Yes, I was and still am on a short hiatus all because my school year is ending, therefore i have to worry about my finals; and my inspirations are just not with me recently. Which i don't know why because the story is ending in 2 chapters at most. I should be very inspired to finish, but i'm not which is weird and annoys me.

Anyway, I spent the whole day and night, squeezing this chapter out for you guys, since it has been almost two weeks since my last chapter. I do feel bad.

Enjoy!
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Chapter 13

“INSIDE THE DRESSING ROOM?” Ella gasped loudly, attracting attentions from all around the café.

“Thanks for announcing it to the world.” Hebe mumbled with her head down, embarrassed; she regrets telling her exaggerative friend of the dressing room incident with Aaron.

“I didn’t say you two had quite an intimate time inside a dressing room,” Ella brought the cup of coffee up to her still grinning lips, while her eyes stare at the novelist teasingly.

“You just did.” Hebe blushed grumpily.

“Oh, stop acting like a high school girl. It’s not like he took your first time there.” If possible Ella’s grin grew wider and the novelist’s blush deepened, “Plus, I doubt anyone heard us.” Ella looked around the café, and no one heed attentions to the two friends.

Helpless, the novelist slammed her head down at the table; Ella is going to be the death of her. And Ella only laughed heartily at her embarrassed friend.

“You know, you two are not young anymore, you’re running into your 30s and he is already 31. You two have wasted ten years of your prime times, don’t you think it’s time to settle down?”

The entire teasing and light atmosphere was gone, and the novelist stares straight at her friends.

Marriage? Marriage with Aaron Yan, is she ready for a second marriage?

Her answer could only be, she love Aaron Yan, with all her heart.

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Hebe Tian was meet with the kiss of the warm evening breeze the moment she stepped out of her complex building, and shortly a black luxurious car drove to a stop at her sight. She knew the car well, and its owner even more, she quickened her steps toward the car with an unconscious smile plastered across her face, and finally her delicate body was in the embrace of Aaron as they shared a quick passionate kiss. It’s their form of ‘hello’.
“You look very comfortable, but I did tell you dress nicely today right?” The businessman commented his girlfriend’s attire with a raised eyebrow. The novelist is wearing a loose knitted crew neck sweater that looks too big on her, a pair of tight jeggings shaping her nicely lean legs, and a pair of basic chuck taylors; she does indeed look comfortable, especially with her loosely braid side fish tail to complete the look.

The novelist gave herself a quick look, before smiling sheepishly at her boyfriend, “I kind of forgot.” It’s true, her muse suddenly knocked on her doors last night, and of course being a professional author, she began writing before the inspiration fades. She was so absorb with her new plot, that it wasn’t until her cell phone ring with a call from the businessman did she realize she have a date this evening. Therefore, rushed, she gave herself a quick shower and threw on whatever her eyes first lay on and then headed out the door. She didn’t do her make up!

“You mean you totally forgot,” the businessman corrected, and she knew he is angry, “wait, is that my sweater?” he noticed with a second look at the loose sweater on the novelist.

“Eh?” the novelist gave her sweater a look, “oh yeah, I guess you left it at my place the other night.”

Speaking of the other night, the business’s lips curled into a mischievous smile, he stared at the novelist’s entre attire for another good minute and pulled her into his embrace for another kiss. She tip toed and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss while his long fingers ruffled into her messy hair. When they finally broke away from the kiss, Hebe Tian realized her braid is undone, and her hair is flowing down her back messily. He has undone her hair.

“I like your hair down like this,” he smiled at her, “your hair and my clothes on you is my favorite.” He gave her cheeks a peck, and led her into the car. She blushed again.

“Where are we going?’ she asked.

“You’ll see when we get there.” He smiled mysteriously at the novelist, and she could only scrunch her eyebrows together in confusion and shrug it off.

They arrived in front of a skyscraper in no time, and the businessman parked the car inside the building’s parking lot before he led the novelist into the elevator. When they arrived in front of a luxurious Italian restaurant, the novelist finally understood why he asked her to dress nicely.

“We’re not going in there,” Hebe tugged her boyfriend’s sleeve, and they halted a few feet from the restaurant’s entrance.

“Why not?’ he smiled at her knowingly.

“Not when I’m dressed like this!” she exasperated quietly.

“You look fine,” he reassured her, “delicious even.” He nibbled her ears, sending chills down her spine, “c’mon.” he grabbed her hand.

“Wait,” she reached out her cellphone, “it’s the hospital,” She looked at him, worried, before answering the phone call, “hello?” they stood in silence while Hebe listened attentively to the person on the other line, suddenly a mix of emotions expressed through as tears ran down her face of happiness, “Genie just woke up.” She ended the call and hugged her boyfriend tightly.

Aaron embraced the excited novelist; he is also smiling gladly, “Let’s go to the hospital.” He regarded at the novelist.

The novelist, who is still crying nodded immediately.

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By the time the couple reached the hospital it was already fifteen past nine, and visiting hour was over; however, because of Aaron’s influence, they were given special privileges. When the two entered Genie’s ward, Calvin was already present, engrossed what seems like an interesting conversation with Genie; because the two were laughing. When Calvin noticed the couple has arrived he got up and left the room with no more conversing.

“Congratulations,” Aaron smiled at Genie before whispering to the novelist, “You two catch up on things; I’ll come back later.” The novelist nodded and dismissed her boyfriend.

“How are you feeling?” Hebe held onto her sister’s hand gently, the delighted feeling is still with her.

“Very alive.” Genie grinned cheekily, and the novelist could only laugh.

“I heard you transferred a lot of blood to me.” Genie stated while studying the novelist’s reaction closely.

“Yeah.” Anxiety began to build as the novelist answered hesitantly.

“So are you going to finally tell me?” Genie demanded gently.

“Finally?” the novelist was quick to catch the vocabulary.

“I know we’re sisters, for awhile already.” Shocked, was the only word to describe what has hit the novelist.

“How…why…” the novelist stuttered, her mind was so scattered that she couldn’t get her sentence straight, “why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you knew from the very moment we met, but you didn’t tell me. I was waiting for you tell me.” Genie spoke softly, her tone was indifferent which scares Hebe because she doesn’t know whether the younger woman is angry or pleased, “But you never did, until my life was at the edge.”

“I’m sorry,” the novelist had her heads down, she was so worried about Genie before the younger woman was awake, and when the younger woman awaken, joy was the only thing that ran through the novelist. Never have the novelist considered Genie’s reaction about the truth of their relation.

“Did you know how much I wanted a complete family with a mother, father and sister; but I never had that. It has always been only mom and I, but what hurts the most is that I know I still have a father and sister somewhere in this world, yet I cannot be with them.” The sisters began to bawl heavily, “When mom died she told me you knew of me, that I could try contacting you, but I don’t know how to contact you. And then I finally found you at that café, by chance. I was so happy, but when I approached you, I saw that split moment of expression on you, you knew who I was; but you didn’t say anything. Instead you chose to treat me as a stranger, and then hire me. I don’t know why you did that, but I hated you for a second for that. Do you know how many times have I been tempted to call you ‘sis’ , but was too scared to do so, because of the thought you might push me away?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Crying and apologizing was all the novelist could do. She didn’t know her sister has gone through so much, and how much she had made her sister gone through. She didn’t know.

“I don’t want to hear that! I want to know why!” Tears were also inevitable for Genie.

“I…I just lost my baby, lost my marriage, lost my heart, and I was lost in life back then. I have never been so lost and devastated in my life, and then you appeared, the only person that is related to me in this world. To be honest, I don’t like you when mom told me of your existence, and sent me pictures of you, because to me, you were the one who robbed my mother from me,” The novelist chuckled cynically at herself, “how stupid huh? We’re from the same parents, how can you rob mom from me, but that was how I felt, because I knew mom gave you all her attentions, but dad never gave me any attentions. At least you have a mother, but I have no one, because I have a father who cares more about chemistry than his own daughter. I thought of walking away from you, but I couldn’t, instead I found myself doing the unusual. I got close to you, but I couldn’t make myself to tell you about us; because I don’t know how to get along with a sister that I have always hated. For me, it was easier to befriend a stranger.”

“Then why did you save a sister that you hate?”

“No Genie,” she reached for the bawling younger woman, “I don’t hate you. You’re the most important person to me in this world, I love you, my only sister, only family.”

“I know,” Genie, laughed through her sobs, “I just want you to finally say it, big sis.”

The two siblings smiled at each other and embraced each other into a warm hug; the kind of hug for families.

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“Hey Calvin!” Aaron jogged up to his leaving friend.

“What?” for a second Aaron thought he heard a tip of distance in Calvin’s voice, Aaron hope it’s just his imagination, but it was too obvious to ignore.

“Did something happened,” Aaron asked.

“Nothing, everything is fine.” Calvin was aloof with his response.

“Is this about Hazel?”

Calvin remained silent.

“I thought you wanted me to make the correct choice.”

“I did.”

“Then why are you acting like this?”

“She really loves you, with all her heart.” Calvin finally said.

“I know,” Aaron spoke softly with his heads down, “she is a wonderful woman.

“Then why did…”

Before Calvin could finish his sentence, Aaron cut him off, “But the one I truly love is Hebe. I can’t lie to myself or Hazel it’s not fair to her; I’d just hurt her, all three of us.”

“So you chose to hurt Hazel for your own happiness?”

“No, I’m setting her free to find the one who is truly right for her.” Aaron looked at Calvin in the eyes, “I know she is your childhood friend and best friend, and I’m sorry for things to turn out like this. But I did what I think is right, and minimize the damage to its lowest.”

“You bastard,” Calvin’s fist made harsh contact with Aaron’s face in the next second, snapping Aaron’s neck to the side and giving a tint of red liquid on his lip corner, “This one is for Hazel.”

Aaron straightened up and wiped the blood, and then the two laughed at each other, “Not pissed anymore?”

“You got what you deserved.” He meant the punch.

“Yeah, damn have you been working out lately?” Aaron joked, and Calvin laughed heartily.

“Anyway, I’ll go now. Call me up for beer sometime.” He punched Aaron’s shoulder.

“Hey, if you like Genie court her.” Aaron halted him one last time, “I could tell she’s at least attracted to you.”

Calvin didn’t say anything but only waved his hand while continue to walk down the silent hallway.

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Aaron met up with the novelist outside of Genie’s ward after the novelist is done visiting her sister.

“What happened to your face?” heartache lingered in her voice as her hand reached for his swollen cheek.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry.” He capture her hand that’s on his face and kissed it, “are you ready to go home?”

“mhmm.” She nodded, “Hey, let’s take the stairs.” She suggested when they reached the elevator.

“Why all of a sudden?”

“I just feel like,” she smiled, “c’mon,” she tugged his sleeve adorably, leaving him no chance to say no.

“Okay princess,” he smiled and pinched her nose before they head towards the stairs.

When they reached the stairs, the novelist began to take off her shoes, “piggy back me,” she demanded.

“What? This is the 8th floor.” He looked at her as if she is mad.

“You carried me down the 11th floor back in high school with no problem.” She whined.

He stared at her deliberately, she still remembers. He was a junior and she was a sophomore back then, and their friendship had developed for a little more than three months with much arguments and bickering. She was angry at him that day for giving away the scarf she got him to another girl, he tried to explain to her but she heard none of it, and ended up twisting her ankle. Their high school was an exclusive renowned private high school with 11 floors, and her next class is all the way down on the 1st floor. They could’ve taken the elevator, but she made him carry her down.

Grinning at the memory, Aaron turned his back at the novelist, “c’mon get on.”

Hebe smiled like a satisfied child, and plopped herself on his back, “okay you can go down now.” That was what she said back then as well.

“Did you gained weight?” he asked.

“Shut up,” she answered with the same answer when he commented on her flat chest back then instead.

“Hey, when are you going to give me back the sweater?” he asked. He asked her for his gloves back then.

“When I feel like it, but not now.” Her answer remains the same.

“Do you think Chun and Ella will have a kid sometime soon?” he used to ask her if Chun and Ella would ever get married.

And she also answered it with a “Yes.”

“Did you tell Genie that you two are sisters?” he used to ask her if she confessed to their English teacher that she was the one who broke her antique vase.

“She already knew,” same answer.

“Tell me you love me,” he used to demand an ‘I like you’

“I love you.” And she obeyed.

“Promise me something.” He used to ask the same question.

“What” just like back then, her answer became soft as she became dozy on his back. It was comfortable.

“Promise me first.”

“I promise.”

“You’re going to be my wife,” except he requested for her to be his girlfriend back then.

“Okay.” She used to answer with this word unconsciously.

They reached the first floor that very moment when Aaron had asked her to be his girlfriend, and they also reach the first floor now when he proposed to her.

“Hey, are you awake?” Aaron turned to look at the woman on his back, because she fell asleep on him back then.

“Yes hubby,” a crisp voice of happiness responded, and the novelist tighten her wrap around him. Except this time, she did not fall asleep.

Aaron grinned, “well, get some sleepy. I’ll wake you up later.” She agreed to his proposal, Hebe Tian will be Aaron Yan’s wife.

He carried her all the way to the parking lot.

He’ll carry her forever.

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“Babe, where are you?” Aaron who is waiting alone in an extravagant room as he checked his watch for the time; they were suppose to be meeting with company’s event organizer to plan for the company’s anniversary party which is also their engagement party. But Hebe Tian has yet to appear.

“I on a taxi,” she is late, “I’m so sorry. Start without me, I’ll be there in 30 minutes.” Hebe Tian just got off the plane today from her trip back from the United States to catch up on last minute details regarding her latest book turned movie, which explains her delay, “I have another incoming call, I’ll talk to you later okay?”

“Okay, bye. Be careful, don’t rush.” He cautioned her tenderly.

“I will,” the novelist smiled on the other line before the phone call ended.

Shortly after Aaron ended the phone call with Hebe, there was a knock on the door and then a woman dressed in professional black entered. Everything seemed to have stilled, including the air.

The woman is Hazel.

Hazel quivered moderately before she finally recomposed herself to speak, “Hello Mr. Yan, sorry for the wait. I’m Hazel; I will be in charge of planning of your company’s event this time.” She reached out for a professional handshake.

Aaron stared at the woman in front of him, and reached for the handshake deliberately. He has tried to imagine under what circumstances would he meet the woman again, and how they’re interact, but none of what that is happening occurred in his imaginations. He didn’t expect the woman to be acting so distance, and he most definitely didn’t expect her to be the one planning for his engagement party. It’s too cruel for her. “Hazel…” he called her name the way he used to call her, and she looked away, unable to face him without crumbling down. Hazel was never a strong woman with her emotions.

“How about we get started quickly. I know your time is very valuable and I don’t want to delay you.” It took Hazel all her might to encouraged these words of professionalism and strength to utter out of her lips.

“Sure.” Aaron cooperated, and kept everything with a professional attitude because he knew the woman is crumbling inside. He knows her too well that it hurts him to see her like this, all because of him. Guilt is eating him from the inside. They began with the preparation for the anniversary party details first, and the conversation flowed smoothly regardless of the awkwardness, and Hazel’s continuous unstable emotions readjustments and uneasiness.

However, it wasn’t until they began going through the engagement party details did Hazel began to shake, and her words stuttered with pauses every other few seconds. She was at the verge of breaking down. She had thought she could hold it in, but she can’t; in the end tears flow down her cheeks without herself knowing it, because she was too distracted by the heartache. She has thought of this day of engagement to be between Aaron and her; she has never thought he’d say break up to their relationship months ago. It took her a month to finally stand up again, but she still loves the man, and it breaks her to just be in his presence. Planning for his engagement party is like stabbing not only her heart but all over her. She didn’t know what and where went wrong in their relationship, because she was positive that they were the most loving couple just the day before he said break up. How can things change so fast in the span of a day?

“Hazel…” Aaron handed her a piece of napkin.

Hazel took the napkin and wipe her still flowing tears, “I’m sorry… I’m just…”

“It’s okay,” Aaron stopped her, “I should be the one apologizing. I should’ve asked you to go back and have someone else come to this meeting, instead of letting you continue. It’s too cruel to you.”

Hazel stared at Aaron, not in the eyes of an event organizer, but with the eyes of Hazel, his ex, “It is very cruel.” Her words meant much more.

“I can only say I’m sorry. I’m not the one for you.”

Hazel took a deep breath, “Can I ask w-why?” her voice cracked again into sobs that she tried hard to suppress.

“Does it matter now?”

“Yes it does. I want to know what went wrong between us? Whom did I lose to?”

“She was my first serious relationship, we were separated for 10 years, and I’ve been in denial for 10 years thinking I don’t love her anymore when those feelings were just buried deep down in me by the hurt she has given me. But when she came back, I finally realized, I still love her, more than before.”

Hazel felt another knife stabbed through her heart, this time her heart is finally dead, “Did you ever loved me? Even just a tiny bit?”

“I did.”

Hazel smiled, that was enough for her to let go. At least she knew sometime during their time together, she held some part of his heart; even just a little, it was enough, “Thank you.” She leaned over and hugged him for the longest time, “I wish you two the best of happiness together.”

“Thank you.”

“Let me continue to finish this event. Let it be my gift to you, as my early wedding gift to you and your future wife.” They broke off the hug and Hazel smiled at him, “As a friend.”

He stilled her deliberately before nodding, “Thank you.”

“No, Thank you.” She grabbed the files from the coffee table, “I’ll email you a complete proposal in a few days okay?” and packed those films into her bag.

“That sounds good.”

“Okay, then I’ll take my leave.” They shared another quick hug, their last hug, before Hazel walked out of the doors again.

A few minutes after Hazel left, Hebe finally appeared.

“How did it go?” she walked up to her boyfriend, and Aaron pecked a kiss at her lips.

“It would have been perfect if you were here.” He flirted, but that is a lie. He was glad for her delay, or else he wouldn’t know how to deal with an even more awkward situation than the one before.

He is glad that everything has resolved and things are settling down into good place. He smiled at Hebe and ravished her lips deliciously.