“Excuse me miss, have you seen this girl around?” Ron held up a picture and showed it to her.

“Um, no. Sorry.” She says, after taking a quick glance.

“Are you sure? Please try to remember.” Ron pleaded.

“I’m sorry sir; I don’t recall ever seeing her.” The cashier stated, annoyed.

Another employee, who was a young boy walked out, holding onto a couple of boxes. “How do you expect us to remember? We serve so many customers in a day.” The boy said.

“May I speak to your boss? Perhaps you guys don’t work here long enough to have seen her. I’m sure she’s a frequent customer around here.” Ron pleaded the young boy, taking a hold of his boxes.

“Hey! Give them back! Fine! I’ll go get my boss” He shrugged, as he saw how desperate Ron was.

“Thank you!” Ron said, giving the boy his boxes back and wiping the sweat off his forehead. He was extremely exhausted for walking around all day long around the neighborhood. So far, he had no such luck.

An older man in his fifties came out. “What is it?” He snapped when he saw Ron.

“Have you seen this girl?” Ron shoved the picture in the man’s face.

The man backed away, before saying…”Hey... She looks familiar. Hm. Where have I seen her before?”

He took a quick glance at Ron. “Hey I think I remember you. Don’t you and she used to live around here?”

Ron nodded.

“Oh yeah, I remember you kids. It has been a while since I saw the both of you. But you know what, I see her brother around sometimes. He is still a frequent customer of ours.”

“Really? Her brother?” Ron asked, dazed. The man left, with Ron standing there, deep in thought.

I haven’t been able to reach Patrick for years. But Patrick must know where Tavia is. If I can find Patrick, I’ll definitely be able to find Tavia. Ron ran out the streets to the apartment building nearby. They have to still be living in that old apartment of theirs! Ron thought, excitedly.

Ron entered the building, to see that the elevator was under construction. Agitated, he ran up the flight of stairs. Finally, Ron reached to the 6th floor of the building. Ringing the bell multiple times, someone finally opened the door.

---

Raymond entered the police station, not feeling quite well. He had taken three days off of work, and he felt guilty for doing so. He knew that his boss Roger would be very upset and angry at him. After the night that he had entered the bar and took in so many shots—he had a massive hangover the day after. After that, he felt even more depressed and didn’t feel like going to work at all. He sulked day and night, until he got a call from Shirley saying that there’s a new major case – and that he needed to stop being so stupid and come back now.

He walked into the room and felt all his fellow co-workers eyes on him. He knew they felt sorry for him, they all know about the breakup, probably from Shirley’s big mouth. But he knew that he couldn’t lie to them any longer, and they all knew that he and Linda were always so close, so sooner or later they would have found out.

Shirley ran over to him and gave him a reassuring hug. “Welcome back, Raymond.” She smiled. Raymond smiled, weakly.

“So, how ya doing man?” Jack Wu said. “You know, girls like her – not worth it. There are plenty of fish in the sea!”

Everyone laughed.

Shirley ran over to Jack and smacked him on the head. “Shut up!” She whispered. Jack quieted down. They all returned to their work.

Roger walked out of his office and spotted Raymond. “Raymond, come into my office. Everyone – continue to work. After I speak to Raymond, we’ll have a brief meeting over our new case.”

Roger entered his office with Raymond right behind him. Raymond closed the door behind him before seeing his co-workers curiously watching them. Swallowing hard, Raymond turned around to face Roger, who was already in his seat.

“Sit down.” He ordered.

Raymond sat down and waited. “Raymond, I know you are a smart, ambitious guy. You can really do work, and you lead the team very well. You know I am thinking of promoting you as the team leader. I think you have the potential to be one.” Roger got up and turned his back towards Raymond, facing the window behind his desk.

“After so many years of you working here, I don’t recall you ever asking to take a day off. Which was why I agreed for you to take the last three days off. But Raymond, you have to know – You can’t let your personal issues affect your work. You have to know when to keep work and your personal life separate, but also know how to balance it well, so that one doesn’t prioritize the other.” Roger continued. He turned around to face Raymond again.

“I know that you are going through a tough time right now, but we need you to come back, so that we can all work together as a team again. The other, newer members need you to guide them.” He hesitated.

“You know… Melissa and I… We’ve been through a lot. I was torn between choosing to continue to work as a police officer or to be with her. It was a tough decision.”

Raymond’s head shot up. He never knew that Roger underwent the same situation he had.

Roger chuckled at his response. “But you know what. Melissa is an amazing woman. She let me continue to go after my dream. And now, she’s my wife. And I promised her to be safe, and to always spend enough time with her. Not everyone is lucky like me – but when you find the one who is willing to give up themselves as much as you would, you know she’s a keeper. Linda may be a great girl – but she’s definitely not for you. Or should I say, you’re not for her. Either way, be patient. Fate will do its job.”

Raymond chuckled. “You believe in fate?”

“I do.” Roger admitted with a sly smile.

---

[ MEETING ROOM ]

“So from the evidence that we have uncovered so far, we finally have a suspect. His name is Joe Ma. He is 30 years old and works at the auto shop. He was extremely good friends with our victim, Sheena Cho. From a witness, they were seen together at a small restaurant one week ago.”

Roger explains, making eye contact with each and every member of the team seated at the round table. He clicked the remote, and a picture of Joe Ma appears on the projector. Roger glances at Raymond.

“Basically, for the last two days we were following on a murder case. Sheena Cho was found dead and stabbed to death 13 times. She was found in an alleyway beside the Chinese rundown restaurant that Joe Ma had met up with Sheena a week ago. We went to the crime scene to look for evidence and found a business card under the name of Joe Ma, hidden in one of my cracks. Yesterday, we took him back to the police station to interview him, yet he lies and says that he does not know of her. Yet today, we have another witness saying that they witnessed Joe Ma entering Sheena’s apartment and they were arguing and waking up the entire flat, in the same week.”

Roger pauses, as he continues to click on the clicker, showing Raymond a normal picture of Sheena, and a picture of her dead in the alleyway. The picture was gruesome and gory, causing Raymond to wince a little.

“We are getting somewhere, however we do not have enough evidence to cover Joe Ma. We have also interviewed other suspects, but they all seem to be innocent. Joe Ma however, seems to be hiding something. He is inscrutable. Jack, Raymond, Shirley, I want you three to follow him for the next few days and see what he’s up to.”

Roger quickly assigns tasks for each member of the team and called the meeting to be dismissed.

Raymond, Shirley, and Jack grabbed all their belongings and rushed out to take immediate action under Roger’s commands.

---

Taking out his picture frame, Ron stared at the photo of a beautiful angel staring back at him. Her hair soft and shiny, her skin flawless, her eyes bright and wide, her cheeks rosy, and her smile more beautiful than anyone he has ever seen – he missed her dearly, so much that it hurts. Yet every night he would take out that picture and look at it. Beside the angel, there stood him, with his arm around her waist. They looked extremely happy and in love -- he remembered that day, he felt like he was the happiest man alive.

[ - FLASHBACK – ]

Ron and Tavia were strolling along the beach. The sun was rising, and they both watched it, amazed at the beautiful scenery. It was cold near the ocean, causing Tavia to shiver. Seeing this, Ron took off his long-sleeved jacket and gently placed it over her shoulders. Tavia smiled, and their eyes locked.

Ron stopped along his tracks, and so did Tavia. He faced her, and very slowly, he gently took her hands into his.

“Tavia. I’ve known you for quite a while now. You know, it’s funny how we met in Hong Kong when we were just kids. And then we’ve lost touch – but somehow fate brought us together again, and here we are in Canada, studying in university.”

Tavia nodded. “It’s a small world. And now we are best friends. I’m so lucky to have you by my side, Ron.”

Ron felt touched by her words, but he knew this was the day he was going to confess his feelings, no more holding back. “Tavia…Is there any chance that we could be more than just friends?”

Shocked, Tavia stole a quick glance at him, her eyes questioning.

Ron felt his hands start to get sweaty.

“I’ve never felt this way…towards anyone. You know how hard it is for me to trust someone, to get close to them. Yet, whenever I’m around you, I’m myself, and I feel that all my troubles go away. I think I’ve fallen for you Tavia.”

Tavia stood there, holding her breath. She wasn’t sure whether or not she should believe him, and how she felt towards him. She was completely speechless.

Ron waited, but decided to continue, “Tavia…I love you. Will you be my girlfriend?” He asked, wholeheartedly.

Tavia looked at him, he was always cute and handsome in her eyes, and he was sweet, caring, protective, Ron. He was the one she could trust, the one she would go to first whenever she was down, the one who would always be there and comfort her no matter what – he was the one she loved unconditionally, and now she realized, she has always loved him more than just a friend… He was the one, she was sure of it. The love of her life.

Tavia nodded, tears in her eyes. They both leaned in, and shared a deep long kiss. Afterwards, they happily chased each other along the beach, and came across tourists couples who wanted them to help them take a picture. In return, they took a picture of Ron and Tavia from their own camera. It was the day they got together, three years ago.

[ - END OF FLASHBACK - ]

Inadvertently, Ron felt hot tears stream down his cheeks. He wiped his tears with the back of his hand, and placed the picture back on his bedside desk. Thinking back to what happened today, he frowned.

When the door opened, he was hoping so much that it would be Tavia, or even Patrick. But the person that stood before him was an old lady in her sixties. He asked her who she was, turns out, Patrick and Tavia moved away a couple of years ago, and she was now the new owner of the flat. Once again, any hope within him is crushed. Nevertheless, the fire within him continues to flame.

---

What did you guys think of the TARO flashback? :)

& fungyi will appear soon !