29 Tear - Tracks

Zixi tried to soothe the girl in his arms "Shh, shh, it's okay.... Everything is going to be all right. Nobody will harm you. Shh, shh...hush...." It was only after a long time that Yueyue stopped crying. She looked up at him and was embarassed. How could she cry on someone's chest and make a fool out of herself. She really had thrown her face as far away as possible.

Zixi knew that if he let her escape now, he would never get another chance ever again to get close to her so, he held her without giving her the chance to escape. Due to her own embarassment as well, Su Li didn't try to escape for the next few minutes until she could internalise and compartmentalize all her emotions.

He hadn't meant to upset her with his actions. He had seen the moment Yueyue had been set off, seen the moment it had happened - seen the shuttered look of pain in her eyes. One part of him had been expecting it. She hadn't reacted to anything that had happened in the last few years and no-one knew it better than him. He couldn't help remembering her eighteenth birthday. She hadn't truly broken down then either, fighting her tears with all her might during the greeting given to the madames. No tears.

Even on the day of that interloper's birthday, when she had dealt with everything on her own. She hadn't cried. Not even in the arms of her father. No tears.

But then this was a girl who would rather put away all the dresses bought for her by her mother rather than, see her father looking at her and feeling sad about his late wife.

What surprised Zixi was that the unshakable Miss Yu had cried infront of him. Oh, she had tried to hide it immediately, had ducked her face lower in his embrace, had swallowed back her tears -Zixi had wondered if she would ever let them fall. But he himself hadn't fought her when she started hitting him, hadn't resisted any of her actions.

His own actions had startled him. He himself wasn't a kind man or even a compassionate one. How could he be when he had seen all the hideousness of human nature at it's worst? But he hadn't been able to be a silent spectator to her anguish, unable to bear watching Yueyue's pain without at least trying. He'd really expected to be rebuffed, rejected. But he hadn't been.

His words - utter nonsense about how it was going to be okay, and that she was safe, that it was all right to let go. Complete claptrap of course. But he suspected the girl was too far gone to really care or understand anyway; he could probably promise her the moon and never have to worry about being held to it.

He felt Yueyue calming at last, expecting her to pull away in discomfort. He knew she would turn away from him but he didn't want to let go at the moment. He wanted to just stay like that for atleast as long as she would allow so he hadn't let her go. She surprised him by turning slightly in his arms, head resting on his chest, breathing slowing.

Well, hell, he thought. What was to be the next step? What should he do now? Should he try to lighten the mood or talk about what had happened? But that didn't seem right.... He was truly incapable of thinking when it came to her. What if any careless comment on his part set her off again?

Before he could squeeze more of his brain juice thinking about it, Yueyue stepped away from him. She told him to take her back to the residence. On the way back, she fell asleep in the car itself. He didn't want to wake her up but really, carrying a twenty - two year girl without dropping her midway was impossible for him - a twenty - eight year old guy. He didn't know how all those male leads in movies or novels did it but then that was fiction and anything was possible in it. He woke her up and followed her inside the house.

Su Li had a headache and neither of them had taken notice of how her clothes seemed rumpled, her eyes red and puffy from all that crying. The said person had been sleeping and the other concentrating on driving the car. Therefore, neither of them took notice of the fact that the girl looked like she had been bullied outside.

Yu Jian had come back home ahead of his usual time. He had wanted to take Yueyue out today. Since the day she had arrived, she had been cooped up inside the house. When he asked a maid to call her downstairs, he had been informed that the eldest miss went out with Zixi. Therefore, he had went to the study to complete his unfinished work. Afterwards, he had been watching the television in the sitting hall and waiting for them to return. That guy was really too much. How could he take advantage of his absence from his daughter's side to take away his chance of accompanying her for her first outing after she came back? Hump, he'll get even with him somehow. Let's see if tries to take away his chances to spend time with his daughter ever again.

Yu Juan had been lost in his thoughts when he saw the both of them entering the house. His heart skipped a beat when he saw tear - tracks on Yueyue's face. What had happened? Had someone upset her? Who dares? He'll not let anyone off who dares to offend his sweet daughter. His heart ached seeing her like this.

"Yueyue, Xiao Zixi what happened? Have you been crying?"

Su Li was flustered looking at Yu Jian's worried face and didn't know how to respond to him. Obviously, she couldn't tell him the truth but Zixi's quick reply saved her from lying to him.

"Miss went out to have a look around in the city. She just got sad thinking about the late mistress."

Listening to him spouting lies without a change in his expressions, she marvelled at his thick, dishonest face but she herself didn't want to open her mouth so just waved her hands at Yu Jian and went upto her room.