234 Love Sick?

Disconnecting the call, she sent up a prayer of gratitude for bringing back her friends into her life.

She had actually braced herself for never going back few months ago and hadn't expected to find their love back into her life so soon!

Three days later

"Is everything alright? You look like as if you are going to murder someone. Did the boss scold you?" Eric came to Jia Li's desk and joked, looking at her mutinous expressions.

She shook her head and asked him if he needed anything.

"No, I came to bid you farewell. And to ask a favour out of you," Eric said.

At her look of enquiry, he said, "though he would never admit it, Hui is extremely dependent upon me for a lot of things. I am worried that with me gone for more than a fortnight, he may find it difficult on both professional and personal front. Can I ask you to stand in my stead till then? Not just as his executive assistant but as a friend, can you ensure his well-being?"

Jia Li's expressions softened and she assured him that he needn't worry. She would take care of the boss and try to do maximum justice to the role which he was assigning her.

"You just go and concentrate on your bride to-be. Have a lovely honeymoon. And don't forget to send us pictures," she said with a smile.

Eric grinned at her. These were the exact words which he wanted to hear from her lips. Giving her an impulsive hug, he walked towards Hui's cabin.

Jia Li's smile turned into a frown as soon as Eric turned to go. She was in a terrible mood. It had been three days, three nights since that blasted man had gone back to China. There hadn't even been a blank mail, forget one with words in them from him.

What was it that he had said – 'start replying to my mails, they feel lonely'.

Lonely my butt!!

"Suddenly, he is too busy, is he? Or did I fall into his lap too easily so now he is taking me for granted, ignoring me," she blew her hair in anger.

If this was his way of showing her what exactly did he mean to her, well, she was clear on that now. But she didn't like this way of playing games. She had thought that he had finally grown up, at least that's what he had portrayed in this last meet. Then why was he suddenly behaving this way? Never mind, two can play this game!

"I am flying down to London tomorrow. Make sure you leave work on time, so that I am not left standing outside your office, waiting for too long. Also ensure that you cancel all your social engagements for the weekend. Cya!" the message had come from Wei.

Jia Li was getting antsy now. It had been more than five days since she had heard from Tang. After getting angry and frustrated, she had swallowed her pride and sent him a mail but that had remained unopened and unanswered. She found herself uneasy and irritable at all times. It was as if something was wrong but she couldn't seem to put her finger on it.

She was in no mood to meet anyone, not even Wei. Maybe the earlier version of Jia Li would have swallowed her unease and trudged ahead. But in the current zone, she couldn't, rather didn't want to put up a pretence in front of anyone.

She thought of sending a message but decided that he deserved a proper explanation. She picked up the phone and called him.

Wei sat back in his chair and frowned. He had just disconnected Jia Li's call. This was the first time that she had explicitly said no to him for something. This was also the first time that she had not confided into him, the reason for it. Without elaborating much, she had simply told him that she couldn't meet him this weekend. It was his fault that he hadn't checked with her prior to booking the tickets but he had assumed that she would be willing to take out the time to meet up with him, like always. He had been under immense work pressure for the past couple of weeks and worked doubly hard to clear his schedule for this weekend. He was really disappointed. What was going on?

Jia Li was lying down on the bed, staring vacantly at the roof. Where was he? Her mind was in a tizzy after hours of thinking about various reasons for complete radio silence fromTang's end.

"I have been behaving like a love sick woman, mopping and sulking throughout the week. If I am meant to LOVE him and only him, I might as well stop wasting my time on thinking and waiting, right? What the hell has been stopping me from calling him and giving him the biggest scolding of his life? Why do I have to behave like a poor me, martyr me, all the bloody time?" she reprimanded herself.