Ellie rolled her eyes. "Cheyenne, I told you. I"m not married. I am just lucky to have Henry as a family friend who wanted to look after me. He is extremely generous and kind to have me in his home. I don"t want to give anyone the wrong impression. Would I have a wedding and not invite you guys, my tried and true friends? Of course not. That would be not right on so many levels."Henry shook his head, "I envy who is married to Ellie Chen, unfortunately I am not him."
Olga looked from one to the other. "I"m sure a lot of people would want to be married to either of you. I hear Mr. Wong that you are on the list of New York"s most eligible bachelors. You"re so out of our leagues, a cold high society man is what they call you." The blush on her cheeks was rapidly changing from a soft rose to a deeper red.
Henry was happy to see so many people in a house that had been empty for such a long time. He wondered if he could turn Wong Manor into a retirement home or a house for orphans. It would be nice to have children running around here again. But such arrangements would have to wait a bit. Henry stood. "I can see this is quite the girls club and I don"t want to spoil your fun. I"ll have Michael send up some finger food and have the bar opened if you"d like to try anything we have in stock."
He turned, he knew that women were complicated. But he felt now that he had been in close quarters with one for so long, he had started to feel comfortable with the differing sociality. Ellie could bond to any person in her vicinity by being genuine and truthful. It was a trait that he envied that she was such a social b.u.t.terfly and could make bonds that had taken him years to establish.
He was sure some social scientist had often said that humans were social creatures. He had never felt the need himself, Henry was only social when need be. He preferred to live quietly when he wasn"t doing business. He wished he could interact with people so casually as Ellie could -- people usually were just interested in his net worth.
"I can"t stop shaking . . ." Olga commented lightly as she continued to roll her dice with her predatory eyes on Henry"s retreating figure.
Ellie looked at her hands and saw the money was sliding out of hands. Her vision swam in front of her and she turned to her friends who were playing idly like nothing was wrong. She started to shapes dip in and out of existence and she realized it probably was past the point she should have guests.
The room around her spun upside down and she wondered what what time it was. She knew Henry had come to visit her excitedly and he had smiled until the presence of other people had wiped the expression off of his face. Why was he smiling? Why had he come?