Chapter 505
She had misunderstood him, just as he had said.
Feeling sorry, she considered going over to apologize. At that same moment, Derek turned around, and their eyes coincidentally met. When he saw the apologetic look on her face, he just smiled faintly and carried on with his work.
Natalie heaved a helpless sigh.
“Miss, do you still want this tie?” a shop assistant asked. Natalie nodded. “Please wrap it up.”
As she waited for the payment to be processed, she received a message from Brandon, asking who had brought her breakfast.
Natalie pondered for a while. In the end, she told him that the waiter had made a mistake, and that the matter had already been solved. She had misjudged Derek just now, so she didn’t want to say anything more that might add to her transgressions against the poor man. ήόνέĻόž.ςόм
Natalie stayed at the mall until noon. She was just about to take a taxi back to the hotel when she ran into Derek again.
Derek had been sitting in his van all this time, having finished his part of the shoot. When he saw Natalie walking out the mall in the distance, he scrambled out of the vehicle and ran to greet her.
“We meet again, Natalie,” he greeted as he walked up to her.
The sun was bright and hot at this time of the day, so they took care to stand in a nearby shade. “Are you on your way back to the hotel?” Derek asked. “Do you think you can give me a ride?”
“Where is your van? Did your manager leave you again to have dinner with other models?” Natalie said flatly. “Call him and tell him to come pick you up.”
She’d rather not talk to Derek if she could avoid it. So, she lowered her head and looked at her cell phone.
As he squatted in the shades, Derek looked up at her and asked, “Are you still angry? Although you misunderstood me, I forgave you and didn’t ask you to apologize. How could you still be so upset with me?”
Derek sighed after a while, pretending to sad. “Wilder just scolded me. Now I’m not even allowed to ride in the van. I’ll have to walk back to the hotel. Oh, by the way, Wilder is my manager. He gave me an ultimatum. If I do something like this again, he won’t give me work anymore.”
Natalie didn’t put down her phone until that point. She licked the corner of her dry lips and locked her gaze on Derek. “I’m sorry for what happened in the shop just now,” she said sincerely.
“Even if you apologize to me a hundred times, I still can’t go back to the hotel. Wilder has driven away with my phone in the van. What do I do now?” Derek sighed, but his eyes were remarkably bright and astute.
Natalie was unsure. It was difficult to tell if Derek was telling the truth. Despite the fact that they had only known each other for a few days, she was well aware that she was inferior to him when it came to scheming.
A taxi pulled up in front of Natalie at this point. “Miss, is it you who called a taxi online?” the driver asked as he rolled down the window.
Natalie looked at the taxi’s license plate. It was the one she had called. She hesitated before getting into the taxi and turned to look at Derek.
Derek saw the hesitation in Natalie’s eyes.
He grabbed that opportunity. He quickly got to his feet and took door and drew her into the car. “Don’t keep the driver waiting for too long. We’ll go to the Intercontinental Hotel, please.”
“I didn’t ask you to ride with me,” said Natalie, sulking in the cab.
She turned her face away from Derek.
Derek shrugged and leaned against the back seat. He raised the corners of his mouth, looking a bit roguish. “But I’m already in the car. You can’t ask me to get out of a moving vehicle, can you?”
Natalie was rendered speechless. Of course she wouldn’t do that. She just didn’t want to give him a ride because she was afraid he’d have other ideas.
Derek’s gaze was drawn to the shopping bags at Natalie’s feet. exquisite packing box inside.
Derek remembered that he saw Natalie in the mall where she was carefully someone?” he asked in a curious tone
This type of tie belongs to a man. Was Natalie planning on giving it to her father?
When Derek tried on this tie just now, he thought its design was mature enough for his taste and appropriate for older men. So if Natalie bought the tie for her father, then she had an excellent taste.
She picked up the shopping bags and held them in her arms. With her eyes devoid of emotion, she said. “This is my private affair. Don’t ask about it, okay?”
Derek snorted and asked no more questions.
It was silent in the taxi. Neither of them spoke.
Eventually, Natalie sighed and said, “I’m sorry your manager scolded you. I can help you explain to him.”
Natalie thought that Derek was at a pivotal point in the growth
Derek was surprised by Natalie’s words. He then grinned and said, “Wilder forgets and forgives easily. And as long as I’ll behave, he’ll still set up work for me. Besides, the company has invested much to make me popular.”
Even though Wilder was upset with Derek, he wouldn’t dare neglect Derek. He was born into a wealthy family with numerous influential figures. Wilder couldn’t afford it if they came to stand up for him.
Natalie nodded, and the two of them fell silent again. “What do you have planned for the next two days? Zuri’s hosting a party tonight. Fashionistas and fashion gurus are expected to attend. You are also welcome to come. I think you’ll make a lot of new friends there.” Derek assumed Natalie was a newbie in the fashion industry. She would never p@ssup such an opportunity. “I’m not interested in those parties,” Natalie said in an indifferent tone.
The White couple had frequently taken her to banquets and social events in the past, and Brandon enjoyed taking her to those events as well. Natalie, on the other hand, was uninterested in them. She was more content to be alone.
“You came here for W Marks,” Derek reminded her. “No matter how arrogant Draco is, he won’t refuse to attend these social activities. Besides, you had already embarrassed Zuri when you were late before. If you do not attend the party tonight, the outside world may believe that W Marks is arrogant and looks down on others.”
Indeed, Natalie came here as a representative of W Marks. She knew she couldn’t be foolishly stubborn, so she couldn’t refuse to socialize sometimes.
Natalie didn’t respond until they were out of the taxi, “I’ll go back to my room and rest, and then I’ll go to the party tonight.”
There were stars all over the sky and the lights at the party were bright. The party was held in a villa in downtown Northcliffe.
A waiter at the entrance tied a black ribbon around Natalie’s wrist as she entered the hall.
Fashion parties were different from business banquets. All the guests here were fashion trendsetters. They were dressed boldly and brightly, swaying on the dance floor to the music. They looked animated and unrestrained.
Natalie took off her heavy shawl. She was like an elderly woman who had inadvertently entered the world of young people. She seemed to be out-of-place here.
People gathered in small groups as they mingled. Natalie sat at the bar counter, holding a glassof orange juice. She noticed a crowd of young designers and models gathered around a well-dressed man.
The handsomely-dressed man was Derek.
Noticing Natalie’s gaze, Derek dismissed the women around him and walked up to Natalie.
He propped his elbows against the bar counter and asked with jest, “Do you feel out of place? Well, you don’t look like you’re supposed to be here. You look… mystifying.”
Natalie put her bag and shawl on the counter and retorted, “If you think that I don’t belong here because I’m wearing old-fashioned clothes, then just say so. Stop beating around the bush.”
Derek put down the glassand raised his both hands as if to surrender. “Miss, don’t get me wrong. What I want to say is that your beauty is timeless, unlike those girls who are just pretty because of their makeup.”
Natalie fell silent. It was not every day she got to hear someone compliment her for what she looked like.
The Quinn family had imprinted on her mind that she was ugly, which made her self-conscious and insecure for a long time. But after meeting Brandon, she eventually regained her confidence. However, the way that the Quinn family had b*ody-shamed her still brought a pang in her heart.
Natalie smiled faintly. Derek’s sincere compliment felt good. But just as she was about to speak, a voice of a woman came from behind.
“Derek, what are you doing here?”
