Chapter 6 #2
“You like?” His voice startled me as I stared at a remarkable painting in front of me, hanging proudly on the large wall in the living room.
“Yes.” It was a beautiful painting indeed, but I was in fact staring into nothing.
“Leonardo, I think,” he said nonchalantly.
“Da Vinci?” I couldn’t believe what I heard.
Well, I shouldn’t be surprised.
Actually, could people buy a painting like that?
“Yes, who else? Not from the Wolf of Wall Street I hope.” He answered with a twinkle in his eyes.
I smiled. Not because the joke was funny. Or that I was impressed by the painting – even though the painting was genuinely impressive. But seeing Kai relax was such a relief.
“What is it called?” I might know a few famous paintings, but I knew very little about art, and I wasn’t about to pretend. I had dedicated my life to medicine, and I wasn’t going to apologize for being uncultured.
“Who cares.”
I didn’t have a clue what Kai meant. When someone owned such an expensive item, they should at least know what the heck the painting was called. “Didn’t you buy this?”
“Not quite.”
“What? Please, don’t tell me you stole this?” I couldn’t believe what I was even asking. “Oh, wait.”
“Kind of.”
Oh no, I thought I was going to faint.
A painting like this must have been worth hundreds of millions, right? I wanted to check on my phone and find out which Da Vinci painting had gone missing. But then if it was indeed stolen, it would be all over the news. There must be people out there hunting for it.
“I stole it from her lover,” he sort of elaborated.
“Fuck, can you please stop talking in riddles. It isn’t funny to joke about these things.”
“I won it in a bet from a friend, I think. Or I might have had someone win it for me in an auction. To be honest, I don’t really remember. All I know is that it looks nice on my wall.”
Phew, I felt a relief as I dried the cold sweat that had started to form inside my palms.
“I gifted it to you, asshole.” Jenny dragged her tired body down the stairs. Nobody could see her from the living room, but she had one of those voices that traveled well even in a large and crowded space.
“Are you sure? Did I not win a bet with your husband-” he stopped. It just occurred to him that mentioning her husband might be triggering.
“I don’t think so.” Her sight fixated on the painting.
Kai opened his mouth, but nothing came out until seconds later. “It’s a great painting.”
Jenny marched into the living room, eyes still glued to the painting.
“Because I chose it.” She let out a small sigh. “I wanted to keep it for myself. But it’s better here.”
Her appreciation of art was unquestionable. Her stare reminded me of a hungry puppy drooling over a bowl of meat.
What possessed her to part with something she loved so much?
Luckily, the doorbell rang and saved us from the awkward silence. Jenny finally peeled herself away from Da Vinci’s greatness.
Escorted by the doorman, four men came in with massive bags of food, and headed to the kitchen. On the outside of the bags was the word “Gucheng”.
Gucheng wasn’t like your usual Chinese takeout place.
Each month, they shipped out one of the best chefs in China to cook here in the city.
And they only cooked what was available at the local organic farm that they sourced from.
That meant their menu was very rarely the same.
The price point was crazy high, and it would cost someone at least a month or so of salary just to dine there.
Even if you had the money, you couldn’t necessarily get a table there.
It wasn’t a place where anyone could just call them up to get a booking.
There was no website, or any other way to contact them at all.
So how did one get to eat there?
You waited for their invitation, according to one of my clients, who had been there before.
Apparently, they would get in touch first thing in the morning for dinner that was happening later that day.
Then you had an hour to RSVP. If you couldn’t make it, you lost the invite.
But the good news was, you knew you were on their radar.
“My god, that place is so impossible to book!” I exclaimed. “And I didn’t know that they would deliver! How did you manage that?”
Within five minutes, a table full of beautiful dishes was laid out. This was the first time I had had takeout where the staff would come and set up everything.
“They don’t normally deliver. But for their boss, I guess they do,” Kai said proudly, his face smug.
Why was I even surprised?
“Right. It makes so much sense now. Did you come up with the invite-only idea?” He raised his eyebrows slightly. “Stop pretending like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“Yes, of course. People love feeling special. Exclusivity sells.”
“Evil genius.”
“Why not? You make them wonder if they’ll ever get invited to such a restaurant. And when they do, they can’t wait to take out their wallet and pay big bucks for it. They’re begging to dine at the restaurant, not the other way round.”
As ridiculous as it sounded, it was very clever. But only someone like Kai could pull off something like that.
We sat at a massive black granite table with golden veins. It was probably made to seat 20 people. The dishes covered every inch of the table. I doubted that we would even come close to finishing it.
“I see. I didn’t know you owned this one as well.” I knew that Kai was in the food industry, but I couldn’t assume every restaurant that I walked past was owned by him.
“I didn’t used to. I bought it a little while ago from a friend who lost a bet.”
I didn’t know how to react to that statement. “Are you addicted to gambling or something?”
“He doesn’t gamble,” Jenny cut in. “He bought this one to save a friend of mine who was in a lot of debt. He paid too much though.” She shook her head. “But within weeks, he turned it into something else. It went from losing money to huge profits just with a flick of his fingers.”
“That’s considered as some kind of witchcraft. At one point in history, they used to hang and burn people with skills like that,” I joked. But deep down, I was impressed with what Kai had managed to do. “I’ve been curious about that restaurant for ages, but I had no idea how to get an invite.”
“Next time, just tell them you’re my guest and they’ll seat you anytime you want.”
“Really? How? I’ve heard the place is always packed.” I asked, more than a little curious about the place.
“There’s a private room upstairs, reserved for VIPs only – at the moment, it’s just me. But you’re welcome to use it.”
“Thanks. But I think I won’t be eating anything for a while after this meal.”
Dr. Rose really missed out by not staying with us for dinner. I couldn’t wait to boast about what we had this evening.
Dave and Clare didn’t join us for dinner, either. Most of the time, they seemed like they were doing nothing other than standing around. In the background though, I knew they had to collaborate with another team – the invisible one that made sure things run smoothly for Kai’s day-to-day.
Dr. Rose had gone home to tend to her daughter whom she had adopted with her partner.
She tried to help her patients as much as she could, often even after working hours, but if the situation allowed, she would always try to have dinner with her family.
I respected her for having her principles.
Still, I wished she’d joined us for dinner tonight. Kai had ordered way too much food.
I made chit chat with Jenny over dinner and found out that she went to a boarding school in Britain, then went on to study at a university in London, then France.
We didn’t talk about her husband at all.
Although there was no reason to suspect her husband was the person who caused her those injuries at this point, I preferred if Jenny brought up the topic herself when she was ready.
“I see now why my cousin is never satisfied with any of his dates.” She changed the topic of the conversation, tired of talking about herself.
“Oh? Why is that?” Kai stopped chewing, intrigued by what Jenny was going to say next.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Jenny punched Kai on his forearm as Kai childishly flicked her on the arm. Then she pointed at me like I was the fucking answer.