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After an hour passed by Selina left Hebe’s house running into the invesitgator at the doorstep. Instead of a formal attire he was dressed in a short sleeved shirt and slacks with tennis shoes.

“It’s a surprise seeing you,” he remarked. “Were you visiting Hebe?”

Hebe. He called her friend, Hebe, by her first name. Did it mean he was close to Hebe?

“I was. And you’re also here to see her, I guess?” Selina asked.

He nodded with a plentiful smile.

“Have fun then,” Selina told then silently thought, “they are close. If he’s dressed so casual and even calls her by her first name they must be seeing each other.”

Selina turned around to see Hebe invite Jiro into the house then made her way to the street toward the taxi. Should she ask Aaron about what Hebe had talked to her about? Or should she wait for Aaron to say something first?

When she got back to her apartment Selina changed her clothing into something more casual tying her hair up. She suddenly found herself looking forward to the date she had that night.

Aaron arrived 30 minutes later and they watched the movie as planned. Afterward, Aaron treated her to dinner. She recalled the first time they’d gone out on a date and how quiet they had been, but noon now they were all about chatter about this or that. She debated whether she should tell him about her visit with Hebe and decided against it at the end listened  about Aaron’s embarrassing incident abroad.

An hour later on the way back they were listening to the radio silently, both feeling relaxed until the car stopped in front of Selina’s apartment. Selina remained in her seat hesitant about Hebe’s words and waiting for Aaron to say something. Instead she didn’t realize he was also worried about the same thing.

“Thanks for coming out tonight.” Aaron thanked. “I really enjoyed your company.”

“Good night,” Selina said. She hadn’t meant for those words to be said, but they made their way out anyway.

She had no choice now, but to really step out of the car and make her way up to her apartment.

Aaron watched as she got out of the car feeling. A sudden deep feeling of regret grew within him and on impulse he stepped out of the car.

“Selina,” he called hurrying to the front of his car to catch up to her.

Selina turned around, a sudden whirl of emotions climbed onto her face. “It looked like she had been expecting something from me,” Aaron thought.

“I…I wanted to know…I was just curious,” Aaron began.

Why couldn’t he just say the words? He stared back at Selina’s expectant face.

“You…if the chance came…I just wanted to know if you’d come back to me,” Aaron finally pushed the words out of his mouth.

Her heart was beating fast and she felt happy that he’d asked. Her heart had been tearing apart about worries before she’d found out about what he’d gone through, but now…it all seemed perfectly fine. Because he was making his way back toward her and the chance was there waiting for them to grasp it. It was only a step away…her happiness was only a step away and if she let it go now she knew she’d never receive it again.

“Did you even have to ask?” Selina asked.

Her words flew out of Aaron’s ears as she stepped toward him putting an arm around his neck and kissed him.

||||||||

“I hadn’t expected you to come back here,” Hebe said as she walked passed the tiffany chandelier.

“I remembered I interrogated you the other day,” Jiro recalled. “I knew the answer to the question you asked me. Do you want to know about it?”

Hebe paused then tilted her head, “I wonder what answer it is in that head of yours. I bet you’re busy, so I might as well not waste your time and agree, right?”

“Then lets go out for a walk.”

They walked through the night market area where people were setting up their stands. The cool breeze flying pass them on a warm evening helped with the peaceful mood. His visit made her day even better. She’d been planning to watch some television before going to sleep, but she would rather be walking next to him and enjoy the walk they were having.

“I see that your friend was visiting you earlier,” Jiro pointed out.

“Selina?” Hebe asked. “It’s the first time we’ve talked since 3 years.”

“That’s a pretty long time,” Jiro commented.

“I know,” Hebe said, “actually I think we’ve all been trying to avoid one another in different ways.”

“All of you?”

“Ella, Aaron, Selina, and I.” Hebe explained. “Before I got pregnant Aaron and Selina had been seeing each other. They were the lovey-dovey couple, almost perfect, like they were made for each other. I was jealous, actually, because Aaron’s a very handsome man, the kind of handsome man that would make girls fall head over heels for him  .”

Jiro couldn’t agree any more.

“But he had Selina by his side and all he cared about was her. She was the entire world to him and during those 3 years I lived with him, even though he seemed happy to be with me, I could see he missed her. Because after the wedding Selina barely talked to us and we barely talked to her…as I said we all tried to avoid one another. She was very hurt and immediately left Taiwan after graduation. It brings us to where we are now, but hopefully things are beginning to change for the better.”

“I’m sure things will change,” Jiro assured. “Do you want to get some snacks?”

They stopped by one of the stalls and grabbed from something to eat. From there Jiro led Hebe into a park with the best view of the sunset. There was no one around except for the birds that were dipping their beaks into the ground continuously searching for worms, just what Jiro had wanted. An empty park where he’d have no interruptions.

“Actually, even if you had refused to come out with me I would have found a way to bring you here,” Jiro told. “It’s a breathtaking sight isn’t it? It doesn’t need to be something great out of the country for us to enjoy. What we have on our land is the best, don’t you think?”

Hebe turned to Jiro with a small frown then laughed.

“Eventually, I have nothing to do until tomorrow so I thought I owe it to you to treat you to something good,” Jiro said.

“I enjoy it, thank you.”

“I saw that you were pretty upset the other day, but you seem to be doing better now. I wanted to comfort you somehow, so this was all I could think of. It’s pretty old fashion isn’t it?”

“I guess it is,” Hebe agreed.

“Hebe.” he turned to her. “When I find your children…if there’s even a small possibility, I’d like to start seeing you.”

Hebe felt more than surprised and delighted with his suggestion. 

“It’s not a possibility, investigator. You’re supposed to know there are no such things as possibilities, but rather you know you will.” Hebe corrected. “And we don’t have to wait till then do we?”

Jiro smiled and took her hands placing a kiss on her lips exactly the way she had given him the kiss that night. He’d never been able to forget it, not then, and not now or ever.