She looked up to view the afternoon sky. It was lovely. The sun, with its golden rays, was trying to hide from one cloud to another, giving each fluff a beautiful halo. One might say they were playing a game of hide-and-go-seek and the sun would gladly laugh each time a cloud passed over him, giving him a chance to shed his remaining light on the world.
Her office was as organized as can be. Everything was in its proper place. There were no books, files or papers on the table that were not needed. Filing cabinets were all labeled so as to avoid confusion and delay in opening the wrong drawer. Everything was in order.
A soft knock came from the door.
“Come in!” her voice resounded in the room.
The door clicked open and a man dressed in a business suit came inside. She never bothered to look to see the person. She was expecting him.
Smile sat on her chair and the man sat across her, taking his sunglasses off.
She killed her cigarette and inquired, “So what have you got for me?”
“Sherwin Xu has built a house in Convertville two years ago which he doesn’t use,” the man started. “It’s relatively small considering he’s a tycoon. Then I found out that it’s a replica of the bungalow he shared with his cousin, Matthew Li, while they were studying in Thailand.”
The man handed her a brown envelope. Her eyebrow rose as she scanned through the documents.
“Why would Sherwin do that?” she thought aloud. She faced the man and instructed, “Their place, Thailand, find out what it means to him. It must be special for him to replicate the structure.”
The man nodded, stood up, and left, leaving Smile Liu to plot her next move.
========================================================
Reina Yang looked like hell. Her eye bags were huge, her skin, pale and her hair was an awful sight since most of the strands had come undone and fell to cover her face. Her dress was all crumpled and untidy. She looked like she battled a herd of cows.
Even her office was a total mess. Papers and files were scattered all over her desk. Her drawers were all open. The trashcan was full and so was her ashtray. Coffee cups littered the floor. It did not look like a manager’s office at all.
It was a hectic day at Yang TV.
She found out that her trusted employee, Me-An Zheng, embezzled to the amount of five million NT, causing Reina to spend the whole day reviewing the company’s internal controls. The tension was thick as everyone was questioned.
It drained her: physically, emotionally and mentally.
She took off her shoes and thought to lie down on the couch. She groaned aloud when she glanced up the clock. It was past 7.
She remembered she had to go home soon and see…see…that man again. She can’t even bear herself to mention his name without getting all worked-up!
It has been a week since that remote-control-flying incident happened and it has been that long since she had spoken a word to Sherwin. She was avoiding him. She would only nod to acknowledge his presence or shake her head to decline his offer. She knew it was driving him nuts and she firmly believed he deserved it!
However, it did not stop Sherwin from trying. He had called her on her hand phone too many times to count for the whole week but they were all rejected or went unanswered. She would often laugh at these scenarios or get annoyed at his persistence.
Then it gave her an idea.
She bought a small notebook and recorded how many times he would call and the time of the call. She thought it would be nice too look back to this time when she got older and laugh at how silly and stupid she was to do this thing. And she would remember how she made Sherwin Xu a fool the second time around.
Her headache became more intense and closed her eyes, forcing her body to relax. It didn’t work. She stood up and looked for a painkiller in her table drawer and popped it in her mouth.
She went back to the couch and laid down again, putting her right arm on her forehead.
She sighed as she wondered, “What would have happened if he didn’t tell anyone about our night together?”
She closed her eyes and the images played so vividly in her mind, like it was just yesterday….
“Yan, is it me or are people sniggering as we pass?” Reina asked.
Chrissie looked around her and could see that people were staring at them and look away when her eyes would fall on them.
“Yup, people are definitely talking about us,” Chrissie said nonchalantly.
“Don’t mind it, Yang. We’ve always been talked about…good or bad,” she added a matter-of-factly.
Reina looked around her and her uneasiness grew even more, “I don’t know…This time it’s weird…It’s actually creeping me out…”
“Relax, girl, you’re just nervous,” Chrissie faced her friend and her eyes lightened up. “Better yet… Focus your mind elsewhere… like Delectable Dorky.”
In retrospect, Reina thought everyone was weird that day, although she did not have a single clue. It did not take her a long time to figure out why, though. At lunchtime, she was ruined…
“Damn, Rain! I think people are REALLY talking about US…” Chrissie whispered to her friend as she looked around the suddenly quiet caf.
They headed towards a vacant booth but everyone giggled and looked at them in disgust as they passed.
“What I can’t figure out is that we never did anything over the weekend,” Chrissie was bewildered.
It didn’t last long until Reina caught a bit of what they were saying.
“I don’t think they’re talking about US… they’re talking about ME!” she uttered in horror.
Jarring back to present, Reina sat up and covered her ears and shaking her head, trying to block away the noise, the taunts, the mockery. She tried to stop remembering but her mind would not allow her and continued to play the scenes one by one, as clear as it could ever be, and smirking down at her….
“Hey Reina!” Mike called out to her.
Reina turned to his direction and wondered who it was.
At the same time, Matthew pointed at Sherwin and cried, “Lover Boy is here!”
Matt stood up and went behind Mike and they mockingly grinded each other.
The whole place erupted in laughter.
“Omigod! I knew that the Bitch was a virgin! But I didn’t know that she’d succumbed to the Drooling Dork! Wasn’t she the one who gave him that name?” Diane intentionally said for Chrissie to overhear.
Adding insult to injury, the dethroned queen laughed evilly, “My god! She just ate her words!”
With this, her friends laughed along with her.
“Nooo!!” Reina screamed. “Enough!!”
She breathed heavily and quickly, beads of sweat trickled down the sides of her face to her neck, dampening her dress’ neckline. It was like waking from a nightmare, only she was not asleep.
She fell back on the couch and rolled over on her stomach to bury her face on the throw pillow and began to sob softly.
“If only I wasn’t so foolishly scared and avoided him that Monday,” she said between sobs as her mind replayed that car park scene….
They had just entered ABAC and were nearing the car park when all of a sudden, Reina ducked, and grimaced at the pain.
Chrissie was confused at her friend’s behavior. Just then, she saw Sherwin waiting for them. Her mouth opened as if to say “Ah!” and her head nodded in silent understanding.
Pretending not to see Sherwin, she turned left and parked a few feet away from their usual parking place.
“What has gotten into you?!” Chrissie inquired as she got out of the car. “I would have expected a lot from you than just hide,” she added, closing the car and crossing her arms.
Reina got out of the car, fixed herself, shrugged her shoulders and said, “I’m just not ready to face him yet.”
Stopping the broken record of bad memories, Reina cried, “And if only I had the courage to approach him that night…” her voice trailed away as tears gathered in her…