black coffee, but I've gotten used to it." All of a sudden, Sarah's eyes drifted, recalling memories of someone from college who used to like drinking black coffee and how she enjoyed having a cup with him.

When James noticed Sarah staring into space, eyes focused on nothing in particular, he guessed that she had something else on her mind. "Allow me to introduce myself first. I'm James Holland. I just came back from abroad two weeks ago. I'm currently working as the director of design in an advertising company. I have a good feeling about you. I look forward to seeing you again in the future."

Sarah looked James in the eye, carefully observing him while he spoke. In truth, James was an outstanding man. After all, he had studied abroad and had a reasonably good position in the company he worked in soon after he came back. However, there was something in the way he spoke which led Sarah to think that perhaps he was more arrogant than he was presenting himself to be. Sarah just couldn't get past that kind of tone. It seemed as though James' words were implying-"You should feel grateful that I am willing to see you again in the future."

Drawing lessons from her previous experience with other men, Sarah felt as though she might have been a little harsh to judge James in that way, but she couldn't ignore her own instincts.

Just as Sarah was about to say something, the waiter brought over the black coffee on a tray.

James stared at Sarah with anticipation, waiting to hear her response as he strongly believed that he was eligible enough to pique her interest. His background should have been good enough for any woman, let alone Sarah. Wasn't she supposed to give him the nod of approval by now? Why was she staring at him with a blank expression on her face? Was he not attractive enough? Suddenly, feelings of uncertainty crept inside James' heart. "Miss Swain, what do you think? I really hope we will see each other in the future."

Sarah stirred the coffee, struggling to come up with an answer in her mind.

After all, her mother had made out James to be such an outstanding man in their conversations. After mulling it over in her head, Sarah decided to turn him down slowly. "Mr. Holland, to be honest, I don't think we know each other well enough yet."

"That's not a problem! We can get in touch more often and improve our understanding of each other!" James spoke with a confidence that was easy to mistake for arrogance.

"I heard that you'd studied abroad, so you must have seen a lot of different things, am I right?" Sarah smiled and changed the topic. Having gone through countless blind dates, Sarah had quickly picked up on how to navigate through an awkward situation with ease.

"Would you like me to tell you something interesting that happened to me while I was abroad?" When James looked into Sarah's eyes, his gaze revealed his feelings for her in an instant.

Sarah nodded curtly in response. Unfortunately, when she was a student, she had the opportunity to go abroad as well, but she gave it up, all for the sake of a ridiculous love interest. She couldn't bring herself to forget how naive she was back then.

Looking back at the calm expression on Sarah's face, James slowly unraveled stories of his adventures from his time in abroad.