Chapter 464: You Look Familiar

Zeke Walton hurriedly gave him his phone number.

When the man saved the number and nonchalantly slipped the phone back into his pocket, Zeke still felt a little uneasy.

“You won’t make me wait too long, will you? Sir, I know it doesn’t matter to you whether you take this deal, but it’s really important to me. I hope you’ll take it seriously.”

Zeke Walton was the first person to ever block his path to pitch a deal, and then have the audacity to rush him.

The man couldn’t help but chuckle at him.

“Young man, you’re too young, too impatient. This rush for quick success is no good. In business, you can’t be too fixated on gains and losses. Otherwise, you’ll be overjoyed when you profit, but when you lose, you’ll probably feel like you can’t go on. I don’t do business with people who are so hung up on winning and losing. Whether we can make this deal will depend on your performance. Go home and wait.”

With that, the man started walking again, and Zeke Walton didn’t follow.

‘He had to admit, the man was right. You can’t get too hung up on winning and losing in business.’

Zeke Walton knew that.

‘But wasn’t the reason he was in such a rush now because he was just too poor, too desperate to prove himself?’

‘He didn’t have the time or the patience to let things drag on.’

As things stood, having no patience didn’t change anything. Zeke Walton could only go home, where he waited idly for two days.

The next evening, just after nine o’clock, he finally received a call from the man.

“I’m at The Gilded Age. My meeting will be over in a bit. Come to the entrance and wait for me.”

Zeke Walton hurriedly called Amina over. “Do you have any money left? I need some. I’m going out to talk business, and it’s bad form to show up empty-handed. I need to buy a gift.”

Amina had no cash left, only a few bracelets. She gave Zeke Walton two gold ones.

“Is this enough?”

“It’s enough.”

Zeke Walton leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Trust me, it won’t be long before I buy you new ones. Just wait for me at home.”

Zeke Walton went to a jewelry store, sold the bracelets for cash, and bought two boxes of high-end tea before heading to the entrance of The Gilded Age.

‘There was a time he would have looked down on a restaurant of this caliber, disdaining to even step inside.’

‘But today, standing here and looking on with eager anticipation, he found himself thinking how nice it would be if this establishment was his own.’

The man had said it would be over soon, sending Zeke Walton into a frantic rush, terrified of being late.

As it turned out, he waited at the entrance of The Gilded Age for over half an hour, but the man never came out.

Worried he might have missed him, Zeke Walton gave him a call, but there was no answer.

He didn’t dare to call again for fear of annoying the man, so he sent a text instead, letting him know he was already at the entrance. The man didn’t reply to that either.

Zeke Walton stood ramrod straight by the shrubbery at the bottom of the steps, waiting and waiting. He waited for nearly two hours. It was 11 PM, and there was still no sign of the man.

‘Did he drink too much and forget about me? Or has he already left?’

Zeke Walton’s mind raced with possibilities, but he didn’t dare to actually disturb the man again.

Just as his anxiety was peaking, he suddenly saw a woman walk out of the restaurant. She wore a form-fitting dress and high heels, and her long hair was draped over her shoulders.

The woman was so drunk she was staggering, completely disoriented.

Even so, she started heading recklessly down the stairs.

Seeing she was about to miss a step and fall, Zeke Walton quickly put down the boxes he was holding, rushed forward, and caught her.

“Careful!”

The smell of alcohol mixed with a faint, fresh perfume washed over him as the woman fell into his arms.

She looked up at him, her eyes hazy with intoxication. She was beautiful.

“Designated driver? You’re right on time. Here, take the keys. The car is just… just…”

As she spoke, she shoved a car key with a small stuffed toy on the chain into Zeke Walton’s hands.

Zeke Walton glanced down. It was a key to a McLaren.

‘What family is she from? Coming to a restaurant of this caliber and getting this drunk all by herself?’

Zeke Walton took the key and supported her with one arm as he helped her down the remaining steps.

“I’m not your driver, Miss. I’m waiting for someone. Here are your keys, hold on to them. Your actual driver will call you when he arrives.”

“You’re not my driver? What do you mean you’re not my driver? You look so familiar.”

The woman could barely stand. The moment Zeke Walton tried to let go, she went limp and fell right back into his arms.

With no other choice, Zeke Walton had to keep holding her up.

“We’ve never met. I don’t know you. Where’s your car? I’ll help you over there so you can sit down.”

The woman pointed vaguely in one direction, completely disoriented. Seeing that she was in no state to explain, Zeke Walton just pressed the unlock button on the key.

Fortunately, the car wasn’t parked far away.

He helped the woman over to the car, and just as they reached it, a designated driver rode up on a small electric scooter.

“Hello, did you call for a driver? For the phone number ending in 3376?”

“That’s me,” the woman slurred, then looked at Zeke. “Oh, so you really weren’t my driver.”

The woman answered the driver but remained draped over Zeke Walton.

Zeke Walton opened the car door, settled her into the passenger seat, and fastened her seatbelt.

The driver walked a full circle around the car.

“Sorry, but… what kind of car is this? I’ve never driven one before. Will my electric scooter fit in here?”

Zeke Walton helped him by opening the trunk at the front of the car.

It was large enough to fit a folding electric scooter, but the space was currently crammed with boxes from luxury brands.

“Just move that stuff to the back and put yours in.”

Zeke had already done more than enough to help. As he was about to leave, the woman started shouting.

“Don’t touch my bags! Don’t touch my bags! I had someone buy those for me as gifts! It was a huge hassle! Don’t you dare damage them! Don’t touch my bags!”

The driver took one look at the boxes—all from major luxury brands—and was indeed afraid he might damage them.

But if he couldn’t load his scooter, he’d have no way to get home later. He looked at Zeke Walton, caught in a dilemma.

“So what should I do now, sir? Maybe you should just cancel the order. I have no place for my scooter, and you’ll have to pay my return fare. Besides, I really don’t know how to drive this car. I’d hate for something to go wrong.”

“How can you be so stupid? If you can’t even drive a car, why are you working as a designated driver?”

The woman might have been drunk, but her hearing was sharp; not a single word escaped her.

The driver’s face flushed with embarrassment from her tirade.

Zeke Walton didn’t want to get involved. He was just about to say, “You two figure it out, I don’t know her,” when the woman shouted again.

“Fine, cancel it! I never should have called you in the first place!” she yelled at the driver, before pointing a finger at Zeke. “You! You’re not allowed to leave! You take me home! You can be my driver!”

Zeke Walton was in no mood to be her designated driver. Besides, the man he was waiting for was finally coming out.

He turned his head and saw the man being helped down the stairs by a few of his subordinates. Zeke Walton hurried back over.

“Sir—”

“Sir, my ass!”

The man he was waiting for was drunk and paid Zeke no mind, but a heavy-set man beside him came down and gave Zeke a shove.

“Get the hell out of the way! Can’t you see the boss is drunk? He ain’t got time for you! Scram!”

As he spoke, a black car pulled up, and the man was helped inside.

After waiting bitterly for over two hours, Zeke Walton hadn’t managed to say a single word. He could only watch as his golden opportunity drove away.

He sighed, picked up the gift-boxed tea he’d spent a fortune on, and decided he might as well go home.

He never expected that when he turned around, the drunk woman from before would be standing there, swaying unsteadily right behind him.