Chapter 45: An unexpected meeting
When An Ning left Matt, she went to the other end of the building to meet Han in his office. She hadn't been to the talent agency she had heard so much about and was actually curious what it looked like. Since she lost her memory, An Ning's interest in the entertainment world had narrowed down to only include Du Lu, whom she finds a pain anyway. But he was also Han's friend so she told tell herself to be tolerant.
The agency occupied the entire first floor, which was huge. The lobby resembled a high art museum, the walls covered by the agency's topnotch artists.
The lobby was empty when An Ning entered except for a woman who was standing with her back to her, gazing at one of the portraits on the wall. She turned when she heard the door open and saw An Ning. Her eyes widened as she slowly ran her eyes down An Ning's stomach. She seemed to grow pale and her hand actually braced against the wall as if she was about to faint.
An Ning looked at her curiously. The woman seemed familiar but she can't place her. Maybe an actress in Han's roster of talents?
"You're pregnant?" the woman screeched, her eyes stretched wide as if she was in pain. "He didn't tell me you were pregnant."
An Ning's frown eased with the woman's sentence. This must be that woman, that actress Richard threw her over for.
"As you can see," An Ning calmly said, indicating her bulging tummy.
"How far are you now?"
"Eight months."
"Eight months," the woman repeated. "Eight months. So he was still with you when he told me he wanted to marry me," she added, her voice choking. "It was all a lie then?"
"I don't know," An Ning answered. "I never asked him."
"Of course you didn't." The woman was obviously barely holding herself together. "Why would you? Did he tell you about me at all? Did he tell you that he fell in love with me on your wedding day?" She was crying now, the tears flowing down her cheeks unheeded. "He told me he loved me but why didn't he leave you? He told me he wanted to marry me but you got pregnant instead."
An Ning didn't answer just observing the woman with detached interest. She was very beautiful, the sort of beauty that could make a man wild enough to fall out of love with his newly wedded wife. Richard didn't strike her as a cheat actually but then he didn't strike her as someone who married her for love either. What was it between them then? She had been told that she chased after him until she caught him. They got married and he did the unthinkable and cheated on her. And yet, Richard didn't marry this woman he said to have loved. Was this woman right and it was really all a lie?
"I'm sorry," An Ning said, although she didn't know what she should feel sorry for.
The woman didn't answer. She took a seat on a sloping chair that made her look as graceful as a gazelle. She was carrying a small purse which was obviously empty of anything except her celfone, keys and some obscure female things. The tears continued to pour down her beautiful face, caking her cheeks with ugly streaks. An Ning sighed. She walked over and handed the girl a wad of soft tissues. The girl accepted it without a word. She took out a small compact mirror from her purse then examined her face. She gave a little cry of distress then carefully wiped the tear stains on her cheeks.
An Ning walked away and called Han's phone. He answered it on the second ring.
"Are you here? Come inside. I'll give you a tour."
"Richard," she said, deliberately using his brother's name to give him a warning, "there's somebody out here you need to see. I'll wait for you here if that's okay."
It took Han almost a minute to realize what she meant.
"She's there?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Wait for me." The phone went dead.
An Ning waited with the woman who obviously heard what she said on the phone. An Ning sat down on the opposite side of the room, some distance away from the waiting woman. An Ning didn't even look at Han when he arrived a short while later. She continued to look at the woman whose face broke out into a happy smile when she saw Han. She was enchanting like a child in Wonderland. An Ning felt suddenly sorry for her.
Han looked at An Ning then at Valerie, his lover and the agency's next breakout talent. He hesitated but his professionalism won out in the end. He glanced at An Ning then invited the other woman to follow him inside.
An Ning watched them and sighed. She divorced Richard so he could marry his mistress but then fate intervened and they now find themselves completely and totally whacked. There was no going back because Richard was dead. If Han were to fall in love with his brother's mistress then...An Ning laughed. Lightning doesn't strike twice in the same spot. And she couldn't be that magnanimous as she was to Richard and offer Han to that woman. What was her name again? Not important.
An Ning looked out into the street with a smile. Behind her, Du Lu's picture on the wall suddenly steamed and a figure formed. The wisp of smoke that became the figure slowly drifted to where An Ning sat, still looking outside, still smiling her little smile. The figure looked suddenly forlorn, suddenly sad until a moaning sob was heard.
An Ning shook out of her daze and her eyes drifted upward. The glass was wet, steam foaming on the edge. Out of this hazy screen, the figure of a man appeared. An Ning looked at him without surprise. The man returned her look with the same nonchalance she felt. They looked at each other, with only the glass screen separating them. The man smiled. The glass went back to its clean, shiny self with the opening of the door.
"You'd better come in. I've ordered lunch."
Du Lu's voice was placid, without surprise. He looked at An Ning as if she was some kind of stranger he suddenly remembered he knew after all.
"That's okay. I'll be at Moira's. It's going to be a long day for Richard."
"Suit yourself," Du Lu shrugged then went inside.
An Ning's eyes drifted to the glass again. The man was no longer there but that frightening smile remained with her. She knew who it was. It seemed Richard was not going to give up until he got his body back and his soul walks this earth again. Then what? What is he planning to do? Kill Han? Kill her? An Ning left, her mind in a whirl.
Meanwhile, Han finds himself in a bind. Valerie was crying like the world was ending and she finds herself alone. He didn't know how to talk to her. Didn't he pay her enough money so she would leave Richard alone? So, why is she still here?
"You never told me she was pregnant," Valerie's voice had the bite of acid. "When you gave me that money you were already back with her, weren't you?"
"Yes," Han didn't lie. What was the point anyway? Valerie had already seen what there was to see.
"I thought you loved me," Valerie threw the words out like truth bombs. "You said you loved me."
"Didn't it become clearer I was not serious when you received the money? Why are you rehashing all of these? We're done. There's nothing else to say, is there?"
Valerie gazed at Richard, deeply wounded. It was made clear to her after she received the money that she loved him. The money had nothing to do with her feelings. She took it because she was owed but she always knew it was separate from what she truly felt.
Richard had loved her. There was no escaping from the truth of that in his eyes, his touch. Then something must have happened to change his mind. A man who truly loves a woman doesn't impregnate another woman even if she was his wife just because. Richard loves her, Valerie, and not An Ning so something or someone must have changed his mind about her.
"What happened to you?" she asked. "Are you staying with An Ning just because you have to? Is that it? You accidentally got her pregnant so you're staying with her for the sake of the child? I don't care about that, Richard. You can share the baby with her if you need to but you belong to me. Can't you understand that?"
Han was surprised by her attitude. He dug into Richard's memories of this woman and found in there the rush of lust he felt when he first saw her. He could feel it now, the unbidden attraction Richard's body had for this woman, the anti-thesis of An Ning whom Richard had only vague feelings for while they were growing up.
Valerie had been that woman who led Richard from familiarity to intense desire. That is, until he stood in front of a suddenly unrecognizable An Ning who calmly and almost blithely asked him for a divorce. Han who shared Richard's memories could feel his utter shock and confusion over what An Ning said.
An Ning looked coldly indifferent. Not even a glimmer of regret when she demanded the separation. It was as if the years between them happened to another couple. Richard's infidelity had nothing to do with her. She was only the An Ning who married a guy named Richard who cheated on her.
Han could feel Richard's confusion, his anger. He saw him the last time before his consciousness faded away. But of course Valerie would never understand. At the end of his life, Richard yearned for An Ning to wake up so she could see him. He wanted to see her so he could tell her that he loved her. There was no Valerie in Richard's eye sight then. No Valerie in his fading consciousness. Only An Ning.
"An Ning and I are together now," he said. "I don't need to defend any change of mind I might have had about our relationship. I'm only here to tell you that I love An Ning and we're together."
"You love me!" Valerie screamed in frustration. "Have you forgotten what you told me before? You're leaving her and you're marrying me! You said she was just a friend you love as a sister but it's different with me. I'm your woman, Richard. Those were your words."
Han was about to offer a rebut when the door opened. Du Lu's eyes were stern when he glanced at them.
"You're voices are too loud. Everyone can hear. Come outside and eat something before the food gets cold."
Valerie stared at the both of them then she burst into uncontrollable sobs, running past Du Lu as she shot past the door and out into the building. Han touched a spot on his left chest. It felt like something heavy was pressing against it.
"I thought you already had her paid off," Du Lu said almost accusingly. "Are you really this incompetent in getting rid of your women?"
"She's just upset. What can you expect?"
Du Lu looked at him for a moment.
"I suggest you stop wearing that besotted look in front of An Ning next time you mention Valerie's name. She will leave you in a snap, pregnant or not."
"I'm not wearing a besotted look," Han said, outraged. "I just feel sorry for the woman, that's all. You will never understand even if I tell you."
"Hmnn…." Du Lu said then closed the door behind him.
Han shook his head and laughed reluctantly. He picked up his phone and called An Ning's number.
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