Too Young

The drive to the airport was silent. Neither Raelle said a word, nor Shui Xian. Each of them sat in comfortable silence. Neither of them was scared of silence anyway. But the silence between them was even more comforting than usual. Reaching the airport, instead of going to the departure area for the passengers, they took a different path which led them to the private plane that was waiting for them.

They both sat beside each other in the luxurious private plane as Raelle remarked, "Talk about traveling with one of the wealthiest men. Even the plane follows their schedule. Tch."

Shui Xian gave her a look, "Wife, are you forgetting that you happen to be one of those wealthiest men?"

"I'm a woman!" she replied. "I take pride in my gender. So, don't mix it up again."

"Fine. I mean the wealthiest people in the world."

Raelle shrugged her shoulder, "Hubby, it's not like I'm the one who owns a luxurious private plane. It's you! Rich man!"

Shui Xian frowned, "You don't have a private plane of yours? Why is it so hard to believe?"

"I recently acquired an international airline," she replied. "Do I need to buy a plane?"

Shui Xian shook his head and didn't want to continue this conversation. Not ever again!

Raelle smiled at his reaction and went on, "But my grandfather has his own private plane. It's convenient for him to travel the world."

Shui Xian nodded in reply.

"By the way, why do so many people follow you around?" he asked the question he had on his mind since he saw the entourage that was following them even on this honeymoon. Although he also had two of his capable men around, her entourage was quite grand. It seemed like there were more people than what he saw last time at 'Moonlight.'

Raelle paused for a second before answering, "To protect me." Shui Xian raised his brows at her and she elaborated, "I've been kidnapped three times in my life. So, my grandfather is a little overprotective of me now." Since she didn't know how to lie, she'd not conceal anything from him as long as he asked it. Besides, the news of her kidnappings had been on the headlines back then. Anyone would be able to dig that up if they tried.

Shui Xian's eyes widened as he stared at her unchanging expressions. He didn't know how to react to this. He was truly at a loss.

Seeing him like that, Raelle smiled at him, "Hubby, don't look so shocked. Isn't it very normal for us rich kids to go through such things?" Shui Xian's lips parted but nothing came out. "You should stop looking at me like that. I usually don't care when people stare at me but your eyes are saying something I'm not able to interpret. So, it's making me feel strange."

Shui Xian held her hand and intertwined their fingers as he said, "I'm wondering whether you're really that casual about it all or you've gotten good at faking it."

"Except for my smile, I've never faked anything in my life," she replied proudly. "If it wasn't to reassure my grandfather, I would never have learned to fake this smile either. It's too troublesome."

Shui Xian placed his head on her shoulder as he said, "It suddenly feels like you're right when you said you lack emotions. Except for blankness and curiosity, I can't see anything in your eyes."

"That's what my Yanyan said," she told him. "She said, I'm always curious about something. Curious to learn everything. But she also said, that's what makes me special. Very special." She took a pause as she leaned her own head against his and went on, "However, she is the only one who thinks that way, the rest of the people find me weird."

Shui Xian tightened his grip on her hand as he said, "I agree with your Yanyan. You're very special." He chuckled softly as he added, "You're already pretty special for your age. I actually thought about how will this marriage work since we have five years age difference. We are practically from a different generation!"

"What does my age have to do with our marriage?" she questioned.

Shui Xian closed his eyes to sleep as he answered, "You're too young for marriage."

Raelle blinked repeatedly in silence before saying, "How can my age define whether my marriage will work out or not? Do you blame your young age for failing at your first marriage?" Shui Xian's eyes opened and he sat straight to look at her face. "How can you blame age? No one is too young for responsibility or a relationship. It's whether you want to keep that relationship or not."

Seeing him silently looking at her, she rewind what she said in her head. "If I said something wrong, I'm sorry. But I don't like it when people put the pot of their own failure on things like age, feelings, and life. If it's your failure, own it. Why look for excuses to justify it?" She wasn't done as she continued, "The only thing that can define your failure or success is how much effort you've put into something. Either it's business or a relationship, it's the effort that counts."

~~~~

'How did we end up here?' he questioned her with the divorce papers in his hand as he looked at the building before him.

'We were too young,' she had answered.

'If you give me another chance, I'll try harder,' he had almost pleaded.

She had scoffed at his words, 'What's your effort gonna do? It won't change anything.'

~~~~

As that distant scene flashed past his eyes, he closed his eyes and when he opened his eyes again, the way he looked at Raelle changed.

"However, the effort is something that goes both ways," she was still talking. "Both Party A and Party B should be putting in their effort to make it work. For instance, if I'm the only one doing my best, and my employees aren't, or vice versa, the end result will be disastrous. Party A should have faith in Party B and do their own best. While Party B needs to do the same as well."

On instinct, he cupped her face and kissed her. Her soft lips were warm against his and slightly sweet as well. She bitterly scratched on his wounds and yet she tasted sweet to him. What irony!

Raelle was slightly taken aback as she went still for half a second but soon responded to his fervor kiss. When his lips parted away from hers, he looked into her eyes and said, "Wife, having a conversation with you is tiring." Raelle nodded. She had heard that way too many times in her life already. His thumb traced her lower lips as he added, "But I feel like if I kept talking to you, everything will become alright."