It’s about 3:30 PM that they finally settled down in Wei Ru’s living room to discuss their plans. Darren had gone back to Spring Of Hope to help his parents.
“You want anything? Like water?” Wei Ru asked, smiling at him.
“Sure,” Jacky answered. “Since we’ll be here for a while.”
“I’ll be back,” Wei Ru told him, turning to head for the kitchen.
Jacky sits and waits for her return. He takes that moment to observe the living room. It is set in a simple yet sophisticated style. If look at in just one glance, one would say that there isn’t much to see. But if observed more carefully, the style and the setting are just so refined. It’s in a somewhat ancient setting with a bamboo tree on both corners. Most of the furniture is made out of bamboo-like material. The floor consists of smooth brown bricks. The coffee table is also made out of oak-like wood. Its surface is so smooth that if a fly lands on it, it would just slide right off the table. Where there’s usually an entertainment center of some form installed, there’s a dark wooden table. There are several jade figurines on it. The whole setting gives off a very comfortable vibe.
Jacky smiles as his eyes move past the bamboo tree at the right corner and towards the screen door that leads out to the garden. There are all types of flowers – all of which are light colors, creating a very light-hearted atmosphere. For some unknown reason, he’s sure that it’s Wei Ru’s handiwork.
Wei Ru comes back into the living room at that time.
“Here you are,” She said, placing the glass in front of him. “I just thought it’ll be better if you drink water. Not good if you drink coffee or soda all the time.”
“Don’t say that in your shop,” Jacky said, smiling.
Wei Ru sits down next to him. She looks at her watch.
“I wonder what’s taking Xiao Jie so long,” Wei Ru pondered out loud. “She said she just needs to get training manual from the shop. Then she would be back.”
“More customers coming in?” Jacky guessed.
“True. But she would have called.”
Jacky leans back on the bamboo-like sofa.
“Your garden?” Jacky asked, gesturing towards the screen door with his left hand.
“Yes,” Wei Ru answered, looking at her watch again. “This isn’t like her to not call. I’ll go call her.”
She gets up as she’s saying those last few words.
Jacky grabs her left arm. “Don’t get yourself all work up. She could be walking through the door right now.”
Wei Ru sits down again but is still impatient.
“I know what this could be about,” Jacky said, putting on a mischievous smile.
“What?” Wei asked anxiously, turning to look at him.
“Maybe she’s giving us a chance,” Jacky replied, winking.
Wei Ru looks away towards the garden instead of responding.
Jacky smiles and leans back on the sofa again. He closes his eye to relax for a bit, thinking of what to do in the next few days. Of course he would have to help Wei Ru and Xiao Jie, but he needs to find another challenge.
It’s a good fifteen minute before he opens his eyes. But what he finds out is quite interesting. It seemed like fifteen minutes, then why is it so dark in the room? It looks like about 7 or 8 at night. He blinks several times to make sure it’s actually what he’s seeing. When he scans the room, he sees Wei Ru holding a candle light and is walking towards him. Her smile is so sweet that it can melt all the icebergs from the North Pole.
“How…” He managed, still confused.
Before he could say further, Wei Ru covers his mouth with her right hand. She had placed the candle down on the table. She sits down next to him, so close that he feels it’s hard to breathe.
“What are you…” Jacky attempted to speak up again.
“Sh…” Wei Ru shushed him, covering his mouth again.
Jacky tries to edge away from her, but couldn’t since he’s already at the left edge of the sofa. He feels disturbed but doesn’t know what to do. Then he knows. He’ll play along to see what she’s up to. He quickly grabs hold of her waist and pulls her into his arm.
“Let go!” Wei Ru shrieked in alarm.
“No!” Jacky shot back, still feeling the rush of a challenge coming on from within.
“Zhu Fan Gang!” Wei Ru screamed, sounding more anxious than ever.
Then he hears some giggling.
It’s the giggles that get him all startled. There’s no one here besides he and Wei Ru. Where are the giggles coming from? He blinks several times and sees that he’s back in the living room. It’s daytime again – in the afternoon to be exact. He realizes that he’s holding onto Wei Ru and Xiao Jie’s standing over them, smiling mischievously. He finally realizes that it was all a dream. He could have guessed that before but for some reason, there seemed to be a fog over his mind when he was dreaming that he didn’t know it was a dream.
Wei Ru wiggles out of his grasp. He realizes that he’s still having a tight hold around her waist. He lets go and edges back to the left side of the sofa.
“Sorry!” Jacky exclaimed nervously. “I didn’t realize I dozed off.”
Wei Ru edges to the far right of the sofa, still not believing him.
“Wow!” Xiao Jie blurted out, smiling brightly. “That must have been some dozed-off. What happens if you’re sleeping for real at night?”
Xiao Jie gives them both another glance over. Wei Ru gives her a sharp look while Jacky looks left and right, pretending he doesn’t know what Xiao Jie’s talking about.
“Uh…shouldn’t we be talking about the plans?” Jacky finally muttered out, hoping Xiao Jie will drop it.
“Right!” Xiao Jie confirmed enthusiastically, relieving Jacky from the embarrassment.
They launch into the discussion of Brent’s wedding arrangements, which takes up the rest of the afternoon and into early part of the night.
The whole time, Xiao Jie has to sit in the middle since Wei Ru still doesn’t trust Jacky. However, Xiao Jie doesn’t let them off easily, constantly hinting at their “early blossoming relationship”, making both Jacky and Wei Ru not knowing how to respond. Although Jacky’s very thick-skin, but he still feels strange. He beats himself up inside for letting his guard off at this time of the day, especially at a girl’s house. Not to mention how in the world could he had such dreams of her when they only met a few hours ago? Is this a sign?
© January 7th, 2008
Re-posted: Saturday, February 20th, 2010