Chapter 44 - How Are You Feeling?

[It was a cold night. Sheer white curtains were being blown softly by the night breeze as the windows were left open. The sky was cloudlessly adorned with a full moon and freckled with bright stars. It gave an ethereal feeling to this starry cold night.

The room was enshrouded in darkness. But the moonlight splashed down its watery silvery-glow inside the room, illuminating it enough to navigate through the darkness. The room was beautifully decorated with Art Deco Delight as the main theme. Geometric shapes and graphic patterns polished chromes, glossy timber furnishing, glass, mirrors, and layered sultry lightings; it encompassed a bold and artistic expression with exotic designs. All in all, the interior design was a statement in its own right.

And in this room, a figure clothed in a white gown was lying on the sofa. The moonlight spilled on that beautiful face which was burning hot. Her straight black hair was untamed as they stuck to the side of her face. The girl looked in pain with a frown etched between her beautiful brows. She was none other than the Goddess who ruled on millions of fans hearts; Chen Xiu. An empty bottle of Château de Seguin Bordeaux Supérieur was dangling from her hand.

There was a thick stench of alcohol in the room which was slowly being washed by the night breeze but didn't manage to remove its remnants that still lingered around. A bottle of anti-depressants was lying right on the round glass coffee table.

The combination of cold breeze and her hot body made her feel uncomfortable but her hazy mind made her eyes droopy. She was left with no energy as the glass bottle in her hand fell on the thick rug.

The next time when she awakened, she could hear the murmur of people around her. She opened her eyes slowly to see a female doctor in a white coat giving instructions to a nurse beside her. Xiu looked at the heart monitor attached to her, then at the IV drip that was injected to her. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was in a hospital.

"Ms. Chen, are you awake?" She heard a comforting and pleasant voice. Looking at the doctor, Xiu nodded her head slowly. "Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"

Xiu opened her mouth but nothing came out. The nurse helped her with a glass of water which managed to bring some comfort to her itching throat. She tried again to speak as she said, "Headache."

"Isn't that obvious? You took your prescribed anti-depressants with wine. Do you know how dangerous that is?" The doctor was rebuking her with a gentle tone. But even with that tone, Xiu felt like someone pining nails in her skull. It was painful.

Someone entered the room and Xiu shifted her eyes to stare at the youngster looking back at her. The doctor turned to the youngster and started, "You're her assistant who brought her here?"

"Yes." The youngster replied humbly with a nod of his head.

"Do you know how stressed she is? Ms. Chen's body is over-worked. Are you people trying to kill her?" The doctor's attack on the poor youngster was uncalled for since he was only an assistant. He was training to be a manager while he was studying at a University. It was his misfortune that he was stuck with a person like her who came with a piece of baggage.

The doctor took him out to reprimand him even more while Xiu was left alone in the room. She sat up slowly in the bed and looked out the windows at the chirping birds. The warmth of the sun had completely overshadowed the cold of the previous night. She was looking out in a daze.

And her daze was broken when a hand made contact with the side of her face. A resounding slap echoed in the usually silent room. Xiu didn't have to turn to know who slapped her.

"Chen Xiu! Do you take my words as a joke?" Her mother's raging voice made its way to her ear which was still buzzing because of the slap. "I told you last night to rest because you have an early shoot for the endors.e.m.e.nt. But you ended up here in a hospital."

Xiu didn't look at her. She was sitting still with a dejected look. She looked dispirited as if someone had stolen the essence of her life.

"Do you know how many calls I had to attend because of you? I had to make so many excuses to postpone this ad shoot." Her mother was livid and looked rather frustrated. The woman whose single hair was never out of sort looked completely disheveled as she kept rebuking her daughter. "Why aren't you saying anything? I'm talking to you!"

"I don't have an answer for you," Xiu replied with a heavy heart as she still refused to look at her mother. Crying for her mother's affection? Xiu had long given up on that. It was really ironic that her own mother's first question was along the lines of how much loss she'd have to face. It was just Xiu's wishful thinking that she wanted to hear, 'How are you feeling?']

A loud ringtone buzzed somewhere making her squint her eyes in annoyance. Xiu's hand looked around on the bed while her eyes stayed closed. As she finally found the phone at the edge of the bed, she attended the call without looking at the caller id.

A furious voice came from the other side, "BAI XIU! Where the hell are you?"

"Today's Sunday. Obviously, I'm in my bed under my warm duvet." Xiu's groggy voice replied matter-of-factly.

"You're still sleeping? It's 11:00 am already." The person on the other end seemed to be gnashing her teeth.

"I still have time to sleep. Now, hang up." Xiu was about to cut the call when she heard the voice again.

"You irksome idiot! Today's your interview for the E.A's position. Stop being a lazy cat and get here. Now!" Manager Li was truly exasperated by this girl who forgot the one thing she asked her to remember.

"Oh, right! Our weird boss always does the interviews on Sundays. I forgot. I'll be there soon." Saying that Xiu yawned lazily and sat up on her bed. She thought about the dream she just saw and felt her mood turning bitter.

But she had to get to the company now. She couldn't let her past influence her current mood, not more than it had already done. So, she shook off all the unnecessary thoughts of her mind and took a quick shower before getting dressed and leaving for the company.