by crow » 12/04/2017 6:41 AM
Clearly, it wasn't 'fine', but time was running out and Leo wasn't about to argue with Oliver if it meant they could finally start doing something. He waited a moment to see if anyone else had anything to say, but no one did. "Alright," he said, throwing an arm around Oliver's shoulder. Normally he wasn't the touchy-feely type, and he didn't know whether this would just spook Oliver more, but the priest looked like he might bolt anyway if there wasn't something to weigh him down. "Let me do the talking, and follow my lead."
He steered them to the entrance of the building, where the bouncers waited. The walk up gave him a little time to settle into the persona he thought would give them the best shot at getting in. He loosened his posture, putting a slight, languid swagger into his walk, and affected a look of vaguely amused boredom.
The men at the door noticed him immediately, but that was the plan. He wasn't trying to hide. They moved in, with a superficial air of greeting, but really to bar his path. "Good evening, sirs. Do you have an invitation?"
"Oh, you mean this?" he said, producing a neatly folded card from his pocket. He'd lucked into that one, going through the pockets of the clothes after he stripped them from their owner. The guards looked visibly surprised at that, possibly because of his age. He didn't blame them; most of the crowd here looked to be at least in their forties, and unlike Vivi, he didn't have an old man to back him up.
Still, it was an invitation. "Your names, sirs?" said one, consulting what was presumably the guest list. This was where things were about to get dicey.
"Leo Shen," said Leo. It was honestly probably better to lie, but it would be easier to lie about everything else if he was working with his own identity. "And my date." He'd contemplated introducing Oliver as the son of one of his mother's associates, but he didn't know if Oliver could put on a similar act. It was less complicated this way. If Oliver wanted to upbraid him for it later, they'd cross that bridge when they came to it. For now, he needed to get them through the door.
There was a pause before the man spoke again. "I'm sorry, sir, I don't see---"
"You're kidding," said Leo, raising his brows. He moved away from Oliver and snatched the ledger from the man, who began to look visibly flustered. "What do you mean I'm not on here? You're telling me you haven't heard of Fenghuang Group?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but---"
"I'm here on behalf of my mother," said Leo, hiding neither the irritation nor the threat in his voice. "I suggest you look again, or she will be hearing about this."
"I..." The men looked at one another. Clearly they'd heard of Fenghuang; some of their subsidiaries were household names. In the meantime, Leo did his best to look impatient and affronted, every inch the spoiled Chinese billionaire brat, and not someone wearing a slightly ill-fitting suit that he'd stolen off a much older man.
Eventually, the men relented. "... This way, sirs," said the one with the ledger, motioning for them to go inside.
Leo grinned. "Good choice," he said, and sauntered on in.