December 21, 20XX (Friday)
Studio Near East Park- Downtown
Wavy brown hair hallowed the head of the beauty sleeping peacefully on the single bed. Above her headboard, the sun rays peeked through the pinkish white curtains of her window. The beauty's eyes flickered as her hands quickly covered the rays of the sun that had forcefully kissed her vision when she opened her light brown eyes.
She laid perfectly flat on the bed with her right hands shadowing her sight from the indirect exposure of the sun. Suddenly a thought passes through her head like a raging tsunami; quicky and completely unpredicted. Her thought was, 'I like Yang.'
She quickly got up like a lunatic and stumbled in the mirror to see her face, and upon arriving at her destination with skinned knees, she was faced to face with a red tomato version of herself. The thought had come out of nowhere as if it was just a regular occurrence that she knew but have not realized it; as if it was a painting that was always in her room but she never really saw because her sight had been blocked by another painting.
She could not tell the exact day nor a particular thing that he did to make her like him. Mei Li does not know the when, the why, and the how; Maybe it was the accumulation of the little things he had done for her and the consistency of his actions that moved her.
She just woke up today and realized, as if someone had snapped her from a daydream, that she did like him so much more than she previously thought she did.
He was not just a cover to her pain. He was not only a replacement for someone else. He wasn't just a phase. He was another story; he was another possible chance on a grander and better scheme at life. He was another man, yes, but he was a man willing to be last man standing in her side. He was someone that moved her walls to accommodate him too.
With him, she could see them living till tomorrow ends.
Wu Mei Li sat on her two-seater table and realized that she always unconsciously sat on the right side of this table because Yang always sat on the left. Her face colored red again as the thought of the man. Her eyes roomed her small studio unit and short snippets of memories to the past weeks flashed in her eyes. When her vision laid in the small kitchen on the side of her, she remembered having cooked a basic dinner of eggs, rice, and hotdogs for Yang when he had decided to visit late at night.
When her eyes saw the coffee maker that Yang had bought for her, she remembered how she had tried to make it work and had even called Yang for a visit to teach her the complicated contraption. When her eyes saw the small books of mystery novels, she remembered Yang had left it there in case she would be bored, or he would be bored when he visits. When her eyes saw the small cactus on the windowsill that leads to her fire escape metal ladder, she remembered how Yang had put it on there instead of the window above her head because he was worried that it might feel on her as she slept.
Her life was slowly but surely being invaded by the little things that Zhao Yang had done, had given, and had promised to provide for her. It was the accumulation of these little things that made his efforts for her so grand.
Mei Li started to prepare her breakfast of sausage and onion hash with two eggs on top. She started to chop the ingredients when her phone rang.
"Morning." Yang's voice filtered over the phone's speakers.
"Good Morning," Mei Li said blushing beautifully red, "You're awake early."
It was a pity that Yang could not see how she had looked like a tomato upon hearing his deep and growling voice first thing in the morning.
"I want to know if you'll come to the office today? Trisha had not scheduled to meet with you."
"Yeah, she told me she would be looking for a furniture making company to make the office cubicles in bulk." Mei Li trailed off as she continued to cut the onions and her blush still tinting her milky skin, "Can I skip coming there today? I have a painting arriving from Milan."
She sniffed in the end as the onion unleashed its powers on her eyes.
"Are you crying?!" Yang's distressed voice surprised Mei Li, who was wiping her tears with a tissue.
"Why are you crying?!" Mei Li would have teased him if she wasn't as embarrassed as she is because of Yang's nervous and worried voice.
"I'm cutting onions for my breakfast." Mei Li sniffed again feeling the tears gathering on the edges of her eyes.
"Oh..."
Mei Li smiled beautifully, especially when she heard Yang exhaled loudly in relief. This, This was one of the reasons why she likes him. He cares so much for her.
"What are you going to make? Can I have some." Yang immediately jumps at the chance to revisit her.
"Do you want some?"
"Can I?" Yang sounded so eager.
"...Sure," Mei Li hesitated since she doesn't want to see him because she knows she'll blush and he'll tease her after but at the same time she wanted to see him.
An awkward silence followed. Yang tensed in his seat, afraid of her silence. They hadn't been this tensed and awkward since Paris. He thought they had passed this awkwardness before. He didn't know that Mei Li wasn't awkward with him, she was just shy.
After a while, Yang interrupted her cooking as he said, "Can I come and eat dinner there after work?"
Mei Li almost lost her grip with the large kitchen knife. She had not expected him to ask that she thought he would ask for her to deliver some or have one of her guards deliver it to him. She had not expected to hear him ask if he could visit.
"...Sure," Mei Li agreed with a smile of her lips, gladness on her cheeks, wonder in her eyes, and excitement inside her heart.
"Is 5:30 pm alright?"
"...5:30 is perfect." Mei Li replied immediately. Her heart missed a beat again when his voice sounded so much deeper than before.
"I'll see you later," Yang said while waiting for Mei Li to hang up and was glad that the line went dead, so he continued to peruse the papers needed to be revised.
Mei Li had quietly stood for a moment, doing nothing but stare into space. Her body begun to move only when her food had begun to smell burnt.
After eating breakfast, she waited for a particular important delivery. She picked one of the novels that Yang had left and begun to read as she waited. She had just finished chapter 3 when her doorbell rang. Mei Li stumbled to the door with a broad grin. Opening the door, she was met with the delivery man asking for her sign in the delivery sheet.
Doing her transactions fast, Mei Li dragged the larger than life painting inside and carefully unwrapping the delicate box, plastics, and styrofoam inside. When the painting was fully unpacked, she carefully placed it on her big best easel. Mei Li grew tired with her constant work, so she proceeded to rest for a while to catch her breath while looking at the painting, she nodded in satisfaction as she sat on her bed. She decided to stare at the focus and subject of the painting briefly. Her body slumps at her bed after a while of just staring at the model 's perfect face on the canvass.
She had grown tired.
Mei Li closed her eyes and slept, not realizing an easily breakable bottle was thrown from the little window on her kitchen, disrupting the cactus placed by Yang. The bottle broke into pieces as it came in contact with her floor and the smell of paint thinner filled the room. Suddenly, a cigarette butt was thrown strategically on the flammable thinner causing an uncontrollable fire.