Author's Note: See author's note to Story #10 - Chance Meetings.

Story #11 – Surprise Meetings

Poke.  Poke.  Poke.  Pei Xi looked down at the finger poking at his arm and then looked up at the person connected to the finger.  The last time he experienced this exact scenario he ended up having to watch over Dream Journey for almost two months.  He wondered what he’d have to do today.

“Ge, the last time you poked me like this you weren’t up to any good.  I guarantee you’re still not up to any good today.” 

As he’d responded the last time, Summer responded the same way again today.  “I just want to discuss something with you.”

“What?”

“I’d like to give myself the day off tomorrow.”

“And?”

“And since your match ended yesterday, that means you aren’t busy with anything right now and have a lot of free time on your hands, so I want you to look over Dream Journey tomorrow.” 

“Just tomorrow?”

“Just tomorrow.” 

Pei Xi couldn’t help but feel that this conversation was entirely too familiar.   “You aren’t leaving to go find yourself again, are you?”

“Can’t you ever say anything nice to me?” his cousin wanted to know.

Pei Xi sighed.  “It’s really just for tomorrow?”

“I promise.”

“Because the last time you said you were going away for only a few weeks it ended up being much longer than that.”

“I promise, I promise!”  Summer even held up his right hand for emphasis.

“Fine.  What are you doing tomorrow that you need the day off, by the way?”

But Summer was already walking away, having gotten what he wanted.  “None of your business,” he called over his shoulder.

=//=

The next day found Summer waiting anxiously at the airport.  He checked his watch for what seemed like the billionth time and tried not to pace around in place.  The arrival board indicated that the flight he was waiting for had been going through customs for the past half hour, but there was still no sign of her. 

Just as he scratched at his right ear, the frosted double doors of the international arrival terminal slid open and a wave of passengers burst forth.  Standing on his tiptoes to see past the crowd that had suddenly converged in front of him, Summer tried to see if he could spot her among them, but it was a no go.  Eventually, the crowd disbursed and Summer was once again left waiting.

He was just about to flip out his phone to send a weixin when the doors slid open again.  This time only a few passengers trickled out and suddenly she was there.  She was pushing a cart weighed down by her oversized suitcase, guitar case, and bag, and even though her face was covered almost entirely by a broad rimmed khaki-colored hat and face mask, Summer could tell from where he was standing that her eyes were looking all around.

Lifting his hand high and waving to attract her attention, he saw when she finally noticed him and from the way she stopped briefly in her tracks before turning her cart in his direction, he imagined there was a smile hiding behind that black mask. 

Miya rolled her luggage cart until it stopped right in front of Summer and exclaimed, “You came!” 

“I told you I would,” and then he opened his arms wide and greeted her grandly.  “Welcome home.”

Laughing with a laughter that only Summer knew how to bring out in her, Miya leaned in for the hug and thanked him for being there to meet her at the end of her long journey. 

Summer immediately took over the luggage cart and guided her towards the parking garage where he’d left his car.  “You must be tired.  Are you hungry?”

“I ate a little something on the plane not too long ago, so I’m not really hungry, but I am tired,” she admitted. 

Summer glanced at his watch again and after doing some quick mathematical calculations figured out it was probably still the middle of the night in the place that she’d just returned from. 

“I’ll take you back to your apartment and help you get settled, and then you can get some sleep.”

Before Miya had left the country, and as one of her former manager’s last acts, Tony had helped her purchase an apartment and had it outfitted with furniture so that it would be waiting for her when she returned.  Miya was through with living out of hotels.  Now that she was done with her travels, she was ready to put down some roots and focus on her music.

“It’ll be nice to finally sleep in my own bed,” she agreed.  And then she repeated in wonderment, “My own bed.  How nice that sounds.” 

Miya couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a bed to call her own.

“I picked up the keys from your company the other day and stopped by your apartment yesterday to make sure everything was clean and in working order.  I also stocked the fridge and kitchen with some essentials as I figured you would be too tired to go shopping once you returned.  Later, I’ll help show you around your neighborhood so that you’ll know where everything is.”

One of the many things Summer and Miya had talked about during their travels together was how it’d been years since she lived in anything other than a hotel room, and how it’d been even longer since she’d lived in China.  Summer knew it would be an adjustment for her returning like this.

“Thank you.  I don’t know what I’d do without you.” 

Not for the first time, Miya thought about how grateful she was that their paths had crossed when they did and that she’d been able to meet a friend like him.

=//=

A week later, the Phoenix training base was a hive of activity, but not because the members were hard at work training.  Instead, they were busy cleaning and decorating the living room area. 

Lin Yi Xuan and his girlfriend, Lu Yi Yi, worked together to hang up a banner while Ji Xiang Kong and Xia Ling blew up balloons.  Pei Xi, meanwhile, was sitting in the corner with a stack of poster boards in front of him because surprisingly, out of all the Phoenix team members, it was discovered that he had the neatest handwriting.  As for Sun Ze Yi and the team’s coach, Shu Wen, they were busy cooking up a feast in the kitchen.

Xia Ling asked how much longer they had before his sister, Qiu Ying, would arrive and Xiang Long looked at his watch.  “Luo Laoshi said he’d bring her by after work, but that he’d make sure they finished early today since it’s her birthday, so I’d say we probably have at least another hour before she arrives.”

Having finished hanging up the “Happy Birthday” banner, Yi Yi stepped back briefly to admire her handiwork and then turned around with her hands on her hips.  “We don’t have much time left then.”

“Mm,” Xiang Kong agreed and handed her a deflated balloon to blow up.  “How’s it going over there?” he called out to the kitchen.

“Everything’s under control over here,” his Sun Ge called back.  But then he looked down at his watch and frowned.  “Someone still needs to pick up the birthday cake though.  Where is that Summer?  I thought he’d pick it up on his way over.”

“I haven’t heard from him all day,” Pei Xi spoke from his corner.  “Come to think of it, I’ve barely see my cousin all week.”

Xiang Kong frowned with a concern that mirrored the expression on his Sun Ge’s face.  Both of them were thinking how unlike Summer that sounded.  Usually whenever there was a party or other similar event involved, he was the type to be at the front of the lines. 

“I’m sure he’ll be here on time for Qiu Ying’s party,” Shu Wen reassured.   “There’s no way he’d overlook Qiu Ying and I sent him a reminder this morning, too.  As for the cake,” she took off her apron and tossed it onto the kitchen counter.  “I’ll head out now to pick it up.”  She then reached for her purse and headed directly for the front door.

After Shu Wen left, Yi Xuan predicted that Qiu Ying was going to be surprised when Luo Tian brought her by the training base later that evening. 

“Mm,” Xia Ling agreed.  “This morning at breakfast, my dad asked my Jie how she was going to celebrate her birthday and she answered that she didn’t yet know.  My mom then asked her if Dui Zhang was going to do anything for her and she had to answer again that she didn’t know.  My Jie didn’t say anything, but I could tell she was feeling a little sad and confused.”

“Qiu Ying’s been sending me messages as well,” Yi Yi shared.  “She keeps asking me things like what does it mean when one’s boyfriend doesn’t say anything about one’s birthday?  In her last message to me, she even wondered if it was possible that Xiang Kong didn’t know about her birthday.”

“How have you been answering her?” Yi Xuan asked.

“Of course I’ve been cursing him out!” 

Yi Yi shrugged unapologetically at Xiang Kong and explained, “I have to keep up the show.  If I spoke up for him and told her to be more understanding, she’d probably suspect something.  So, instead, I tell her she should absolutely not make things easy for him by telling him about her birthday.”  With a giggle, she added, “Qiu Ying doesn’t have a clue.”

Behind them, Xiang Kong smirked in amusement and fun.  Tying some balloons together in order to hang them up along the wall, he thought about how shocked Qiu Ying was going to be when she realized that not only had he not forgotten about her birthday, but he’d in fact been secretly spending these past few weeks putting together a surprise party just for her.  He knew she was disappointed that he hadn’t said anything about her birthday.  Qiu Ying wasn’t the type to come out and ask him about it directly, but she hadn’t been able to resist dropping little hints here and there either.  Each time she’d done so, Xiang Kong had played dumb and pretended he didn’t understand.  It’d been a source of amusement for him to watch her struggle and hold onto her frustration while pretending she wasn’t the least bit affected.

Pei Xi piped up at that moment to say he was finished with the last poster and both Xiang Kong and Yi Yi wandered over to check them out.  Nodding their heads in approval, they then all pitched in to hang up the rest of the streamers, balloons, and decorations. 

When Qiu Ying arrived a little less than an hour later, she found the Phoenix training base totally transformed.  With clasped hands covering and hints of tears in her eyes, she looked around the room in utter and complete surprise.   She then turned to her friends and said with laughter and emotion, “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say ‘thank you,’” Luo Tian suggested.

“I should’ve known something was up when you offered to give me a ride over here after work today.”

“Surprised?” Yi Yi asked.

“Very surprised.  And overwhelmed.  I never expected anything like this.  I can’t believe you never said a word in all the times I messaged you.

“And you!” Qi Ying pointed at her younger brother.  “You didn’t say anything either.  Not even this morning when our parents kept asking me how I was going to celebrate my birthday.”

Xia Ling laughed in response while Yi Xuan pointed out proudly, “This was all planned by my Kong Ge.”

“We would never hear the end of it, if we dared to let anything slip,” Shu Wen told her.

“That’s true,” Sun Ze Yi agreed.  “Xiang Kong nagged us more about your surprise birthday party than he has ever nagged the Phoenix team about its training.” 

As everyone laughed, Qiu Ying finally turned to Xiang Kong who’d been hanging back to watch in pride and delight as she experienced the surprise of her birthday party.  Walking over she stopped right in front of him and said, “Thank you.”

With his hands in his pockets, he lifted his eyebrows and asked, “Is that all?”

Since they were