7. CLOSE CALL

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Yan Ran leaves the club in a daze. Instead of taking the cab as she had promised, she starts walking along the street. She needs to deal with the tirade of emotions that she is experiencing at the moment.

She cannot stop the depression that is hanging on to her. Tears are running down her cheeks as she recalls the state that Wei Lan had been a few minutes ago. She can see how devastated he had been and she feels extremely sad that she was the one who caused it.

Yan Ran walks ahead, not bothering to check where she is going. All she can feel is the pain in her heart that feels as raw as a fresh knife wound. Wei Lan has every right to lash out at her. She is more than willing to accept her punishment.

She regrets causing him so much pain. She regrets leaving him in such a manner knowing the damage it would cause. It had hurt to see his pain, to hear those words come out of his mouth. She knows she deserves so much more.

Wei Lan thought the worst of her and justifiably so. She regrets the pain she caused him but she is not sure she regrets leaving. She still thinks she did the best she could, especially for his sake.

She has to keep believing that she had done the right thing back then. Otherwise she might collapse under the pain of it all. No one knew how much she had agonised over her decision. She would not have been able to watch the consequences of her being selfish and staying. Her aunt and brother also thought the same.

She knows she owes him an explanation. However, she cannot even offer him one. If she tells him the truth she knows how he is going to react. She cannot do that to him. That could also mean undoing all the effort she had put in on his behalf. What would have been the point of having had them both go through all that pain then?

Besides, he looks like he is moving on. She has no intention of disrupting that. She should concentrate on her career and nothing else. It was her pain killer and she had already begun to reap the fruit of her labour. She would ignore the loneliness and the yearning. All that mean nothing compared to the consequences of being with Wei again.

When she was in Country A, she had avoided all news pertaining to him. Yin Yue had never mentioned any of his girlfriends and she had appreciated it. When the opportunity to work in her own country had presented itself, her manager had been shocked at her reluctance. She had hesitated because the reason she had left had not really changed much.

Yin Yue had however, convinced her that he was doing well now and that it was okay for her to come back. She had fooled herself into thinking that as long as she kept her distance from him, all should be fine. She just never imagined how it would all hurt this much.

Yin Ran resolves again to keep away from him. He has a girlfriend now, so it should be easy to do. She is sure he will not seek her out anyway. As long as he is happy and safe, she would be happy for him.

She sincerely wishes him well. If there had been any other way she would have gladly taken it. This is the right thing to do. She keeps walking hardly taking any note of her surroundings.

A breeze blows making a nearby Chinese plum tree rustle. The cool wind makes her shiver although it is not a particularly cold night. It makes her come back to herself and realise how far she has walked. A group of intoxicated men is coming towards her. One of them starts whistling.

"Hey beautiful lady, you wanna come with me. I can make you my special lady tonight," he says, his words slurring.

He tries to touch her arm and she dodges his touch easily and he almost loses his balance.

"No thank you," she replies, repulsed by the smell that is coming off of him.

"Come on classy lady, give me a chance. I can show you a good time," he persists trying to grab her hand.

It frightens Yan Ran so much, she almost screams.

"Leave me alone, do you hear me? Or I will call the police," she says trying to take her phone out of her wallet.

She is stopped by one of the friends of the persistent suitor.

"The police cannot get in the way of true love," he giggles trying to grab the phone out of her hands and missing it completely as his vision is impaired from intoxication.

Yan Ran looks around trying to find a way away from this unwanted attention. She knows reasoning with intoxicated people is totally useless and this group looks totally smashed. She turns around trying to go back the way she came. She feels someone trying to pull her back but suddenly his hand is slapped away.

"Don't you know it's impolite to force yourself on a lady?"

Yan Ran turns around to identify the voice of her rescuer. She sees a familiar face and almost collapses with relief. He smiles at her reassuringly before turning to the group behind them.

"You guys should go home if you do not want me to call the police on you for bothering my girlfriend," he threatens before escorting Yan Ran to his car which is parked across the road.

He opens the door for her before gets into the driver's seat.

"Are you okay Ran?" he asks with concern, noting the pallor of her face.

She swallows dry as the shock of what could have happened starts settling in. She had been so stupid, taking a walk during this time of the night by herself.

"Umm yes…yes I'm fine. Thank you for helping me Liang. I don't know what would have happened if…" she fails to continue as she thinks about her earlier predicament. Her body trembles involuntarily, the effects of too much shock in one day.

Liang switches on the car heating system.

She remembers she had last seen him at the club. She had left without telling him. How was he here?

"But, how did you find me?" she asks curiously.

"Well I sort of witnessed your umm conversation with Wei Lan back at the club," he says tactfully

"Conversation… ah yeah, I wouldn't call it that. More like I got a tongue lashing," she says self depreciatively.

Liang looks at her sympathetically.

"I am a pretty good listener if you want to talk about it. By the way, where can I drop you off?"

She gives him her address in C Park.

"Oh I love the houses in this district. I can see you living there. It suits you," he says smiling at her.

"Oh, that's no credit to me at all. It used to be parents' house. I live there now with my brother and aunt," she says humbly.

He decides to not push her to talk to him about the man back at the club. He remembers how private she used to be seven years ago. He supposes that has not changed much. She would not easily talk about her private life.

"So tell me what you have been doing with yourself since I last saw you?" he diverts her attention. He knows about her music of course.

"Well I have recorded several albums in Country A. I don't suppose you have heard about me. I mean I'm still relatively unknown here," she says humbly.

"Oh really? Are you sure you are really a recording artist. I mean I have never heard of you…" Liang responds wickedly.

Yan Ran is stunned. Could it be that many people really do not know her here?

She hears a chuckle from Liang and she bursts out laughing. She had forgotten about this mischievous side of Liang. She decides to play along.

"Well maybe I'm just not your cup of tea," she begins.

"I am known for my ability to change cups quickly. You could easily become my favourite cup of tea," he says flirtingly.

"Liang! Do you ever let up? You're like a barracuda," she giggles.

"Ahh!" Liang says clutching his chest with his left hand while his right hand remains on the steering wheel.

"That kinda hurt my feelings," he continues as she chortles

He is glad she seems to be getting out of the morose mood she was earlier.

They continue chatting. Yan Ran finds out that Liang now owns a dance studio. He had tried his hand on acting but had lost interest in it after the first two years. He had rediscovered his love for dance, joined a studio until he had decided to retire the previous year. He had then started his own studio, which was doing extremely well.

Time passes fast and they reach her neighbourhood in what seems like no time at al. Liang parked his car in front of a huge electric gate and he goes to her side to open the door for her.

She gets out of the car, making sure she has all her belongings with her. She turns to him with gratitude in her eyes.

"Thank you for tonight Liang. I really appreciate everything."

"Does that include making your ex-boyfriend jealous?" he answers tentatively.

"Ah, that was… that was not jealousy. Just a lot of baggage left unresolved," she replied sheepishly.

"No worries. I can be your shield anytime you need me. What are friends for?" he says self-consciously deciding to cut her some slack.

"Thanks Liang. You're a good guy. How about I take you to lunch some time to show my gratitude?"

"Sure. Why don't you give me your number?" he says pleasantly surprised. He had wanted to ask for number but was not sure how she would take it.

They exchange numbers before she walks towards a smaller gate where she inputs a code and the gate opens. She goes inside, turning once to wave at him. Liang watches her going in wistfully.

+++++++++++

Meanwhile at KoKo's club, a pair of extremely sloshed gentlemen, and a lady, stagger out and get into a waiting Cadillac with the help of the Uncle Tang as another lady looks on with an irritated expression.

Yin Yue had not had as much as the other two figuring out she would need to make sure they get home safely. Besides, she would not let that wicked witch take advantage of her plastered brother. She wound down her window.

"Mei Ling, please help us by driving Wei Lan's car. We will send a driver to pick it up from your place tomorrow morning. Thanks dear," Yin Yue says condescendingly before asking the chauffeur to leave.

Mei Ling is left gaping, struck by her boyfriend's sister's patronizing ways.

She thinks I'm a chauffeur or something? She thinks disdainfully.

She could have easily taken Wei Lan home. It would not have been the first time for her to spend the night there after all. His sister always thwarts her plans to etch a permanent place in Wei's life. Well, she is determined to have him permanently. No one can stop her, including his sister. She refuses to let all her effort go unrewarded. She will get him by hook or by crook, even if it means stepping over his annoying sister. She gets into Wei Lan's car and drives off angrily leaving a trace of tyre marks and white smoke.

In the limousine making its way to Wei Lan's condo, the gentlemen are out cold but occasionally, Wei Lan mumbles a few words. All Yin Yue can hear is something akin to Yan, mad...or something.

She stares sadly at her brother. She knows what he has gone through and wishes she could lessen his pain. She knows that the only way to make both the people she cares about better is to get them together again.

She believes they have been apart for long enough and the only chance they remotely have of being happy is with each other. She needs them both to realise that. She had already succeeded in the first step of her plan.

The question is; can she convince her friend that going back to her brother is the best thing for them both? Under the circumstances she is not sure.

After her friend left she had managed to get her to confess to her the real reason she had left. She can understand her reason and would have done the same in her shoes. It's just that it was never easy having a front row seat to so much pain of beloved ones.

She sighs, shaking her head in despair. She has never met such a pair of star crossed lovers before. She will need all the help in the universe to accomplish her task.