Liyin flopped onto the bed, sunlight filling her beautiful brown eyes. It had only been two years since Chen had moved to America, but how long it had felt to her! She missed his familiar presence, the innocent smiles they had shared in those ignorant times. She sighed as she glanced at a photo of her and Chen posing at the camera. A reluctant smile brightened her face as her eyes lingered over Chen's grin. After a long second, she turned away wistfully. 

How foolish she was, to have thought that he had loved her. Nonsense! If he had, why would he have left her? Why not confess? But, Liyin mused, Chen wasn't exactly that type of bold. She considered the possibilities. She recalled her shy glances at him, and his laughter, fueling her love like gasoline. No, he most certainly was not the type.....but what was she thinking? Liyin winced at just the outrageousness of the thought. Her gaze soon landed on her phone.

Liyin felt her breath suddenly catch as she remembered the last time she had called him. How many weeks had that been? How many days had she spent, heartbroken, forgetting that she had an easy way to contact her love? She reached over excitedly and dialed the familiar number that she had stared at so many times. At the end of that second, she thought, there must be his long awaited voice. Liyin listened patiently; then instead of a greeting was a female voice, speaking rapidly in English.

The phone clattered to the floor and Liyin felt something burst in her chest. A sob escaped as a tear fell on her pillow. Her ragged breathing gradually slowed down, and soon, she was asleep.