Back at the airport:
As Dr. Alice walked out after passing through the security checks, her eyes fell on a tall figure in a black coat and her steps halted. Frozen at her spot, she kept gazing at her husband waving like a lunatic with a goofy smile and running towards her. Dr. Alice rubbed her forehead and sighed loudly. They were already this old but this husband of hers was still like he was years ago.
The tall figure came closer step by step, encircled his arms around her waist and picked her off the ground making Dr. Alice gasp in surprise. "Let me down, Chen!" She exclaimed while hitting his arms.
Dr. Zhu Chen reluctantly put her back down on the ground but his arms around her waist tightened burying her in his embrace. "I missed you so much, Su darling," he said while stroking her hair lovingly.
"Chen, we are in public." Dr. Alice tried to reason with her husband but he wasn't in the mood of listening.
"So?" He asked. "I'm hugging my wife. What does that have to do with other people? If they are envious, that's not my concern. My concern is only that I missed my wife." Dr. Alice was smiling with her face against his chest.
"Chen?" She called out in a muffled voice.
"Uh huh," he replied.
"What did you miss about me in just 2 weeks?" She asked with extreme curiosity.
Dr. Zhu Chen took a deep breath and said, "I missed my Su darling's scent of chocolates. I missed my Su darling's smooth and soft skin. I missed my Su darling's way of calling my name, way of looking at me. Oh wait, I missed everything about my Su darling."
Dr. Alice expected the answer to be this but she still wanted to hear it. In this marriage of 31 years, there had never been a moment when her love for him or his love for her lessened. She knew how her husband would find new ways to make her fall in love with him all over again as if it was the very first time.
"Dr. Zhu's smooth talking has reached a new level," she commented.
Zhu Chen scowled and replied, "Even if this is smooth talking, this is only for my wife. Apart from my Su darling, no one has any right to hear this smooth talk." After another moment of hugging her, he parted away and held her hand in his own to walk towards the car.
"Chen?"
"Uh huh." Without turning or stopping, he replied.
"How did you know about my flight? I was planning on surprising you." She was aggrieved thinking about how her whole plan was spoiled.
He turned to look at her pouting face and smiled beautifully as his brown eyes crinkled up at the edges. Seeing his smile, Ye Jie's smiling face flashed through her mind, stunning her.
"I have my ways," he replied, not noticing her stunned look.
The chauffeur opened the door of the car and Zhu Chen along with Dr. Alice got inside the backseat. As always, Zhu Chen didn't let her hand out of his own. It was an old habit that the couple shared. Now, it had become a part of both their lives so much so that if they weren't holding each others hands, they would have a tingling feeling in their hands as if something was missing.
Dr. Alice leaned her head on her husband's shoulder. "Tired?" He asked.
"A little bit..." She replied. There was silence in the car until she spoke again, "I met a young man on the flight, Chen."
Zhu Chen tilted his head to look at her face on his shoulder and arched his brow. "You aren't thinking about leaving me. Are you?"
Dr. Alice punched his chest making him wince. Her slightly aged face was beet red. "Chen, don't you dare say that even as a joke, okay? Besides, I'm not going through midlife crisis." She crossed her arms on her chest and puffed up her face.
Beside her, Zhu Chen chuckled, uncrossed her arms, took her hand in his own and left a small kiss on her cheek. "I won't do it ever again. Promise..." Dr. Alice gave into him as always and leaned her head back on his shoulder. "If the young man caught my wife's attention, he must be exceptional." Zhu Chen commented.
Dr. Alice smiled thinking about Ye Jie. "He was just like you, Chen." Zhu Chen looked puzzled. "I mean, the way he ruffled his hair when he was frustrated. The habit of overthinking just to look for answers and most importantly, the way he loved his wife. It was all like you." She excitedly told her husband.
"Really? How can he love his wife like I love mine? Only I can do that." Zhu Chen proudly announced.
Dr. Alice rolled her eyes at her husband's childishness. "I mean, he looked like he could do anything for his wife. Just like you..." She gazed lovingly at her husband and continued. "Although I don't think he would be crazy enough like you to jump in the water and pretend to drown just so I could confess that I love you too." That was one of the sore spots between them. Even though Dr. Alice forgave Zhu Chen for scaring her like that just so he could hear an answer, but her mind still had that fear of losing him.
"It's good to know that the young generation knows what real love is." Zhu Chen was trying to distract his wife. He knew if that drowning incident came out, his wife will again get angry or upset and he didn't want that. In reality, the drowning incident was real. He was going to die if she hadn't come to save him but when he opened his eyes and saw her anxious look with tears running down her face, it scared him and he felt his heart breaking. In the end, he lied that he was just pretending. He was okay with her anger but her tears... They were not acceptable to him.
Zhu Chen's distraction worked and Dr. Alice didn't divulge into the same incident again. Instead, she said, "He even looked a lot like you, Chen. Especially when he smiled, I felt like seeing the split image of yours. He looked like your younger version." After a pause, her tone turned sadder as she added, "Our son would have looked exactly like that young man."
"You promised that you'll not think about that time," Zhu Chen reminded his wife.
"I can't just forget it, Chen. He was my own son and I couldn't even say hi to him." Tears had pooled up in her eyes.
Zhu Chen placed his arm over her shoulder, rubbing lightly to soothe her. "We went to Country A just because of that, Su. And I knew that coming back will remind you of everything again. That's why I was against the idea of coming back here. But you insisted that we should live with our family again. And you even promised not to make me worry."
Dr. Alice wiped a single tear trickling down her eye and said, "I will not think about it. And I won't talk about it either..." She took a pause and asked, "Have you talked to Azalea lately?"
"She just sent me some texts telling me that she's fine and she's still traveling." Zhu Chen replied.
"Don't you find it odd?" Dr. Alice started. "Azalea loves to talk and it's been more than a year that I haven't heard my daughter's voice."
"It's been bothering me lately as well and I asked Brother Kun to look into her whereabouts." Zhu Chen was suspicious about it himself. His one and only daughter were like the crowned jewel of his house. How could he not be worried?
"I'll talk to brother myself." Dr. Alice said.