We all meet a person in life whose voice sounds so appealing that we can't explain it in words. It's like there is no possible word to describe it. But somehow that voice still holds that supernatural power to do things to you that are even harder to put in words.
In Xiu's life, she also heard that kind of voice that sounded so pleasing that she could spend hours listening to him. That voice was like a spellbound. She'd always forget about everything whenever she heard his voice.
"I'm telling you, this love is so not easy. I'm so tired of it now. Can't I just stop now?" She was mithering with her face buried in the duvet.
Her petulant complaining earned her a sigh before she heard that smooth and pleasant sounding voice, "If you're tired of loving then stop doing it already. Who's forcing you to keep loving?"
Xiu sat up in her bed and said, "Haven't you heard, there is no remedy for love?" Taking a brief pause to take her phone to the balcony, she went on, "Besides, everyone around me is asking me to stop loving him. Every single person wants me to just give up. But why does nobody understand that more they ask me to give up, the more I don't want to give up."
"Are you certain that's called love?" She frowned as she heard his question. "It seems to me that he has become your stubbornness now. That's why you don't want to give up anymore."
"So what? Don't you know Mr. Sportsman that there is no love without stubbornness?" Xiu said exasperatedly.
"Ms. Superstar, you can either be stubborn or you can be in love. If you want to keep both then you might end up losing out." His words made her brows to knit up.
"Mr. S, I don't want to be that pathetic one who gives up without giving something a shot. Whether I'm a winner or a loser is still undecided. But if I just give up because people are forcing me to do so then I'm gonna regret this for the rest of my life." Xiu's persistent voice earned her silence from the other side of the phone. After waiting for a long while, when she didn't hear any reply, she asked, "Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Ms. C, I wish you don't regret being stubbornly in love," was his answer in a voice that sounded really sincere and heartbroken at the same time. "Anyways, congratulations on successfully becoming the top most influential person from your industry."
"Hey, that's very boring. Where is my reward? Didn't you always criticize me for my work? Now, that you do believe in my potential, I need a reward."
She heard him chuckle that sounded like a magnetic pull making her heart feel complicated. "I still don't like any of your work."
"You're a bloody jerk! No one has ever criticized me as much as you do. What's so cool about being a sportsman?" Xiu was irked by his remarks.
"Ms. C, don't forget that you only take those movies or shows that your company or manager chooses for you. If you had ever chosen a role for yourself, I'm sure you'd have done better than ever." Xiu had no response to that since his words had hit the mark. Indeed, she had never been the one who chose any of her jobs.
"You really know how to ruin my good times," she sighed heavily and went on, "Nevermind. Tell me about your new girl. How is it going with her?"
"Who are you asking about? I broke up a long time ago."
"What? What happened now? Why are you always breaking up? Doesn't it hurt or something?"
He laughed at Xiu's words and said, "What era are you living in? Don't you know how fast the world is changing? How can I date the same girl for the rest of my life? Wouldn't that be boring?"
"Argh! You're really a bastard! A bloody jerk! How can you play with a girl's feelings all the time?" Xiu started shouting at him through the phone making his roll his eyes at her.
"I'm playing with them? I feel like the one being played though. But even if I explain that you won't understand so let's get over it." Xiu wasn't very convinced but she still dropped the topic especially when he said, "Also, Ms. Superstar, you're right there is no remedy for love except for one."
"What is it?" Xiu asked curiously.
"If there is no remedy for love than you should just love more to compensate yourself for the loss." Xiu's eyes widened at his reply while he continued, "Losing someone is no big deal. Loving all over again with an even more passion is the real deal now. We only question ourselves after a breakup but we forget that perhaps, the person wasn't doing his best as well."
"Sweets... Sweets... Wake up, we are here."
Xiu heard his voice and in her drowsy state, she felt like that voice had a striking resemblance with the one she remembered from her past. She instantly opened her eyes and looked at Darren's face. Then she looked around to realize that she had been dreaming.
With a confused expression, she looked at Darren's face again and lifted her hand to touch his face but held herself back. It was weird how Darren's voice suddenly felt so familiar but she thought it to be her own delusion and nothing else.
"Where are we?" she asked rubbing her eyes with her lips puckered up in an adorable way.
Darren pushed open the door of the car and offered his hand to her saying, "Why don't you come out and see for yourself?"
Xiu frowned at his mysterious way of talking but shrugging her shoulders, she placed her hand in his and alighted from the car. But her confusion increased when all that she faced was darkness before her. But the place she was standing at was very familiar to her. She looked at Darren's face and asked, "Why are we here?"
Darren leaned close to her ear and whispered, "For our very first dinner date."