I went through the rest of my day starting my team on their new project. There was enough on the disk that Mr. Evans gave me to get a decent start on it, but not exactly what I needed to drive it home. While my team was doing their thing, I spent my time trying to Google as much information on Evans Real Estate as I could find. Strangely, it wasn't really all that known about. It was a public corporation, however, anything relating to the owner and his family was extremely vague. I did at least stumble across Mr. Evans full name, Robert James Evans. His middle name was actually his father's first name. He also has an older sister, Samantha. She is the current vice president of property acquisition, while he is the vice president of business development. Somehow, I had a feeling that Robert received the short end of the stick. Other than that, there was nothing else of importance except for a couple of press pictures.

As the end of the day drew to a close, I locked the disk that he gave me in my desk for the night. I double checked my phone before heading out of the office to see if he sent me a text and was relieved to find that he hadn't. I was starting to hope that something came up and he forgot all about our dinner plans. The less time that I had to spend around Mr. Robert Evans, the better. After I closed my office up for the evening, I shut the door and headed back to my apartment.

Shortly after I got back to my apartment, I sat down on my couch wearing a white t-shirt and my boxer briefs with a bowl of cereal. Yes, I liked to have cereal for dinner sometimes. Being a grown adult, I didn't see anything wrong with my choice of foods. Just as I picked up the remote and turned on Netflix, my phone started to vibrate beside me. Reluctantly picking up my iPhone, I looked at the screen. I hadn't bothered to save the number, but I knew who it was as soon as I saw the text.

'B rdy in 5min. I sent a car to pick you up. Button shirt and jeans will b fine. Cya in a few.'

As much as I would have liked to blow this guy off, he was a paying client at the firm. Even after our little fifteen seconds of past history, intrigue and fascination were starting to draw me into him even more. On top of the fact that I couldn't get him out of my head if my life depended on it. Needless to say, I sat my cereal bowl on the coffee table and ran to my bedroom to throw some clothes on. I had never been conscious of how I looked when I went out, but I seemed to spend more time making sure that my hair looked good than I did getting dressed.

When I finally made it to the street in front of my apartment building, there was a black sedan already waiting against the curb. I tried not to think about it too much at the time, but I wondered how he even knew where I lived. The man that I was assuming to be the driver was standing beside the car with the back door open. It didn't take a genius to realize that he hated his job just by looking at him. Of course, between his bulky frame and the look on his face, he would make a great bouncer at a bar. I thanked the man as I slid into the back seat and he shut the door behind me. He got into the driver's seat and started driving us through the busy streets. I was going to ask where he was taking me, but I decided not to. At least the answer to that question would be clear when we got there.

About fifteen minutes had passed before the car stopped in front of a place that I didn't recognize. It didn't look overly fancy, I just hoped that it was quiet. The driver wasn't even making an attempt to get out of the car, so I just opened the door and got out. After walking across the sidewalk, I opened the door to the restaurant and went inside. The host was standing at the desk when I walked up.

She said, "Good evening sir. Table for one?"

"Actually no, I'm meeting someone."

She asked, "The name?"

"Mr. Evans."

She replied, "Ah yes, he is expecting you. Right this way please."

She led me through the restaurant by the other tables that were all occupied. This place seemed to be pretty popular and most of the meals that I could see looked pretty good. She took me to a table towards the back where I spotted Mr. Evans sitting at a table by himself. He was looking over the menu while sipping a glass of water when we approached.

The woman said, "Here you are sir. I hope that you enjoy your meal."

I thanked the woman and sat down in the vacant chair across from him. He didn't even acknowledge my presence until after placing the menu back on the table. Strangely, my eyes went straight to the bare skin that was showing through the top two shirt buttons that he had left open.

He said, "Thank you for joining me, Tyler. We have a great deal to talk about."

"That we do, Robert."

I mentally punched myself in the face as soon as I realized what I said. However, since he seemed to know so much about me, there was no point in beating myself up at this point.

He replied, "I see that you've been doing your homework. And please, call me Robbie."

"Okay Robbie, let's start with how you magically appeared in my place of employment a week after our first encounter."

He took a sip of his water and set the glass back down on the table before responding. "Easy there, how about we order real drinks before we get into the heavy stuff?"

I was already over this entire dinner and was about to walk away from this pompous prick when the waiter stopped at our table. "Can I take your drink orders gentleman?"

Robbie responded, "Yes, I'll have a vodka and cranberry and my friend here will have a Captain and Coke."

The waiter replied, "Very well, I'll have those drinks for you in a few moments."

After the waiter walked away, I asked, "Wait, how did you...?"

Robbie cut me off, "Tyler Joseph Marks, age 22, graduated NYU in the spring with a bachelors in marketing and a minor in business. Lives alone in an apartment on the east side, has very few friends, and mainly keeps to himself. Besides his daily jog, he primarily stays indoors when he's not at work. Do I need to continue?"

By that point, the waiter had returned and put our respective drinks in front of us. Before I even desired to respond, I drank half of the glass that was placed in front of me. The waiter asked, "Are you ready to order?"

Robbie responded, "Yes we are. I'll have the filet, medium. Baked potato with butter and Italian dressing."

"Same for me, but well done."

Robbie added, "And I believe that my friend here will need a refill, please."

The waiter replied, "Very well then, I'll get your orders put in and return with that drink."

I looked at Robbie as he took a sip of his drink. Although I hated to admit it, I was starting to admire his smug confidence. It almost seemed like it came naturally to him. For some reason, that was always a trait that enticed me the most. Now here I was thinking about him again while he was sitting across the table from me. Strangely, I was starting to feel more comfortable around him. Maybe it had something to do with the rather strong beverage that I sucked down in less than two minutes.

"So," Robbie inquired, "you aren't going to ask how I knew so much about you?"

"Nope, your father owns a multi-billion-dollar real estate company. I'm sure that you had your sources dig up the info on me. As for why I'm assuming that it has to do with a piece of property that I possess."

Robbie took another sip of his drink before responding, "I must say that you are very astute. Even if you are only partially correct."

His blue eyes were gazing upon me in a way that I still wasn't entirely comfortable with. There was just something about the look in them that I couldn't quite place. Something about this whole ordeal wasn't quite right and not just the fact that he knew my entire life's history. Luckily, right at that moment, the waiter stopped by our table to bring me another drink and a basket with bread. This was just the diversion that I needed to desperately change the subject. After thanking the waiter, I took a piece of bread out of the basket and started to butter it.

"I looked through the files on the disk that you left me. Most of them look pretty promising. But, for this ad to work right, we're going to need some actual photos. Not just a 3D realization of the designer's layout."

"Agreed," he said, "I told my dad the same thing. Maybe this time he'll listen to me."

There was a hint of disdain in Robbie's voice that I hadn't heard from him before. It was almost like a hint of sadness that made me kind of feel bad for him. Perhaps, there really was more to this man than he let on. Either way, since this project was my responsibility, we were connected whether I liked it or not.

Robbie continued, "Well, I have a backup plan. I'll discuss it with my father tomorrow. Was there anything else?"

"Right now, I think that was it. We're only a day into development though, so, it's early yet."

He replied, "Alright, if anything else comes up, just text me."

"Will do."

Thankfully, the waiter came by and placed our salads in front of us. At least with food in front of us, I would have an excuse not to ask some of the questions that were on my mind. I spend more time watching him eat his salad while I just picked at mine. There was something that I couldn't quite place my finger on. Perhaps, it was just the mystery surrounding this man. I think that he did catch me looking at him a few times. Although, he quickly averted his blue eyes back to his salad. After he finished off the salad on his plate, he wiped his lips with the napkin that had been lying across his lap. Robbie's piercing blue eyes locked right onto me and a goofy smile appeared on his face.

"Something wrong with your salad," he asked?

"It's fine, not really a huge salad person. I was actually eating a bowl of cereal when I received your text."

"That's kind of funny," he replied. "I find myself eating cereal at weird times of the day too. Must still be a habit from college."

I chuckled at his reply, "I find it hard to believe that you lived off cereal and ramen noodles in college."

"Well," he responded, "my father and I didn't exactly see eye to eye when I was growing up. In fact, there are a lot of times that we still don't. He covered my tuition and board, but the rest of my expenses were on me. I think that it was his way of showing me that everything wouldn't be handed to me in life. Anyway, I ate as cheap as I could, so I had money for my extracurricular activities."

"Damn, that had to be quite the adjustment."

"It took a little getting used to, but I adapted well."

The waiter came by and asked, "Can I take those plates out of your way?"

Robbie looked at me and I responded, "Yes please."

He picked them up from the table and said, "I just checked on your meals and they will be out shortly. Is there anything else that I can get you gentlemen in the meantime?"

Robbie responded, "Yes, another round please."

The waiter nodded and walked away from us. I was starting to wish that I ate more than a piece of bread and a couple bites of salad. My tension was starting to wane, and I was feeling a lot more comfortable. Thankfully, the waiter returned with plates in his hands, not adult beverages. What we ordered for our entrées most definitely looked more appetizing than the salads did.

The waiter said, "Your food was done before I made it to the bar. I'll be right back with those drinks."

After cutting into my steak to make sure that it was done enough for my liking, I dug right into it. When the waiter came back and dropped our drinks off, he asked if everything came out okay. I could only nod since my mouth was full while Robbie answered for both of us. After he walked away, I looked up from my plate and found Robbie smiling at me.

After swallowing and taking the last sip from my drink, I asked him, "What are you smiling at?"

"You... is it your first time eating a good steak?"

"Between my bills and student loan payments, I don't have a lot of money left over. That's the other reason that I still eat cereal so much."

"So, this really is a treat for you then?"

"Yes, it kinda is. I was a little apprehensive at first, but this dining experience has been pretty good."

"Apprehensive?" he questioned.

"Yeah, well it wasn't like our first meeting really went that well."

"I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have been that aggressive. For a second, I actually thought that your friend was going to beat my ass."

"Oh, she would have if you didn't take your hand off my arm when you did."

He smiled back at me as I ate another piece of steak. This really was the first extravagant meal that I've had since my parents took me out after I graduated from college. It did strike me kind of odd that I was having it with the person that I was though. However, I was starting to feel much more comfortable around him. He was almost starting to seem less like a stuck-up jerk and more like a decent human being. Putting these bizarre feelings that I was having towards him aside, spending time with him really wasn't that bad.