At past 4pm, Shawn reached his home.

“Excuse me, Sir. Mr. John went here this morning and… he left me this...” The maid told Shawn as she handed him a white square envelope.

“Thanks. You may go now.” Shawn replied.

“Sir, are you okay? You look so pale.” The maid worried.

“No. I’m fine. Please… You can leave now.” Shawn told the maid. He immediately went inside his house and sat on his white sofa. He opened the envelop and saw an invitation. It says: ‘You are invited to John and Allison’s Engagement Party at The Heritage Garden on May 08, 2011 at 8pm’. After Shawn read the message, his phone rang. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and found that it was John who was calling him. He answered it…

“Hello.” Shawn answered.

“Dude, Thanks for last time… Did you receive my invitation?... Dude!! I told you she’s the one!” John excitedly said.

“Yes, I already read it. Congrats.” Shawn replied and smiled.

“One last favour, Dude… Can you play us any song tomorrow? Or… any classical romantic piece? Or the one that you played in the amusement park last time?...  Please?” John pleaded.

“Alright… Alright… No problem.” Shawn replied.

“Thank you so much, Dude! I’ll see you tomorrow. The whole team will also be there.” John said.

“Ok… I’ll see you then. Bye.” Shawn hung up.

Until the next day, Shawn just stayed inside his house. He didn’t make any appointments or even send Jade a message. It was already 6pm when he decided to prepare to go to John’s engagement party. He just made a quick shower, changed to his formal attire and left his place. As he reached the venue, again, many people especially the women gazed at him. He was wearing a white suit that fitted him perfectly, a black v-neck shirt inside it, a pair of black pants and black leather shoes. The place was full of beautiful, rich people and known people. Most of the people recognized Shawn. Some greeted him and some just smiled.

“Dude, you’re here! Thanks for coming!” John welcomed.

John was with his fiancé, Allison, at that time when he welcomed John. Allison and John made a perfect couple. John was a tall and gorgeous man while Allison possessed a model-like image.

“Meet my fiancé, Allison.” John added. Shawn gave Allison a smile and shook her hand.

The engagement vows started and Shawn just watched. After the engagement vows, John announced the wedding date and signalled Shawn to go on stage.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the man who I owed so much. Beloved guests, let us give, Mr. Shawn Stephen Lim a round of applause…” John announced.

Shawn bowed to the audience and went directly to the white grand piano set-up at the left side of the stage. He started to play a piece… A piece he once played in front of the woman he loved. It was Faith Hill’s There You’ll Be. He didn’t know why he played it but as he pressed each key on the piano and hear the melody of the song, he felt nothing but serenity. The whole crowd as expected got mesmerized. The atmosphere became more romantic. Female guests paused and watched Shawn’s every single move, the motion of his fingers, his body, his head… and… the priceless and genuine emotion painted on his face… The performance ended, but, still, the whole crowd was in total hang over. He bowed once again and went to the newly engaged couple to say his congratulations and goodbye.  

Shawn got inside his car and drove swiftly. He just drove and didn’t know where to go. Until he saw a bunch of children at the side walk playing and jumping to reach and touch the head of a cow mascot… He stopped for a while and the thought of Jade went though his head. In no time, he stepped on the gas and again drove in full speed. It only took him less than 20 minutes to reach Jade’s place which was miles and miles far from where he was before. He parked his car at the first space that he saw and in a flash, he went out of his car. He didn’t think of anything else other than Jade, the unique woman who made him go crazy.  He walked as if that there’s no tomorrow… He arrived at Jade’s apartment which was located at the second floor of an old building which was few steps away from the main road where he parked his car. He made a deep breath and started to knock… A woman with a wavy long hair wearing a plain yellow shirt with a cartoon character print and a white loose jogging pants opened the door. Shawn stared at her. His eyes got teary. It was the woman that he’d started to love the first time he saw her, Jade, the unique woman who made him go crazy… He tightly hugged her and whispered to her…

“I missed you… It would be better if I die now than live for another day without seeing you…” He closed his eyes and a tear dropped from his eyes…