She collapsed into his arms and bawled. His strong arms gripped her body as hot, worried tears just spilled down her face. Selina had been filming in Shanghai. There was no way of speaking to her to check whether she was really out of harm’s way, let alone see her. According to their manager, Selina’s parents and the bevvy of entertainment news that she had been glued to since she returned home, Selina was hurt in an explosion and had suffered third degrees burns. How could anyone be alright after being burnt like that? She wasn’t sure whether they were just trying to make everything seem less serious than it was when they said that she wasn’t in any serious danger. How the hell could anyone not be in grave danger?

 

The door slammed behind Jiro as he moved her into the apartment. His helmet dropped on the floor with a thud, scaring Cookie, Ella’s toy poodle who had followed his owner to see who was at the door. He was excited to see Jiro. He usually had a treat for the little dog. After he had gotten over the loud thud, Cookie stood on his hind legs with his tail wagging hopeful for a snack.

 

Jiro guided Ella to the sofa. She collapsed on the sea of tissue lying on the couch. The television mounted on the wall was blaring at top volume. He could see she was online from her open laptop placed precariously on the armrest of the single seat sofa. The newspaper and countless magazines were scattered on the coffee table along with a various collection of mugs. Even without taking a look, he knew that the liquids in those mugs had probably been there for days. Needless to say, the place was in its usual mess.

 

With one swift movement, he gently removed his arms from around Ella and lunged to save the computer. God knows how many times he had saved the poor laptop from crashing to the ground. He placed the pink laptop on the coffee table and noticed a dent in its cover. So in his absence, the laptop couldn’t escape from its fate.

 

Wiping her wet cheeks with her hands, Ella reached for Cookie who had followed them into the room. Curling up with her pet on the seat, she couldn’t hide her smile despite of everything that was going on.

 

“I thought you were mad at me.” She finally spoke, her voice breaking a little from the crying that she had been doing for the past few hours.

 

Looking over his shoulder, Jiro took a good look at Ella for the first time in five weeks. The red from her dyed hair and been mostly washed out so her mop was more or less back to its normal brown. Years of being dyed unnaturally colours had changed Ella’s natural hair from raven black to a dark chestnut.  Her eyes and nose were rubbed red from bawling. In a rumpled oversized, probably men’s T-shirt, she appeared like a helpless child. God, how had he missed her.

 

“I still am.” Scooting towards her, he kneeled on the carpeted ground.

 

She looked away, disappointed. She thought after all this time, his anger would have dissipated. Hiding her face in Cookie’s body, she mumbled. “Then what are you doing here?”

 

She curled up like a fetus. Jiro couldn’t help but reach for her, taking her into his embrace again. “I was worried. I can’t stay mad at you for long. You of all people should know that.”

 

“I don’t.” Acting like a petulant child, she turned from him, trying to stop her dog from Jiro’s hand.

 

“Well at least, someone else is happy to see me.” He patted the animal on its head. Ella snuggled up to her boyfriend, happy to be in his arms once again.

 

“He’s less petty than you.” She said, sniffling a little. “Wait till he finds out you didn’t bring him any treats.”

 

“Cookie’s always on my side. Aren’t you, boy?”

 

“You are such a pain. What makes you think he likes you?”

 

Before Jiro could answer that, Ella’s stomach grumbled. He looked at her a little in surprise. “You didn’t eat?”

 

“Maybe.” She sat up and put Cookie on the ground. Ella was about to stand but Jiro stopped her. Turning her towards him by her shoulders, Jiro looked at her seriously.

 

“Jia Hua.”

 

“Selina … I spoke with her father and he says that they’ll be flying her back tomorrow or the day after. It was scary, Da Dong. The explosion wasn’t supposed to happen when it was. Fire, fire’s so scary. Yu Haoming tried to shield her. Could you imagine that, Dong Dong? Fire.” Ella blabbered on, evidently still reeling from the shock of what happened of her best friend.

 

Jiro noticed her frightened wide eyes and hugged her closer. Kissing the top of her head, he was worried about Ella. She had always been the strongest of the three girls and the most optimistic. The backbone of S.H.E, Hebe and Selina could always count on Ella to be the one they could run to in moments of trouble. Jiro knew that it just about killed her that she couldn’t do anything to help Selina’s situation.

 

She had been on tetherhooks the entire day but for some reason, Jiro’s presence soothed her frazzle nerves. This wild haired joker always knew exactly what to say and do to make her feel better.

 

Pushing her hair to one side, he gave her forehead a kiss. “Go wash up, honey. I’ll make you something to eat.”

 

Jiro ventured to the kitchen with Cookie nipping at his heels. What to make, what to make, he hummed to himself as he rummaged through the drawers and shelves. There was virtually no proper food in Ella’s house. Each time they had a cold war, Ella resorted to stuffing herself with all sorts of junk food that Jiro tried to keep her away from normally in defiance. There was a collection of potato chips and what nots in one shelf. She really went to town this time with the unhealthy junk. Shaking his head at her childish behaviour, he couldn’t help but call out. “Where’s the normal food in this place?”

 

“There’s some instant noodles!”

 

“That’s not food.” He sighed to himself.

 

“And I think there’s some Spam on the same shelf as the noodles!”

 

With the rations he had found which included the lone egg he had found in the fridge, he got to work making some noodles. He couldn’t even fathom what kind of rubbish that Ella had been feeding herself when he wasn’t around. He didn’t want to know. Lighting the stove, he deftly put the pot to boil.

 

Back in Ella’s bathroom, she gave her face a splash of cold water and a wipe. It was a good thing she had no work commitments today. There was no way she could have kept her composure. Placing the towel back on the rack, she got a glimpse of the clock that sat on her bathroom vanity. Was it really already twelve?

 

She could hear Jiro puttering around the kitchen. whistling. He had always been a pretty fine cook. Part of his skills had been imparted from Wu Chun, the gourmet of Fahrenheit. The Bruneian pretty boy’s mouth was always munching on something including props. The rest was thanks to the fact that he was a Mama’s boy. Jiro must be one of the few celebrities who always spoke about his mother in public and the truth was he really was a family man. He had been helping his mother in the kitchen since he was a toddler.

 

She watched this grown man moving around with ease and a pair of chopsticks. Sometimes, she couldn’t believe that Jiro of all people was and could be in love with her. He had placed his riding jacket on the kitchen chair and had just a white wifebeater on. She could see his defined back and arm muscles. His arms must have gotten larger. With a twinge of wistfulness, she could help but feel sad about how things change when they weren’t paying attention.