I walked out the arrival and saw “Welcome to Singapore, Len!” I smiled, I missed this. I miss seeing his face. I could feel my feet bouncing off the floor. He quickly gave me a big warm hug. I could still smell that perfume of his. I could still feel how perfect my head fell onto his chest. Still, he put his cheek on my head. Like always.

‘How long will you be there?’

‘A year, it wouldn’t be long.’

‘I’ll miss you.’

‘I’m sure I will miss you too.’

‘I’ll come visit you.’

‘You should.’

And I did, after six months; I finally had the courage to buy that ticket and flew over to Singapore just to visit this valuable person of mine. I miss everything. Six months without him at home, it was not hard but it certainly was not easy as well. Rather than talking and calling, I ended up e-mailing him once in a while. I couldn’t handle talking to him through the net. I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t want him to see how sad I was. I didn’t want him to see how miserable I was.

“Um. Hello?” I heard a voice with a note of annoyance. I turned and saw a girl, a beautiful girl. She was looking at both of us.

“Oh yeah, Len, this is Jane.” He walked me over towards her. She wasn’t smiling, she wasn’t frowning. She was annoyed. I could sense that.

“Um. Hey.” I said, couldn’t hide my surprise.

“Yeah, hey, so could we get going now? We will seriously miss our dinner.” She said and pulled his arms.

“Relax. We still have an hour to go.” Kris said.

“I did not waste 30 minutes of my life to be late at some restaurant that I had a hard time making reservations.” She said, I was still in a shocked mood. I didn’t understand a thing she said.

“Could you relax? At least let me drop off Lena.” Kris said.

“Where are you staying anyway?” We were finally walking. I pushed my trolley but Kris insisted on pushing it for me as well. I gave him ‘you have a lot of explaining to do’ look.

“I’m staying at a guest house.” I simply said, not knowing what else to say. I was afraid that she wouldn’t be too happy with where I decided to stay at.

“Great.” She muttered.

I grabbed Kris by the arm and “You know I could use the taxi if you are in a hurry” I certainly wasn’t feeling comfortable. This was not how I pictured the welcome. I thought Kris would be here alone. Yet, Jane is talking as if a bullet was coming for her.

“I am not going to let you go on a taxi. Period.” He whispered and quickly let me in the car.

The ride to the guest house was awkward; I could feel my body tensing up. Obviously, Jane was not happy with the plan at all and I couldn’t think of anything to make the situation better. Kris as his usual self pretended like everything was fine. Kris, I don’t know who this Jane is to you but you need to pay attention. We finally arrived and I quickly “Don’t get off, I’ll check myself in, go, or else you will be late.” I understood. Kris almost went out the car and I pushed his door close, “I’m fine, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Thanks Lena!” Jane said, finally sounding satisfied. She urged Kris to step on the accelerator.

Great. I turned around and saw the guest house welcoming me. At least the guest house feels welcoming. I entered and a smile greeted me from the reception desk. It wasn’t really a reception desk and it felt less formal. I was finally feeling at ease.

“Hello! How are you?” I was greeted by a female and she walked me through the small but cosy guest house. The guest house was amazing. More than I imagined it would be. It was so bright with a lot of colours all around. The kitchen was cosy and I could already see a few people who were my age in the kitchen talking to each other. I wonder if they came in together and that was when “Hey everyone, meet our new friend, Lena!”

I bowed and smiled to everyone and introduced myself, there were a few guys and girls. But I felt safe. I felt welcomed maybe after my encounter with Jane, everything felt warm.

“Lena, let’s put your bags inside your room, then please do grab some dinner. You wouldn’t regret it. Jake is cooking his specialty today!” The manager, Tia said. I quickly followed her to my room which was not too far away from the kitchen, just a few steps away. I opened my room and found myself smiling widely. It was beautiful. A twin bed and a beige sofa on the right was what I saw. A closet and a little cupboard with fresh flowers on top. It was really nice.

“Oh, wow, Tia! This is amazing.” I finally said.

“Wait, till you eat dinner! Jake is one of our helpers here and he doesn’t cook often but when he does!” Tia made a two thumbs up.

“I can’t wait! Let me freshen up a bit, I’ll be in the kitchen in five.” I said and turned around to find the bathroom and Tia quickly showed me my private bathroom. As soon as I walked in, I continued to be surprised. The bathroom wasn’t huge but it was clean and sophisticated.