Zhaolin turned around to leave, Jiu didn't want her hard work of convincing him to go out in vain, so she blocked his path. Her eyes pleading. He didn't want to leave, but Xueyan didn't want him to stay either, so it's better if he left. He moved round Jiuwen and took the first step, then the second step, heading to the door...
"Why don't you just stay..." Xueyan wasn't sure why she said that. But it wouldn't be good if he left after Jiu invited him out.
Jiuwen eyes widened with surprise, then she smiled and looked over her shoulder at the halted Zhaolin.
When he heard what she said, he was truly surprised. He would have rushed back and lifted her from her sitting position if she was his woman, but no, she was not his woman and he was still a CEO, he has to save some face for himself.
He turned back to see her mouth pressed, she must have regretted saying it.
"No..." He started but Jiu cut him of.
"Good, good. Let's order."
The waiter arrived and Jiu ordered first, then he gave the menu book to Xueyan, "You order first."
Jiu watched thier interaction with some doubts. The waiter left and Jiu stood up pretending to be on call, she walked into the dark hallway and turned around to watch the two.
After Jiu left, Zhaolin said. "I promised to be out of your sight but..." He paused. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I have been good."
Arrgh... Why is he talking to me?
"Xue..."
"We can easily pretend we didn't see each other, right?" Xueyan asked, turning a bit to look at him.
He didn't say anything for some time and when he spoke up, "We need to talk."
"Talk about what?"
"About us."
"Us?"
"Yes, why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"All this. Why?"
"I don't have to give you explanation, do I?" Her face expressionless. "Do you really want to know why I'm doing this? It's because I don't want anything to do with you. Back then we were friends but right now... I don't even want us to be. You have your life to live and I have mine."
"What we shared then was more than friendship. You know it yourself. We went beyond fri..."
"Excuse me Mr, you seem to be misunderstanding something here. There was nothing more to our friendship back then. We were young and dumb, we knew nothing. You don't have to over think things. We were nothing more than friends." Xueyan said coldly.
Yes, they had been young but not dumb. They might have been little, spent only a couple of months together, that didn't mean their...
"Here is your order," the waiter said, interrupting whatever Zhaolin was thinking.
"Thank you," Xueyan said.
The waiter left, "We were once lovers. We had more than friendship."
Xueyan was left speechless. She said nothing, that didn't mean he would stop.
"Our journey was short... After you left..."
Xueyan's fork that was heading into her mouth hung in the air. Her fingers tightened around the metal. With force she dropped it on the table, "What is it you want?" She tried to conceal the anger in her by speaking softly.
"I want us back. You and I. I want whatever we shared in the past to continue."
"... Are you mad?"
"I'm not. You asked what is it I want. That's all I want."
"Why?"
"There are a lot of reasons, should I read them all out?"
"Stop. I don't want to hear them."
"Why?" He asked.
"Why? Because i don't want to hear them. You should know that whatever you are about to say is wrong."
"Why is it wrong?"
"Mr. Xing. Zhao. Lin. Don't forget you are a married man. Talking to another woman and she happens to be single is wrong."
"Married?" He questioned.
Is he seriously asking me that?
"I will pretend I didn't hear that." She said and dug in to her food, totally ignoring him.
"We aren't done talking."
Xueyan didn't say a thing.
"Where were you?"
She didn't reply.
"Did you ever get married?" A question he was scared to ask, he discovered as his heart skipped a bit.
She turned to him, one side of her mouth swollen with food.
A little bit of lie will do. She swallowed whatever it is she had in her mouth. "Yes."
This time his heart didn't skip a beat, but it multiplied. He instantly fiddled with something under the table.
She had really married. What happened to the marriage? Perhaps, it failed? It must have. Since Qingran goes with the name Bai. Yes. That's what happened?
"Did he let you have Qingran or did you win her custody?"
Xueyan, "..."
"I don't care if you were once married. Or even twice. I only care about you. We can't go back to the past and undone what has been done, but we can start off from somewhere. We will be happier this time. You have a daughter and i, a son. We can have more kids added to them if you want. But if no, we will make do with the both of them. They are enough. They will be no one in our way. I loved you back then and I still love you now. If your love for me died, we could reignite it with mine. If you still won't love me, then, we could use mine. It's more than enough. What do you say?"
Xueyan felt like hitting his head with pan. Or even, stone him her shoe. What do you say? Say to what? This man is mad!
"No! Keep those silly ideas out of your head." She said through clenched teeth. "And, one more thing." She looked him straight in the eyes. "I'm still married. My husband went on a business trip. Well more than a trip, he was sent to another country for business purposes."
Zhaolin gaze didn't break and she stared right back at him. Unblinkingly staring at him. Her stare was like little daggers going straight to his heart. His heart. Was their target.
"I don't believe a single word you just spoke."
"Good enough, I don't believe yours either."
"I wasn't lying about my feelings. I don't lie."
Then I'm the one lying... Oh yes I'm.
I'm sorry but I can't tell you the truth...