It's been a long time, thanks for being patient guys. Anyway here ya go.

Jia =Hong Kong

Angelique =Seychelles


It was 9:00 p.m. when Mei had come back to the apartment. All she had wanted was a quick Skype chat with her brothers as a means of checking in. But of course things were never that simple with her siblings.

"Is it on? Can she see us?"

"Guys, I can hear you. Why don't you turn on your-"

"Aha, I found the button…"

"No you old man, you'll just make it worse."

"Who are you calling an old man, you little punk?"

And for the next 10 minutes her brothers, were flinging insults back and forth until Mei forced them snap out of it. She was secretly glad that they were at Yao's apartment instead of their parents' house. She wouldn't want them to suffer from their stupidity.

Yao was the first to start up the conversation afterward. Effectively switching into the responsible elder brother role with ease.

"Anyways Mei how are you doing in New York?"

"Thrilled. But tired." She answered honestly.

"You look it. Are you getting enough sleep?"

As if on cue, she gave a little yawn. "I'm fine brother. I just got off from work, had a long day."

A couple of weeks ago Mei had found a job at a little café. The good thing was that it wasn't too far from her and Lien's apartment. It was owned by a Frenchman who genuinely seemed nice but ran a little on the eccentric side. However, he had hired her on the spot so she really couldn't complain.

Yao continued in his probe. "Are you eating well too?"

At this, Mei gave a little annoyed sigh.

"Yes, Lien and I have a takeout menu for every restaurant within a 30 mile radius. Trust me, I'm eating."

"And how about school? You'll be starting soon so I hope you have everything-"

"Yao, like lighten up!" Jia interrupted, giving him a small shove. "Mei's got everything taken care of. She wouldn't have been accepted to college if she wasn't smart enough to take care of herself."

Mei beamed from her twin brother's compliment.

"Anyway sis, let's skip the boring talk and focus on something else. Like for instance, have you been clubbing yet?"

And just like that her respect for her brother was lost.

"No Jia. You have to be 21 to do that in America." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Duh, I know that. But haven't you ever heard of a fake I.D.?"

"Don't influence her." Yao warned. "Education comes first."

He really didn't have to worry about her. At least not yet. Mei had a feeling that she wouldn't be clubbing for a while. Lien seemed to be more of a homebody who wasn't into the NYC nightlife. Which was fine. Mei just hoped she could meet some friends at FIT who would be more willing to go out. There was still so much to explore in New York.

The rest of their conversation remained fickle. With topics flickering from Jia's own upcoming first year of college, to some new Chinese drama that the whole family had started watching. And after repeated promises to bring them back souvenirs the next time she came home, Mei ended the call with her brothers. Climbing into bed soon after.

For just the smallest of moments, she felt overwhelmingly homesick. It came and went in pieces of time since she had moved to America, but she would quickly dismiss it. She was a grown woman, she felt childish longing for home. Longing for the loving smile of her father or the calming voice of her mother. Even her annoying siblings. She pushed these thoughts off into another spot in her mind, determined to chase them away. Mei instead tried to focus on her overall mission of coming to New York and all she had planned to accomplish as she drifted off to sleep.


The next day Mei headed into work as she had for the past couple of weeks. The café was already bustling with activity in the mid-morning. Whispers filled the air, while the smell of coffee and freshly baked bread filled her nostrils. She made her way to her station where she saw Angelique, her sociable co-worker, greeting her with a smile. They usually had time to talk in between filling orders but today business was rampant.

Angelique had just handed Mei a tray with someone's coffee on it with the directions to take it to a table in the far corner. Carefully, Mei tried to make a path toward the table but the extra bodies in the way made it difficult. She felt a slippery spot under her foot, and she could feel herself slipping, falling forward. Right smack into a customer. Mei's eyes were closed but she heard a few small gasps around her and could easily imagine the shock on their faces. Her eyes flew open and first she spotted the tray on the floor with the broken coffee cup in a small puddle of the dark brown liquid. While the rest was on the customer. Quickly, Mei got to her feet, grabbed the nearest pile of napkins, and began wiping at the man's suit.

"I'm so sorry sir, I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and—"

The customer gently seized her arms and put them down at her sides.

"That's enough. Relax." He commanded.

Mei obliged, giving a deep breath in and out. Now calm, she gave the customer a more detailed glance. He was a very tall man, easily over 6 feet tall. At least it seemed like that to her since she was pretty short herself. He had dirty blond hair with an unusually spiky design that came to a point at the top of his head, somewhat reminiscent of a tulip. His forehead was marked with a small, vertical scar right above his right eye. His muscular build, in addition to the slight scowl on his face, gave him a rather intimidating aura.

"Better?" He questioned in a thick, European accent.

"Better" she answered. Mei regained some of her composure and went through her best customer service procedure. "I can take you to the back to clean up sir." She bent down and began cleaning up the mess on the floor. Collecting the chards from the coffee mug.

"I'd rather go home and change first." He gestured to the dark stain on his coat.

"At least let me get you something to go. " She stammered. "Would you like a drink or something to—"

"Considering you just dumped coffee on me, no thanks."

Mei mentally cringed at the harsh edge in his rumbling voice. "Well, it could be worse" she thought.

"Look, I can have my friend Angelique" She paused to turn around and gesture at the smiling girl behind the counter. "make you another drink. I promise I won't touch it this time. And it'll be on me this time. 100% free."

The man considered her offer for a moment before sighing.

"Well, since you said it was free…"

Mei grinned. "Great, go tell Angelique what you want. I'll finish cleaning up this mess. And again I'm so sor—"

The man simply put up a hand in protest as he was about to head to the counter.

"It's fine."

Once Mei was done cleaning up, she looked around the café and found no sign of the man from earlier. Feeling slightly relieved, she tried her best to regain her composure so she could finish the rest of the day on a high note. Hopefully she wouldn't have to see him again after that embarrassing incident. Hopefully fate wouldn't be that cruel.

But later she would find out that she was wrong. Fate really could be that cruel.


And there we have it folks. They actually meet, even though it was stereotypical on my part. And yeah in this story, Mei and Jia are fraternal twins. I'll explain more about Mei's family later in the story. This chapter has a weird pacing but I want to give some background before Mei starts school. Comments, questions, or concerns are always welcome (so long as they are respectful) Once again, thank you for reading!