Fan Fiction |
by manggang_hilaw
It was almost 2 AM when Lei walked into the house. He was about to go up to his room when he noticed a lump on the sofa.
“Hey…” Lei gently tried to wake up the sleeping girl.
“Lei…you’re back…” the girl sat up and sleepily rubbed her eyes as she yawned.
“Why aren’t you sleeping in your room?” Lei asked as he sat next to her.
“Sorry…I was waiting for you and dozed off…” she explained sheepishly.
Lei shook his head in exasperation but just smiled at her as he stood up. “Well, come on up. The sofa couldn’t have been comfortable.”
“As a matter of fact…it was…” she grinned at him, but stood up to follow Lei upstairs.
Just as they were turning to their respective rooms though, she quietly asked “Lei…”
“He came alone.” Lei answered her unspoken question.
She didn’t say anything for a while, then whispered softly “Thank you...” just before she went into her room.
Lei stood staring at her door for several minutes, thinking “I hope you know what you’re doing…” and then shook his head as he went to his room. He needed to sleep.
***
Meanwhile, on the other side of town.
3:30 AM. Ximen has been tossing and turning in his bed for the longest time. He sighed in frustration. “I should be tired. I’ve had a full day. The alcohol I’ve consumed at VS should have put me to sleep by now…” he thought as he stared at the ceiling.
4AM. “It couldn’t have been her. She’s in Canada. If it was her, then Shan Cai would have told known. And Shan Cai would have told Ah Si. Ah Si would have told me. No…he wouldn’t have. Why would he? He wouldn’t have known I’d be interested.” Ximen drew a pillow over his head as if trying to drown out his thoughts.
“This won’t do Ximen! You don’t care if she comes back or not. You don’t.” It was this phrase that kept repeating on Ximen’s mind until he finally drifted off to sleep. It was 5 AM.
***
Lei was still sleeping when she crept into his room. She didn’t want to disturb his rest but she had been waiting for him to wake up for several hours now and she couldn’t wait anymore.
“Lei….” She whispered as she gently shook him awake. “Lei, wake up!”
“Go away!” He groaned from under the covers.
“Come on Lei, it’s already 3 in the afternoon…aren’t you hungry?” she cajoled as she sat on his bed.
“No…I don’t need food. I need sleep” he muttered.
“But I made lunch for you…” she whined. She knew how he hated it when she whined.
Reluctantly, Lei emerged from under the covers to glare at her. Well, it wasn’t exactly a glare. Lei was too nice to ever glare at anybody. She grinned at him.
“Do you know the number 1 rule in this house?” he asked her.
She bit her lip guiltily. “Uh….Never to disturb you when you’re sleeping?”
He sighed in exasperation. “So how come you’re here?”
“Because I was worried you might develop an ulcer?” she teased him with a smile.
“I’m not Ximen.” He retorted in annoyance, but felt guilty when her happy expression was wiped out by the comment.
“No…you’re not.” She whispered. “Sorry to bother you.”
He stopped her from standing up by holding on to her arm gently with an apology. “No, I’m sorry. I’m just grouchy when I wake up.”
She visibly pulled herself together and smiled at him. “I’ll have your food served by the pool while you get ready ok?” she offered as she prepared to leave the room.
“Ok. Thanks.” He smiled too as he rose from the bed. “Oh and Xiao You…” he called out just before she reached the door.
“Yes Lei?” she asked from the doorway.
“Don’t worry ok? Everything will work out.”
She didn’t answer him.
***
Xiao You was patiently waiting by the pool when Lei finally emerged from the house. He looked good in white she thought fancifully as she took in his appearance.
He gave her a smile as he took in the feast before him. “Wow! You made all these?”
“Well, you were sleeping so long, I needed to do something.” She grinned sheepishly.
“Hmm, hey this is really good. When did you learn how to cook?” He asked after a mouthful.
She shrugged. “I lived alone while in college and since money was tight, I had to learn.”
It was several minutes later when Lei finally looked up from the table and caught her staring at him. “Oops…I guess I was hungrier than I thought.” He grinned at her.
“Hahaha! I didn’t mean to stare. I was just surprised. I didn’t think you ate that much.”
“Well, not many people know this but next to sleeping….my favorite thing to do is eat.” He laughed.
“Is that why you’re opening a restaurant here?” she asked.
He nodded. “Hmmm…would you by any chance be interested in helping me develop some dishes for the restaurant? Only in your spare time though because you’d still have to manage the place.”
“That would be great! As long as you pay me extra” she teased.
“Of course.”
“Hey I was joking…I’ll gladly help for free. Besides, you’re already paying me too much for managing the place. Not to mention helping me get what I want.”
He looked at her determined face for several moments before he answered. “You know of course that Ximen has not changed at all in the last 3 years?”
“Oh I know he still has the one-week policy.”
“And?”
“And I’m going to change that.”
“You sound so confident when you say that. What makes you think you’ll succeed this time?”
“Because now I really know what’s at stake.”
“And that is?” he was curious to know.
“My happiness.” She answered simply. “Three years ago I thought…well so what if he rejected me? I’ll forget him in time. I wasn’t sure it was really love. How could it be? I was too young.” She stopped for several moments and then continued. “Now I know.”
“You haven’t gotten over the feeling.” It was a statement, not a question.
“ Have you?” she asked. Lei couldn’t answer. He didn’t have to. They both knew.