CHAPTER SEVEN JUNE 11, 2020   After checking out of the lakefront cabin at seven in the morning, much to everyone’s displeasure, the group was on their way to Napa Valley to catch the Napa Valley Wine Train for their booked Legacy Tour that was departing at ten-fifteen sharp from the Napa Valley Wine Train Station. The tour involved riding in a luxurious, refurbished antique railcar that consisted of a four-course gourmet meal and private wine tastings at three different wineries.   Rowan didn’t know how the tall male managed to do it, but all 187 centimeters of Lani were curled up into a ball on the back seat of the SUV with his head on her lap. His arms were wrapped around her waist and he buried his face in her abdomen. Stifling a yawn, Rowan hummed softly and adjusted her neck pillow into a more comfortable position. Her fingers unconsciously ran through Lani’s hair, scratching his scalp slightly, as she shut her eyes, trying to get as much sleep as possible before they reached the train station.   Since it was still early in the morning, the rest of the car was also in deep slumber with the exception of Jeremy who was at the wheel. Amelie was leaning comfortably on Jonas’s shoulder. Even the chatterbox Chanel was also quiet, sleeping soundly on the plushie that was sandwiched between the car window and her head.   Soon, the crew arrived at the train station and they checked into their seats on the antique train. They were all in their smart casual wear with the girls especially decked in their long, flowy sundresses and heels, as per Bianca’s order.   “Wow, this train looks like the Hogwarts Express,” Estee gushed gleefully as she lingered at the back, snapping a few photographs before she got onto the train with Russell’s help.   Rowan walked in her kitten heels to a wooden bench at the back with Lani following her. They were soon joined by Kallie and Chloe who sat directly opposite of them at the marbled dining table. Beside them, Bianca, Lucas, Ripley, and Jeremy were sitting at the same table.   “Sleep well?” Rowan nudged Kallie’s calf with the side of her heel, smiling.   Kallie lightly smiled back and nodded, muttering a word of thanks. The corners of Rowan’s lips also twitched upwards and she patted the Chinese-American girl’s forearm, noticing her friend’s slightly rosier complexion. However, she was pretty certain Kallie hadn’t slept well the previous night since she had vaguely heard some muffled sobs coming from the other side of the bed that they shared. Rowan had also caught a glimpse of Kallie dabbing a thick layer of concealer on her dark eye bags and spamming blush on her pale cheeks that morning. Deciding not to expose the Chinese-American girl’s white lie, Rowan turned her gaze to the scenery outside of the train window.   Once the train started to move, they were first served a glass of sparkling wine each. Kallie pressed her lips into a thin straight line when she caught sight of a laughing Karter a row away from her as he dodged Vanessa’s slap. Chloe’s eyes hardened considerably when she realised where Kallie was looking. The previous night had been pure madness with loads of crying and cursing. Rowan and Vanessa had teamed up to restrain an infuriated Chloe from bolting into Karter’s room to beat the out of him after Kallie’s spiel. None of them had seen a marshmallow explode like that before and it had been truly an astonishing sight to witness.    Picking up the glass of wine, Kallie brought the rim of the glass to her lips. Before she could down the entire glass, Lani had reached forward and held onto the stem, lowering the glass from her lips.   “Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy, Kallie,” Lani laughed good-naturedly. “You wouldn’t want to finish everything on an empty stomach.”   Rowan unconsciously raised a brow as Kallie sheepishly chuckled and set the glass on the table. She wasn’t sure when it had all started, but she had recently begun feeling uncomfortable whenever Lani was being nice to the other girls on this trip. Though she knew that it was all platonic and that Lani was just a brotherly figure to them, her stomach often twisted nastily whenever she saw the Korean-American male casually striking up a conversation with the girls in the group. It didn’t help when she felt all of the girls on this trip were all ing gorgeous.   Shortly after, a hearty breakfast came, consisting of lemon mascarpone crepes, roasted maple bacon, and oven basted eggs with salmon roe and buttered croutons. Across their table, Bianca carefully cut out the egg yolk, making sure that the runny yolk didn’t burst and left it to the side of her plate.   “Bianca, are you not eating the yolk?” Lani asked.   Bianca, who was just about to scoop up the egg yolk and pass it to Lucas, looked at Lani and shook her head. “Nah, I’m not a fan of egg yolks.”   “You can pass it to me then,” Lani cheerfully said. “I like all parts of an egg.” The Korean turned to Rowan and wiggled his brows.   Bianca exchanged a look with Lucas and pretended to barf, before proceeding to dump the egg yolk onto Lucas’s plate. “Too bad.” She stuck out her tongue playfully at the crestfallen boy.   Rowan rolled her eyes and stabbed one of the buttered croutons, shoving it into .   Feeling hungry since earlier, she quickly cleared her breakfast plate within minutes. When she looked up, she realised that both Kallie and Chloe were still slowly and neatly eating their food. Even Lani was still chewing on a bacon piece and had one third of his crepes untouched.   “Babe, are you that hungry?” Lani chuckled merrily as he cut a piece of his crepes and placed it onto Rowan’s plate.   “Yeah, we haven’t had breakfast since seven! Of course I’m famished!” Rowan muttered and scooped the crepe into , causing Lani to ruffle her hair in adoration.   “Wow, I’m full,” Kallie said as she placed down her fork and knife on the plate of barely touched breakfast due to a heavily decreased appetite. She leaned back against the wooden backrest and stretched herself. “Rowan, do you want the rest of my food? I didn’t touch those parts.”   Rowan’s eyes lit up and she was about to reach forward to pull Kallie’s plate towards herself before she paused in mid-air and swallowed. Feeling slightly self-conscious all of a sudden, she mentally berated herself for lacking table manners and dining etiquette. She slowly retracted her hand and rubbed her fingers together.   How barbaric she must have looked when she was devouring her dish, especially at a fine dining establishment.   With shifty eyes, Rowan carefully dabbed her lips with the edge of the napkin that was hurriedly thrown across her lap before she dug in and cast a secret glance at the rest, particularly Lani, hoping that he was too busy enjoying his meal to notice her unglamourous eating style. Thankfully, Lani was engaged in a friendly conversation with both Chloe and Kallie about something along the lines of cooking and baking, as well as providing his own review on their breakfast. The two girls were focused on Lani, so they didn’t realise Rowan’s awkward dilemma. With no eyes on her, she managed to stop herself before she could further make a fool out of herself.   The Japanese-White girl then bit her lips and slowly listened to her table’s conversation. Previously, she would have butted into the chatter long ago, grumbling something about Lani’s long-winded spiel and stupidly detailed reviews. Now, for some reason, she just didn’t feel like interrupting their pleasant chat.   Heck, she just couldn’t quite put a finger to how she was feeling. She only knew that she was moody as hell and would definitely snap if further disturbed, and the funny thing was that she wasn’t even on her period.   Soon, the train stopped at the first winery: Robert Mondavi Winery, located in Oakville. The California-mission style architecture with beautiful arches and a massive courtyard was one of Napa Valley’s most iconic wineries along the stretch. Upon getting off the train, they were cheerfully greeted by a tour guide who led them into the winery. The interactive tour highlighted the path of a grape from the vineyard to the cellar, coming out as finished wine in the end.   The group was also given some free time to explore the famous To Kalon Vineyard. The girls ran and chased each other with Jeremy either at their side or tail, obtaining footage that would be useful for their final music video. The crew also took turns posing with the grapes and green foliage before heading to the wine-making cellars.   Along the way, Lani had been chatting constantly and animatedly with the more extroverted people in the group like Chanel, Bianca, Amelie, Kallie, Russell, and Alexander. They had been throwing pick-up lines related to wine or vineyards at each other constantly, ever since they stepped into Robert Mondavi Winery. It had all started with Chanel and Alexander trying to one-up each other with their pick-up line skills and the other four had later joined them, throwing in their own renditions as well.   Rowan pursed her lips and trailed behind the group, feeling more sulky as time passed because god-knows-why. The moment when a cheerful Karter joined the group for the fun, Kallie immediately scurried to her side and dragged her away in a different direction before Rowan could finally decide if she wanted to join their friendly banter.   Not wanting to disappoint or further distress the Chinese-American girl, Rowan allowed herself to be pulled away to the bar table to have a taste of a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and their signature Fume Blanc. Rowan gobbled down the two glasses one after another without bothering to savour the taste and immediately carted the two wines that she had tasted without second thoughts.   Lani joined their bar table a while later and cheesily clinked glasses with Rowan, throwing in another pick-me-up. “Hi beautiful, can I get you a drink?”   Rowan wore an unamused look, but nonetheless still smirked slightly as she raised a suggestive brow at Lani and chose to sip on her third wine fancily.   “Babe, if I could ever name a bottle of wine, I’d definitely name it after you,” Lani crooned and smirked as he leaned dangerously close to Rowan’s ear. “Uchiyama Hotaru.”   Rowan shivered instinctively when she felt Lani’s breath on her exposed neck. All of the previous frustration that was directed at the male left her body immediately. Willing herself not to melt into goo in public, Rowan gritted her teeth and inwardly berated her weak resolve towards this particular male called Kim Mingyu. “Don’t push it, Gyu,” the Japanese-White girl hissed.   Lani chortled brightly, seeing Rowan’s eyes flash dangerously and affectionately squeezed her love handles, causing the female to hiss again.   Once the crew had finished their purchases from their first wine stop, they hopped back onto the train that was going to head to their next destination, Charles Krug Winery.       After the wine train slowed to a stop back at the train station, everyone returned to their respective SUVs and they began the hour-long journey to San Francisco. With Chanel and Bianca in other cars, it was much quieter now than it had been all week. Although Alexander had been swapped in instead, he seemed to be rather mellow today and was occasionally sipping from the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon he had bought earlier at one of the Napa Valley wineries as he made predictions with Kallie on which teams would take their first wins when the summer split of the League of Legends Championship Series began the next day.   Since she knew nothing about video games, much less competitive gaming and League of Legends, Estee tuned out the conversation and instead found herself staring at Russell as he drove. The Singaporean male was humming along to the upbeat rock song that was currently blasting from the car speakers, his left arm casually resting atop the sill of the open car window and his right hand expertly maneuvering the steering wheel.   He looked so suave, so calm and collected, in the driver’s seat with the breeze gently blowing through his slightly tousled hair. Estee could feel her heart racing in her chest whenever she stole a prolonged glance at him. Sometimes, Russell would catch her watching him and he’d make a teasing remark which would instantly cause her face to flame up.   “I don’t blame you for staring,” he commented with a cheeky grin when he caught her looking at him for the third time. “I’m way more interesting to look at than the boring scenery outside.”   Estee didn’t know whether or not she was imagining it, since she didn’t want to needlessly get her hopes up, but Russell sounded far flirtier than he usually did. Even though it was quite possible that she was just wishfully hearing things, she allowed herself to indulge in the fantasy that her childhood friend was actually flirting with her, that he was actually romantically interested in her.   Julia’s words, insisting that Russell liked her back, constantly repeated like a broken record in Estee’s mind. After their video call two nights ago, her best friend had continuously spammed the film student’s phone with comments about Russell and how they’d be the most darling couple to have ever existed. Every hour, without fail, there would be a message from Julia asking for updates on the two and whether or not they were finally official yet. And every single time, Estee had to reply with a no, admitting that she hadn’t yet broached the subject with him.   Yesterday’s canoe ride had honestly been the perfect opportunity for the film student to confess her feelings to Russell. The two of them had been alone, out in the middle of Lake Tahoe, and the Singaporean male had been leisurely paddling the boat with his strong muscular arms while Estee had been taking dozens of photographs of their beautiful surroundings. It had been such a serene moment, the pair completely surrounded by nature like a picturesque fairytale.   It would have been so easy for her to just face him right then and there, the Singaporean male’s attention all on her, and say how she felt. No one else would have been there to judge her confession except for the one she was professing her feelings to. And if Russell had actually rejected her, the group would have been none the wiser since they had all been occupied with their own canoe rides. Which meant she would have been able to conceal the utter humiliation that accompanied a failed confession and then stewed in her sadness all by herself, because how embarrassing would it be if she were the only failure out of the entire group that seemed to be filled with couples?   Estee’s stomach turned uncomfortably at the horrid thought.   But whenever she looked at Russell sitting next to her, wearing that adorable boyish smile, Estee found herself daydreaming about the possibility of dating him and being his girlfriend. It wasn’t often that the childhood friend won in the race of love, but perhaps it was destiny that had brought the two of them to USC at the same time. Perhaps their fates had been intertwined since birth, thus leading up to the serendipitous meeting at the one party that Estee had decided to attend last semester.   This series of fortunate coincidences had to mean something, right?   The universe wouldn’t link their lives together with such a deep connection if it didn’t. That would just be cruel.   Wouldn’t it?   Estee knew what Julia would say if her best friend could hear her thoughts right now.   “Of course you and Russ are meant to be! I’ve seen how you two interact and your chemistry is absolutely off the charts!”   If only Julia were actually here. Estee felt a pang in her heart as she missed her best friend. Perhaps if Julia had joined the road trip, she would have been able to muster up the courage to confess to Russell by now. The prospect of vocalizing her feelings to the Singaporean male was much more daunting without her best friend by her side. As nice as it had been to hear Julia cheering her on during the video call, it just wasn’t the same as having the architecture student encourage her in person.   As she silently lamented over her timidity and the fact that Julia was currently halfway across the globe when she needed her most, Estee didn’t realize how zoned out she had become until Russell glanced over at her and jovially asked, “Penny for your thoughts?”   The film student’s cheeks turned light pink as she answered, “I’m just thinking about how nice it would’ve been if Julia had been able to come with us on the road trip. I know she would’ve had so much fun with everyone,” while conveniently leaving out anything regarding her feelings for Russell.   He nodded and commented, “Yeah, it’s too bad. I know it was a lot to ask of you to join us without her, so I’m really thankful that you came in the end.” The Singaporean male grinned at Estee, causing her heart to flutter wildly in her chest. “You’re having fun, right? People like Nellie, Karter, and Alex aren’t making it uncomfortable for you?”   Russell rolled his eyes, but continued to smile toothily as he waited for Estee’s answer.   “It’s been really great so far,” she replied with a shy smile. “This is honestly turning out to be one of the best summer breaks I’ve ever had and it’s all thanks to you, Russ.”   He beamed brightly, clearly satisfied with her response and with himself for coming up with the grand idea. “Happy to hear it! I’ve always wanted to do something like this, so it’s great that everything worked out and we’ve got a super cool group of people to chill with. I know it was pretty rough for you in the beginning, especially since we had the two loudmouths in our car and you didn’t know anyone else except for me. But I’m glad you managed to tough it out and you’re enjoying the trip.”   “Thanks again for inviting me, Russ,” Estee murmured while tilting her face away so that the Singaporean male couldn’t see how deep her blush was becoming. She then heard him chuckle as he refocused his gaze on the road since there was much more traffic as they got closer to San Francisco and the warm sound sent dozens of tingles through her spine, all the way down to her toes.   Estee didn’t think she would ever tire of hearing his boisterous laugh. In fact, she’d welcome the opportunity to listen to it every single day with open arms. The familiar sound of it always transported her to heaven, echoing the combined melody of sonorous trumpets and singing angels.   It really would be perfect if she could be around him whenever he laughed like this. Estee could already picture all of the candid shots she’d be taking of him in mid-laugh, eyes curved into crescent moons, pearly white teeth shining, unadulterated happiness splashed across his sharp features. Russell would be the perfect male model to capture on camera.   But there was no point in just imagining all of this.   If she truly wanted to chase her own happiness, she had to step up to the plate and make it happen with her own two hands. Just as she had taken charge of her schooling and her career, refusing to rely on hand-outs from her generous parents, she would take charge of her love life and tell Russell how she felt.   Despite how terrifying the thought of confessing to him was, Estee knew that there was no point in flooding her head with countless what-if scenarios, especially when the Singaporean male was right next to her and always available to talk to her. The vast amount of time they had spent together over the past week was testament to how well they meshed with each other. They clicked well, just as real couples did.   She could do this.   She could tell Russell how she felt about him. She could make her own destiny happen.   She wasn’t going to chicken out. She wasn’t going to let fear prevent her from being happy.   She was going to do this.   For the rest of the drive, Estee continued to internally chant these phrases of affirmation to build her confidence. The last thing she wanted was to somehow psych herself out of actually doing anything, like she had the previous day at Lake Tahoe, and miss out on another opportunity to move things forward with Russell.   Time was slowly ticking. If she didn’t say anything now, he would return to Singapore while she headed back to the U.K. and the next time they’d most likely see each other would be around Christmas. And by then, Russell could be taken by some nice girl from his home country. It would be foolish to think that he would be off of the market for long. There were probably dozens of girls he knew back home who were all hoping to catch his eye and steal his heart.   She had to act now, while the odds were stacked in her favor. A chance like this might never present itself ever again.   Estee continued to silently mull over the situation until Russell cheerfully announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re arriving at the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. Go ahead and feast your eyes on the view!”   At his words, the other five eagerly pressed up against the windows and began marveling over the massive orange vermilion suspension bridge. The giant steel towers and cables loomed above and around them, over a thousand meters into the air. Although the bridge was packed with cars, Russell had taken the rightmost lane so that they could also see the beautiful cerulean blue water running underneath that comprised the Golden Gate Strait. Luckily, the flow of traffic was slow enough for Estee to snap dozens of pictures from the open window and the film student smiled with satisfaction as she later reviewed the scenery shots she had captured.   Half an hour later, they finished crossing the long suspension bridge and Russell continued driving until he found street parking near the Golden Gate Park that could accommodate all three SUVs. Once the vehicles were all parked by the curb, everyone hopped out of the cars and began splitting off into smaller groups as they gradually migrated to the giant park. Estee ended up being with Russell, Elliot, Lucy, Chloe, Kallie, and Alexander and their first stop was the Conservatory of Flowers.   It was an exquisite Victorian-style dome-topped greenhouse that contained four themed plant galleries. Estee kept her camera poised to take pictures of her friends and the various exotic plants, duly ignoring the thick drops of sweat that rolled down her neck from the heavy humidity within the greenhouse in favor of staring in awe at the unique vegetation. Most of the flora in bloom was native to Central and South America, so this was her first time seeing any of them up close and in person. Knowing that photographs of these tropical plant species would significantly enhance her portfolio, Estee took great care in framing each shot and utilizing the natural light filtering through the glass walls of the greenhouse.   Once she finished photographing a hot pink Masdevallia orchid in the Highlands Gallery, Russell tapped her shoulder and asked, “Want me to take a picture of you with it?”   She blushed and nodded as she handed over her camera. “Thanks, Russ!”   “No worries,” he genially answered as he leaned back to obtain a better angle of Estee standing next to the striking triangle-shaped flowers. “This definitely fits the aesthetic of your Instagram feed.” After snapping several pictures, the Singaporean male winked as he returned her camera. “Don’t forget to add my photo credits.”   Estee giggled shyly, slightly angling away to conceal how deeply she was blushing. “Of course!”   Then Alexander came and dragged Russell over to look at the carnivorous pitcher plants in the Aquatics Gallery. Estee’s expression slightly fell, since she had just been about to suggest taking pictures of Russell by the Masdevallia orchid so that they could have matching photos. But she hadn’t acted quickly enough, causing the Singaporean male to get snatched away first.   And this would continue to happen if she didn’t make a move soon.   While Estee was taking pictures of Chloe by an abundant cluster of white shooting star flowers in the Lowlands Gallery, Elliot and Lucy joined them and patiently waited at the side for the Korean-American girl’s mini photo shoot to end. Once they finished, Estee turned to the couple and kindly asked, “Did you find a plant that you want a photo with?”   The Thai girl nodded vigorously and pulled Estee to the other side of the Lowlands Gallery where the dancing lady orchids were. Lucy and Elliot then situated themselves on opposite sides of the colorful flowers while staring lovingly into each other’s eyes. As she watched them through the viewfinder, Estee unintentionally began imagining herself in their shoes with Russell looking deep into her eyes instead. What a lovely image that would be…   No, she couldn’t jump the gun with these dream-like scenarios. Not until she talked to him first about her feelings.   When Lucy came over to check on the pictures, Estee took a deep breath and then casually asked, “So Elliot was the one who confessed to you, right?”   “Yeah, it was one of the most romantic moments I’ve ever experienced and I’ll always cherish it, na ka,” the Thai girl replied with a dreamy expression as she recalled the life-changing event. “Why do you ask?”   “No reason,” Estee answered while looking around the greenhouse so that Lucy wouldn’t be able to see through her white lie. “I remembered you telling us about your love story while I was taking pictures, since you two are so cute together. You’re really lucky to have each other.”   “We are, na,” Lucy agreed while interlacing her fingers with Elliot’s and reaching up to press a chaste kiss against his cheek.   Estee’s cheeks then pinked as she envisioned what it would be like to kiss Russell’s cheek and she had to visibly shake the thought out of her head to prevent it from overtaking her mind.   The group soon left the Conservatory of Flowers and began to leisurely walk through the spacious park. They kept to the side, not wanting to obstruct the path for any passing cyclists or enthusiastic kids that were running around without a care in the world. Every so often, Estee stopped to take a quick photo of the green scenery and any monuments nestled in between. And each time, Russell would patiently wait for her and then jog with her to catch up to the others.   It took them an hour to reach Bison Paddock and they all gasped in amazement when their eyes landed on the small herd of American bison calmly grazing. Without a moment’s hesitation, Estee aimed her camera at them and snapped away.   “They’re so cute,” Kallie gushed next to her, eyes shining brightly. “I wrote a report about them in first grade, but I never imagined that I’d ever get to see one in real life.”   Lucy was also busily taking photos with her cell phone and said, “I wonder how they got here, na. Why aren’t they in a zoo?”   “It says here that the park bought several bison in 1891 and put them through a captive breeding program, since their population numbers were starting to dwindle because of hunting and loss of free-range habitat,” Chloe read off of a signboard next to the paddock. “The herd here has been maintained ever since.”   “That’s so cool.” Kallie sighed in contentment as she gazed at the large, shaggy bovine animals. When the time came for the group to head to another attraction, the Chinese-American girl glued herself to the fence surrounding the paddock and said, “You guys can go ahead first. I wanna stay and watch them some more. I’ll catch up later.”   “You shouldn’t stay here by yourself though,” Russell said while furrowing his eyebrows. “Don’t wanna lose anyone or accidentally leave someone behind.”   “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” Kallie reassured the Singaporean male, briefly shooting him a lopsided smile. “There are signs all around the park. It’ll be easy for me to find my way back.”   He still didn’t look convinced, but Alexander threw his arm around Russell’s shoulders and said, “I’ll stay with her, you big worrywart. I’ll make sure she gets back in one piece.”   “I’ll stay too,” Chloe quietly added.   “Wait, seriously, you guys can go first. I don’t wanna hold you back,” Kallie protested.   “You might try to jump in and steal one if we’re not here with you though,” Alexander joked before ducking away to avoid getting swatted at by the Chinese-American girl.   Deciding that it would be fine if the three of them were together rather than Kallie being left behind by herself, Russell reminded them to keep an eye on the clock and meet them back at the SUV. With that, he and Estee left with Lucy and Elliot to stroll along the southern perimeter of the park.   As they walked, Estee became hyperaware of the gap that had naturally formed between the two pairs. It was as if they were on a double date. The film student tried not to place any meaning on how her hand sometimes grazed against Russell’s and instead focused on the path in front of them. But no matter how hard Estee tried to distract herself, her heart continued to beat like a jackhammer within her chest.   The walk to Strawberry Hill felt like an eternity and the film student had never been more pleased in her life to see a body of water until they arrived at Stow Lake. The eye-catching Golden Gate Pavilion then stole Estee’s attention and she gasped at how beautiful the Chinese Peace Pagoda looked. Next to her, Lucy squealed loudly and began pestering Elliot to take photos of her with the spectacular structure in the background. They also came across the Huntington Falls gushing melodically into the lake and Estee offered to take pictures of the happy couple in front of the giant waterfall.   “If you don’t mind me handling your camera, I can take photos of you and Russ in front of the waterfall,” Elliot offered when he and Lucy finished their short photo shoot.   Estee felt her heart jump to , rendering her speechless, and then her brain completely short-circuited when Russell gleefully agreed and pulled her to the rock pathway in front of the waterfall. She automatically smiled for the camera, but all she could focus on was the sensation of Russell’s hand on her arm and how secure she felt in his hold.   It was all too soon when he let go and the four of them returned to the path towards their next destination. On their way to the Music Concourse, Estee spotted a sign for the Japanese Tea Garden and she turned to Russell with an excited smile. “Can we please go there first?” she asked, already stepping towards the garden entrance.   “Sure, are you two okay with that?” the Singaporean male asked, glancing at the couple.   “We’ll actually keep going to the Music Concourse instead, since we want to check out the California Academy of Sciences too, na ka,” Lucy said.   Russell nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine. If we don’t catch up, we’ll see you two back at the cars.”   “Have fun, na!” Lucy beamed as she and Elliot waved to the other pair before disappearing down the path.   This time, Estee was the one to pull Russell along and they entered the Japanese Tea Garden moments later. immediately dropped open as she gazed around the vast garden filled with all sorts of foliage imported from Japan over a century ago. Colorful koi fish swam in the ponds that were lined with artsy rock clusters and curved stone paths. Various religious statues and pagodas were built within the garden, tastefully blending in with the Japanese flora.   Estee instantly felt at home in this quaint space. It wasn’t often that she got to truly indulge in her Japanese heritage in a place as authentic as this garden. Now on a quest to immortalize the Japanese Tea Garden in her photography, the camera shutter clicked non-stop as she waltzed around with Russell closely following behind. He wore an amused smile as he watched the film student snap pictures without abandon and good-naturedly agreed to model in front of a few of the monuments for her.   Time passed like a blur and it was until the sun began to dip down in the sky that Estee finally took a break. They were at the moon bridge, since the film student had wanted some aerial shots of the koi fish swimming in the pond.   And that was when she also realized they were alone.   All of the other guests were milling around in other sections of the tea garden, leaving the two childhood friends completely by themselves. Again, another coincidence that seemed to fit perfectly into the puzzle that connected her to Russell.   Estee’s palms turned sweaty as she shakily put her camera away and faced the Singaporean male, who was currently reading the bronze plaque on the bridge.   Well, it was now or never.   Even though she had squandered a golden opportunity the day before, fate had been kind enough to grant her a diamond one today.   It was like a scene from a movie, the amber sun rays setting the garden aglow as the trees gently swayed and the pond rippled ever so slightly due to the koi fish gliding smoothly underwater.   This was her moment. This was her chance.   After taking a deep breath, Estee gently called Russell’s name and he turned to look at her curiously.   “What’s up, Estee? Ready to leave now?” the Singaporean male asked as he straightened up.   For a moment, the film student was star struck by how the golden sunlight