Derek and Gillian were looking for the elevators that would take them to the restaurant when Ethan and Anita approached them from the opposite entrance. Since Anita’s rescue four months ago, Gillian had only seen her on three occasions. The first time was when Anita payed a surprise visit to her at the office and brought lunch to thank her for saving her life.
The second time was at an invitation by Anita for dinner to thank her for taking care of her late brother’s apartment. Gillian knew that was just an excuse for her and Ethan to meet up again, so she requested for Derek to come along. It was also that same night when Ethan gave her a bank draft for her portion of the down-payment for the apartment they were planning to purchase. She was very surprised the real estate agent and seller were willing to refund the full deposit after they revoked the contract. But Ethan remained impassive to her surprise.
The third time was a coincident. It happened at the movie theatre. Anita and Ethan were seated just two rows in front of Gillian and her friend, Megan, who happened to be visiting from the States. Fifteen minutes into the movie, Gillian asked Megan if it was alright to skip the film. Sensing her distraction since saying hello to Ethan and Anita, Megan was happy to grant her friend the deliverance. However, she had to force it out of Gillian as to what was bothering her. That night, Gillian found consolation as she shared the circumstances of her breakup for the first time. That was two months ago and Gillian had not seen Anita since.
Ethan, on the other hand, had been relentless. When he saw Gillian leaving the theatre, he came after her asking what was wrong. Gillian had to fabricate a lie; telling him a client had just paged her to which she must attend to immediately.
That same night, when she returned home shortly after midnight, Ethan came forward to meet her at the parking lot. Somehow, Ethan found out she lied about the client and was upset, thinking something bad had happened to her. When she entered her home, Jason told her that Ethan came over shortly before 10pm and had been waiting for her since. That was when Gillian decided she needed space and closure from Ethan and their relationship.
Over the next two months, Ethan and Anita had sent numerous invitations to Gillian for breakfast, lunch and dinner to which she had managed to turn down or avoided because she simply wasn’t ready to share any meals with them. However, she had not been successful in avoiding Ethan the few times when the invitation was initiated by Derek.
Today was a classic example. Derek asked her to meet him at the Sportbar to discuss a case. Gillian was not expecting Ethan to show up. In fact, she made Derek promise that Ethan would not be present. On the way to the restaurant, Derek still swore he never told Ethan about their meeting. Derek insisted it was fate that Ethan happened to be there. Now watching as Ethan and Anita approached, Gillian knew in her heart that the decision she made two months ago must be carried out as soon as possible.
“Gillian, I am so glad your father and auntie are alright.” Anita offered her condolences upon seeing Gillian.
“Thank you! We are so glad they didn’t board the flight.” Gillian responded genuinely. “But it’s a sad day for others who have lost their loved ones on the flight.”
Anita nodded in agreement. She smiled timidly. “Thank you for inviting me to dinner,” she gestured her gratitude by giving Gillian a firm grip on the forearm.
Gillian had always been aware Anita desperately wanted their friendship to go to a deeper level, she now felt small for not being able to reciprocate. She took a quick glance towards Ethan and could tell he read her thoughts.
Gillian then turned back to Anita with a smile. “It’s the least I can do. After all, you treated me to lunch and a dinner to which I haven’t return the honor yet.”
Having said that, the elevator doors opened and everyone stepped inside. The doors were starting to close but they suddenly halted when a hand struck in between. The doors jerked opened again and a woman quickly stepped in and pressed the button to the floor she wanted to go to.
Derek was shocked to see the person who stepped inside. “Katie?”
Katie was just as as shocked when she heard her name. She turned and let out a gasp. “Derek?”
Then Katie was greeted by Gillian. When she returned her hello, Katie noticed Ethan was among them and greeted him as well. “Yip Sir.”
“Hi Katie,” Ethan responded politely and followed her gaze towards Anita. He realized the two have never met. He turned to Anita and made the introduction. “This is Katie Fung, she used to work at the station.”
To Katie, “This is Anita Mak.” Ethan continued with a tone of apprehension. “Mak Sir’s sister.”
Immediately Katie felt her stomach plunging because standing next to her was the sister of the man whom her father was in jail for brutally murdering a year and a half ago. She nodded at Anita as a form of greeting. She felt uncomfortable but was glad to be interrupted.
“When did you come back?” Asked Derek.
“Just two days ago,” Katie replied. She could tell Derek was not impressed by being kept out of the loop. She was glad when the elevator doors opened to the floor of her destination. “My friends are waiting for me. I got to go. Bye!”
Katie stepped out of the elevator and dashed away before anyone could say a proper good-bye. Certainly before Derek could call after her. The elevator doors closed and their ride continued to ascend as Derek stood momentarily with a puzzling look on his face.
Ethan tapped his shoulder and asked teasingly. “Your face tells me you want to go back down to the 5th floor to look for her.”
It took Derek a few more seconds to register what Ethan just said. He looked at Ethan and addressed him with a rebuttal. “Since when did you start reading people’s face?”
Ethan continued to tease him. “Just don’t want anyone to lose their appetite by looking at your puzzling face, especially when it’s so rare for Gillian to be treating.”
“Right, more like someone else might lose their appetite by looking at your face,” Derek bantered back.
“That’s normal!” Ethan added and the jovial mood returned to the elevator closet as they rode their way to the 12th floor to the restaurant.
“Yeah, better eat up tonight because it may be a long time before I’ll treat again!” Gillian added as they stepped out of the elevator to look for their reserved room. “Especially at a place like this!”
Half way into the eight-course dinner, Jason was curious why his dad and Aunty May changed their travel itinerary.
“So you guys were supposed to go to Egypt, what made you change your mind last minute?” Jason asked. “You could have told us on Friday when you called.”
Aunty May’s eyes met Ethan’s and addressed the answer to him. “I guess we ought to be glad you broke up with Gillian; otherwise, we would not be here having dinner together.”
Mr. Chan turned to Gillian who was sitting next to him and gently padded her head as a playful reprimand. “And Gillian, you have to remember you don’t have to suffer alone. Good thing Jason heard you quietly crying in your room. He also told us you were always at home and that Ethan had to our home for months.”
“And we noticed you always avoided talking about Ethan whenever we called,” Aunty May turned to Gillian. “So, we put two and two together and knew something must have happened.”
“You didn’t have to worry about me, I am used to breaking up, remember?” Gillian tried to force out a smile. “I didn’t tell you cos I didn’t want to interrupt your travel plans.”
“We were concerned about you. We can’t go on with our travel plans knowing my little princess is unhappy!” Mr. Chan added.
Aunty May noticed the guilt stricken facial expression on Ethan and the withdrawn, yet helpless expression on Gillian. She then turned to Anita. “It’s all about fate’s timing. You came back, they broke up, and we escaped death today. Life could be gone any minute. We must not dwell in the past but cherish the present.”
Anita nodded in agreement to what Aunty May said. When she turned to look at Ethan, she watched as he lifted his gaze across the table.
At the exact same moment, Gillian felt a gentle gravitational pull of her head and found herself looking directly into Ethan’s eyes. Once again, they were both taken by surprise of the love that they saw while looking through each other’s eyes.