MELANCHOLY

Xi Men looked at Dao Ming Si, looking slightly outraged at what his friend was saying. The two of them were seated at their usual corner in Meteors. Just a moment ago he mentioned how he felt weird about Mei Zuo not joining them. Usually it was Mei Zuo who would be the first to get here.

Dao Ming Si looked at his friend. "I was quite surprised when you were able to come. Weren't you supposed to be with your parents tonight?"

"The dinner was moved tomorrow night. Colonel Masters, Pa's friend, is flying in tomorrow from the Philippines. We had to move it."

He smirked. "Family obligations, huh?"

"Yeah, we're meeting the colonel's son and his girlfriend. He's a photographer, she's a writer, and Ma happens to be her biggest fan."

"What's her name?"

Xi Men's brows met as he remembered the name. "Laraine Zhu. I heard she's Chinese, but I can't be sure."

"Are you going solo?"

"Are you kidding me? I am going to be in one table with my parents, the photographer and his girlfriend, and the colonel. What, you want me to pair up with the military man?" Xi Men shook his head, bemused. "No. I asked Hannah to come along."

"Hannah?" Dao Ming Si's brows met as he tried to recall her. "Isn't that the one who took your mobile..." Xi Men nodded, and Dao MIng Si shook his head. "I can't believe you're still seeing her."

They talked more about other things, then Dao Ming Si broke the news, followed by his assumption that jolted Xi Men even more.

"What are you saying?" he asked.

Dao Ming Si took a swig of his beer. "I said I don't think we should pin the blame entirely on Mei Zuo. He's just a victim here."

"A victim of what?" Xi Men shook his head. "You are confusing me, A Si."

"Aisha is to blame in all these, Xi Men. She came at the most convenient moment, at Mei Zuo's engagement, and ruined everything."

"You don't know that for sure," Xi Men said doubtfully.

"What else could be the reason?" he said. "For all we know Aisha is seeing Mei Zuo behind our backs, and she was the one who convinced him to back out of the wedding."

"Aisha does not seem like the type." Xi Men stopped talking when he saw someone walk in through the door. Dao Ming Si followed his gaze and his face darkened when he recognized Hua Ze Lei, his hand holding Aisha's.

He shook his head and muttered, "I don't believe this."

"Keep your cool, A Si," Xi Men reminded him as the new arrivals approached. "Remember this is still Lei."

Dao Ming Si got to his feet when Hua Ze Lei and Aisha stopped at the table. He nodded in greeting at his friend, but gave a cold look at Aisha.

This did not escape Hua Ze Lei, Aisha and Xi Men. It was Xi Men who tried to make light of the situation. He extended a hand towards Aisha.

"We've me, but it was a sorry excuse for an introduction. I hope we could hang around more often," he said in a friendly tone and this elicited a look of annoyance from Dao Ming Si. He ignored it.

"Thanks," she said shyly and shook his hand.

On the side, Dao Ming Si rarely said a word as Xi Men moved over to make room for Hua Ze Lei and Aisha. After a while of small talk, Hua Ze Lei excused himself to get a drink for Aisha at the bar.

And she suddenly found herself alone with Xi Men and Dao Ming Si.

Xi Men must have felt instantly uncomfortable as he cleared his throat, and said, "So, how are you finding Taipei since you last came here?"

Amazed at how Xi Men was different from Dao Ming Si, she replied, "A lot of things certainly changed. It's amazing."

"Really?" Her head turned slightly to the side and looked at Dao Ming Si who was leaning back on his seat, looking at her in a searing manner. "What changed, exactly?"

She chose her words, not wanting to provoke him. "For one, it seemed to become bigger."

To her surprise he gave out a laugh. "Funny, isn't it?" he asked with a trace of scorn in his voice. "It seemed to become bigger, but because of you, it suddenly became smaller. Narrower."

Xi Men spoke up. "A Si - "

Dao Ming Si ignored his friend as he leaned forward on the table. "Tell me, Aisha, how does it feel knowing you have the power over a lot of things, say, over two men?"

She willed herself to stare back at him and not flinch, not wanting him to see she was unnerved by his gaze and line of questioning.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't act the innocent little girl, Aisha. I know you had a hand in Mei Zuo calling his wedding off."

Her eyes widened in shock and for a moment Dao Ming Si almost believed she didn't really know about the wedding being put off. But the feeling went away instantly.

"He...he what?" she asked, askance.

"Xiao Qiao appeared at our door today, crying, because out of the blue, Mei Zuo wanted to put off the wedding. There. Are you happy now?"

Distress was now written all over her face and Xi Men, beside her, noted this with keen interest. Hesitantly he glanced at Dao Ming Si and whispered, "A Si, that's enough."

Aisha suddenly got to her feet and was about to turn, but succeeded only in colliding against the returning Hua Ze Lei, whose hands reached out to steady her.

"Aisha!" he said, and noted her distress. "What is it? What is wrong?"

Aisha, her head down and her face hidden from Hua Ze Lei's view, shook her head.

But at that same instant, an aged woman's voice came on.

"So you are Aisha."

All four of them turned to look and were surprised to find Mei Zuo's mom standing there. Right now a few people seated near their table were throwing curious glances in their direction.

"Auntie!" Xi Men stared in confusion at Mei Zuo's mother, who was not really the type to enter an establishment such as Meteors.

But her gaze was directed fully at Aisha.

"Finally I saw the face of the woman who made my son change his mind."

Hua Ze Lei's arm crept around Aisha's shoulder but she did not feel it. Her blood ran cold as she was put under the icy scrutiny of Mei Zuo's mother.

"You have succeeded in muddling my son's brain." Her eyes ran up and down Aisha's length. "And I wonder what he saw in you."

Protectiveness surged within Hua Ze Lei and he pulled Aisha closer to his side.

"Auntie, I will not take this from you."

She seemed to have noticed Hua Ze Lei for the first time. "Oh, yes, Hua Ze Lei. I also heard she happens to be your girlfriend. Does Wang know about this?"

Hua Ze Lei's face suddenly turned into a cold unfathomable mask as he stared back at the old woman. She went on.

"I wonder what he would say if he finds out that his son's girlfriend would not settle for only one."

Hua Ze Lei's voice was flat and frosty. "That's enough."

Dao Ming Si and Xi Men were marveling at Hua Ze Lei's sudden shift in behavior. They have never seen Hua Ze Lei act like this. Usually he would just shut up, or calmly take things in stride. But now he looked...chilly.

Dao Ming Si took Mei Zuo's mother by the hand. "Auntie," he spoke in a low voice. "This isn't a good time."

Mei Zuo's mother looked at Dao Ming Si and smiled a little. "I'm sorry, A Si. I just came here to take a look at her." She threw another contemptuous glance at Aisha, then turned on her heels and left.

Xi Men sighed with relief and turned to look at Hua Ze Lei, but was not able to say a thing when he saw Hua Ze Lei looking at Aisha in concern.

"Aisha? Aisha...?"

Xi Men glanced at Aisha and saw she was staring at nothing, numbly she stood so still, as though in a catatonic state. Discreetly he jabbed his elbow softly at Dao Ming Si's side.

Before their eyes Aisha seemed to wake up from her trance. With calculated movements she pulled away from Hua Ze Lei. When she spoke, her voice was strangely calm.

"I have to go."

Hua Ze Lei nodded. "Alright. Let's go."

She laid a hand on his arm, stopping him, and said, "I don't think you heard me. I said I have to go. Alone. You stay here with your friends."

"Aisha?" Hua Ze Lei asked in puzzlement.

A small smile showed on her face. "I'll be alright. I'll take a cab."

"Then let me get one for you."

Her voice was insistent. "Please, I...I need to be alone for a while."

Hua Ze Lei did not object when she moved past him and walked away, out of the bar. With unreadable eyes Hua Ze Lei followed her progress until she disappeared from view.

Xi Men whispered to Dao Ming Si. "I couldn't figure her out."

Abruptly Hua Ze Lei walked away from the table to the men's restroom. Worried that he might do something stupid, Dao Ming Si and Xi Men followed after him.

Inside the empty rest room, the two were surprised when suddenly Hua Ze Lei rounded on them and, in a clear voice, demanded, "What did you tell her?"

Dao Ming Si and Xi Men looked at each other, surprised.

"What were you telling her when I got back to the table? Clearly you said something to upset her! What did you say?"

"What she needed to hear," Dao Ming Si replied with a lift of his chin.

"And what is that?"

Xi Men suddenly felt like he was in the middle of a cross-fire. This wasn't a scene he had expected Hua Ze Lei and Dao Ming Si to be engaged in.

Dao Ming Si impatiently shook his head. "Look, Lei, I don't want you to be disillusioned about...her. You don't know who she really is, or what she is capable of!"

"Which part? The part where she used to be a pickpocket? That she used to steal to make a living? Or the fact that she had something in the past with Mei Zuo? Is that it?"

Dao Ming Si and Xi Men gaped at Hua Ze Lei, who gave a bitter smile at them.

"I know about her past," he went on. "I know more about it than any of you could imagine. I know more than even Mei Zuo does. And I don't care. You want to know how I came to be aware of it? Because she told me. From the beginning she had been honest."

"Lei - "

Out of character, Hua Ze Lei went on speaking. "She had no idea about my involvement with Mei Zuo, and she certainly didn't plan for any of these to happen." This time he looked sharply at Dao Ming Si.

Weakly Dao Ming Si leaned against the cold tiled wall and Xi Men, his hands in his pockets, looked down at a spot between his toes.

And Hua Ze Lei said, "And I told you...I don't care."

Suddenly the cello didn't look appealing to her.

It used to be everything to her. Whatever emotion she was feeling the cello would always make things alright.

But this time she did not feel even the slightest desire to touch it.

It sat quietly at the far wall of her bedroom.

Xiao Qiao stood up and walked to the window overlooking the pool of their house.

What could Mei Zuo be doing right now? Is it alright for her to hope that he would change his mind when he wakes up tomorrow?

Or maybe this was a dream...a nightmare. Maybe the events that occurred today did not really take place.

But as she looked around and saw her mobile phone on top of the low table beside her bed, she knew they were all too real.

But why? Why did Mei Zuo suddenly wanted out? What caused it? Why now, of all times, now that everything has been halfway finalized?

A resolute look settled on her face. She will find out. She will. She must.

The next moment the three of them found themselves inside Dao Ming Si's office at the back of Meteors, sharing a drink.

Thoughtfully Dao Ming Si stared at Hua Ze Lei. As usual, his friend was unreadable.

Xi Men, sprawled on the couch at the other end of the office, sighed.

"I guess we all did some miscalculations here."

"I'm sorry," Dao Ming Si said, and he meant it. As he remembered his treatment of Aisha, he suddenly felt like kicking himself.

Hua Ze Lei acknowledge his apology with a brief glance, and this did not make Dao Ming Si feel any better.

"I hope you don't mind me asking," Xi Men said from where he sat. "But...why Aisha? I mean, knowing your personality, I am quite surprised that you would fall for someone like her. She's bubbly, energetic. You...you're not exactly like her."

Hua Ze Lei hid a smile. "Aisha and I have more in common than you know."

"How so?" Xi Men asked. Dao Ming Si was content to just listen.

"On the outside, Aisha looks eternally happy and sunny. She oozes with energy. But she is also a melancholic person. Everything she had to go through in the past to survive made her that."

"What does that mean?"

Hua Ze Lei, without getting into details, explained.

"After Aisha and her mother went back to Japan from Taiwan, her mother did not keep her promise to stick it out with her. She went off and married the same man that Aisha did not get along with. She lived with them for a while, but had to run away when she could not take it anymore. Then for the longest time she lived on the streets. That's how she met with some of the people with whom she formed the dance group with."

He looked up and looked squarely at Dao Ming Si. "She had a rough time, and no one has the right to judge her unjustly."

Dao Ming Si looked down guiltily.

"She had been betrayed more than a few times in her life," Hua Ze Lei said. "I am not about to be add to that."

Dao Ming Si's question was direct. "Do you love her?"

Hua Ze Lei merely looked at him, and he pressed on. "Do you love Aisha?"

"What do you think?" Slowly he got to his feet and walked out of the door, leaving without saying goodbye.

Dao Ming Si and Xi Men were left in the silence of the office. They looked at each other and neither spoke a word, but both knew exactly how the other was feeling.

Meanwhile, Aisha was shaken out of her trance when the cab driver spoke.

"I think this is the place."

Cautiously she peered out of the window and into the majestic gates.

"Are you sure?" she asked the cab driver uncertainly. She had never been in this part of Taipei before.

"This is it," the driver replied. "It says so in the sign out there."

She looked at where the driver was pointing and, indeed, this is the house.

Peeling a few bills out of her purse, she said, "I won't take long inside. Would you mind waiting for me? I'll pay, don't worry,"

The driver shrugged. "No problem."

Aisha stepped gingerly out of the car and closed the door. She looked at the gates, then at the magnificent house beyond it.

Mei Zuo's mansion.