A year later………

It has not been five minutes since she got home and there was already someone ringing her doorbell.

"Three in the morning? Who could it be?" she thought.

Too tired to think of anything, she just opened her door. The early morning guest was definitely unpredicted. Because leaning there against her door frame was none other than her high school rival whom she met a year ago. Rival? That was not the precise word to describe him since that night a year ago changed their relationship. He is not a rival, not a friend and not a lover. So who is he to her?

Unable to figure out the reason of his early visit all of a sudden, she blurted out, "What are you doing here?"

Ignoring her question, he walked past her into the apartment and sat on the couch. Blinking her eyes a couple of times, she finally realized that she was still holding her door open and staring at her neighbor's door. Abruptly she closed her door and locked it. After a moment of staring at her closed door, she turned around and saw him leaning against the seat with his head tilted up and eyes shut firmly.

Not knowing what to do with the sudden situation, she walked towards the couch situated opposite of him and plopped herself on the couch. Ten minutes passed in silence. She continued staring at him while he continued his meditation. She opened her mouth to question him again but he beat her to it.

"My divorce was finalized two months ago."

"Wha – What?"

"We had a talk, my wife and I. I told her about the type of marriage I want, the type of wife I want."

After registering what he was talking about, she said "Oh! So ermmm….what happened?"

"She said she was not that type and can't be as well. After further discussions, we decided that it was best if we got a divorce."

"I see," she said.

Again both were engulfed in silence. They could hear the ticking of the clock on the wall. Slowly fifteen minutes passed before she broke the stillness.

"I'm sorry about what happened but I don't understand what's going on. What do you want from me?"

Finally he opened his eyes and looked directly into her eyes. What she saw in them brought back memories of the past whole year. The loneliness, the longing, the comfort, everything that she felt missing was coursing through her veins.

Truthfully she was not expecting to see him again. For the first week after seeing him, she regretted rejecting his offer. But as weeks became months, she forgot all about it. She had no time to think about it, she had patients to heal. However once or twice she hoped that there was someone out there waiting for her. It was rather discouraging coming back to an empty home.

Back in school her education always came first before her happiness. Now her profession is her foremost priority. As she sat there on her couch in her apartment staring at the man whom she had never once imagined having such conversation with, was it all worth it? All the sacrifices she made to be a successful person. In the end she may be someone but she had no one to share it with.

He kept his gaze steadily. He could see the confusions she was experiencing at the moment. He knew what was going on inside her mind because he had experienced it for the past few months. He wanted his marriage to work out. He tried explaining to his wife about what he wanted but she felt that he was expecting too much. In the high society it was her duty to uphold the family's image. She said it was her responsibility to entertain the other wives, attend parties and other social activities that people of their status do. If he wants that badly, then they can have one or two children but he should not expect her to devote her time bringing up them.

Therefore in the end, his wife suggested that it was best they got a divorce since she can't be who he wants her to be. After his divorce, he reflected on his future. What was he going to do? His life was a mess, he was not happy. He has everything a human craves for but he had no one to share it with. There was emptiness in him and he kept looking for something to fill it with. In the end he found his answer, his rival back in high school and his lover for a night. They were both alike, thus they yearn for the same thing – companionship.

"I want to live here."

His voice brought her out of her contemplation.

"You want to live here? But….but why? I'm sure you have a huge bungalow or something like that," she said confusedly.

"Hnn. I like it here. The place is small and comfortable."

"Where is this heading to?" she asked him.

"I know what you want and you know what I want."

"I'm not sure if I can give…."

"I'm not asking much. Just come back home when you are not on duty," he told her.

"I don't know. I don't know if this can work," she replied shaking her head.

"Let's give it a try," he persuaded her.

She looked down at her feet and thought about his suggestion. After pondering for a while, she decided to give it a try. She looked at him and smiled. He smiled back in return. Then she got up and held out her hand. His brows knitted in confusion.

"Friends?" she asked.

"Friends?" he asked her.

"Well yes. I mean we were never friends to begin with. So I thought we might be friends first before moving to the next level," she replied.

He chuckled and shook her hand.

"Ok, now that we are friends I'm going to take a shower and go to bed. I hope you don't mind, I'm very tired tonight," she said while stretching herself.

"No, not at all. I'm exhausted too."

She would have continued standing under the shower if he didn't pound on her bathroom door. She tied her tower and came out of the bathroom. He was ransacking her wardrobe and he was dripping wet too.

"What are you looking for?" she asked him.

He turned towards her and said, "Something I can wear for tonight."

"What makes you think I have men clothing?"

"Well I don't know but I just thought of looking. Sorry."

"It's ok. By the way I do have something you can wear."

She opened one of her drawers and took out a packet. She threw it at him. He caught the packet and opened it. It had a pair of boxer shorts. He looked at her questioningly.

"Ino," she said.

"Ino?"

"Yup. I'm not sure if you still remember her. My best friend in high school and still is, she was in the cheerleading team too."

"Ah…the loud blonde girl."

"Yeah that's the one. God's knows why she gave me those on my 27th birthday. Maybe she thought it might be handy."

After putting some clothes, they both got into bed and fell asleep immediately with her back facing him and his arm wrapped around her middle. They slept throughout the night with a lighter heart and hope for a brighter start.