"So are we going drinking tonight or not?" she rang up Cheng Fu.

Surprised at the cheery voice on the other end, he was happy nonetheless, "your wish is my command, lady. Should I pick you up around 8pm?"

They sat shoulder to shoulder at an overcrowded pub. She had stopped counting the number of shots post hitting the double digits. Oblivion had finally found her and drowned the pain and humiliation of the mail.

"I think we are ready to go home now," he said unsteadily.

She shook her head, "I like it here. I want to stay here only. Can we please stay here?"

Fu dragged her out of the lounge and hailed a taxi for them. Instead of dropping her at the hostel, he took her to his flat. Jia Li was nearly comatose by the time he carried her to his room. He put her on the bed and covered her with a blanket. Sitting next to her, he brushed her hair past the forehead and bent down to drop a kiss. She opened her eyes at the gesture and smiled at him. Looping her arms through his neck, she brought his mouth closer to hers.

Present Day

"Hi, I am back. Can we meet before the court date once?" she called up Fu.

They met at their regular coffee joint.

Cradling the hot, steaming mug, he asked, "so how was it seeing him after so many years? And why have you come back without attending the wedding? Did something happen?"

She gave him a levelling stare, "do I ever ask you whether Xue Ann is happy with you or not? Or whether you had a fight with her today?"

He raised his hands in surrender, "alright. You don't need to go all serious on me. I was just curious. So tell me, what is the purpose of today's meeting since these days I never get invited for just catching up!"

She ignored the underlying sarcasm, "I wanted to tell you that I have taken up a four-month extension to my last a.s.signment in Africa. They offered it to me on this trip and I shall be leaving within the next fortnight. You have the keys to the apartment. Please make sure you move all your stuff before I come back. Its more than sufficient time, I believe."

He was studying her expressions closely as she delivered this news to him. She had been the first woman he had fallen in love with. A part of him still loved her, will always love her. But she had never ever loved him, not even for a moment. He wanted to believe that she had tried but couldn't do it.

In the beginning, he had been so enamoured with her beauty that he didn't look past at the person underneath. His biggest failing had been the over confidence in his ability to make her fall in love with him. He hadn't factored in the frozen block of ma.s.s that had replaced her heart by the time she married him.

Had it not been for her guilt about sleeping with him in a drunken stupor that one night, she would have never agreed to marry him. He had thought it to be a blessing in disguise initially. Little did he know that it would be the albatross of his life.