123 His Achilles heels

In face of her silence, he continued, a bit uncomfortable, "actually, I am just coming off a bad relationship. I guess in order to get over my ex-girlfriend, I just rebounded and fell for someone who was clearly not my kind of person."

"Are you sure you are trying to get over your ex-girlfriend and not your ex-wife," Mei Zhen asked archly.

He looked at her in surprise, "it seems like Sara Li gave you some misinformation about me. I had been dating a girl named Xue Ann for quite some time and was just waiting for my divorce to come through before she and I could get married. But due to some irrevocable differences which cropped up between us, we broke up."

Mei Zhen seemed to have exhausted all her patience in her dealings with the woman upstairs.

Now she decided to open her cards straight up, "so you mean to say that you wouldn't be interested in knowing your ex-wife's whereabouts or who is she currently with?"

"Do you know my ex-wife?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

It was Mei Zhen's turn to be coy, "I do but it seems like you are really not interested in information about her. So I won't waste yours and my time anymore."

He gave a smug bark of laugh, "contrary to whatever impression that you have formed about me, Jia Li and I continue to be really close till date. I know that she is in Moganshan, her native town. She is currently working at a language institute and doing pretty well there. In fact I was considering visiting her one of the days, when I could manage some free time from my schedule."

"Hmm…I see that you at least know her location and basic professional information about her. But what about her personal life? Do you know who is she currently involved with or rather how many, for that matter," she asked, bitterness and sarcasm lacing her words.

Fu looked at her intently, "I am sorry, I didn't ask for your name when you first arrived. I don't think I have ever seen you in Jia Li's group of friends. A woman as beautiful as you, would not have escaped my eyes."

With a strange smile, he continued, "as for responding to your query, if you know even a little about Jia Li, you would know that her heart was captured by a worthless guy long ago. Unfortunately, for the people who love her, she still hasn't broken out of the shackles of that unfulfilled relationship. In fact that was the main reason for our divorce. So, if you are trying to suggest that she is seeing someone else, I would tell you that you are sadly mistaken. It is simply not possible."

She looked at his superior attitude and replied, "you are right. I never did introduce myself. I am Xie Mei Zhen, wife of that Worthless Guy. As for the guy that your ex-wife is currently having a good time with, also happens to be the same person, my husband. Maybe it will interest you to know that Tang is currently in Moganshan with Jia Li. They are spending quality time together, reliving their childhood romance. And that's not all. The man whom she works for, her boss, also seems to have fallen for her charms and is pursuing her with great fervour. She seems to be extremely popular with the opposite gender currently? Or has it always been like this?"

A nervous tic appeared next to his left eye, making it twitch.

"I don't believe you. If that was the case, why would you, claiming to be his wife, be here in Beijing trying to meddle into other people's affairs when your own marriage seems to be rocky? I don't know what game are you playing, but I am not interested," he said that and stood up to leave.

"Would you like me to prove it to you that at 1am in the morning, your ex-wife and my husband are together?" she dared him.

Fu's feet remained frozen to the spot and she took it as an acceptance to her dare. She thought of dialling Tang but instead called up on Jia Li's number. After a few rings, it was picked up.

"Hello, who is this?" Jia Li's groggy voice came through on the speakerphone.

"This is Xie Mei Zhen. I know it is late in the night but I wanted to check on Tang," she said in a pleading voice.

Jia Li's tone was immediate contrite.

Weighed down with apology and guilt, she said, "he…err, he was very tired and went to sleep really early tonight. But he is doing much… ", the call was disconnected.

Jia Li stared at the phone for a long time. She contemplated calling Mei Zhen back but couldn't muster the courage. With a sigh, she slipped out of the bed to go and stand at her favourite window sill.