She thought about making a break for it while she was in the bathroom, but the meal was almost over. She’d tough it out. Su Khoon was bound to make something of it if she retreated even at this late point.
Heng Yee was deep in conversation with Andrew when she returned, as she’d guessed might be the case—he was a talker and keen to make an impression. Renee was able to slip into the seat he’d left vacant next to Lin. She spent the rest of the meal talking to Lin.
Finally the last coffees and petits fours were consumed, napkins discarded on the table, chairs pushed back. The party went upstairs, chatting desultorily while they waited by the cloakroom for their coats and bags.
Renee took up position next to the door, to enable a quick exit. She could no longer see Andrew among their group. Maybe he’d gone to the bathroom, or left in a fit of pique.
She was starting to hope she’d escape any further encounters with him, when, with an unpleasant shock, she caught sight of him through the window. He cast his cigarette onto the pavement, grinding it under his heel, and came back into the restaurant.
He was on her before she could decide what to do. He said brusquely, in an undertone:
“I’m not done with you yet. We need to talk.”
Renee put her shoulders back, lifting her chin. “No.”
“What do you mean, ‘no’?” said Andrew. “I thought you wanted to work together? Or you don’t want that anymore?”
He was starting to attract attention, drawing curious glances from the other diners. The Freshview team were looking uncomfortable. Out of the corner of her eye, Renee saw Su Khoon shrug on his coat hastily, preparing to come over.
She should let her brother handle this. She could practically hear him:Never mind my sister. You know what women are like. I’ll handle her.
But she was fed up. She’d had enough of biting her tongue to spare men’s feelings.
“We’ve made it clear we want this partnership. But you and I are not going to be able to work together if you can’t keep our personal history out of it,” said Renee. “I’m not the one clinging onto the past. You don’t see me telling people about how you broke into my flat and threw my phone out of the window. You got cautioned, remember? I would like to forget, but you are not helping!”
She didn’t bother lowering her voice. The Freshview teamheard every word. They sneaked shifty looks at one another, like a class of students getting reamed out by the teacher.
Su Khoon looked furious. At Renee, obviously. But she wouldn’t have expected anything else.
A new party entered the restaurant, looking taken aback at the crowd of worried Chinese businessmen blocking their way. Renee pushed past them blindly. She had to get out before anyone noticed the tears in her eyes.
They were tears of rage, but the men would see them as a sign of weakness. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.
She was nearly at the end of the street when she heard footsteps behind her, quick and purposeful.
She could turn around and face her brother. Or she could keep walking, and he’d probably put on speed and grab her. She turned around.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” said Su Khoon.
He was a dull red. She could smell the alcohol coming off him. They were on a quiet street, lined with residential and office buildings. In a sense, it didn’t matter if they had a scene—but Renee would have appreciated having witnesses.
“Let’s talk about this later,” she said. “You’ll want to say goodbye to the Freshview guys.”
“Say goodbye to the deal, more like,” said Su Khoon. “Are you purposely trying to fuck us over or what? Just because you don’t want to work with Andrew—”
“That is not what that was about. Andrew was the one who—”
“You wanted to work on this pitch,” said Su Khoon. “You wanted to come to this lunch. Fine, I let you join, I trust you to be a grown-up. And this is how you behave? You blow up at Andrew Yeoh, treat him like he’s nobody in front of his staff. What the hell are you trying to achieve? Everybody knows Low Teck Wee’s daughters are not interested in the business. Andrew is being groomed to take over.”
Renee crossed her arms over her chest, shivering. She’d forgotten her coat at the restaurant, and it was cold. “He was being a creep! He was groping my knee all through lunch, being a total sleaze—”
Su Khoon rolled his eyes. “Even something like this you can’t handle? Managing relationships is not about buying people sushi so you can be popular. It’s about dealing with this kind of situation. The man’s away from his wife, he had a few drinks, he’s trying his luck. It’s not like he was going to do anything in a restaurant, with his staff there.”
Renee had a lump in her throat, which made her angrier than ever. She should know by now not to let her family get to her.
Su Khoon was never going to see this from her point of view, or give her any credit for exercising self-control. Why should that hurt her?
“I tried being polite,” she said. “It didn’t work. What did you want me to do, go back to his hotel and fuck him just to shut him up?”