190 No more waiting...

Wei finished reading and responding to the pending mails and matters in his office. He took a break after working non-stop for a few hours. As always, his thoughts went back to Jia Li.

He was beginning to worry now. Initially, he had been content to let things take their natural course. But this unexpected development in his father's health had made him realise how fragile life could be, how unexpected! He was waiting for his father to start the new treatment with the doctor at London. Once he settled that issue, he would actively start looking for his lady love and bring her back in his life. He hadn't told Tang about this change of his heart. He cherished their growing friendship but when it came to Jia Li, the equation changed. Nothing or rather, no-onemattered more than her. Now, no more waiting…

Hyde Park Corner, London

"You should have come for lunch with us yesterday. Where were you? Once we came back, I went looking for you but couldn't find you. Camilla said that you had left already to run an errand and were to go home directly from there," Eric asked nosily.

Jia Li gave him a triumphant smile.

She replied, "while you were enjoying a wholesome meal, I went sniffing around a particular media house. I had thought hard about it but couldn't find a plausible reason for that journalist's question. It had seemed like personal vendetta to me. Hence, I wanted to explore that a bit."

"Damn… that was my plan for today. I can't believe that you beat me to it. Tell me that you found something," he said, getting excited.

"Well it turns out that Roger Dunce holds a deep seated grudge for our boss since the time that he was a rookie journalist. Everyone in his office knows about it. But no one knows the reason why," she informed him.

"I don't think he could be Hui's step brother or something. Mrs. & Mr. Ying are extremely devoted to each other. Wonder what has Hui done to upset him so much," he joked.

Jia Li rolled her eyes at his pathetic attempt at humour, that too, at Ying Hui's parents' expense.

"Should we ask the man and find out," she suggested.

"And why would he be willing to tell us?" Eric questioned her.

She shrugged her shoulders and replied, "what's the point of holding a grudge against a person if you don't get to air it? If no one knows about it at his workplace, then he must be itching to vomit it out. At least that's my hypothesis. And I don't see any harm in trying it out."

Eric pondered over it for a minute and said, "who is it going to be – me or you?"

She smiled at his ready agreement and told him that she would take care of it.

"Uh, about what Hui said yesterday… don't take his words to heart. He probably wasn't as upset about you reading his notes as his words had suggested," he said with apology laced words.

Jia Li was nodding her head even before he finished speaking.

"You don't have to defend his actions to me, every time. I have started to understand him a little. And even if he did mean them, it's alright since I was the one at fault," she spoke without any hesitation.

Eric was beginning to like this woman, more and more. When he had first found out about the men in her life and their intense feelings for her, he had attributed it to her looks. But now he knew better!

"She would be a perfectly warm blanket to Hui's cold persona," today wasn't the first time that this thought had crossed his mind.

But he was well aware of her emotional reticence and hence was hesitant to employ his legendary matchmaking skills. He didn't want to see his friend getting hurt. If only he could figure out what was on her mind, he would know whether to push them towards each other or not. One thing was sure. If Hui was to be left to his own devices, he would NEVER find a girl.

"Your thoughts seemed miles away," Jia Li commented upon the faraway look in his eyes.

Eric smiled and said honestly, "I was thinking of finding a girl for the boss. That ought to mellow him down, don't you think?"

Jia Li's tinkling laughter did nothing to clear his confusion. She told him that she had finished her quota of gossip for the day and was going to get on with the pending work.

"She did what?? What is wrong with her? Why is there a need to find a logical explanation for everything?" Hui nearly shouted at Eric when he mentioned about her actions regarding the journalist, later that day.