100 Hands off

"For a business associate, weren't you touching my girl a touch too intimately?" Tang persisted.

"She and I are good friends. In fact we work closely on the project here in Moganshan together," Wei replied, sticking close to the truth as much as possible.

"I don't know how was yours and my relation in the past, but let me warn you, henceforth, keep your hands off my girl. I do not like to see her touched by anyone except me," he nearly bit Wei's head off with his words.

Wei balled his fists, trying to control his reaction in face of Tang's blatant possessiveness.

"What are you doing here, Wei," Jia Li squinted at him through sleepy eyes.

All those raised voices had woken her up, as well. Rubbing her neck with one hand, she tried to tug her captive hand from under Tang's, but to no avail.

"I told you to come lay down next to me but you wouldn't listen. Serves you right to have woken up with a crick," Tang teased her.

Grimacing, she sat up and discovered the rolled up scarffrom under her head. Recognising it to be Wei's, she smiled.

"Good, now that you are up, please return it to him. We don't want his expensive scarf marred by your drool, right?" Tang told her pointedly.

"Can you let go of my hand now? My arm has lost all its sensation," she complained.

He brought her palm to his lips and placed a moist kiss on the inner side of it before releasing it.

Colour flooded on Jia Li's cheeks at this intimate gesture and she couldn't meet Wei's eyes. He, on the other hand, was having trouble handling the over familiarity which Tang was displaying towards her.

Clearing his throat, he addressed her, "I actually came to discuss a couple of things with you about the project. Can you step out for a minute?"

"Is it a matter of national security that you can't hold the conversation in front of me?" Tang asked him sarcastically.

"I don't want to impede your recovery by having what maybe a heated discussion, here. The conversation may prevent you from going back to sleep," Wei strived to maintain a neutral tone.

"With my girl engaged in a conversation with another man, I don't think that I would get sleep anytime soon," Tang replied with a caveman attitude.

"Stop spouting nonsense, Tang. You may not remember it but Wei and you have been working together for many years. He is a wonderful person and a fantastic co-worker. Don't say something unnecessarily rude now because you will regret it later," she scolded him.

"To me, nothing and no one is more important than you. I have nothing against him except resentment because of the over familiarity which he displayed towards you, moments ago," he said bluntly.

Embarrassed at his words, she glared at him.

"Her neck looked to be in a painful position when I entered the room. All I did was help her a little. Maybe you didn't think of it when you pulled her hand into yours, selfishly," Wei was on the verge of losing his cool now.

Jia Li looked from one man to the other.

"What is wrong with both of you? Tang, can you stop being an a**. Wei, even if he is behaving immaturely, you surely can do better," she spoke to both of them sternly.

While Tang sulked at her words, Wei gave her an embarrassed smile.

She extended her hand which held the scarf towards him. Reluctantly, he took it back.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked him.

"I…uh, that, never mind, we shall speak about it later. I have to go back to Shanghai now. There are few issues which need my immediate attention at office. I will be in touch. Make sure to pick up my call," he said the last line with emphasis.

She nodded at him in understanding, making the peace sign with her hand.

"Have a safe trip back. I promise to stay in touch," she smiled in farewell.

Wei nodded at Tang before stepping out of the room. The minute he left, Jia Li launched at Tang.

"What is wrong with you? You were behaving so childishly. I do not remember you being like this ever," she said.

"That is probably because I have never felt insecure about your affection for me before. Right now, I can't recall anything of the last six years. I don't know how was our relation. I can't remember our last hug, our last intimate moment, our last fight. And I am not going to sit around and wait for my memory to return. I want to start creating new memories right now, like this fight we are currently having or the feel of your tiny hand next to my heart," he said huskily.