114 Mind games

Her legs went weak with relief and she leaned back against the tree for support. She tried to gulp in the much needed oxygen which her brain needed. They walked back towards her house slowly, each lost in their thoughts.

"I am home now. G'night" she said to him at the doorstep.

He gave her a quiet smile and turned to go.

"Wait a minute. Sorry, I completely forgot. Your medicines are with me. I'll just get them. Don't stand in the cold. Come inside," with that, she unlocked the door and ran to get the pack.

Tang was feeling exhausted and sunk into the sofa in the living room after doing a couple of things. Suddenly the phone rang and he reached in his pocket for it. But it wasn't his mobile. It was Jia Li's, which she had left on the table next to the sofa. His brows came together in a fierce frown looking at the caller id.

"Does he call her this late at night all the time?" he thought to himself.

Contemplating between ignoring the call and smashing the phone for good, he finally went ahead and picked the call.

"Why do you take so long to answer the phone? All well?" Wei asked at the other end.

"Jia Li is busy right now. I didn't know that she was expected to pick your call within a stipulated period of rings," Tang let his full force of irritation filter through his voice.

"Uh, hi Tang. Sorry, I didn't know that she is still at the hospital. How are you doing now?" Wei asked politely.

Tang replied, "I am much better and got released this morning itself."

Continuing in a casual voice, he said, "I am staying back in Moganshan for some time, to recuperate before coming back to Shanghai. So Jia Li is going to have her hands full in the coming days, between running the institute and taking care of me. I would request you to consider that before you call her up next time at such a late hour and saddle her with more work. Knowing her, she would never say no to it but it is my duty to look out for her welfare. I hope you understand"

Right then, Jia Li came back with the medicines.

"Oh here she is. I will hand over the phone to her now," he told Wei on the phone.

At her questioning look, he said loudly enough, "Wang Wei is on the line. By the way, I have shut all the extra lights in the house and checked the locks and windows."

She gave him an absent smile and took the phone from him.

"Hi Wei, how are you doing?" she asked softly, only to hear no reply at the other end.

"Hello, are you there?" she asked before disconnecting the call and trying again.

But Wei's number was unreachable now.

"Maybe, his phone ran out of battery," Tang said innocently.

She shrugged and started giving him directions, "never mind that. You walk back safely and make sure to call me when you reach. The prescription has the frequency of the medicine written. Make sure you don't miss taking it."

"Yes mommy…umm, I know that you said that we should be friends right now for whatever reason. But can I request you to not shut me out or look for excuses to escape my presence, at least?" he asked the question with a lot of trepidation in his voice.

She smiled at him and nodded.

"Good, so it's settled then. Expect me for breakfast early morning. And then we shall go to the institute together. I also want to see what exactly have you been up to, behind my back all this while," he grinned at her.

She gave him a salute and pushed him out of the door. Tang strode out of her house with the smile lingering on his face but then the darker thoughts took over.

He knew that after this one week's reprieve, a tough battle awaited him back home. Mei Zhen would be furious by now and even if miraculously his father managed to keep her away for this time period, she would be impossible to avoid when he went back. Hence it was imperative for him to gain a little place in Jia Li's heart during the next few days, whatever it took.

Chu and Ethan had wanted to join him for breakfast at Jia Li's but he had given them an emphatic no. Ringing the doorbell, the smell of freshly brewed coffee hit him first. A smiling Jia Li led him in and gestured him to make himself at home. She went back to the kitchen where she was cooking his favourite wonton rice noodle soup with hard-boiled eggs and dim sums.

The strains of an old forgotten song reached her ears and she cocked her head to listen better.