Tavia took out her keys, ready to open her apartment door. The door suddenly opened, revealing an angry yet worried looking Patrick.

“Where were you?”

“I was with Raymond. He was –“

“Do you have any idea what time it is?”

Tavia lowered her head, ready to be yelled at.

“Why did you leave the mall without Selena? You two are supposed to stick together! Do you have any idea how worried we were?”

“I’m sorry…” Tavia mumbled.

“Wait, what? You were with Raymond? What were you doing with him?!” Patrick yelled his tone even higher.

Tavia had enough of it. “I was with a friend, is there anything wrong with that?”

“A friend? Since when did you guys become friends? You two only met once!”

“You’re wrong about that. And I’m no longer a child anymore, what does it matter who I’m with and what time I come home?” Tavia yelled just as loud, matching his tone.

“You know what? Fine. Do whatever you want with your life.” With that, Patrick walked to his room and slammed the door shut.

Tavia felt so guilty, yet so angry at the same time for she wasn’t entirely at fault yet he made her feel that way. She looked over and saw that on the kitchen table there were many dishes of food made, cold and untouched.

- - -

[ NEXT MORNING ]

 “Miss..Please, could you tell me if a patient by the name Tavia Yeung stayed at this hospital?”

  “Sir, we are very busy right now.”

  “Please, I just saw her the other day. I’ve been searching for her for two years already. Please tell me where she lives?”

   “Sir, like I said, this information is confidential. I advise you to leave this hospital now, or I’ll call security.”

Bosco dashed out from Bobby’s office as he overheard this. It was much too loud to not have overhear Tavia’s name. Bobby followed after him.

“What is going on?” Bobby asked Macy.

Macy glanced up from the computer, her face red from anger. “This man came to me and demanded to know where Tavia lives. He was interrogating me for the past ten minutes.”

Bobby nodded,”I never heard you sound so harsh before.”

“He was rude. And you should’ve seen him – he was dressed all gangster and he seemed much too dangerous. I don’t want another Joe Ma in the hospital.” Macy shivered.

Bosco wondered how Tavia was related to a gangster and what he wanted from her. He then decided he was going to visit Tavia today to see how she’s doing.

 - - -

[FLASHBACK]

“How come you don’t go and dance on the dance floor like your friend over there?”  The bartender asked, while handing Sammul his shot glass.

“I can’t dance.”  Sammul replied, shyly.

“Just listen to the beat and move around. It’s easy.” The bartender said, dancing in her spot and showing Sammul. She made a lot of random movements, and Sammul laughed.

“Hey! Don’t laugh at me! I’ll like to see you dance.” She teased.

Sammul shook his head. “You were doing that on purpose. You can actually dance.”

The bartender raised her eyebrows. “And you can’t? Come on, you look like a fast-learner. I’ll teach you.” The girl walked around the bar and grabbed Sammul on the arm. This took him by surprise.

“What? You were serious?” Sammul cried, panic in his voice. The girl smiled, noticing this.

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” She dragged him on the dance floor.

“Aren’t you working? Won’t you be in trouble?” He yelled, amongst all the music and the voices of the people around them.

“Life’s too short to worry about these things. Don’t worry about it.” She yelled back.

The girl started to dance to the beat, swaying her body back and forth. Sammul tried to copy her movement, but he was much too stiff.

“Relax a little.” She says, touching his arm.

Sammul blushed, as he notices the distance between them was so close. Someone bumped into the girl, causing her to trip right into Sammul’s arms.

“Watch it!” Sammul yelled at the guy who gave him a ‘whatever’ look and walked away.

“Are you okay?” Sammul asked, as he helped the girl stand back up.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.” She smiled.

“Hey, what’s your name?” Sammul wondered.

“I’m Leila.” She grins. “You?”

[ END OF FLASHBACK ]

            Benny stood outside Sammul’s bedroom door. He lifted his left arm and curled up his fist, ready to knock on his door. After a few minutes of hesitating, he decided it’s time to really pull Sammul out of his room – he’ll do whatever it takes, since talking him out of it doesn’t have any effect.

            Benny knocked on the door three times. “Sammul! Open up!” After banging on the door for a few minutes, Benny still had no reply. He started to panic, as he prayed that Sammul was okay and hadn’t attempted to end his life. He decided to barge in, so he kicked the door open, to find Sammul lying on his bed. He ran over to his side, as Sammul sat up, an angry expression pasted on his face.

“What the hell are you doing?” Sammul yelled.

“I was worried about you!” Benny cried.

“I’m not an idiot! You’re paying for that door!” Sammul shouted, and then he lay back down on his bed, with the blankets over his head.

“Sammul get up! Stop sulking! Everybody’s worried about you!”  Benny yelled, struggling to fight the blanket off Sammul’s head.

 However, Sammul’s grip was just as strong. A moment later, Sammul pulled his blanket off his head and yelled, “What does it matter? Leila’s gone forever! What’s the purpose of living if everything is eventually taken away from you and we all end up dying?”

Benny was shocked to hear this. He felt hurt.

“Are you saying that I don’t matter? Your parents don’t matter? That we’re not worth living for? It’s because that life is precious and you never know what will happen, what life can take away from you, when you will die – it’s the reason why we need to live life to the fullest and cherish everyone around you!”  Benny paused, allowing Sammul to sink in the words.

Sammul’s face shows no emotion, so Benny decides to walk out on him. Before he walked out the door, Sammul mumbles, “What do you know about love.”

“I certainly know about love Sammul. I’m in love right now. And I know that if anything were to happen to her, I’ll be devastated and my world would be crashing down. I would be in the exact same position as you are. But I also know that as a friend, I need to yell at you to wake up and open your eyes – there are other reasons to living life. What about the people you care about? Do you know how heartbroken we are to see you like this? I would let you be if it didn’t affect so many people. And what about Leila? She may be gone, but that does not mean she can’t see you from above. You have to live on for her – she wouldn’t want to see you like this either.”

Benny left the room without looking back. He had said all that he could, and it was up to Sammul make use of his own life.

Ron entered his apartment and plopped himself down on the couch. He was surprised to see Sammul seated at the kitchen table.

“Hey.” Ron mumbled.

Sammul glanced up. “How was your job interview?”

“Fine. I think I got the job.”  Ron replied.

He was even more surprised that Sammul actually replied to him and that he knows he had a job interview at Benny’s insurance that morning. He got up and sat down at the kitchen table in front of Sammul.

“Hey…Are you okay?”  Ron asked.

Sammul took a sip of his glass of milk before replying, “I’m going to live my life the way Leila would want me to live it – being happy and living it to the fullest.”

“Great. I’m glad that you’re able to think that way.” Ron said, giving Sammul a small punch on the arm.

“Ron…No doubt it’s going to take years for me to get over this…I may not ever get over this, but I will continue to move forward, and I hope you do too. You know, move on.”

Ron stayed silent as Sammul said this. A short moment later, Ron replied in a low voice, “I wouldn’t give up if there’s any ounce of hope left. I know you wouldn’t either – if it was Leila.”