Rachel gestured with her fingers. “Money makes the world go round.”

Yale nodded. “Alright, let’s give it a try.”

Ten minutes later, hurried footsteps sounded from upstairs, and all the doors of the private rooms flew open – that included Tyler and Anne’s.

Anne looked clearly displeased at being interrupted.

“What’s going on? Why must everyone go downstairs?”

“Apologies, miss. We have a surprise inspection, and our bar is a little special. It’s best to keep all the private rooms upstairs empty,” one of the waiters explained politely to Anne.

Anne’s brows furrowed, unable to accept the waiter’s explanation.

“That’s your problem! What does it have to do with me? I reserved your private room to have a discussion in it. Now that you’re pulling this on us, how do you expect us to continue our negotiations?”

“I’m truly sorry. Our boss said that he will cover all your expenses in the private room to express his apology. We’ll even give you a special bottle of red wine,” the waiter hurriedly explained.

Anne was still dissatisfied and started arguing with the waiter.

“I don’t care whether your boss will waive the bill! The more important thing is, your personal reasons have greatly affected my work. Do you understand me? I don’t care for that measly compensation from your bar! I just need a quiet place to work right now.”

The waiter apologized profusely to Anne. “I’m very sorry about this, miss. There is nothing I can do about the situation right now. Downstairs is also very quiet. We’ve stopped the live band performance, and you can discuss work in peace.”

It was clear that Anne detested the idea of doing work downstairs. She argued with the waiter for so long, her face started getting flushed.

Tyler approached Anne and put an arm around her shoulders. “He’s just a worker here. Don’t put him on the spot.”

Anne’s face stiffened with embarrassment. Worried that Tyler might misunderstand her, she started to explain herself.

“Don’t get the wrong idea about me. I don’t want to put him on the spot either, but I know how important this project is to you. I don’t want to be slipshod about it. You can understand where I’m coming from, can’t you?”

“It’s fine. Having the discussion downstairs is the same. Rachel has already shared with you the details of the proposal. It’s up to you to decide. There’s nothing much more for me to say,” Tyler said rather flatly.

Anne sensed that Tyler was about to call this meeting off and hurriedly said, “There are some parts of the proposal I don’t quite understand. Can you explain it to me? I don’t mind going downstairs. I was just worried that the change in environment might affect you.”

“Sure, let’s go.”

Tyler even apologized to the waiter before they headed downstairs.

“I’m sorry. My friend was a little agitated just now, but she didn’t mean any harm.”

The waiter nodded. “It’s fine. It is our bar’s fault. Please let me know how we can make it up to you.”

Tyler and Anne soon settled down at a corner downstairs. As the waiter shared earlier, the live band was no longer performing. Even other patrons spoke in hushed tones. This was a rule in the bar. The good thing was that the lighting was dim, and the backs of the chairs were high enough to retain privacy for each patron.

Yale and Rachel sat behind Tyler, the former giving the latter a thumbs-up as he said in hushed tones, “Ms. Lloyd, that was impressive. I can’t believe that worked.”

“If Tyler makes a comeback, remember to pay me back for what I did today,” Rachel said to Yale.

“No problem,” Yale said with a grin.

Meanwhile, Tyler was about to pull the proposal out of his bag when Anne asked him, “Tyler, can I ask you something?”