235 Phantom of the pas

"Why do I have to behave like a poor me, martyr me, all the bloody time?" she reprimanded herself.

She picked up the phone and called Tang before she could change her mind. The phone rang for one full minute but went unanswered. What was happening? Her mind refused to believe that history was repeating itself. Circumstances, people… everything was different now, wasn't it?

"No, I am not going to assume anything. I will wait," giving herself the solace, she got up from the bed and busied herself with house cleaning, with a vengeance.

Every single day she looked forward to hearing back or getting a mail from his end but to no avail. It was as if he was purposefully avoiding her. She didn't want to involve Wei or Li Jie by asking them about him. Nor did she want to ask Chu or Aunt Xie. From what she had understood, he hadn't spoken about them reconnecting with anyone yet.

She, herself, wasn't ready either, for her newly made decision or the thought process behind it, to be put under scrutiny by anyone, yet. So she persevered… kept the faith.

It had been almost two weeks since Tang had gone missing from her life, once again. Jia Li tried calling his number once every day.

But now, enough was enough!

She needed to know if all was well with him. Was he unwell, under pressure or something else? With no office work to distract her on a Saturday morning, she decide to bite the bullet and call up Xie mansion.

She was relieved when the landline was picked up by one of the staff members. She enquired about Tang's whereabouts eagerly, trying not to sound desperate. Before the woman at the other end could answer, the phone was taken over.

"Who is this?" a gruff, stern voice came on line.

Jia Li hesitated. She was tempted to put the phone down but steeled herself.

"Hello, Uncle Xie, this is Lin Jia Li. How are you? I, uh… I wanted to speak with Tang," she managed to say the words, without stuttering.

There was silence on the other side, making her wonder if he had disconnected the call.

After a few seconds' pause, he replied, "Tang is unavailable at the moment. I will let him know that you called. But… if I were you I would move on in life, rather than trying to cling to the past."

With that, he cut the connection.

Jia Li stared at the phone. What did he mean by that? Was he warning her off? His voice had sounded ominous, as if he was holding himself back from saying something more.

"Tang, what mess have you dragged me back into? And after pulling me in, why have you deserted me? Don't break my heart again, please. I will never come back to you ever again, and I mean it this time," she thought despondently.

But even as she thought this, Jia Li was determined that she would not shatter into pieces, no matter what happened in her life, henceforth. Damn it, it hurt, of course it hurt.

The next day dawned with bright sunlight streaming into her room. At least the Earth wasn't feeling the aftereffects of her broken heart. She got up dispiritedly from the bed and went for a shower. The night had brought uneasy sleep and she had woken up with a headache.

The bell rang and so did the phone, at the same time. She leapt towards the phone first thinking that HE had called. Snapping at the telemarketer, who had no clue as to why was he receiving a verbal whiplash on the phone, Jia Li disconnected the call and went to open the door.

This was unexpected. Looking at him in surprise, she allowed him to walk in.

"Hi, you didn't inform me that you were coming," Jia Li told Wei, who was busy soaking in the vibe of her place.

"You have been avoiding my calls, refusing to let me travel here, so I had to come see for myself if you had gotten yourself a new distraction which I wasn't aware of," Wei's words were light but the tone held reproach and hurt.

"I… have been busy. Sorry! There are new responsibilities in my portfolio and I am caught up with that," she said, apologetically.

"Hmm… is it so? Work has you so busy that you can't spare even five minutes to talk to me?" he asked.

"Anyways, now that I have travelled thousands of miles to see you and today being a holiday, can I have finally the pleasure of your company?" he asked with a smile.

Jia Li was torn. She didn't feel like talking, laughing or stepping out of her hurt zone, right now. But she also knew that being around other people would distract her, help her. Plus, she was feeling guilty about Wei having travelled all the way to see her. She couldn't possibly say NO.