Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"You must be the wife," I said with a smile on my face, matching her own. "Such a pleasure. Which one of these men is your husband?"

"Unfortunately, after your… husbands… visited mine, he wasn't feeling well and decided not to come. He sent his men instead," she answered, the corners of her eyes tightening. It had been a while since I could play this particular game with another woman. I wondered how she was with Southern sayings.

"That's fine. Spare the rod and spoil the child, right?" I said with a shrug. "Then again, that is the benefit of having four husbands. I never have to go anywhere alone. And I don't even have to beat them to ensure that they stay by my side."

"Well, it was two of your… husbands… that beat mine to the point where he could barely walk," she said quickly like she wanted to make sure that everyone around knew who she was placing the blame for her husband's misery on. 

I saw Mao Jing come storming up, an angry look on his face. Holding up my hand, I waited for him to compose himself before pointing to where he could stand.

"Planning on adding a fifth one to your harem?" she couldn't help but sneer. 

"No," I said, shaking my head. "But he is staff and should learn the best way to deal with a difficult customer. Not to mention, I thought you would be asking for a manager at any time, so I thought I would have him handy for you."

I looked at the men behind her, shifting from side to side as they took in their surroundings. It was clear that they were used to fighting, but this was a fight that they would never win. Then again, I do have zombies in the basement that need to be fed. 

"Now, let's restart this conversation like civilized women," I said, indicating to the chair across from me. "Would you like to have a seat?"

I saw her visibly pulling herself back together as her shoulders went back and her chin rose a fraction of an inch. Narrowing my eyes, I continued to watch as she pulled out her own chair and sat down. 

"You did that wrong," I said, studying her. "You should have let one of them do it for you."

"Why?" she scoffed, setting her purse beside her on the table. "I can do it just fine yourself."

"That's the problem. You are doing everything yourself, showing that you have a lack of confidence in the men behind you," I explained. 

"I don't understand what you are saying. If you are trying to turn them against me, that will never happen," she retorted. I watched as she gently placed the soft curls of her hair down either side of her neck.

" 'Stupidity in a woman is unfeminine,'" I quoted, not at all impressed with her acting. We might actually get along if she would just be smart enough to work with me instead of against me. 

"Excuse me?" she gasped as if I had just called her child ugly. My eyes scanned the men behind her and landed on one who had yet to look away from her. 

"Power, strength, and control are not shown by doing everything yourself," I said, willing for the moment to explain myself. "It is shown by having others do what you can easily do yourself."

"Well, I beg to differ," she snorted. 

"And that is your prerogative. But I assume that you came here for a reason. What is it?" I asked, wishing I had something to drink. Before I could even finish my thoughts, the waiter from before came back with a bottle of water and a champagne glass filled with something sparkly. He first set the two glasses in front of me before placing a glass of amber liquor in front of each one of my guys. 

"Thank you," I said to the waiter, nodding my head in appreciation. I couldn't drink the alcohol, but I was at least appreciative that he gave me a bottle of water. 

"It's sparkling apple juice," said Liu Wei as he bent forward to whisper in my ear. "No alcohol, I promise."

Nodding my head and smiling, I took a small sip of the drink in the tall glass. Realizing that it was, in fact, apple juice, my smile got bigger. 

"You are the best," I said, giving him a quick kiss on his cheek before turning my attention back to the woman. "You were saying?"

"Aren't you going to offer us a drink?" she asked, raising her eyebrow at my glass.

"Well, this is a bar. I thought that if you wanted something to drink, you would have gotten it yourself," I responded with a shrug. If she thought I was going to foot the bill for 16 people, she was batshit crazy.

"We are your guest," said the woman, whose name I still couldn't remember.

"No, you barged into an establishment before it even opened. That makes you a customer. And while a customer might always be right, that doesn't mean that they don't have to pay," I pointed out with a smile. "Now, before I completely forget what I was going to say… here is a short list. If it were my men who 'beat' your husband, he would be dead. It is a complete waste of time and energy to beat someone when it is much easier to kill."

"Next," I said quickly before the second thought could escape my mind. "Who are you?!?"

There was silence as everyone turned to look at me. I returned their look, not really caring if I had offended any of them. It was not my fault she never introduced herself. 

"I am sure that your husbands have told you," she sneered, her fingers grazing her collarbone and the necklace sitting there. 

"Nope," I answered with a shake of my head. "They couldn't remember your name either. But don't take offense. They never remember another woman's name."

"Or at least, that is why they would like you to think," she said, still not telling me her name. I might have to come up with a nickname for her or something. Nah, that involved thinking too much, and I was in a mood today.

"Name," I blurted out, not caring about her reaction.

"Hao Jing Ya," she replied, her chin tilting up a bit higher like that name should have rung a bell. Unfortunately, it didn't.

"Then, Hao Jing Ya," I started, "Why are you here?" The cushions on the booths would need to be replaced. They were really uncomfortable to sit on after a few minutes. 

Wang Chao, like always, read my mind and picked me up to put me sideways on his lap. I grunted my appreciation. He was a lot more comfortable than the cushions, and the way the woman in front of me turned bright red at his actions made it all that much more worth it. 

"You are opening a club in my city," Hao Jing Ya said, straightening up. "And I don't think I like you enough to let that happen."

Awe, now there was that bitch I was waiting for. Funny, they never could hide for long. 

And I had a sneaking suspicion as to why she was pulling this crap now rather than before. 

"First, I would like to point out that I am not opening a club. I inherited it from—" I looked at Mao Jing, completely pulling a blank on the boss' name before me.

"Lin Song," he said. 

"I inherited the club from Lin Song," I repeated, turning my attention back to the other woman. 

"And where is he? I need to confirm your story, of course," answered Hao Jing Ya, the smile on her face a little bit strained. 

"I am not sure," I said, looking around. "I think the zombie that ate most of him is in the basement, but I am not sure which one it was. They were pretty good about sharing him."

"He was eaten by zombies?!?" she screeched. "How is that possible?"

"Well," I said with a sigh, leaning my head against Wang Chao's shoulder. "When a zombie gets hungry, her tummy starts to rumble…"

"Shut up!" Hao Jing Ya snapped, the smile completely gone from her face. I would have to admit that I was a little upset, but that was because I thought that was a superb joke. No one appreciated my sense of humor. 

"This club is not yours. As the head of City I, I see no point in trying to come to a working arrangement between the two of us," she continued, looking in my direction but not at me. 

"I don't think that you understand exactly what is going on here," I explained with a sigh. "This is me being nice and trying to work with you," I continued, the smile long gone from my face too. "I have no problem with you at this moment. Don't make me change my mind."