“We have faith that Selina will recover and be back to her normal self. Though it’s definitely going to take some time but with your support and her will, she’s definitely going to bounce back after this unfortunate incident.”

 

Ella spoke into the various microphones and recorders that were placed before her. Hebe on the other hand half hid behind her, solemnly. She was used to Ella and Selina being the spokespersons of the group and had difficulty transiting for her solo career. She was glad that she wasn’t in the centre of attention right now. Ella always knew the right things to say.

 

Her manager ushered the girls away. “Ok guys, please let us have some rest. Thank you for your concern.” Pushing the two by their back, they made their way to exit the hospital. Ella almost stumbled at a step she didn’t see. All that was in her mind right now was the sight of Selina, bandaged and hooked up to various machines. She felt sick to her stomach.

 

“Maybe I shouldn’t go to New York.” In the car, Hebe held her hand as they always did when something wasn’t right. It was comforting though the public sometimes thought that it was borderline homoual. But Ella was never one to bother about critics.

“Why?”

 

“With Selina like that…”

 

Her friend interrupted her. “I know you want to show your moral support but honestly it’s all up to the dear girl now and we both know that she will make it.”

 

“Yes, I guess.”

 

They rode in silence for awhile. Ella pulled her mobile out of her bag. There weren’t any messages. Hebe’s sharp eyes noted her disappointment.

 

“Jiro?”

 

“Maybe.”

 

“Don’t tell me he’s still mad.”

 

“He is! He came over last night and I thought he was fine but this morning he flipped over a bracelet that Jerry gave me.”

 

“Gosh, what’s wrong with that donkey. Though you know, if I were him, I would be very uncomfortable with your close friendship with Jerry.”

 

“Hebe, stop it! Take a good look at me. I’m neither Lin Chi Ling nor a drop dead gorgeous supermodel.”

 

Giggling, Hebe had to agree but she couldn’t help but friend more. “But it’s all about inner beauty….”

 

“Don’t give me all that bull, this ain’t a drama we are filming.”

 

Her mobile rang. Swiftly, she looked at the screen, damn speaking of the devil. “Shut up it’s Jerry. “ Hebe gave her an evil look. “Don’t want to hear any noise from you.” She showed her friend a warning finger.

 

“Hey Jerry.” She spoke, trying to keep her voice light and amicable.

 

“Ella, hi! I heard the news about Selina yesterday. But I guessed you were busy.”

 

“No, no it’s alright. Thank you for your concern.”

 

“So how is she?”

 

“The worst is over for Selina but she’s going to spend some time in the hospital. Let’s just say I think it’s going to be at least four months or more before she’ll be good as new.”

 

Wide eyed and trying to stifle her laugher, Hebe looked out of the window, trying not to eavesdrop on the conversation. Anyone with eyes could see that Jerry was hopelessly infatuated with Ella, even though she was blind to his affections. All Ella had was Jiro on her mind. Sighing softly, she wondered whether Jiro in turn was blind to how much Ella cared about him.

 

“That’s good to hear. Look if there’s anything I can do or anytime you need me, just shout okay? I’m in Japan right now but I’ll be back end of the week. You free to meet up soon?”

 

Her cheeks flushing red, she wondered how she was going to wiggle away from this. She enjoyed Jerry’s company but this wasn’t just about her. They had become such close friends that she found hiding things from him tough. She wasn’t a natural born liar like she would like to be. “I’m sorry Jerry but my boyfriend’s not really happy with our friendship.”

 

“I understand. But perhaps we could all meet up and I could explain things to him?” Jerry had no idea who the lucky guy who was dating Ella was. Ella and Jiro had an agreement – only if both parties agreed then would they reveal their relationship to certain individuals. Of course Jerry wasn’t one of them.

 

“I think it’s ok. He just needs to cool down and maybe one day I could introduce him to you.”

 

“So sorry about this. Ok then, goodbye. Hope to see you soon.”

 

She wasn’t used to restricting her interactions when it came to her male friends. She felt bad for Jerry but maybe one day she could properly tell Jerry everything. They had gotten really close during Down With Love and it felt so weird not to share this part of her life with him. But the situation with Jiro was getting far too ridiculous. Maybe after almost five years, the honeymoon had finally ended and the seams of their fragile relationship were finally unraveling.   

 

The audience clapped and cheered. Huge boards with their names and faces were waving wildly, the more creative fan girls had even managed to put flashing lights on their boards. They waved at their fans. “Wu Chun! Ya Lun! Yi Ru! Da Dong!” The screams were almost deafening. Jiro winked and pointed at one fan in the middle, rendering her to scream even louder.

 

Calvin was chatting with the host of the show, flashing his pearly whites. Aaron never failed to be amazed how organised this chaos could be. It was a little disconcerting though to see his face blown up so big and all over the studio.

 

“Well that went well didn’t it?” The tallest of the group, Calvin slung his arm on Jiro and Wu Chun. Aaron led the way backstage.

 

“Definitely.” The three of them agreed. Promotion for their fourth album was progressing better than they could imagine though the packed schedule had them crying for help. Aaron and Calvin had to take some time off from the drama that they were jointly starring in, Wu Chun was being torn for his countless obligations and Jiro had to skip some episodes of Super King filming.

 

Entering the huge backstage, Jiro could hear his ears ringing from the quiet of the room as compared to the hysteria just ten minutes before. Fixing his hair in the mirror, one of their assistants passed him an envelope.

 

“What’s this?” He questioned. All fan mail and gifts were put together by their assistants and brought back to their company.

 

Minghui saw the exchange and came over. “You should open it.” He whispered.

 

There wasn’t any name on it. Ripping the sealed flap, an air ticket itinerary dropped out. Instead of the dates of the air ticket, it was indicated as ‘Flexible’. The destination: JKF, New York.

 

“Jia Hua.” He muttered to himself. In spite of his small outburst this morning, he could feel a glow returning to his face.

 

“A present?” Calvin sidled up to him and took the paper from him. Taking a look, he mouthed the words. “From Ella?”

 

Nodding, he snatched the itinerary back from Calvin who just added, “You lucky bastard.”

 

“Is everything ok?” Wu Chun joined them. He may appear daft most of the time but he was extremely in tuned to his friend’s emotions. Though Jiro seemed to turn on his normal outgoing charm that day but there was something underlying that wasn’t quite right.

 

“Yups. Just abit tired.” He grinned. Ella’s surprise had chased away the shadow of this morning’s fiasco, though he was still kind of sore. He didn’t know what it was about Jerry that just pushed his button. It was queer because they never ran in the same circles and never really met each other. But he thought of all the grief that he had put Ella through recently with him ignoring her and felt ashamed.

 

“Okay guys. We will be on our way now.”  Minghui clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. Jiro gave Aaron a friendly pat on the back as they got into their usual positions to leave the television studio. Their exit seemed more like a planned evacuation. “Go, go, go!”

 

They walked out into the sunlight and into the bright sunlight and horde of screaming fans. An assistant stood in front of them clearing the path ahead while another one brought up the back to stop any overzealous fans from following too close.

 

Like clockwork, they were passed their mobile phones the minute they settled into their seats in the minibus. As always, Danson had left him a message: ‘You saw the air ticket already? You are such an idiot. Anyway, call me when you can.’

 

Jiro pressed Danson’s speed dial number. The rest of the guys were occupied with their own phones. Such was their generation, obsessed with their phones.

 

“Yo.”

 

“Yo yourself.” Danson was chirpy.

 

“She called you?”

 

“Like she always does. Wang Dong Cheng, you are a complete idiot you know that?”

 

“I know but I can’t help it.” He lowered his voice. “She means the world to me.”

 

“I’m glad you know that. You are just driving her away with all this you are throwing. Are we gymming tonight?”

 

“Probably, maybe. I’ll confirm with you later?”

 

“Ok sure, I’ll be there anyway at the usual time. Oh by the way, please don’t kill me but I let it slip that we are going to Athens.”

 

He froze at Danson’s words. “Oh …” He managed to mumble. He had simply forgot that his girlfriend hadn’t been informed about his pending holiday. What was wrong with him? He couldn’t live without her and yet he had trouble remembering to include her in his life. Was he really taking Ella’s considerate nature for granted?

 

On the other end, Danson was shaking his head. “So much for Ella meaning the world to you eh?”