Chapter 4

Joshua Ling

I lie down on the couch after having a long day, put my right hand on my eyes, and then suddenly the image of Lucy Xiao appeared. I immediately get up from the couch, feeling uneasy out of sudden. I touch my heart and it's beating fast unlike usual. I take a deep breath and exhale slowly.

Oh no, what happen to me?

I'm still feeling uneasy, so I grab the car keys and speed up to the bar nearby. There, I see someone familiar, Christopher – Mark's brother. He's having a glass of martini all by himself, and he looks sad too.

"You're alone here, bro?" I ask, take a sit next to him. He looks at me while taking a sip of his cocktail.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Just chilling'."

I raise my hand and ask for two glasses of martini from the bartender. "You look suck, Chris. Did something just happen to you?"

He looks down at his cup, finger playing around the glass.

"Nothing big, Josh. It's just that … my parents are going to set me up with their friend's daughter."

"Wait, isn't that you have a girlfriend already? Where she goes, dude?"

"I do have a girlfriend. But, my dad, you know him. A man who honours dignity and fames would not want to have a low-class family," says Christopher, unhappy.

"And now, they want me to have a date with her. That's unfair, bro. So unfair. I don't even have the guts to tell Sarah about this, because I'm afraid that she'll be broken-hearted and that makes me feel guilty," he added.

I can only stare at him, listening to him. And then, I realized that what happened to Christopher is similar as mine. We're force to get married with a stranger, maybe not a fully stranger to me because we used to know each other, but that was a long time ago. I look at my glass and gulp the martini in a shot.

When I ask for another glass from the bartender, the image of Lucy Xiao is in front of him. I shake my head, blink my eyes few times.

Oh no, I even see her here.

I quickly stand up, put the money on the table and leave immediately. Christopher, who is surprised to see me like that, yell my name as I' m walking out of the bar. I straight away start the car engine and go to a place where no one else go – my secret place, the hidden lake that I found few years ago.

It's been a long time since I came here. The water is still as clear as before, I still can see what's under the water. The panoramic views of the high peaks and alpine meadows around the lake still look stunning. The cool breeze smells peaceful as always.

I open my arms, widely to welcome the breeze. This is good, I thought. And then, out of sudden, I heard a voice approach me. I startled when I see someone whom I want to avoid appear right on front of me.

It's Lucy Xiao.

I slap my face twice to make sure that I'm not dreaming. It hurts, it true. It's her. How? What? I frown.

"What are you doing here?!"

"How did you know this place?!"

She asks unstoppable. I am out of word, still startled by her presence here. When she's about to leave, I stop her.

"I… I know this place a long time ago."

"How did you know this place? As far as I know, only I know this place," I ask her.

She turns her back at me, look me in the eyes. I can feel that there's unsatisfaction in her eyes.

"I know this place before you!" She yells at me. I feel unsatisfied, I yell back at her.

"No! I know this place better than you. I know that no one will come here every year," I say, looking for an excuse to make my speech more convincing.

Lucy tries to fight back but she can't. She looks speechless. So, she looks around, looking for something that can be use as an excuse. It seems that she fails to find any excuses to defence herself. She looks down to the ground, pouting her mouth.

God, why do I suddenly feel nervous? She's the reason I came here, and now she's right in front of me.

I just lay my eyes on this 160 centimetres lady, examine her with what she does. It's weird that the longer I stare at her, the more I feel nervous and uneasy. I look away, turn my back towards the lake and touch my heart – it's pumping fast.

Lucy who notices me acting weird, decided to check on me.

"What happen?" she asks while holding my arm.

I startled and slowly put my hand down.

"Nothing. I got to go. Enjoy the lake alone," I say and walk away from her.

Fuhh, that was close. How did she know this place?

I look down and shake my head while exhaling a long breath. As far as I know, no one knows this place other than me. I open the car, start the engine, and immediately take my phone out from my trousers pocket.

I call Mark and tell him everything about Lucy. I even tell him how we met and tell him my unsure feelings about Lucy. I am hoping for some advice from Mark, but all he does is laughing at me.

"Dude, you like her, do you?"

I stay silence as I am not sure of my own feelings. As we are talking, I see Lucy walking alone alongside the trees. She looks confused, gloomy as she folded her arms walking indefinitely. I decided to hang up the phone while Mark still talking and follow her from behind.

Pip… Pip…

I horn the car, and she looks startled by that.

"What do you want?" She asks, fiercely.

"Where's your car?"

"I don't drive here. Just go away."

"Look, it's very far from town and probably far from your house. Get inside, let me take you home," I offer her a ride. She's still silent for a moment before she finally agreed.

"You're Lucy, right?" I start the conversation while turning on the radio. She nodded.

"What are you doing here? How did you know this place?" I ask her curiously. Lucy seems like a very secretive person. While I am waiting for her to answer my questions, I look at her. She seems lose focus; her eyes are watery as if she's been crying inside. She must have bottled up all her problems all this time.

Seeing her like that, I keep all the curiosity by myself. I turn up the volume as my favourite songs play on the radio. Still, I look at her and now she's bursting into tears. It looks heavy but I didn't dare to approach her. Instead, I look for the tissues and give it to her.

I don't know what she's been facing. I don't know her story. All I know is she looks hurt and betrayed.

***

When she looks okay, I try to start a conversation with her. Nervous, I feel as I don't know how to comfort a lady properly before. My hands are shaking a little bit when I drive, thinking of how to start a conversation with her. I cough nervously.

"So, what makes you come to the lake earlier?"

She turns her head to me and gives me a little smile. "To clear my mind, I guess."

I smirk. It's obvious, I thought. Once again, I question myself whether I should ask her to tell me her problem or not. It's not that I'm curious about what happened to her, it's just that maybe I could help her to solve it.

"What happened?" I ask bravely, finally.

"You're really a busy body person, right?" She says while laughing.

I swear this is the first time I heard her laughing. It's cute, I thought. I feel embarrassed, so I scratch my not-itchy head with my right hand.

She continues, "nothing big happened actually. Just something happened lately, and I feel quite strain, so I came to the lake to find some peace. Just so you know, the lake is like an escapism to me for these years."

I just lend my ears and focus on the road. I'm glad that she's trying to tell me even though it's not that much. I change the song to a warm fuzzy music and turn up the volume while roll the window down for her. Without realizing, I smile 'till my ears as I've always imagined this moment with someone I care and love.

On the way back to her home, we talk about many things – favourite foods, extreme activities that we liked and many more. We become thrilled when we talk about everything despite how strangers we are to each other, but the excitement that we feel fills the air.

"Thank you," she says while leaning her head at the head seat and smiles.

I look into her eyes and her smiles, it looks sincere. I lean back too and smile at her before she goes out from the car. I watch her walk into the house, and waves back to her as she turns around to give me a goodbye.

After that night, I swear that that was the first time I felt joyful filled my heart. I was over the moon, and I can't stop smiling.