[Special Appearances]
Natalie Tong - Natalie Cheng
Elliot Yue (Ngor Wah) - Elliot Cheng

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The summer heat baked the city streets of Hong Kong like a hot roasting oven.  Where possible, civillians avoided the hot air outside by escaping into any air conditioned shopping centres nearby.  Located in the Central district of the Hong Kong Island, one particular shopping mall was especially crowded today.

“What you asked me to bring, I brought it in my bag.” A young girl wearing a cap spoke softly into the microphone of her cell phone. “Where should I meet you?”

--

Along with half a dozen carrier bags in hand, two best friends linked arms as they marched their way out of a crowded sale. Shopping was more than just routine; they followed the regime more closely than a strict diet.  Every Saturday late morning since first year university - never had they missed a week.  As they managed to shove their way out the store while being pushed from all directions, they giggled merrily at their triumph and achievements.

--

“Upstairs in the hallway leading to the washrooms.” A male’s voice responded to the girl’s question before asking his own. “Are you sure nobody’s following you?”

--

Walking towards the main escalators, Linda and Tavia beamed as they peered through a random bag of newly bought items. They had been so caught up with spending their hard earned money that it wasn’t until Tavia’s eyes wandered past her watch that she realized it had been hours since they've last eaten. “Linda, are you hungry?”

--

“I’m sure no one’s following me,” The young girl replied discreetly, “I’m coming up on the escalator now.”

--

Linda nodded her head and blushed, “My stomach‘s been growling for a while…” Just as they began descending, she widened her eyes and pointed to an eatery downstairs. “Starlight Café’s right over there, let’s go and grab some food!”

At the point where the young girl in a cap ascended up past the two girls, Tavia spotted a familiar figure enter the mall through one of the many entrances. He wasn’t just familiar-looking, however, she knew exactly who he was. His mysterious demeanor and captivating looks had once mesmerized dozens of girls before, and she was one of them… Still one of them. When she realized he too was headed for the escalators, she quickly turned her head away to avoid being seen. Quite frankly, she didn't understand the reasons behind her own behavior, but after a few years of practicing it, it had became a reflex action of some sort.

“Tavia?” Linda waved her hand in front of her face, “I’ve been talking to you for the past 30 seconds but you didn’t give me a response. Are you okay?”

It seemed quite obvious that at the volume Linda spoke, the man would have heard her name. As much as Tavia wanted to avoid being seen, her curiosity prompted her to turn her head back to see if the man had any reaction to her presence at all. Much to her disappointment, or perhaps relief, she could only see the back of him.  Her gaze lingered on while time appeared to have frozen all around her.  Watching him walk away with his back turned towards her was an all too eerie sight.  She closed her eyes and held her breath as though it would clear the image from her head.  Without paying much attention to what was in front of her, she clumsily jerked forward as the escalator had reached the bottom.  Unable to keep her balance, she fell foward and bumped straight into another man. “I’m so sorry!” She looked ahead and found Linda bending down on the ground to help him up.

Although Tavia had run into him, the man was evidently taller and bigger.  It didn't seem quite possible that she could have hit him in the face. Yet strangely, blood began dripping down from his nose.

Linda let out a big gasp, “Your nose is bleeding!”

Embarrassed, he didn’t know what to do except to pinch his nose in hopes of stopping the blood from dripping out.

Tavia quickly drew out a pack of tissues from her purse and handed one to the man. “Let me help you to the bench over there so you can sit down.”

“Would you like me to go find some ice for his forehead?” Linda asked; she had once heard a myth that ice could help with forming blood clots.

“That’s okay, contrary to what people think ice doesn’t actually constrict the blood vessels to stop the bleeding.” She guided the man slowly and carefully by holding onto his elbow. “Just sit in a neutral position and pinch the soft fleshy area of your nose for a couple minutes, the bleeding should stop by then.”

“How do you know all this?” He asked her through a plugged nose.

Sitting down beside the man on the bench, Linda beamed proudly, “She’s a nurse, it’s her job to know these types of things. You‘re one lucky guy to have run into us, and I mean literally.”

“More like she ran into me,” He thought, but her sincerity in helping him made up for her actions.

------

Upstairs, the young girl in the cap had arrived the designated meeting spot. “Dad, there’s $3,000 cash in the bag.” She held it out to him.

“What?” He asked in shock, “Only $3,000? Don’t you get allowance from your brother?”

“She does,” Another man shouted from behind the girl, “But the money I give her belongs to her, not you.” He grabbed the bag of money out of his own father’s hands and grabbed his sister by the arm. “Come on, Natalie, let’s go.”

A hint of fear could be seen on her face as she reluctantly swung free from her brother’s grip. “Kevin… I can’t…”

Knitting his brows, he glared at her and questioned, “Why not? You’re going to stay here and let him torture you? You know very well what kind of a man he is.”

“I’m your father,” Elliot raised his voice and pushed Natalie away forcefully. “My blood runs in you, how could you treat me this way?”

Concerned, Kevin rushed to his sister’s side to protect her. “Are you okay?” He asked worriedly, then turned back to his dad. “When did you ever treat us as your children? To me, our father died years ago. Don’t ever contact us or ask us for money again! Natalie, come on.” With his arm around Natalie’s shoulder, he safely escorted her away from Elliot.

------

For almost 5 minutes, Tavia, Linda and the man sat on the bench in silence before Tavia spoke up. “Try letting go of your fingers now.” She turned to him, “Slowly…”

Linda watched carefully as he released his grip. When a few seconds had passed and no blood dripped out, she cheered at once. “It stopped!”

He chuckled, relieved that the bloody episode was finally over. “Thank you, I probably couldn’t have handled it so well without a trained nurse by my side.” He smiled shyly at Tavia, but she wasn’t even paying attention.

Instead, her eyes were fixed onto someone else coming back down on the escalator. “Kevin…”

Having heard her whisper, Linda quickly widened her eyes and turned towards the direction Tavia was facing. Indeed it was Kevin coming down with his sister; the city of Hong Kong truly was too small. "No wonder Tavia suddenly became so absent-minded." She mumbled quietly under her breath. “Tavia, don’t look,” She held her hand out in front of Tavia's eyes to block her view.

“So, your name is Tavia?  I'm Raymond,“ Sensing the awkwardness, he quickly tried to distract her. “How can I thank you two for saving my life?” He cracked a joke to lift the spirit. It was then he heard a strange grumbling sound coming from Linda. “Uh… Was that you?”

Turning beet red, Linda clutched her stomach and laughed embarrassingly, “I’m a little… Hungry.”

“A little?” Raymond repeated with a smirk, unconvinced, “Well, since you tried to help me too, how about I treat you two to lunch as a thank you? Starlight Café is just right there, in fact, I have some shares in it.  Order anything you like off the menu, no reservations.”

By now, Kevin and Natalie had already exited the mall. Tavia managed to pick up Raymond’s words and stood up to step away from him. “Wait... We barely even know you.”

Linda jumped to Tavia’s side and tugged onto her arm. “He’s a shareholder, we’ll get to eat anything we want without having to pay, and who knows, he might give us discount cards for future use.” She whispered in Tavia’s ear. “Come on, you love their coffee.”

Defeated, there was no way she could argue past her friend. “Okay, but only because I’m really hungry too.”

“Great ladies, allow me to lead you two into a café paradise.” Raymond stood up and led them in the most gentlemanly conduct the girls had ever witnessed.

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Across from the mall in a cramped wanton soup house, Kevin and Natalie managed to find a seat at a booth in the deeper end of the restaurant. They kept their heads low and out of the front entrance’s sight in case Elliot would spot them and bother them again.

“So tell me why you brought him money,” Kevin started after ordering each a bowl of wanton soup noodle. “Did he threaten you? Does he know where we live?”

A waiter came and served them each a drink. As he left, Natalie took her lemon tea drink and began poking away the lemon slices with her straw. “He came to the university.”

“He found you at the university?” Kevin asked in shock, “The campus is quite big and he still managed to find you. Did he cause any trouble in front of your friends?”

She shook her head, “No… Not yet…” Her voice trailed and she stopped moving her straw, “He said that if I don’t give him some money, he’ll talk to my friends. Kevin, I don’t want him to spread rumors about me, especially at university. What if one of my professors walk by and overhear?”

Seeing how worried she was getting, he quickly hushed her to calm her down. “He won’t, I promise it won’t happen.”

“But what if it does? I worked so hard to get into this school,” She explained with teary eyes, “My last boyfriend broke up with me because of the false rumors he said. Now he’s threatening to drive my friends away from me unless I give him money. I don’t know what to do except to give him what he wants.”

He hated to see his sister cry, especially since tears were such a valuable thing to girls. “Don’t cry, alright? As your older brother, I’m going to do anything in my power to protect you. The food’s coming, we’ll eat first then decide what to do later.”