343 Closer Than I Though

"Come and play with it..."

"It's so white and fluffy!"

"So cute!"

Xiu's comments were making Darren's head dizzy. Especially the mushy gushy words he couldn't make sense of. Why wasn't she even noticing that her excitement wasn't being reciprocated? And the blame goes to that samoyed puppy in her hands. 

Earlier when they were supposed to leave, Xiu out of nowhere saw the puppy outside the hotel and jumped down from Darren's back. And when Darren found the cause of her excitement he could only curse his luck.

Okay, let's clear one thing... Darren hated dogs just as much Dylan did if not more. Both best friends liked keeping their distance from dogs for years now and yes, they had the reason for that as well. But he was not willing to share that embarrassing story with Xiu right now. So, he couldn't only use other tactics to get her away from the dog who by the way was now taking liberties with his girlfriend!

"Sweets, let's go home."

"Not yet. I want to play with Fluffy," Xiu said while running her hands through the thick, white, double-layer coat of hairs of the dog. She found the puppy so adorable. She had always loved dogs and Samoyed dog breed was something she never came across before in Asia. But now that she saw it in flesh, she could conclude that was one of the cutest little things she had seen in life.

"Who's Fluffy?"

"He is," Xiu pointed at the puppy who was jumping about in her lap. 

"Can you be any more original?" remarked Darren with sarcasm quite palpable in his voice. Xiu just shrugged her shoulders at his words. Darren watched how the puppy using his front paws was attaching itself with his Xiu's chest and got mad. Great! Now he was even jealous of a dog! Way to go, Regan! 

"Can we take Fluffy home?" Xiu's question made Darren's mind to go in disarray. Damnit! Neither he wanted to take that thing home nor did he want to refuse his girlfriend. What the bloody hell! Why was he being cornered like this?

"Fluffy must already have a home. So, no. We can't take it home," answered Darren with a calm voice while maintaining his distance from Xiu and her 'Fluffy'. Seeing how Xiu pouted, he added, "However, I'll get you a pet. Anything you want other than a dog. A cat, a bird, a fish, damn it! I'm even willing to get a bloody crocodile but not a dog."

Xiu pouted even more as she mumbled, "But Xiu only wants a dog."

"But your boyfriend is scared of dogs," came a voice from behind Darren. Both Darren and Xiu looked over to see Yan Ying walking towards them. Instead of stopping beside Darren, she went up to Xiu as she took the little puppy from her hands and said, "Also, this little one's mommy is looking for him at the entrance."

Darren heaved a sigh of relief knowing that the puppy indeed had a family. Thank God! He was finally spared from this torture!

At first, Ying was gonna make a joke but seeing the look on Xiu's face, she dropped the idea. After all, it seemed like Xiu was the puppy who was being abandoned right now. "This little guy has a family he has to go back to."

Ying's words worked like a charm as Xiu finally nodded and rubbed 'Fluffy's' chin saying her goodbye. "You and I weren't meant to be."

Ying raised her brows as she looked at Darren, "Is she...?"

"Yeah, she drank a lot," answered Darren while Ying nodded her head in understanding. "What about you? What are you doing here?"

"Ah... I came to have dri... Dinner with my aunt but she dropped me at the entrance and went off to park her car. I was waiting for her when an old lady's voice caught my attention. She looked worried about her baby which happens to be this little puppy."

"And being the good girl that you are you decided to offer your help," concluded Darren.

"Yeah, that's about right."

Xiu finally put the puppy back in Ying's hands and said, "Take him home. I'll miss you Fluffy!"

Ying chuckled at her reaction while saying, "Oh, man! It's gonna be fun to watch."

"What?" questioned Darren.

"Seeing you with a kid," answered Ying with a laugh. While Darren frowned she added, "You're jealous of a puppy seeing how attached it got to your girl in minutes. What are you gonna do with your kids?"

"I'll gladly hire a nanny and push them out of my room," said Darren with a smile.

"That'll be very mean of you." Ying shook her head while she turned to leave. She needed to give this little puppy to the original owner who was crying hysterically earlier.

Behind her, Darren hugged Xiu's shoulders to comfort her. She looked really sad about this parting. But Darren really couldn't do anything about this. He couldn't even say that he'd adopt a dog for her because he didn't want to. No, even the idea didn't sound right in his mind.

He didn't know how but Xiu seemed to have heard his thoughts as she said, "Let's adopt a dog."

"What?" Darren was startled. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?" frowned Xiu. "Dogs are so cute."

"No, they are not," refused Darren without hesitation.

"Baby!" Xiu whined but Darren tried to turn a deaf ear. Tonight, he was not gonna give in. Nope! Not happening. Not in this case! "In the future, when we have our own kid he'd need a friend who'd play with him and protect him. Dogs are the best friends. Do you want our kid to be lonely?"

*Pffffffff*

Do you hear that sound?

Yeah, that's the sound of Darren's resolve deflating like a balloon. Why? Why did she have to use that tone? And why did she bring up the idea of having a kid? And she said, OUR KID! Bloody hell! How am I gonna be rational now?!

Well, he wasn't gonna be rational now that's for certain because his reply was, "Sure. Let's do it." While he rubbed her head gently and lovingly. Oh, fuck it! He was gonna give in and everybody knew that from the beginning. Who was he even kidding?!

...

Ying gave the puppy back to the original owner and looked around to find her aunt who still hadn't come back. While she was waiting, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She checked the called id and attended the call.

"Team leader, where are you?" came her subordinate, Mark's impatient voice.

"Why?"

"I found what you have been looking for. Or should I say I found the person you had been looking for."

Ying was immediately alert as she questioned, "You found Destiny Novell?"

"Yes, I did. And just as you had predicted, she had changed her name." He took a brief pause before adding, "I just emailed you her personal information. And there is something else."

"What?" She could hear the hesitation in his voice and it got her even more curious.

"I think I should tell you when you get here," saying that he hung up the call.

Ying stared at her phone with a frown before checking her emails. She clicked on the last email and downloaded the attached file. 

//Previous Name: Destiny Novell 

//Present: Bai Xiu

Ying's frown deepened, "Bai Xiu? What a coincidence..." she muttered to herself as she scrolled through other details. 

//Adoption Details

//Foster Family: Jing

The rest of the details like her social security number, address, family details, occupation, and stuff were all written in the document but her eyes only got stuck on the screen when the picture of Destiny Novell came before her eyes.

Ying lifted her eyes up and looked in the direction of Darren was walking with Xiu snuggled up beside him. "Every coincidence leads you to a fate that is unknown to you..." Ying had heard this plenty of times in her life but today, she really felt like some coincidences really led you to a fate unknown.

"Bai Xiu... Or should I call you Destiny Novell? Whichever it is, you are closer than I thought."