Page 16 of Rewind

“How many people am I supposed to be meeting?” he muttered under his breath.

The waitress quickly returned with a coffee pot. “Would you like sugar and cream?”

“Just one sugar please.”

Once she was finished serving him, she retreated to the wall again, with her hands behind her back.

Ethan took a sip from his cup as he waited. Kevin didn’t enter the room with him so he supposed the lawyer was waiting for the mysteriousMadam.

He was halfway through his cup of coffee when the door opened and a woman walked through followed by Kevin.

Ethan pushed away from the table to stand.

Immaculately dressed from head to toe in a green silk, print dress that fell just below the knees, brown leather belt with a gold buckled that cinched her small waist and mauve six inch heels. Her elegantly style hair cascaded to her shoulder in waves. The only thing giving away the fact that she was a middle age woman was the iron gray streak of hair casually blended into otherwise jet black hair. Her makeup was tastefully done and the handbag she carried probably cost as much as an average worker’s annual salary.

Ethan had seen a picture of her online. It had been a photo snapped at a charity event in Korea where JKB was one of the biggest sponsors. This was his father’s wife. Kim Soo-ah.

In the photo she was smiling and gracious but in person, cold brown eyes stared at him without a hint of warmth. Her pink tinted lips were in a firm line of displeasure and her nostrils were slightly flared.

Ethan instantly realized this meeting would not go well but he stood up, pasted a smile on his face nonetheless and closed the distance between him and the clearly hostile woman, with his hand outstretched.

She stared down at his offered hand as if it was the filthiest thing she’d ever seen. Her lips curled in a sneer before she brushed past him. She halted by one of the chairs at the table.

Kevin promptly rushed over and pulled out the seat for her.

She flounced down and placed her handbag on the empty chair beside her.

“You may be seated,” she said in Ethan’s direction without quite looking at him, in perfect English with just the slightest hint of an accent.

Ethan was fluent in Korean because he grew up speaking it with his mother. He wondered if Soo-ah, was using English because she didn’t think he spoke it or as a power move. Either way he would take her lead to see where this was headed.

He returned to his seat which was directly across the table from hers.

She narrowed her gaze, seeming to take in his appearance from head to toe. Without a word she snapped her fingers, and the male server was at her side in an instant.

“A cup of hot water for tea.”

“Of course, Madam. Right away.” The server disappeared to another room and returned within a minute.

He placed a cup and saucer in front of her along with a brown lacquered box. “Can I get you anything else?”

She waved her hand dismissively. No please or thank you.

The longer Ethan sat in her presence the more perturbed he grew. He understood Soo-ah hailed from a wealthy family but that shouldn’t have excluded her from having manners.

She opened the box and took her time selecting a tea. Still she didn’t say a word. Was she waiting him out?

If she was trying to intimidate him, Ethan wasn’t easily phased. He’d waited all these years to hear from his family. This woman didn’t scare him in the least.

He noticed Kevin standing off to the corner with his hands behind his back like a faithful servant. The man shifted to one foot from the other, clearly uncomfortable but he remained in his spot.

Kevin didn’t take one of the many seats still available at the table nor was he offered one.

Only after taking a sip from her teacup did Kim Soo-ah settle her full attention on Ethan once again. “You look like him.”

Ethan leaned forward, certain he’d heard her incorrectly. He didn’t expect these to be her first words to him. He suspected she was referring to his father but he wanted to hear her say it instead of speaking in vague riddles. “To whom are you referring?”

She squinted ever so slightly as she placed her teacup back on the platter and circled the rim with her index finger. The large diamond ring she wore shimmered against the light. “Let’s not play these games, Ethan. You don’t mind me being informal with you, do you?”

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