Weiwei was flooded with conflicting and confusing thoughts; she felt as if she were in a fog. She came to the office very early. There was plenty of work waiting, but she couldn't concentrate on it. She kept thinking back to last night's trip to the Third Tower. She replayed the guard's words in her head many times: "You know Vice-President Feng?"
Why didn't he tell me who he really was? He gave me a hint during the cruise, but that wasn't the whole truth. Was there a reason he hid it from me?
Weiwei trembled – not out of fear, but because she worried that everything positive that had recently made her life bearable and even enjoyable could disappear at any moment. She dreaded returning to the sort of miserable life she led up until only weeks ago.
Weiwei returned to work, carefully rechecking everything she was doing two or three times as she kept finding mistakes because she couldn't stop her mind from wandering.
Is he back to work as well? Is he sitting in his office right now thinking about it just like me? What is he thinking? Does he even remember what happened?
Weiwei kept an eye on her phone, but there were no messages.
"I heard you went to the Third Tower yesterday," said Chengli over lunch. They were sitting in a corner with another colleague, the always cheerful and always curious Ruxuan.
"Yes," Weiwei nodded feeling the color rushing to her face. She lowered her head over her lunchbox to hide it.
"How was it? I have never been there."
"You went to the Third Tower?" joined in Ruxuan. "Tell us, tell us, what did you do there?"
Weiwei sighed to herself.
That's how rumors get started. Well, if Chengli heard about it, it means that soon everyone is going to know… I should get prepared. Do people have nothing else to do but gossip?
"Director Zhang asked me to deliver some papers," Weiwei replied trying to stay as calm as possible.
"Why did he send you there?"
"He was on his way to the airport, and there was no one else around. It was pretty late in the evening."
Ruxuan looked disappointed. "And you just dropped off the papers?"
I hope no one knows who I spoke with over there!
"Uh-huh," murmured Weiwei.
"Someone sent you a message," said Ruxuan.
Weiwei grabbed her phone.
Why did I leave it on the table!
"Who is it from?" smiled Ruxuan.
It was a message from Yihan about a file review.
What did you expect? Are you waiting for a message from him?
"Oh, it's from Yihan," Weiwei closed her lunchbox. "I'm sorry, I have to head back. I have so much to finish today—I'm afraid I won't be able to get it all done."
"You take on too much work, sister," called Ruxuan as Weiwei was leaving.
If only that was my biggest problem…
Two days followed. Two days of sheer agony. Weiwei was waking up, spending the entire day, and then going to sleep with the same thoughts: What happened that evening? What was he going to tell me? Does he really like me? Why hasn't he contacted me?
Weiwei was trying to guess whether Qi remembered anything about the drive home in the cab. And about what happened at the reception. And why he suddenly didn't feel well.
How I wish he'd just tell me what was on his mind!
That made Weiwei pause and reflect. She wanted for Qi to be open and honest about what he was thinking, but was that the way she behaved? Was she ever fully open and honest with him – or anyone else, for that matter – about things that were on her mind?
Is it too much to ask of anyone to say what's on their mind?
Weiwei decided that she would make an effort to be more open with Qi, if they were still going to be friends.
Her mind returned for the thousandth time to what he said in the taxi.
He said he really liked me. Did he mean that? He barely knows me.
But in her gut, she felt he meant what he had said.
And so she was back to square one.
Why hasn't he contacted me? What happened that evening?
And then, on the third day, just after lunch as Yihan and Weiwei went outside for a few minutes, Yihan raised an eyebrow while scrolling through her email.
"That's odd," she said.
"What is?"
"It's an internal memo that one of the vice-presidents is no longer with the company," Yihan shook her head. "It's a very unusual announcement. Terse and cold. Something is up over at the Third Tower."
Weiwei's heart sank. "A vice-president?" she asked faintly.
"Yes," said Yihan. "Vice-President Feng Qi."