Approaching the tombstone in front of him, Sammul knelt down and placed his bouquet of flowers. He felt a gust of wind blow through his hair, but he ignored it his eyes hardening as he stared at her picture. The last time he visited her was when he held her funeral which was several months ago.

Standing up, he shoved his hands into his jean pockets and whispered, “My love, I missed you so much.”

Shutting his eyes closed, her image on the tombstone still appeared in his mind. Her petite face, her delicate features, her beautiful smile…He missed her so much.

Holding back his tears, he continued, “I’m sorry that I didn’t come to visit you…But I know that you have never left. You’re my angel, watching over me.”

 Sammul slowly opened his eyes and glanced up into the puffy, white clouds. Gazing at the clouds, he smiled, as he evoked a memory that they’ve shared.

His eyes gazed back on her picture, and he continued to talk as if here presence was there.

“Anyway, you don’t need to worry much about me because I’ve been good…I mean, Benny and Ron have been there for me. Oh…” Sammul chuckled to himself. “Benny is getting married soon. He’s engaged now, but he will marry early next year.” 

Sammul felt his lips tremble at the mention of Benny’s wedding. “It’s funny because Benny would also tease us…He was so certain I would marry first among the three of us.” 

Upon hearing a crack behind him, Sammul’s head snapped up and he swiftly turned around. He forced a weak smile at the sight of Selena.

 Walking towards Sammul, she said softly, “I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I was just here visiting my mother.”

Sammul nodded, his eyes trailing at the row of tombstones in front of him. “Where is she?”  He asked.

“It’s right beside Leila’s.”  Selena stated, putting down her box of egg tarts on the tombstone.

“Hi mommy.” Selena greeted.

“Hello auntie.” Sammul said.

Selena introduced her mother to Sammul, and Sammul did the same with Selena and Leila. Out of curiosity, Selena asked Sammul to tell him what Leila was like, and how she ended up here. Sammul answered her questions, not feeling slightly uncomfortable like he would before when people had questioned him. He also asked Selena about her mother and realized that her past wasn’t so glamorous nor was it like any average being’s lifestyle.

He learned that ever since she was young, his father was abusive and would always hit her and her mom. Her mother left her father and raised Selena by herself. They were very poor, and Selena almost couldn’t attend university because she had no money. Her mother worked day and night, through many jobs and many shifts, until she was weak and tired, and eventually became too ill. She died shortly after Selena’s first year at university.

Selena mentioned how she had met Tavia through university and Tavia and Patrick suggested that she come over to live in Hong Kongafter she had graduated. She smiled at the mention of her best friend, how she was there for her through her ups and downs.

And then she frowned, saying how during that time Tavia was undergoing some issues herself, in which she had kept to herself. Selena felt guilty for she did not take much care of her best friend, but Sammul assured her that Tavia’s accident could not be blamed on anyone. After sharing their past, they stared into space, deep in their thoughts.

“See the clouds above?” Sammul suddenly asked, lifting his chin up to the sky.

Selena looked up also. “They’re beautiful.”

“What do you see?” Sammul asked.

Selena cast a glance at Sammul, puzzlement shown on her face.

Without gazing at Selena, Sammul said, “I see a rabbit. I see an old man with a long beard. I see a car…I see –“

“I see a flower. I see a house. I see…a heart.”  Selena finished off, a smile appearing on her face.

Sammul smiled. Cloud gazing was something he had always done with Leila. Before, Leila could see all sorts of things while he couldn’t. But now, he could see anything he wanted to see…anything but her.

- - -

Banging his fist on the table, Bosco felt this head with his other hand. His vision was blurred and he had a massive headache. After what he had insufferably witnessed last night, he felt his heart ache and he couldn’t sleep the entire night. He had gone over to the pub and drank until he passed out. If it wasn’t for Steven who had come around to search for him, he didn’t know where he would be right now. He would probably be lying on the streets for all he knew.

He was forced to get his up this morning to head to work. Throughout the day his mind was elsewhere, and he was tuning everyone out. Even Bobby’s strict yelling and tone did nothing to him; he was like a walking zombie the entire day. There were many complaints to him from the patients, but he ignored them all as nothing could hurt him more than what he had witnessed.

Now, it was late and once again he was the pub, drinking away without any care at all. He was upset, furious, heartbroken…He wanted to see her, but at the same time he wanted to have nothing to do with her anymore.

It was clear that Tavia and Raymond were officially together, in love, and he could do nothing about it. He had lost. It had never hurt so much before when he had broken up with his other girlfriends, for they weren’t serious to begin with.

He longed for the days where he had never thought of being committed in a relationship, when he would just flirt with all the girls at the pub and would occasionally go on dates. His phone began ringing, but he ignored it, crossing his arms on the tabletop and resting on them.

The melody from his phone continued to ring. Annoyed, he lifted his hand up and swiftly glanced at his phone display. Steven’s caller ID photo appeared on the screen, one of him with a silly pose. Bosco once again laid his head in his arms until the ringing stopped, after a long couple of minutes. A short moment later, his phone began to ring again.

Furious, he sat up and picked up his phone, about to shut it off but he stopped when he saw the caller ID picture. It was Tavia who was calling him. Tracing her picture with his thumb, he felt tears forcing its way out at the corner of his eyes.

“Why…” He mumbled, to no one in particular.

Bosco jerked up when he felt a hand tap him on the shoulder. Hastily, he turned around to come face to face with Macy. She was all dressed up in her clubbing wear, and her face was pasted with a concerned expression.

“Bosco…Are you crying?” She asked softly.

Bosco quickly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “N-No.” He stuttered, then faking a smile. “Me? Cry?” He coughed out a chuckle.

“Bosco, Steven’s been looking for you. We’re all pretty worried about you. You seem so…depressed today.”  Macy whispered, as she too felt like tearing up.

At the sight of Bosco, she knew he was hurt, his face showed it all. She had never seen him like this before; he was always active and carefree, with a trace of confidence everywhere he went.

Inadvertently, Bosco rocked off his seat and embraced Macy. She returned his embrace, patting his back lightly, while he tried so hard to hold back his tears...

---

Stepping into the apartment, Ron threw himself on the couch and laid there. He was worn out. Benny trailed behind him closing the door and calling out, “HONEY, I’m HOME!” 

Ron rolled his eyes; it was enough to have to see Benny over 12 hours a day, ever since he worked in the same insurance company and under the same manager as Benny. He knew he owed it to Benny though. It was just that he never knew they had so much filing and work to do that he haven’t even found the time to call Tavia out for the last couple of days.

As Benny disappeared down the hallway in search for Sammul, Ron felt his cell vibrate in his back pants pocket. He reached for his cell, reading that he had a new text message. It was from an unknown sender, but he clicked the message open anyway, unaware to what he was to uncover.

The message read, “HO HO HO MERRY XMAS. DIDYA MISS ME? DIDYA? IT”S BEEN YEARS RON. IT’S A SMALL WORLD AINT IT? SO…HOW IS THE LOVELY LADY?”

Ron’s eyes widened as he read the message. He jumped upright so quickly, that he almost fell off the couch. Who could have sent this? He thought, a chill running down his spine. The message was mysterious, yet whoever this person was knew of him, but most importantly of Tavia…

His heart raced as a dreadful thought occurred to him.

“It couldn’t be him, could it?” He muttered out loud to himself.

But why? Why is he here? Swallowing hard, he prayed in his mind that if it WAS him, that he wouldn’t know that Tavia was also here in Hong Kong…

- - -

It was now 1:30am, and the entire house was pitch black, except for a tiny glow of light illuminating in a tiny room at the end of the hall. Inside the room, a desk lamp was , along with a laptop. Muffling her laughter with one hand, Tavia was furiously typing with her other hand. Her eyes were glued to the screen, and she just wasn’t tired at all, despite having to wake up early in the morning for her third day of work.

Momentarily, she glanced at her closed door as she heard infinitesimal noises, hoping that Patrick wouldn’t wake up and enter her room. He would most definitely be wondering why she was still up so late at night and yell at her for she needed her beauty sleep.

Completely energized, she continued to instant message Raymond, who was still at the station, working on his latest yet most challenging case.

At the station, Raymond was supposedly working hard, and he was, yet he sneakily signed on his msn to chat with Tavia. Shirley and Jack were also doing the same, as he saw them online also. Upon hearing a loud click of the door opening and footsteps nearing his cubicle, Raymond quickly typed his ‘gtg swt dreams, luv u’ to Tavia and signed off his msn.

Roger came up behind him and interrogated him about the case. Breathing a sigh of relief after Roger had finished interrogating him and announced that they were all to be dismissed for the day, Raymond got up and stretched, hurrying back home for he had everything planned out for his ‘big date’ the next day, right after work.