Chapter 15: never give up
A/N: Anything Meteor Garden you recognize, I do not own.
***
"Flight 213 bound for Taipei, boarding now at gate 10" the voice over the speaker shouted out at the Toronto International Airport.
Ximen gave a loud sigh as he gathered his bags together. It had been more than 24 hours since Xiao You had asked him to let her go. He'd left her apartment barely able to walk, his breathing erratic as he envisioned the rest of his life without her. Mei Zhou and Ah Si had by turns called him, making sure that he was alright. He'd strove to reassure them. He was alright. After all, he was still breathing wasn't he? He could still stand. He could still walk. Of course, they didn't know that every breath had become an agony. Or that he felt like curling up whenever he stood. Or that his footsteps had gone heavier and heavier as he walked away from her. Maybe God was punishing him for all the times he'd gone after womae and then dropped them after a week. Still, he wished that Xiao You could have given him a chance.
"Flight 213 bound for Taipei, boarding now at gate 10" the words echoed throughout the airport terminal once again.
He took one last look at his surroundings before finally walking towards the boarding platform. He supposed it would be the last time he'd ever be in Toronto. He knew it would be too painful to come back. Even for business purposes. No. He was never coming back here again. At least, not until he'd learned to forget her.
***
Flight 213 had barely lifted off when Flight 27 from Taipei started deplaning on gate 25.
Among those who got off was Dao Ming Shan Cai. She was greeted by a woman with similarly Chinese features, slightly shorter than her, as soon as she got out of the gate. The two women stared at each other briefly before the shorter one launched herself into Shan Cai's arms, shoulders heaving as she struggled to contain her tears.
***
"I drove him away." Xiao You's words echoed baldly in her apartment as Shan Cai sat across from her.
"Why?" Shan Cai asked, wondering at the ravaged look in her friend's face.
"Because…" Xiao You couldn't continue. Her tears, falling down her face once again.
Shan Cai didn't say anything. She just moved to sit next to her friend and gathered the younger woman in her arms. "Shh…." She whispered as she stroked Xiao You's hair.
"Shan Cai, I'm pregnant again." Xiao You raised her head off her friend's shoulder as she said the words.
"Again?" Shan Cai looked at the younger woman in confusion.
Xiao You flushed. "I…" she trailed off as she hugged Shan Cai once again. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you before…" her words were muffled as she pressed her face on her friend's shoulders.
"Tell me what?"
And so Xiao You told Shan Cai about her pregnancy six years before and how it had ended in tragedy.
"Did Ximen…" Shan Cai started to ask.
Xiao You nodded. "We both cried for our baby last night."
"Does he know about your pregnancy now?" The taller woman asked gently.
Xiao You shook her head. "I didn't tell him," she answered in a small voice.
"Why?" Shan Cai struggled to understand.
"He said he loved me." Her answer was no answer at all.
"I don't understand. If he loves you, why did you drive him away?" Shan Cai's face was a picture of confusion.
"I didn't think he'd leave."
"So you still love him?" Shan Cai hazarded a guess.
Xiao You nodded. "I'm so stupid!" she wailed.
Shan Cai refrained from nodding her head in agreement. It was probably hormones that made her friend act the way she did. She wondered if she'd ever acted the same way when she was pregnant and couldn't for the life of her, remember. "Are you going to tell him at all?"
"I suppose I should…"
"Xiao You!" Shan Cai couldn't help the note of impatience from creeping into her voice.
"But he's given up." Xiao You whispered.
"Has that ever stopped you before?"
Xiao You looked at her best friend for a long time before she finally smiled and shook her head.
"Play up Xiao You! Jia you!"
***
Lei could only stare at the sleeping woman by his side. She was so beautiful. His wife. He smiled to himself as he sounded out her name in his head.
Hua Ze Jing.
Who'd have thought they'd end up together after ten long years of being apart? He really thought he'd gotten over her when he'd rejected her in this very same city a decade ago. He'd wondered about her briefly from time to time but had gone on with his life in relative recluse. He hadn't thought to question why it was that every time he'd met someone, he'd ended up comparing her to Jing. Not Shan Cai. But Jing. He'd explained it away as guilt. He felt guilty comparing his women to Shan Cai and so had compared them to his childhood friend and sweetheart instead. Funny how one can delude themselves into thinking one thing yet actually know the truth deep in their unconscious.
"What are you thinking?" her voice broke into his reverie.
Lei smiled at Jing in the dark. "You." He answered simply.
She smiled back. "You're such a sweet-talker…" she teased him, disbelief evident in her voice.
"Only with you." He whispered as he pulled her gently back into his arms. "I love you."
"I love you too." She whispered back.
"Do you want a grand wedding when we go back to Taiwan?" he asked.
She thought about it for a while before finally answering. "Not really. Our wedding was perfect the way it was." They had gotten married the very same day they'd seen each other again at the church, with only God and the priest as witnesses.
"Still, I'm sure your parents would like us to have something grander." He insisted.
She shook her head. "They'd long since given up on me ever marrying. I'm pretty sure they'll be glad that I got married at all."
"Was there really a fiancé?" Lei had to know.
She laughed. "No, but it got you to the altar did it?"
"I would have gotten there without that little bit of false information." He hugged her tighter.
"I guess….only it would have take you another ten years…" she bantered.
"Couldn't wait to sink your claws into me huh?" he teased.
"I wanted to have a baby with you." She answered simply. "My biological clock is ticking you know."
He couldn't help the joyous leap his heart took at hearing her words. He wanted that too. A baby for both of them. "Well then, why don't we go to work then."
"Now?" she asked in disbelief.
"And always." He whispered just before he bent down to kiss her.
"Always huh?" she managed to tease him before passion claimed the both of them.
***
At a hotel somewhere, an Asian man stared at himself in the mirror, wondering where his senses had gone.
"So how come you didn't' leave?" he asked his reflection as he took in the sorry state of his features. His eyes, which could charm the hardest of hearts when he smiled, stared at him lifelessly behind his glasses. His mouth, painted into a frown.
He transferred his gaze to the unused plane ticket by the sink and could only laugh hollowly at himself. He had really been set to leave. He'd gone as far as the boarding platform before he hastily turned around and started walking towards the airport's exit. Despite the fact that he'd heard finality in her words as she asked him to let her go, he just couldn't. It didn't matter to him if she didn't love him anymore. He wasn't going to give up. He couldn't! He loved her too much. He wasn't like Lei who'd selflessly given up his love for Shan Cai.
He was selfish!
He loved her enough to work hard to make her fall in love with him again. He just couldn't give up! He'd done that six years before when he hadn't gone after her despite the fact that every fiber in his being had hungered for her. He'd lost his son without ever having known about him because of stubbornness and pride. Well, he wasn't going to go the same route again!
It was time to put his killer business instincts to use. He'd never failed to succeed in any business venture that he'd gone after in the last ten years. So how could he possibly give her up just like that? He'd worked ruthlessly to achieve whatever goals he'd set for himself even when the goal was not a matter of life or death. Could he do less now when the rest of his life was at stake?
Quickly, he made calls. One to his father, so the older Ximen could once again take over the business while he stayed in Toronto. One to his mother so she wouldn't worry about his long absence from Taiwan. One to Mei Zou to reassure his friend of his well being. One to Lei to ask how he was doing. And the last one to Ah Si to get him to recruit Shan Cai to champion his cause to her friend.
He smiled after the last call. Shan Cai was here! It gave him hope. If Xiao You had called her best friend, then it must mean that she wasn't as unaffected about their parting as she'd made out to be.
It must mean that he still affected her. Never mind if he affected her negatively. It was still something. He could work with that.
He was Ximen Zhong er Lang after all!
Time to get to work.
***
A/N: **the title for this chapter came from a song with those lyrics...not sure if it's from seawind...do any of you know that song and who sang it? the phrase goes something like this:
"and i will never give up
i'll never give up
never believe that love just fades away..."
please tell me if you know...thanks =)
