Chapter 208: Change In Relations

"Welcome to Culinary Canvas, and for the looks of it, a table for four, right?" Adam questions, looking right into Isla’s eyes.

"Uh... yes..." Isla, though taken by surprise at first, quickly recovers and answers Adam. Adam smiles in return and turns his back to them as he leads them to an empty table.

Jean’s the first to follow Adam, as he doesn’t know anything about Adam or Isla’s attraction towards him. Kylo, too, has no idea about this as the girls kept the matter to themselves.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Kylo asks as he walks past Isla and Suzaan and notices the girls haven’t moved from their spot.

"It’s nothing," Suzaan speaks up, wraps her hands around Isla’s arm, and helps her snap out of her dazed state.

"Ya, nothing’s going on," Isla speaks up as well. Kylo looks confused, but he is not someone who likes to probe people for no reason, so he turns his back to them and follows Jean.

"I can’t believe he works here," Isla whispers to Suzaan as her eyes are fixated on Adam, who is currently helping Jean and Kylo settle down.

"Me too, but let’s sit down first before the boys get suspicious," Suzaan suggests.

Isla nods, and they both approach their male bandmates and take a seat.

"Here’s the menu. Take your time and call me when you are ready," Adam says and leaves.

He was also surprised by their arrival. What are the chances of a band he just got familiar with yesterday coming to eat brunch at a restaurant that he now co-owns?

Adam returns to Leila and Cassie’s side and hears the girls talk about the band.

"I can’t believe Velvet Arcadia is here in our restaurant," Cassie says excitedly. "I am such a huge fan of their music~" She follows with a cheerful statement.

Adam doesn’t believe a single word that comes out of this girl’s mouth. She is so committed to this act of hers that she will go with any lie to suit the situation. She might be speaking the truth, but Adam would never trust that innocent face of hers.

"I don’t know, I think they are just your above-average band. There are hundreds of them out there just like them. They don’t have anything unique that makes them stand out," Leila says.

From the sounds of it, she is not as big a fan as Cassie claims herself to be.

Adam does believe Leila, as she is not someone who lies a lot. She speaks her mind.

"Adam~ Don’t you think the two girls are really pretty?" Cassie asks as she notices Adam’s presence.

Her words immediately confirm Adam’s suspicion. If Cassie were really a fan, she would have called them by their names, but of course, normal people won’t catch onto her like Adam can.

"Yes, they are," Adam says.

"Say, who do you prefer?" She continues with her question.

"I do not listen to their music," Adam answers. He knows what Cassie really means, but he is not going to answer her unless she is clear with her questioning; that way, Adam has more control over his own narrative.

"Come on, you know what I mean~" Cassie says teasingly.

"I do not know what you mean~" Adam answers with the same tone as her.

Cassie pouts and puffs her cheeks, displaying annoyance, but Adam knows this is just her pretending like all the time.

"Okay~ Then I will be clear. Who would you take to bed if you have to?" Cassie asks.

Adam’s eyes open up a little more, hearing Cassie’s question, as this is the first time she has said anything suggestive before anyone.

Usually, she acts innocent, as if no perverted thoughts run through her head, but now she has suddenly changed her tone.

But instead of answering Cassie immediately, his eyes shift towards Leila to gauge her reaction, and to his surprise, Leila doesn’t seem that surprised by Cassie’s question either; it’s as if she has also seen through Cassie’s fake personality, but Adam doubts it.

As much as he wants to credit Leila for having amazing observational skills, she really doesn’t. She appears to be practical because of her appearance, but she really is just an emotional mess who can easily be manipulated.

Especially by someone like Cassie. Her not reacting to Cassie’s sudden, perverted question strengthens Adam’s assumption about the change in their relationship.

Instead of being curious about Cassie’s change in behavior, Leila also seems more interested in his answer.

Seeing this, Adam smirks. If these girls are so interested in his answer, then he will give it to them. It’s not like it’s going to cause any harm.

Leila is already his. He knows for a fact that she can’t even imagine herself with someone else now that he has claimed her as his. As for Cassie, she is desperate for his attention and he knows she will jump through hurdles to get it.

"If I am being honest, both. What’s the point of choosing when you can have both?" Adam says confidently and watches the reaction on the girls’ faces.

Cassie continues to smile, but he notices a small twitch on the edge of her lips. As for Leila, she is much more expressive as he sees her softly bite her lip while looking at the girls.

Adam didn’t know what to think of their reaction.

Since Cassie’s so fake, he doesn’t know what she is thinking. Even her expressions might be fake, but as for Leila, she is a little too transparent. Adam noticed that Leila liked what she heard.

Now, Adam doesn’t know what to do with this information. Before he comes to a clear conclusion, he needs to know what happened between Leila and Cassie to figure out the new dynamic between Leila and Cassie, and then move forward.

Because control without knowledge creates chaos. Adam has experienced enough chaos in his past life; he doesn’t want to experience it anymore.

A few minutes later, he returns to the table occupied by the band as they seem to be done with their choices.

"So, what can I get you guys?" Adam asks with his signature charismatic smile.

His eyes meet Isla’s again, and she once again freezes, unable to say a word.

This time, the guys in her band also notice Isla’s weird behavior. They look at their band leader and then at Adam, who has the same face he had when they walked in. A professional, charismatic smile.

They move their gaze from Adam to Isla, to Adam, to Isla a few times before concluding.

Kylo smirks ’Looks like our leader has a crush on someone...’ he thinks in his own head.

But as for Jean, he has a frown on his face. He doesn’t like where this is going.

"Ahem." Suzaan clears her throat and helps Isla snap out once again.

"What?" Isla asks, looking around, confused.

"Your order? What can I get for you?" Adam asks again.

"Oh... Ah, yes, we will have..." Isla finally puts in the order for herself and her team.

During which, Suzaan has a disappointed look on her face as she expects some class and control from her leader, ’I can’t believe she is so fickle. How can she get completely swept away by someone just for their looks? Sure, he is very handsome, but what’s so special about this one?’ Suzaan thinks and stares at Adam as well.

She looks at his face. Handsome, striking eyes, symmetrical face, thick and luscious hair, and a tall and strong frame. Now that Suzaan really thinks about it, Adam is definitely very handsome.

’Maybe if I were straight, then I might be in a similar situation as well,’ Suzaan thinks. Yes, the reason she is much more immune to Adam’s charm is that she is attracted to women.

But then again, she still finds Isla’s behavior surprising, as she has seen Isla reject so many good-looking guys. Were they as handsome as Adam? Maybe not. But there was no reason for Isla to reject them while getting completely swept away by a man who completely ignored her.

Kylo is having his fair share of the fun. Isla has always been a calm and composed leader, someone who always has a clear head on her shoulders and makes important, hard decisions when it’s needed. So seeing her get flustered in front of a guy is something new and very entertaining to watch.

While the other two band members see nothing wrong with Isla displaying a different self, a vulnerable, clumsy self, acting like a teenager in front of her crush, Jean, the guitar player does not feel the same way as the others.

The frown on his face deepens as he sees Isla acting as such.

Well, it’s no surprise. When a guy is on speaking terms with a beautiful girl, the chances of his being interested in that girl are ninety-nine percent. The other one percent is when he already has someone else he is interested in, but even then, they might try to score.

Jean has been attracted to Isla since the very first day they met. So, seeing the girl he is attracted to, feeling attraction for some other guy would, of course, make him very uncomfortable.

Jealousy, envy, anger, and every other emotion that can arise in such a situation, Jean is feeling them.

"That would be all," Isla finally finishes her order after struggling with every other word.

"Okay~ Let’s see, you ordered..." Adam begins confirming their order to Isla as she once again stares at Adam, mesmerised.

While the other three band members have their own thought processes going on inside their heads.