They sat in the most obscure booth in the café. Ella still had her baseball cap firmly on. Their mutual friend had raved about this new Spanish café on his Twitter and she had been waiting to come here. At first, she thought Jiro might want to give this place a spin with her. Oh well, Hebe wasn’t a bad second choice.

 

 Hebe scanned the menu, pushing her glasses up her nose. Though hats and spectacles were old school tricks when it came to the trade of disguise, they were still one of the best. Afterall, she was actually short sighted. Even if people did recognise them on the street, they were left alone most of the time. Ella found it easier to blend into the crowd, usually dressing like a boy, sometimes she was mistook for one too.

 

 Most of the administrative procedures for New York had been done today, like completing her school application and getting her Visa at the American Embassy. So there was just about two weeks before she left Taipei. She tried to push the packing out of her mind. Ella had to be one of the most disorganised and messy girl on this earth. Trying to fit her life into a suitcase was something she should be used to by now after almost eight full years of travelling but she was still incompetent at it.  

 

It was a rare night off for Hebe. Since their concert tour earlier this year, S.H.E. had gone on hiatus and their various separate ways for the moment. Hebe of course with her solo album, Selena going on full force with her hosting duties on the new Guess Guess Guess show with Harlem Yu and Ella overseas to continue promoting Down With Love. She seemed to be the one that was slacking this time. It was a welcomed change and she relished in it.

 

This was a reprieve from the chaos that had ensued at the hospital. Ella was still worried about Selina though part of her was at ease upon seeing her good friend back safely home. The weather was getting colder in Taipei. She hadn’t expected the chill to come so soon. On her way outdoors, she only realised that she had forgotten to bring a scarf. If it was any normal year, they would have gotten the schedule for the New Year Eve event that they performed at almost annually.

 

However, this wasn’t any other year. Things were a-changing.

 

“So. Are you looking forward to going to New York?”

 

Hebe knew her inside out, just like Ella could see through her friend as though she was glass. So she took her time to think about how she really felt.

 

“A little.”

 

“What are you worried about?” Hebe sat straight in her seat, knowing full well the reason why. Ella didn’t and definitely wasn’t a romantic but once she fell, she fell like a ton of bricks. She had refused to let the life that she had to lead dictate how she loved. But it was a dilemma in the world they lived in. Someone who didn’t work in this entertainment industry wouldn’t understand and couldn’t cope with being in an underground relationship where they couldn’t move about freely. So it was usually out of convenience that they dated a fellow artiste but then they couldn’t love the way that they wanted.

 

“I’m afraid that things will change.”

 

She sniggered. True, Hebe was the quietest amongst them but like they always said, a quiet façade hid a devious mind. Ella wasn’t that naïve. Though she did constantly try to see the goodness in everyone because she believed that everyone was pure to begin with.

 

“Honey, you will only be gone for two months and some. It’s not the end of the world.”

 

Ella gazed in a distance. She couldn’t control what was going on and lately it seemed that Jiro and her were drifting apart. Perhaps she actually needed him at this period of time when everything was uncertain and instead of facing things head on as a trio like they usually did, she was on her own. Like the rest of them, her work was extremely important to her and she couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

 

Every time she had tried to speak to him about what was going on inside her, the moment would be derailed by petty quarrels if they even could squeeze some time together. The year 2010 was soon in its last legs and Ella was convinced that in some months, she barely spent any quality time with Jiro. Was she on the verge of losing him?

 

She had never been dependent on him. The last thing that Jiro needed was a clingy girlfriend and she wasn’t the type to need help whenever something came up. She would tackle it the way she knew best, solving the problem by herself. Somehow this was probably part of the reason why Jiro had gotten used to only learning of her troubles after the issue was over or sometimes never at all. When they couldn’t even sleep a full six hours on some days, emotional turmoil had to be shoved to second place.

 

Perhaps all she needed was a short break or maybe even just a complete break from everything. She was a little lost. S.H.E. had been in showbusiness for so long and they were on top of that world. Were they still going to continue the successful group that had dominated for so long? When Richard popped the question to Selina during their concert, it had signaled the end of an era. Despite the elation they felt for the couple, both Hebe and Ella still felt that they weren’t ready to reveal their relationships to the public. In Hebe’s case, she wasn’t really to come out of the closet with her partner. The fact that she was biual wouldn’t fly well with their fans. She guarded her privacy fiercely.

 

As for Ella, she and Jiro had never spoken about going public with their relationship since their company had decided to keep it under wraps. Right now, Ella was definitely comfortable with letting the world know but it would definitely come at a price. She valued whatever little privacy Jiro and herself had. Though she could see that it was not the ideal time when it came to Jiro. He was riding high currently and just a misstep could destroy everything he had worked so hard for. She couldn’t bear to see that happen to him. She may be just a few months older than him and he may have lived a harder life since young but in this circumstance, she had lived a few lifetimes more than him.

[Flashback]

 

“An nyoung ha seh yo!”

 

Ella greeted the audience in Korean. She bantered mostly in Mandarin and the little Korean that she had memorised during this trip with the Korean actor that she was presenting the award with. Her gregarious personality wasn’t lost on even the last row of the theatre. Yes, she may be boyish but she had a truly inane beauty that still managed to shine even when she insisted on wearing T-shirt and berms.

 

Standing about 20 feet away, all dolled up in a simple fitted tube dress, Ella was simply resplendent. Every single movement, each toss of her head, Jiro couldn’t take his eyes off her. The same way he could never tear his eyes off her whenever she was within proximity. For some reason, he always wanted to reach out to touch her. Whenever S.H.E or Fahrenheit got together or they were on the road to promote their show like now, he would just observe her from afar. He didn’t know why he was so attracted to Ella, she wasn’t his usual cup of tea. Drawn towards her kindness and even the way she teased the others, from the very first time he had to hug her for a scene to that waltz section that he couldn’t get out of his head even now, he couldn’t deny it. Perhaps he was falling for her.