SWEET FORGETFULNESS

The moment the car came to a halt in front of the Hua Ze Mansion Aisha was out the door in a flash, not bothering to wait for Hua Ze Lei to come around and open the door for her.

Hua Ze Lei chose to let her go and handed the car keys to the butler before proceeding inside. When he got in, silence welcomed him in the hall, followed by a hushed greeting from one of the maids.

He nodded and asked, "Aisha?"

The maid turned her head towards the stairs. "She went straight upstairs."

"Thanks," he said and went up the stairs, two at a time, worrying over Aisha and at the same time knowing what she needs right now is some time alone. She had not spoken a word during their entire drive home.

But he could not let her be alone at this time. No, not this time.

Softly he rapped on the door of her room. No response.

He knocked again, louder this time.

"Aisha?" he called out. Still no sound from within.

A dozen different scenarios painted itself in his mind, and although he knew Aisha is too smart to try to do anything foolish, he still could not help but worry.

His knock became fiercer. "Aisha, I know you're in there. Open the door."

There was no response, but he heard a shuffling sound through the door, and this turned his worry to a full-blown fear.

"Open this door, or I'll break it down!"

He stepped back and was about to slam himself on to the great oak door when it opened slightly.

Not waiting for her to fully open it, he shoved himself inside and closed it behind him. Aisha was walking back towards the bed when he turned to look at her.

He sighed, spreading his hands out before him. "You had me worried back there," he said.

A bitter smile appeared on her wan face. "Don't worry, I am not about to hang myself. I am too much of a coward for that."

Finally feeling sheer exhaustion taking its toll on him, Hua Ze Lei sank down on the thick, carpeted floor and sat back, his long legs spread out before him, his hands braced behind him.

Without looking at him, Aisha said softly, "I am not drunk."

"I know," he replied quietly, and this brought her head around to look at him quizzically.

"Y-you knew and...and you still let me make a fool of myself?"

"You needed it," was all he said.

Aisha gazed at him with marvel in her eyes, then shook her head. "I am not going to apologize."

"I didn't think you would," he said lightly.

After a long moment of silence she whispered, "Forgive me. I embarrassed you."

He didn't say anything. Somehow, seeing how distraught she was, no words seemed fit for this moment.

Hua Ze Lei lifted his gaze when she stood up and walked to the dresser, opening the drawer and taking out a small envelope. She walked towards him and handed down the envelope.

He took it with one look at her. "What is this?"

Aisha did not say anything as he carefully opened it.

He gave her a thoughtful look when he saw the plane ticket to Japan. But what registered was the fact that there was only one ticket inside.

"I had Yuki fix it for me," she said, walking back to the bed and sitting on the edge.

Slowly Hua Ze Lei got to his feet and strode towards until he was standing a few feet from her, an unspoken question in his eyes.

But Aisha refused to look into his eyes as she went on, "Admit it, Lei. This is the best any of us can do in this situation."

"I don't remember ever complaining. Do you?"

Wearily, as though the weight of the world now lies upon her shoulders, she said, "You didn't have to. And even if you did, I want to put a stop to all of this as soon as I could." This time she looked up at him, trying to put up a brave front. "I don't think I could take any more of this, Lei. I am not as strong as I thought."

"You are giving up?" Hua Ze Lei could not believe he was hearing this.

She shook her head vigorously. "This was a mistake, right from the start."

"Which one?" he demanded, refusing to just take her words for it.

"This! All of these! The warning signs were there from the very beginning and I refused to see it!"

"You are not making any sense!" He is becoming heated now, and suddenly he had the urge to throttle her and shake some sense into her.

"You and I belong in two different worlds! Completely different! You are a prince, and what am I? Just a scraggly girl from the streets who was lucky enough to know a few dance steps and was taken in by your company! Other than that, what do I have?"

"Please...don't say any more." Hua Ze Lei buried his face in his hands. He never thought this would be an issue. He never made this an issue before, and now she is using it against him.

She did not seem to hear him as she spoke on, her voice filled with tears but she was uncannily dry-eyed.

"I have nothing, Hua Ze Lei. I just came into your life, and now I have turned it upside down. Your friends are against this whole thing, everyone is against us!"

To stop her from saying any more, he roughly pulled her in his arms and held her tightly against his chest. "Stop...please."

Aisha initially thought of resisting but when she felt the comfort of his arms around her, all thoughts ran out the window and she closed her eyes, listening to the beat of his heart. She knew he must be hurting him terribly right now, and she was feeling hellish as well. But this has to happen.

"I don't want to pull you away from that world, Lei...from your world, and everything else," she whispered.

Hua Ze Lei wanted to shut his ears and try not to listen to what she was saying. In some way he understood what she meant, but he does not want to acknowledge that fact, since it would mean something like him letting her go.

And he really does not think he wants that to happen.

Against his will she drew away from him and took the plane ticket from his hands. When she looked back at him, it was with a smile that was forced from deep within her.

"I am leaving tomorrow," she said. "And I do not want you to see me off at the airport."

This statement seemed to jolt him as his past words to his friends a long time ago came back. What an irony. He is hearing this now when it was him who 'immortalized' it, so to speak.

Slowly he looked up at her. "What does all these mean, Aisha?"

She shrugged in nonchalance. "It is not supposed to mean anything, Hua Ze Lei. Let's just pretend none of these ever happened."

"None of...all of these?"

Slowly, with her heart breaking in her eyes, she nodded. "Everything...they never happened."

He swallowed. "That is easier said than done," he whispered.

"But it can be done," she said and, to his ears, she sounded as though she is convincing herself. "We must," she added, in a much softer tone.

"Where does this leave us?" he asked, pressing on.

With a slight lift of her shoulders, she said, "The same as before. You're my boss; I work for Artiste. We'll still see each other in Japan..."

"But it won't be the same."

After a short pause, she said, "No, it won't."

His next question was totally unexpected that she found herself gaping at him, speechless.

"Do you love me, Aisha?"

She stood there, mute, unable to speak.

But he did not seem to need her to answer. "Because...I love you."

Aisha remained standing there, pale, her voice deserting her, every inch of her numb, even as he silently left the room and closed the door behind him.

When he was gone, her senses seemed to return and she sank back down on the floor of the room, the tears coming down in torrents.

Xi Men watched in silence as Dao Ming Si strode towards him across the parking lot of Meteors. When they were both standing by Xi Men's car, Dao Ming Si spoke.

"What a night."

"It was just as well Shancai wasn't here to witness it."

"You're right. She would hate Aisha even more."

Xi Men shook his head. "I can't believe our Shancai is actually hating someone...and Aisha least of all."

"I was as surprised as you are." He became more serious. "Did you see the look on Lei's face earlier? When he hit that other guy?"

Xi Men nodded. "Who could forget it? It's the first time I ever saw him become violent. And his eyes...they looked downright murderous. For a moment I was afraid to even go near him."

Dao Ming Si was silent for a while, then said, "Looks like Hua Ze Lei has changed. No longer the autistic we presumed him to be."

"Who caused it, I wonder?" Xi Men mulled loudly, earning a dirty look from Dao Ming Si. "What?" he demanded.

Dao Ming Si shook his head. "What else? A woman, of course! Just like you!"

As Dao Ming Si strode towards his own car, Xi Men called out to him. "Ei! What's that supposed to mean?"

Dao Ming Si's reply was teasing. "Figure it out for yourself, big boy!" he said and slid into his own car, giving a wave at his friend.

Xi Men merely shook his head with a twisted smile and got into his own car.

"Women..." he whispered, shaking his head.

Mrs. Ling was clearly shocked when she opened the door to her son's room and witnessed the disarray it was in.

For the past few days she rarely saw Mei Zuo around the house. If he weren't in the office he would be somewhere else, and when he goes home, it would be at such a late hour and no one else was up. He would lock himself up in his room and not speak a word to anyone.

If not for her husband's bidding she would have confronted Mei Zuo a long time ago.

But today as she arrived from afternoon tea with one of her friends at the country club, one of the maids met her, looking thoroughly distressed, telling her that Mei Zuo had begun lugging some large bags into his car.

Sure enough, when she went to the garage, he saw a couple of suitcases and boxes waiting by his car.

Now she came straight to his room to talk to him, and she could not believe what she was seeing.

On the bed were strewn his clothes and other personal effects. At that instant Mei Zuo was in the process of cramming a heap of fresh shirts into another suitcase.

"What are you doing?" she demanded when Mei Zuo barely spared her a glance and went on packing. "Where are you going?"

"I'm moving out," he replied tersely.

"Since when?" she asked. "Does your father know about this?"

He nodded. "I told him back at the office this morning. He seemed OK with it."

"And where exactly are you headed?"

"I found this place, a bachelor's pad in the middle of the city."

Mrs. Ling looked at her son closely and realized he was serious. He is really moving out of the mansion.

With conviction she stepped forward and tried to pull the suitcase away from the bed but Mei Zuo tugged it back.

"You are not leaving this house, young man."

Mei Zuo felt bad standing up to his mother who had been nothing but a good mother to him. But he had to.

"Ma, I am old enough to be on my own now. Stop treating me like a child!"

"Well, stop acting like one! You are acting like a little boy who found a lost toy and would defy anyone just to have it back!"

This made his ears ring. "Aisha is not a toy."

Mrs. Ling nodded slowly, her eyes narrowing. "Isn't she? Then what about Xiao Qiao? Is she a toy?"

"Ma..."

"You are playing them both, and you know it! Xiao Qiao especially!" She shook her head in amazement. "Honestly, Mei Zuo, I never thought I would have this problem with you!"

Mei Zuo grabbed his suitcase and walked to the door. "I'm sorry, Mama. I promise I will come by often to visit."

"You dare defy your family over nonsense!"

But Mei Zuo had already left the room, and Mrs. Ling was left fuming.

Mei Zuo quietly deposited his stuff in the trunk, aware of the peering faces of their household staff through the windows but openly ignoring them.

He does not actually know what would happen after this, or what he would do. He had never felt so confused in his life, and he knew he would come to a decision away from everyone.

Whatever decision he will come up with, he just hoped it would not cause much pain to anyone, especially to those people he cared so much about.

At Aisha's insistence, the butler of the Hua Zes called a cab to come pick her up early that morning. She refused any offer from the mansion's staff to personally drive her to the airport using any of the Hua Ze cars.

She must have looked really dead serious because they did not press further and simply agreed to her demands.

Aisha, now dressed in a coat and a cap, holding her backpack as the cab driver towed her two suitcases into the trunk.

Since Hua Ze Lei walked out of her room last night she had not seen him.

Neither does she plan to see him. It would only make the parting more painful.

She smiled as the butler came forward and handed her a small bag.

"It's for you, Miss Aisha. The girls made it for you."

Opening the small bag, she found it was laden with pastries of the maids that she had grown to love duriing her brief stay in the mansion. With eyes shining with tears, Aisha smiled up at the butler.

"Tell them I said thanks," she said softly.

"I will," the butler replied with a small bow.

The cab driver opened the car door wide and Aisha stepped inside the cab. Throwing one last lingering look at the Hua Ze mansion, she turned to the cab driver and said, "Let's go."

The cab drove off the driveway and out of the gates of the Hua Ze property. But Aisha, not even once, looked back.

Had she done so, she would have seen the solitary figure at the rooftop terrace of the mansion, staring off after the cab, sadness written all over his countenance.