The night was quiet and a Rolls-Royce could be spotted parking in front of the building of the NJ
Community. The window was acutely opened by Kevin, and he dangled his arm outside the window
glass as he waited for Anne's return.
On her way home, Anne caught a glimpse of Kevin's car from a distance. She wanted to avoid the
confrontation, so she turned around and left the NJ Community. She decided to go to the hotel.
The dusk ate the heavens gradually as the clock ticked midnight. Kevin waited patiently, but there was
no sign of Anne's arrival. He tried calling her, but her phone seemed to be dead.
In the deluxe hotel, the warm and toasty lights beamed the interiors to a glow. There was a beige table
in the middle of the hall on which a cold bottle of red wine enjoyed an ice bath. Anne poured a glass for
herself as she spun the dark crimson drink into a little whirlpool. She slowly drank up the wine and
made herself tipsy to gain drowsiness.
Out of the blue, a message buzzed from her phone. It read, "Anne, I'll arrive tomorrow."
All of a sudden, Anne sighed to tranquility. Alas, she had found a reason to relax. However, it occurred
to the problem she had was not something that could be solved by Sam.
Around four o'clock in the afternoon,
the bright sunshine grazed the wide French windows of the airport and into the four corners of the
airport.
With a smile on her lips, Anne stood in the most conspicuous spot and waited for Sam.
The weather was perfect and fair. His flight had no delays and arrived at A City on time.
In a sea of faces, Anne saw Sam. They made their rendezvous, and Anne said, "Long time no see."
"How are you?" asked Sam.
As soon as they met each other in a long while, Sam saw the hidden melancholy in her smile.
"Nothing much. Let's go now," said Anne.
Sam asked no more questions. In the front seat, Sam said, "I heard that you've made an acquaintance
with a man named Ian Qi while I was abroad."
Upon hearing the name, Anne thought of Ian and said, "I did. He has a strange temper, but he is a
gentleman. I have encountered a lot of difficulties in the past, but Mark and Ian were there to help me
during my low days."
"That's good to hear. I feel relieved that you have someone to look after you whenever I'm not around,"
said Sam in relief.
In a blink of an eye, the easygoing expression on Anne's face disappeared. She said, "I hope no one
will take care of me ever again. That way, I can easily solve many problems on my own in times of
adversity."
"Why do you keep owning all the responsibilities? You do realize that you are not isolated in this world.
Friends help each other." Sam gave his shot at persuading Anne.
Anne had a habit of not needing anyone. If he didn't know her history, he would believe that she could
truly deal with all her difficulties,
but she didn’t want to talk about it with him any longer. She diverted the discussion and uttered, "Emily
said she wanted to celebrate your return today. Why don't we go to eat some hot pot together?"
"She knows that I'm back?" Sam frowned. With the thought of Emily, he felt that the girl was too
enthusiastic sometimes.
"Of course, even if I don’t tell her, she will eventually know by herself. Will you go or not?" asked Anne
calmly.
"Yes, of course, I'll be there. It's rare for you to go out partying. Let's have fun together," said Sam.
The hot pot restaurant was filled with the smell of the hot spice steaming from the boiling broth. The
place was always bustling with enthusiasm, unlike the neighboring western restaurants.
Sam often came here, so he was unfamiliar with the place, but Emily was a patron of such a place
because she enjoyed spicy food.
Anne felt comfortable about the place since her mother often took her there when she was a child.
"Anne, since you don’t like spicy seasoned foods, let's eat something savory for tonight!" said Emily in
excitement.
The service was fast and efficient. After a short while, the entree they ordered arrived at the table. The
steaming venue has always reminded Anne of what happened before.
"Anne? Why are you here?" Hearing Ryan's voice, Anne turned to him with a faint smile.
"I'm here to have fun with my friends. It's been a while since I ate at this place," Anne replied.
"Well, I remember how you were always thrilled to eat here when you were a child. Indulge yourself,
you'll miss your childhood even more!"
"What about you? Why are you here? I remember you don’t like hotpots?" asked Anne.
Ryan faintly grinned and said, "I don't, but you pulled me into this place over and over again and I
slowly fell in love with it."
After speaking, both Sam and Emily were lost in their thoughts as they looked at Ryan.
"I'll go to accompany my friends now. Enjoy yourselves!" Ryan bid his farewell and left,
but Sam felt that he was a complex man.
Meanwhile, Emily asked carelessly, "Anne, I didn't know that you and Ryan grew up together."
Her unintentional question made Sam feel an inkling of remorse, but he managed to conceal it
exceptionally.
"You seemed to have lost some weight. How did you do that?" Sam had been constantly picking up
food for Anne. Emily noticed his steady gesture and felt a little uneasy, but she accepted the deed like it
wasn't happening.
She had a long way to go, but she was patient to figure it all out in time.
"You have no idea. Kevin got engaged, and since you went abroad, your mother attended the
engagement party."
Slamming the table, Sam said, "That's too much. I'll ask Kevin and see what he really wants to do."
However, Anne refuted indifferently, "There's no need for you to look for him. I'm over him. The results
of my physical examination showed that I won't be able to bear another child, so he engaged with
someone else."
Anne took a sip of beer in her cold glass. She was unbothered as if she was telling someone else's
tragedy. At this point, she realized how lucky she was to give up any sign of hope. So she was not
disappointed at all when she knew about Kevin's engagement.
Anne was left in a daze. No matter how hard she tried, Sam could still sense the lingering sorrow in her
at a simple glance.
He looked away and happened to meet the eyes of Emily.
He didn't expect so many things to happen while he was away.
"Everything will be fine," Sam comforted.
However, Anne's mood became much worse because of his words. She was dumbfounded while she
munched on her food. After a few moments of silence, she said, "I'm full already. I only asked for a half
day-off. I must go back to work."
"Let me drive you there," said Sam.
"You don't have to. I can go there myself," Anne refused Sam.
In the Claire Jewelry City, Anne went straight for the dressing room to freshen up. The room was empty
since it was late in the afternoon. No one came at this time to change clothes.
After changing her outfit, Anne went directly to her office.
To her surprise, Kevin was there waiting for her arrival.
"Why are you hiding from me?" Kevin questioned with grave emphasis.
He never knew the reason why she chose to keep him out of her sight since she had agreed to
consider his proposal about starting things over. This game of hide-and-seek made him demoralized.
"I still have a ton of work to do. I don’t have the spare time to answer your question. If you have no
more reason for being here, please leave and let me finish my job." Anne's dismissive tone was as cold
as before, and it made Kevin feel obscure and sore.
"You've made your promise a few days ago. What's with the sudden change of mind?" asked Kevin as
he was persistent to squeeze out some answers from her.
"I'm sorry. You're already engaged with someone else. You're not good for me anymore." After hearing
her explanation, Kevin suddenly understood something.
But Anne was in the heat of the moment and she had already went inside her office and shut the door.
'It's must be Rose,' Kevin thought.
His eyes darkened and then he left the Claire Jewelry City without saying another word.
It was already two o'clock in the afternoon, and the diners of the hotpot restaurant had already filled
their guts out.
After wiping off their faces, Sam and Emily placed their chopsticks gently on the table as they were
about to leave, but Emily opened her mouth to halt their exit.
"Sam, can we go out for a little stroll outside?" asked Emily.
Sam glanced the outdoors and pondered. After a puzzling second, he said, "If the walk is that not that
major, maybe we could do it some other time?"
Emily pulled up all the courage that she had and said, "It won't take long, I promise. A walk may just be
a walk for others, but for me, it's a big deal."
She wanted to know the answer to the question that had bugged her for a long time and she couldn't
wait any longer.
"All right."
The rooftop lounge of the TC Building was open for everyone to enjoy.
There was a table and a circle of sofas that were waiting for someone to rest upon them.
During the frosty winter season, the gale was always whipping through the air in A City. Emily stood on
the edge of the glass wall with her back facing Sam.
"I want to tell you that I like you, Sam," said Emily as she turned around with a rosy blush on her
cheeks.
It turned out that liking someone and telling that person how you felt about them was not all the same.
The more she grew fond of him, the more cautious she was in her decisions,
but she was done being tortured by this kind of feeling.
Sam was aghast by her straightforward revelation. Although he had known it all along, he was still
caught off guard when Emily blurted it out.
He kept silent and this made Emily downhearted. She said, "I just want to know if you like me as well. If
you don't, then it's fine. I can treat you like an ordinary friend just like everyone. I want to get out of this
misery."
Emily was decisive yet eager to make him say a word, but Sam seemed to have sealed her lips shut.
Discontented by his silent treatment, she asked, "So, you don't like me, right?"
The quiet encapsulated the room for quite a while.
From having a soaring optimism to being buried in disappointment, Emily couldn’t help but say, "Well,
I'll go now. Just forget I ever asked you."
She turned her back to him in a quick twirl. Tears were barely holding on to her eyes and were about to
stream down her face. She didn't want Sam to see her like this so she walked out.
She took a few heavy steps forward but was halted by Sam.
"I don't know if I like you or not, but one thing is for sure. You are an excellent woman. This may be
unfair for you, but I can only try to like you," said Sam loudly.
Indeed, he had experienced the same pain when he experienced an unrequited love with Anne before,
and Emily wasn't so bad after all. If it weren't for Anne, he knew that he would fall in love in a snap with
the woman in front of him.
So, he decided to be frank with his sentiments.
All of a sudden, Emily pivoted her head as her tears rolled down on her supple cheeks and kissed her
plump lips.
"Are you telling the truth?" asked Emily anxiously.
"Of course! Although it might seem a little unfair to you," Sam reiterated with a vague smile.
By this time, regardless of the overwhelming sadness, Emily embraced Sam tightly as if she had the
entire world in her arms.
A faint gleam appeared on Sam's face, and it seemed that something blue in his chest dissipated with
the kindling warmth of the moment.
"But there must be something I have to deal with first…" said Sam in a low voice.
Emily was not surprised by his hesitation and said, "Of course I know what you are going to do. It's
about Anne. I know, but it doesn't matter to me anymore. Anne is my friend, and you helping her is the
same as helping me. I'd be more than grateful for what you'll do nonetheless."
Seeing that Emily showed no signs of bitterness, Sam had mixed feelings in his heart.
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