CHAPTER 3:  Chase

“What’s your name?” Kris looks up to his Uncle Danson who smiles, giving him the ‘okay’ signal. “Kris!”

“It’s nice to meet you Kris, I’m Aaron.”

Puff bends down and smiles, looking at awe. She was about to pinch his cheeks when Kris ran over to the screen and pointed at it. “Mommy, uncle, dress!”

Everyone looks at the screen to see a pictures from last night’s Gala. Danson smiles as he notices a lady wearing a dress from one of his sisters’ collection. Danson then turns to look at Aaron who has his eyes fixated on the screen. He could tell that he was trying to force the memories to remain distant in his mind but the look in his eyes; tell him otherwise.

“C’mon Kris, uncle needs to go to work too, let’s get going!”

“Kay Uncle!”

Aaron took his eyes off the screen and stares at Danson walking with the child into the building. “The little guy is cute!” Puff sang as she walks beside Aaron. Alex agrees with her as they make their way to the elevators, they caught their lift and walked in together, watching the LED lights numbers go up till they reached their floor. “It might be just me or did the little boy have an earring stuck to his shirt?” Alex gave her a look and she laughs. “It must be me then.” She then proceeded to say “someday, I want to have kids of my own!”

“Whoa, one step at a time Puff!”

Aaron laughs at Alex’s remark; he shook his head as he walks into his office, taking a glimpse of the files sitting on his desk. He turns to his secretary and waves her off.

“Well then, I will be off now.”

“If you need anything, tell us!”

The two closed the door behind them as they make their way towards their own offices.

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“EMMA!”  Xiao Gui waved her over to where he was. “I met them last night at the gala and they told me that Taiwan would be interested in doing another runway your collection. The last time we held a runway in Taiwan was when Vi Wu introduced her Ultimate XII Goddess collection here in Taiwan.” Gui looks over to the group of people and smiles. “Will you excuse me for a moment?” She knew Xiao Gui had good intentions but she imagined her trip to Taiwan to be one of those travel trips ordinary people do when they travel―free to roam around and enjoy her free time. If she were to accept, this trip will change to one of her business trips. Not that it was a bad thing; she just never thought about showcasing her collections in her home country.

She grabs Xiao Gui by the arm and looks at him, cautiously. “Do you not want to do a runway show?” He wasn’t one to beat around the bush.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this beforehand?”

“Surprise? C’mon Gui, please? Let’s show Taiwan your transformation! I saw the sketches on your desk and they look great!”

“But I only show my collection in Milan.”

“Think of this as the time for you to relax and showcase your collection.” Xiao Gui deeply sighs. “Gui, this isn’t about Milan or your designs is it? This is about the last time you were here right? During Vi Wu’s collection you and your ex-lover, you don’t want to think about it because it will bring you right back to it.”

Xiao Gui reaches over and held onto her hand, caressing it gently as he looks at her wrist.

“Remember what I told you last night? Has the bind come off? I remembered telling you to let it go… I don’t want to push you into moving on but Gui, this is for you. You haven’t been home for years and this is what I want to do… with you. I want to bring your collection to Taiwan. You have built yourself up, you can’t be hiding behind Milan and hope that you can reach stardom like Vera Wang or Karl Lagerfeld. You might not know, maybe this opportunity can help you let go and look at your future.”

Gui laughs at his convincing speech. “You know we are going to be staying here in Taiwan longer than I expected right?”

“Just for a couple of months before we go back to Milan to debut your fall/autumn collection, that’s plenty of time isn’t it?”

She knew she wouldn’t win this conversation. The one who can really speak up for and to her is none other than Alien Huang. She had imagined countless times what would’ve happened if she didn’t meet him, it always came back as a dream. Xiao Gui had always been supporting her through her designs and endless encouragement. When she was upset, stressed beyond relief, he was there to steer her back to the path. If it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t have seen the light in any of this. So she smiles, giving him the signal.

“Let’s do this.”

Xiao Gui turns around gave a thumbs up to the crew and before Gui knew it, everyone was celebrating. It was a matter of seconds before everyone began rushing off to prepare for debut of designer Emma Wu. Xiao Gui was about to join the rest of the team when he felt Gui hold onto his hands.

“Thank you Xiao Gui, for pushing me forward.” He wraps his arm around her and smiles happily.

 Speaking from a friend’s perspective, he is doing everything he can to ease her tension.

But in a lover’s perspective, will be there anything more to them?

“Let’s give it our best shot. Let’s conquer Taiwan!” They took a step back and smile at each other. “It’s time to bring your sketch book out and start designing. After all, the one who’s behind all the magic is standing right in front of me.” He had his signature grin dangling on his face, so Gui playfully punches his arms and laughs. “And the person behind my fame is none other than the famous Alien Huang.”

“Hey Alien, can you come here for a sec? I need to talk to you about the lights.”

“Yes, coming!”

Gui pushes Alien off and they both continues to laugh.

Another fashion runway.

Another collection will be showcased.

Time will stop once more.

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As Danson wave’s goodbye to Kris, he took out his cellphone and within a couple of rings, his sister answered it.

“I dropped him off at Y Insurance. You can pick him up when you are off work.”

“Y Insurance? Why did you pick that daycare? Out of all the places in Taipei, you chose this one to enroll Kris in?”

“This is one of the best play daycare in the city! I have been reading lots of reviews and given much thought, I decided to enroll him here.”

“Danson…”

“I have to go to work now, just come and pick him up okay?”

She let out a long sigh and ended the call short. Danson walks out of the lift and turns around to look at the Y Insurance’s logo that was in the lobby. He wonders if he done the right thing; will they find one another again? Will they be fated or does fate have more plans for the two?

He looked down at his watch, shaking all his worries out as he heads out of the building to find his assistant waiting for him. “Let’s go, we need to meet soon-to be Mrs. Chen.”

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She felt her phone ring once more and that’s when it hit her! She had totally forgotten about it. She has been so concentrated with work that she forgot about picking up her son.

“I AM SO SORRY, I HAVE TO GO NOW ALIEN! I AM GOING TO PICK UP MY SON!” Xiao Gui gave her a thumbs up as he was walking to her, collecting her files. “Are you thinking of coming back?” She laughs, picking up all her stuff. “I’m sure you can handle it. You have handled more crazy than this back in Milan so this should be a piece of cake for you Xiao Gui!”

“You think?”

“If you really need me back, then call me.”

“Fine, don’t turn your phone on silent, make sure you turn it all the way up.”

“Thanks Xiao Gui.” She whispers before disappearing through the glass doors. Alien look back at everyone and gave them the thumbs up. “Okay she’s gone, let’s get started!”

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Gui jumps out of her car and stares at the building in front of her. She didn’t know what possessed her brother to enroll her son in the daycare where Aaron’s family works at. Throughout the car ride here, she was filled with mixed feelings, anxiety as she came to this place. She knew her brother meant well when he enrolled Kris here but couldn’t he be a little careful about it? She wants to get away from the past―escape it.

She inhaled deeply before walking in to see everyone’s gaze at her. She wasn’t bothered by their stares one bit, it didn’t bother her. She received stares from the public eye in Milan and to this point; it didn’t bother her one bit. They could be staring at her Calvin Klein sunglasses or her white Gucci dress or these beautiful Stella McCartney Stilettos she cherishes dearly. From head to toe, she was a designer that has been on the Fashion headlines for the last past months. Milan would notice her, but what about Taiwan?

“Who is she?”

“I wonder where she got that dress? It’s so gorgeous.”

“Does she work here?”

“Which floor is she going to?”

Taiwan still needs to warm up for her.

Gui smiles happily as she walks over to the desk, asking for the directions to the childcare centre. The helpers by the desk looked nervous at first when she approached them but they quickly recovered themselves as they gave her the directions she wanted. Gui thanked them for their time as she made her way up the floor where the daycare was.

Even in the elevators, she could here whispers going around the elevator. If she could, she wanted to turn around and ask them to stop whispering but she didn’t do it. Luckily for her, the play centre was located on the second floor so she didn’t have to stay in the elevator with them. Once the elevator reached the second floor, she walks out with confidence and spotted the daycare’s colourful entrance. She took off her sunglasses and walked over to the doors and waited for the director to come.

“Welcome to Pumpkin Patch!”

“Hi, I’m please