UNTOUCHED

For the regulars and new customers of Sombrero who trooped into the restaurant in droves, nothing seemed amiss. It was business as usual for the employees of Sombrero; even the two managers went on their work as though there is not impending doom hanging above them.

The fate of Sombrero hangs by a thread, and in truth everyone is waiting what would befall one of Taipei's fastest growing culinary destinations. But no one was willing to let that dread mar the perfect day for business.

If anything, today seemed a day of irony for Sombrero. Just when there is the danger of it changing hands, people are coming in droves, as though made aware of its precarious position.

As Shancai walked into the restaurant, her heart heavy, her footsteps dragging behind her, she looked at everything with longing in her eyes. She knew how much work Shage and her mother had put into this place, and for it to go to waste over Dao Ming Feng's vengeful schemes...well, it just seemed...unfair.

"Shancai!"

She turned around and put up a cheery smile as she waved at her mother behind the counter. Well, at least her mother's unflagging optimism is still there, she thought and strode towards her.

"Ma," she said in greeting and looked around. "Goodness, I have never seen so much people in here!"

"Oh, and there will be more! Just a while ago the phone had been ringing off the hook with people making reservations for dinner!"

Shancai smiled. "Business is very good?"

"Very good? It is great!" Her mother grinned. Shage never had a moment's rest since we opened this morning. I do not think he is complaining, though."

An awkward silence reigned between mother and daughter and Shancai could almost feel the tension underneath the cheerful façade of her mother. She tried to reassure her with a smile.

"You seem to be holding up pretty well, Ma."

Her mother simply nodded and spoke in that high-pitched tone of hers. "We always have to think positive, right?"

It took a while before Shancai could nod her reluctant agreement.

"Hey, why are you here?" her mother asked. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Dao Ming Si told me not to go to work for a couple of days," she explained. "But I could not very well sit at home and do nothing, so I came here."

"How is your husband?"

Shancai remembered Dao Ming Si's taut expression when he drove away early this morning to the office. Today he and his lawyers are to meet with Mr. Li's lawyers to talk about a possible compromise, and they both somehow felt the pressure.

"It is today, isn't it?" her mother asked. "They will begin talks today."

Shancai nodded. "I wanted to go, but A Si told me to leave everything to him."

Her mother also nodded, as though leaving her fate and the fate of the restaurant in Dao Ming Si's hands.

"Shancai, I think you have a visitor," her mother said after a while, looking behind her daughter.

When Shancai turned her head to see who her mother was referring to.

Standing there, her hands gripping the handles of her purse, a serene expression on her face, stood Xiao Qiao.

This was probably the worst test to his patience he's ever had for a long time. Many times over the duration of the meeting he almost reached across the table and hit Mr. Li's lawyer, if only to wipe that smug smile off his face.

If not for Li Fong's silent admonitions with his eyes he would have sent these two lawyers sprawling on the floor.

Once again he clenched and unclenched his fists, reminding himself that losing his temper would not help the situation in any way. It would only worsen it.

But damn it, these second-rate lawyers of that blasted landlord know they are in the best position and they keep rubbing that to his face!

He returned his attention to what the smug and snotty-looking lawyer was saying, trying to control his ever-increasing temper.

"So as you can see, Mr. Dao Ming, from anyone's point of view, the offer by the Dao Ming Corporation is obviously the best one."

He mentally counted from one to ten and imagined he was someplace else...in the vineyards of Barcelona, perhaps...or in their old home at the small villa in Madrid...

"...if that is what you think, then I am afraid me and my clients have no other recourse than to bring this to a judicial body."

Li Fong's reasonable yet diplomatic voice managed to enter Dao Ming Si's subconscious and he silently agreed. If push comes to shove, then he had absolutely no qualms about taking this to court. Li Fong felt absolutely certain as to their chances, and Xi Men thought so, too.

Suddenly the smug grins were gone, replaced with barely concealed shock. Clearly they were not expecting this maneuver.

"To...to court?" The spokesman of the two-man Mr. Li-should-get-more-money brigade began to grow red at the ears. "Don't you think that's a bit hasty?"

Li Fong turned his head towards Dao Ming Si and the latter was now feeling hopeful.

Dao Ming Si spoke in a calm voice, yet with menacing undertones. "Who's being hasty? I want this over and done with as quick as possible, just as your client Mr. Li would probably want."

"But..." the spokesperson was now blabbering nervously, "taking it to court…that would drag this thing longer than it should, don't you think?"

Dao Ming Si shrugged. "You are hardly leaving us any choice, sir." He leaned forward, wanting to end this meeting with the upper hand. "Tell you what, go back to your employer, tell him how our offer stands. If he still would not consider it, then I am afraid we have no other choice but to fight this one off."

The atmosphere seemed to crackle from the intensity of Dao Ming Si's gaze and the nervousness of the two lawyers of Mr. Li. Li Fong wanted to laugh out loud at the sudden turn of the tide, but he is a lawyer and, as much as he grew to despise these two, they are still two of his peers.

He cleared his throat. "We'll be on stand by, gentlemen. We hope to hear from you the soonest." He stood up and Dao Ming Si followed suit. Dao Ming Si quickly left the room, not even bothering to shake the hands of the other two.

Li Fong found him waiting for him at the parking area.

"Will you be alright going back to the office on your own?" Dao Ming Si asked.

Li Fong shrugged. "Sure. I could easily take a cab." He gazed at his employer wonderingly. "Where are you off to?"

Dao Ming Si got into his car and spoke with a grim expression on his face. "I have someone I should talk to."

Li Fong was left staring after the car as Dao Ming Si drove off. Somehow he had an idea who his boss will be meeting.

Li Fong sighed. All these could easily be fixed just by one simple phone call to Mr. Li from Dao Ming Cheng. But the old man would not budge; clearly he is not remotely interested in helping out Shancai and her family.

Shaking his head, the lawyer flagged a cab, all the while wondering how he got to be employed by such...enigmatic men. The men of the Dao Ming family.

It is hardly Xi Men's penthouse suite, but it suited him just fine. He could have looked around for another place, something more posh than this one. But he was in such a hurry to leave the mansion that he settled for the first available bachelor's pad he came across.

Mei Zuo swung open the wide doors of the balcony and strode out, looking out into the city. Well, at least it has a good view, he decided grudgingly. Even the view from Xi Men's pad is not this good.

From where he was standing he could see the ocean in the horizon; a bit far, but he could see the blue of it anyway. Below him sprawled the bustling industrial area of Taipei. It was a good thing his pad is located at the top floor of the eleven-story building, or else he will have to contend with the raucous of machines and traffic everyday.

Mei Zuo went back inside and proceeded with unpacking his clothes and hanging them on the closet.

He whistled. "Good old Mei Zuo, looks like you have to do things by yourself from now on." Suddenly feeling silly speaking to himself, he shook his head in amusement.

He could always hire a housekeeper to tend to the place probably three times in a week.

Suddenly his cell phone rang. It is Xi Men.

"Hello," he said in a careful voice.

"Mei Zuo! I've been calling you at home all morning, but no one could tell me where you are!"

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "My battery went dead and I just managed to change it a few minutes ago."

Xi Men did not say anything to that. Instead he said, "One of your maids told me you moved out. Is that true?"

Mei Zuo sighed silently. He did not really want any one of them to know just yet. "Yes," he admitted. "Just this morning."

"Where are you staying?" Xi Men asked, genuine concern in his voice. "You know if you have nowhere else to go, you could always crash at my place."

Mei Zuo smiled. "Thanks, Xi Men, but I am fine. I just found a place and I am settling in as we speak."

"That's a relief," Xi Men breathed. "So when are you going to invite me to your new place?"

He came here to be alone, to stay away from everyone even for a while. Inviting his friends over is not exactly what he had in mind.

"I don't know," he said. "The place is still a mess. I think I need a more time to settle in."

Xi Men must have noticed his friend's momentary hesitation, but chose not to remark on it. "I see. Well, when you finally decide to regale us with your abode, you know we're just a call away."

Mei Zuo thanked his friend and hung up, feeling bad about lying to Xi Men about his pad. He needs time. And space. And lots and lots of time.

"Time. He needs it."

Shancai stared at Xiao Qiao from across the table and was amazed at how her friend is holding up. Sure, Xiao Qiao looks forlorn and she obviously lacked sleep but she seemed to be doing fine.

"Time?" she asked.

Xiao Qiao nodded, playing around with the fork. "He said he needs time and space, so I am giving it to him."

Shaking her head in disbelief, Shancai said, "I can't believe you are letting him do this to you. Don't you think Mei Zuo is being terribly unfair to you?"

Xiao Qiao's smile was so sad Shancai wanted to just hug her. "I was able to wait for Mei Zuo before. I don't see how I could not do so again."

Appalled, Shancai once again shook her head. "I can't believe you are taking all these in stride." She sighed. "If Aisha had not – "

Xiao Qiao's reply was sudden. "I am not blaming her."

Shancai stared at her. "What?"

"Hua Ze Lei is right. None of these is Aisha's fault."

Marvelling at Xiao Qiao's words, she whispered, "Lei said that?"

Xiao Qiao nodded. "Aisha is a victim here, as we all are."

Shancai felt another wave of headache coming on. "I can't believe Hua Ze Lei could be as forgiving. Aisha could be playing him."

"I don't think she is, Shancai." Xiao Qiao smiled in remembrance. "The first moment I laid eyes on Aisha, I thought she was a very nice girl."

For a split second Shancai almost blurted out what she knew of Aisha's shady past, but chose not to. "Looks can be deceiving," was all she said.

Xiao Qiao was visibly confused by her words. "I don't know, Shancai. I feel Aisha is a very nice girl, in and out. And Hua Ze Lei seems to think the same thing. I trust his judgment. You are a close friend of his; I would have thought you felt the same."

All of a sudden Shancai felt as though she was the bad guy, destroying Aisha's image in front of Xiao Qiao. She sighed. "Enough of this talk about Aisha, Xiao Qiao," she said. "This is depressing."

Xiao Qiao nodded in agreement. "By the way, did you know...Mei Zuo moved out of their mansion already."

Her eyes widened. "He did? When?"

"This morning. His mother called me up when he left." Xiao Qiao smiled, but there were traces of worry on her face. "I thought you might know where he went."

Shancai shook her head. "I didn't know about this. I don't think A Si knows, either."

Xiao Qiao sighed. "I just hope he is somewhere safe."

"Unbelievable," Shancai muttered before she could stop herself. "He treats you horribly and you still think of him in this manner."

Xiao Qiao peered up at her friend. "Don't tell me you have never felt this way towards Dao Ming Si before?"

Shancai suddenly found the humor and the irony in what her friend just said and she smiled. "You're using my own words back at me."

Xiao Qiao merely shrugged and the two ladies smiled at each other. At last, a bit of a ray of sunshine managed to delve itself into both their dreary-despite-the-sun day.

Dao Ming Feng was clearly surprised when Dao Ming Si appeared before her in her office at the Maple Hotel, and no matter how hard she tried to conceal it, her son still managed to see through her.

"Surprised to see me, Ma?" Dao Ming Si taunted. "I would have thought this is what you wanted."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, opting to stay seated in her plush swivel chair.

"Oh, stop acting, please. You know that never worked with me."

Dao Ming Feng lifted her chin at his son, trying to intimidate him, but it does not seem to be working, as he remained glowering at her.

"Very well," she said softly with a hint of a smile belying her confusion at her son's sudden grit. "May I know what you are so furious about?" Of course she knew very well what is grating on him, but she was not about to give him that satisfaction.

To her surprise he leaned over the desk and spoke in a low voice. "If you think your ploys would have me running back to you and Shancai getting down on her knees before you, then you couldn't be more wrong."

She merely blinked at him.

Dao Ming Si went on as though she never spoke. "I do not want to fight with you, Ma, but you are the one starting it. And I am not one to back down."

Their eyes clashed, steel gazes locked together, both their iron wills unyielding against each other. To Dao Ming Si's mild surprise, it was his mother who first looked away.

"You are reading too much into this, A Si. This is business. I could hardly care about you and that weed!"

Dao Ming Si could have said something when he heard her call Shancai a weed, but good sense told him not to pursue it. He straightened and stared at Dao Ming Feng with dismay.

"Liar," he said.

"I beg your pardon?" Dao Ming Feng's ears seemed to ring all of a sudden.

Dao Ming Si merely looked at his mother and said, "I will have that property, Ma. I'll be damned if I won't."

He strode past the guards, ignoring them pointedly but fully aware of their tense stance, as though they might jump at him any minute.

But he was able to get out of the hotel with no one jumping his back.

Oh, he would have wanted that. He would do with a good fight right now.

Dao Ming Si resolutely stared ahead as he sat in his car.

His promise came in a whisper. "I will not let you touch us again...ever..."