78 Precious Projec

Mei Zhen's voice trailed at his expression but she didn't remove her hand from where it lay.

Impatiently, Tang took her hand and placed it back in her lap.

"I will be extremely busy in the coming few days. Work related travel may happen more frequently as well," he told her in a patient voice.

At Mei Zhen's nod, he continued, "during this period, I want to ask for your understanding and non interference. If the new project goes well, it will have long term benefits for all of us."

She was relieved that he had been busy thinking about work instead of that woman. And she was thrilled at the prospect of becoming his confidante. This was the first time that he had discussed work with her and sought her help.

"Of course I understand. You don't worry about anything and simply concentrate on your precious project. I will be here to support you," she said warmly.

Tang gave a start at her choice of words but then smiled, "yes, it is indeed precious."

A man who rarely smiled had been doing so continuously since last evening. Things were definitely looking up for Mei Zhen. She had never thought that the trip would be the turning point in her marriage. She was going to show him that she could be the perfect partner for him.

Tang could still smell her hair. He had replayed the last night's events in his head multiple times. Ever since he had gotten to know about Jia Li's divorce, there had been an impatience gnawing at him. It had taken hours and hours of wading through frustration and pain for him to finally realise what he wanted to do, needed to do.

Years ago, Jia Li's lack of trust in him and his own cowardice had forced them to make foolish choices, consequences of which they were living till date. It was high time that they put an end to it. There was no way that he was going to allow another man to put his hands on his woman ever again. Once had been bad enough!!

Then, there was the complication of his own cumbersome marriage. To sort out this mess, he needed a careful plan and he knew just the right people who could help him come up with one. He shut his eyes and tried to imagine Jia Li's reaction when she would look at herself in the mirror this morning. He wished he was there to see it…

Jia Li woke up with a throbbing headache. She hadn't managed to sleep until dawn and then had fallen into an uneasy slumber. She walked unevenly to towards the washroom. Putting paste on her brush, she looked up to see dark circles beneath her eyes. Suddenly she gasped. The brush slipped out of her nerveless fingers and clattered on the floor tiles. The various love bites on her neck spoke vividly about passion of the previous night.

"He is married, he is f@!$#% married," she covered her face with her hands and moaned in despair.

Usually not the one to use make-up, except for a sun screen lotion, she was saved this time by her foresight to have brought the entire cosmetic kit along with. At least, she would be able to go out of her room and face her friends. The frenzy to check-out from the hotel saved her from her extremely observant friends' scrutiny. Upon reaching the airport, the six of them bade farewell to each other before heading towards their respective aircrafts.

Wei seemed to be preoccupied, which suited her well. Sitting next to him in the flight, she was worried that he would bring up last night's kiss but thankfully he didn't.

"I won't be able to come to the institute the coming weekend. Just received a mail about the shareholders' meeting. I guess I won't see you till the next fortnight then," he said with a tinge of apology.

Jia Li was sort of relieved to hear that. She needed some time to sort her extremely tangled up emotions.

"Don't worry about it. I anyways feel incompetent with you making the trip every weekend to keep a check on things. It will be a nice break for me while my boss isn't there to supervise," laughter coloured her words.

"You look so happy about the prospect that I almost feel like skipping the meet in Shanghai and coming up to the institute to check all records," he replied petulantly.

Finally collecting their luggage, they stepped out of the airport after a few hours.

"My driver is running late. I will wait with you here till he lands up," he said.

"Why don't you head back to the office. Your phone has been ringing non-stop since we landed. I know your driver well enough to coordinate things. As it is, you have assigned him to drive me all the way to Moganshan. There is no point wasting time here," she cajoled him.