The Alchemists

Even though he was dying to heal his broken heart because Aleksis was married and pregnant with another man's child, he really could not see another girl with a romantic feeling. So, he certainly never tried to look good, dress up, or deliberately do something to attract women's attention.

On the last two blind dates, his children had forced him to wear a neat dress shirt and get rid of his ripped jeans. He started following the standard dating protocol, and that was: providing one hour of his time, emptying his stomach for food, and paying the bill.

After his promise was fulfilled to meet this third girl ... then his promise to Altair was fulfilled, and he no longer needed to go on anymore blind dates.

"Auntie Louisa can't do lunch, because she has to work. She can only have dinner dates. Would you do a dinner date with her? Pleaseee...? This is the last one," persuaded Altair while showing various photos of a beautiful girl with long hair in an online dating application on his tablet.

"I have booked a table at the Moonshine restaurant and if everything goes well, you can both watch a movie at the cinema together." Altair quickly added.

You sly kid, Nicolae grumbled to himself. He knew, because the first two dates ended without any follow up with the two girls he met, Altair had arranged the third date to take place as dinner, followed by a movie.

Even though he's only ten years old, Altair already knew that there was a huge difference between a 'casual' lunch date and a 'serious' dinner date. Dinner dates are usually more intense because it's done in a more romantic atmosphere. That's why candle-light lunch, isn't a thing. Lunch with candles is not romantic, dinner is.

Usually, after a successful dinner date, couples who liked each other will be able to take it further. They could decide to continue drinking and talking late into the night, or even spend the night at the man's or woman's place and ended it by m.a.k.i.n.g. .l.o.v.e. Yep... that's how the term one-night-stand came to be.

That's why dinner dates are always more serious and intense than lunch dates.

And the cunning twins ... they planned Nicolae's last blind date with Louisa at the Moonshine restaurant during a romantic candle-light dinner.

"All right ... I only need to spend two hours, emptying my stomach, eating, talking nonsense, and paying ..." Nicolae repeated the spell as he stepped into the elevator to the 99th floor.

While in the elevator, he looked at Louisa's face on his phone. This was the girl he would meet on his last blind date. This Asian girl had a very beautiful face with long hair in all five of her photos. Her body was slim but had perfect curves in all the right places, and she looked like she was still 20 years old. Her smile was so charming.

As long as this girl isn't boring or bitchy, Nicolae felt that he could last for the next two hours.

"Welcome, Sir. The table is ready for you. Your date just arrived five minutes ago," the restaurant manager, who already knew who Nicolae was, smiled kindly when he greeted him at the door. The manager walked swiftly while giving a signal for Nicolae to follow him.

Hmm ... this girl isn't too bad, Nicolae thought. She arrived ten minutes early. Nicolae was a punctual man, and he intentionally arrived five minutes before their appointment. Still, apparently this girl beat him to it.

Because it's a dinner date, the children made Nicolae wear a nice shirt and a fancy suit. This man's appearance was truly far more charming than usual. He also just tucked his long hair behind his ears, did not tie it carelessly with a red ribbon as usual. He looked like one of those s.e.xy male models in the magazine with his fancy clothing and long hair.

As he was walking into his table, unintentionally, he made so many heads turned. He looked just like a supermodel walking on the runway, showcasing the latest Dior suit collection. So many women eating in the restaurant lifted their heads in admiration, and without shame, they all stared at his behind. Whispers could be heard here and there, as Nicolae walked following the manager.

All this attention made Nicolae cussed inwardly. It must be because of the suit he wore. Ugh ... he really wanted to throw his suit in the trash and unbutton his shirt and rolled up his sleeves. This was really troublesome.

Even without trying to dress up like this, he had always attracted too many women's attention. To be honest, Nicolae's careless appearance with his simple shirt and torn jeans was an unconscious attempt to make himself look unattractive. Similar to what Aleksis used to do.

Nicolae only looked attractive when he was studying at St. Mary University because he did have a hidden agenda to disguise himself as a flamboyant student and cover up his identity as Wolf. Whoever tried to expose Wolf's identity would not have thought that the mysterious hacker who always seemed cold and aloof was a flamboyant student.

He almost arrived at his table when suddenly an SMS from Vega entered his phone.

[Good luck, Daddy! You can do it. Remember, don't throw the suit in the trash bin.]

Nicolae could only smile, reading the SMS from his favorite daughter. Ah, Vega really knew him well. He was just about to put his cellphone back into his pocket when he received a text from Altair.

[We will sleep early. If you don't come home tonight, we won't look for you. Go have fun, Dad!]

God damn it. Where did a ten-year-old learn to think dirty like this? Nicolae thought uneasily. Altair gave him subtle permission to stay at Louisa's place if this dinner date became a success.

Nicolae suddenly felt trapped. Is it too late to back down now? He was seriously considering it.

"Please, Sir." The manager smiled kindly and pointed to an exclusive table reserved for Nicolae. "Your date is waiting."

Nicolae looked up and stared at the woman sitting at the table reserved for his date. Instantly the young man's expression changed. His face was now filled with shock.