บท 6: 6
Some Tables Away
Drowning in his own thoughts, Lin Tao replayed the events of the previous night in his mind in a closed loop. The urge to head off to the bridge and to cast a coin into the river still baffled him, considering how much he would pick logic and reason over fantasy at every given time. Had his friends not mentioned doing it and believing it to work a few times, he never would have sought to try it.
Regardless, since he tossed the coin into the river, nothing about the day felt different. Nothing about Beijing felt any different yet.
"Hey, Lin Tao", someone called on him from his left hand side. "What's going on with you?"
Lin Tao looked up, his green lens shining brightly with worries, and his thin lips managing a weak smile as he brushed his dyed blonde hair backwards, shrugged. "Nothing. I might need some more drinks from the bar".
"Are you sure?" his close friend Jin asked. "You've been mute since we picked you up from your crib".
Lin Tao shrugged once again, excused himself and headed for the bar. He would rather drown himself in more alcohol than sit silently without anything of purpose to do at the table with his friends. His mood sucked for the night and being at home working on some architectural designs wouldn't have been a bad idea.
Regardless, it had been a while he spent some much needed time out with his friends and he figured it wouldn't hurt. More so, the atmosphere was ripe with young guys like himself and very much interesting to watch others make a mess of themselves after a few drinks.
"Excuse me", a petite, fair skin girl, with brown long hair tied to a pony tail, tattoo on her arm and stretched down her back spoke as he brushed past Lin Tao with her friends.
Lin Tao stepped backwards, grating them enough room to pass while he received his drink from the bartender.
"Oh shit! I am so sorry!" a red-haired lady apologized upon causing Lin Tao to spill his drink.
Lin Tao fell silent momentarily as he took a good look at the damage done, His sneakers had barely escaped the alcohol assault which his pants suffered.
"It is okay', he assured her while deeply resenting her mistake. "It is fine".
He watched her hurry away to meet with her friends, while he dusted himself clean with some paper towels given to him by the bartender.
"Crazy night", Lin Tao mumbled to himself. "Crazy fucking twenty-four hours".
He thought about how he had walked the lengthy process from his house to the bridge, tossed his coin with a heartfelt wish into the river and now having drink spilled on him and not even being able to do anything about it.
"If this is what my coin gets me, then luck sucks", he mumbled before heading back to his seat looking disturbed and a tad unhappy.
He watched the lady and her friends dancing wildly on the dance floor without an atom of worry on their faces.
"Where is the drink?" one of Lin Tao's friends asked him as he turned his attention away from the lady that caused him to spill. "You were getting a bottle for the table, so where is it?"
Lin Tao remained silent for a while before finally shrugging his shoulders.
"I don't think I'm feeling the mood tonight", Lin Tao informed his friends. "I might need to go home soon or something".
He paused and waited for some response from his friends but they seemed to be in accord with everything he had just said.
"I knew we should have dropped your ass off back at home", Sam, his long term friend muttered. 'You always know how to kill a buzz".
Lin Tao smirked, turned away from his friends while they chattered and giggled aloud. All he wanted was a good night, but it didn't feel as though he would be getting one regardless.
***
Xing Fei struggled to contain her breath as Li Han and Mei wore her down. They danced through the night, barely taking a moment to stop asides for the intermittent drinking. Hammered but still in control of her senses, Xing Fei realized it was exactly what she needed since the last episode with her family.
"You have someone checking you out, Xing Fei", Mei pinned closer to Xing Fei and muttered in her ear. "Dude has been on your tail all night long".
She broke off and cackled aloud before sipping from her glass. Xing Fei looked over her shoulders to see Fu's teasing eyes learning intensely.
"What the fuck does he want now?" Xing Fei asked herself as she watched Fu approach her on the dance floor.
"Hey", Fu muttered with an extended arm which Xing Fei left unattended to. "I was hoping we could talk in private".
Xing Fei looked around the room and then settled her gaze on her friends who weren't far away. "I'm trying to have a nice time with my friends right now and I don't want to be rude but you are killing my buzz".
Fu snickered softly, took a step back and then two forward as he slipped his hand around Xing Fei's waist. "Come on. You cannot tell me you didn't miss me after our one night together".
Xing Fei unlocked herself from Fu's grip, and looked down for a moment as images of the heated night coursed through her mind once again. The night had definitely been awesome and they spent it far into the early hours of the morning, but that was all it was and nothing more. More so, she had chosen not to call or even speak with Fu ever since and she wasn't going to until Fu walked over initially.
"Please, let this thing go", Xing Fei pleaded as best as she could. "People have one night stands and they eventually go their separate ways".
"Is that it? Is that all it was to you?" Fu asked, sounding pained and somewhat with disbelief.
Xing Fei looked up and into his eyes with so much determination not to get herself emotionally bullied. Granted it had been some time since she was in a relationship with anyone, she wasn't about to let himself get trampled upon.
"It was a one time thing and nothing more", she confessed as vividly as possible. "We agreed afterward and you and I spoke about it the morning before we parted ways".
The discussion had been brief but it had also held some form of understanding for the duo. They weren't meant to pick up affections; they were both in troubled places during the ordeal and Xing Fei had hoped the relief from the night would help shunt their worries for a while. Li Han and the girls soon raced over, looking worried and concerned for their friend.
"What is going on?" Li Han asked.
Xing Fei stared at Fu, expecting him to speak or at least explain. Fu simply cocked his head, held up his hands and smiled without uttering a word initially.
"I should leave you guys alone then", Fu finally said as he pulled away.
Xing Fei let off a huge sigh of relief as his friends pulled him away towards a secluded corner.
"Did you guys hook up after that one night?" Mei inquired.
"Hell no!" Xing Fei protested. "He is acting like a lover boy now but back then he acted so mature".
The mood around had suddenly gotten drab and Xing Fei couldn't help but blame herself.
Mei smirked and handed her another drink as she said, 'At least you stood up to him and called his bullshit".
The words seemed to bring a cheer to the group as they returned to the dance floor to cast away their worries, while Xing Fei still couldn't shake off the worry about Fu thinking something could come through between them. Granted, he was somewhat handsome with really cool features. His job as an engineer paid well and his ability to have a good time in bed was equally admirable.
Regardless, Xing Fei was tired of such shallow-minded guys, because it was what she saw Fu as right off the bat. He was older, more accomplished, but with a vague understanding of personal space and respecting emotions. He had pestered Xing Fei with phone calls and endless messages after their one night stand.
Xing Fei had recalled having to bar Fu's digits before running into him at the party tonight.
"Don't think too much about it,'' Xing Fei whispered to herself. "Don't think too much about it".
***
Hours later, Xing Fei and her friends returned to their car, having had a wonderful night and with the desire to head home. It was almost midnight and by the look of things, they were out past their allowed time.
"Is that someone on your car?" Mei was quick to point out as they approached the parking lot where Xing Fei's car was parked.
Xing Fei felt her stomach sink into her chest as she spotted the undeniable frame.
"You have got to be kidding me", she said while she pointed at a tipsy looking Fu slowly climbing down from the car and walking in their direction.
"Why are you doing this to me?" an uncoordinated Fu asked as he finally came face-to-face with Xing Fei. "You made me fall in love with you and you're not even going to regard or accept my advances?"
Somewhat embarrassed, feeling uncomfortable and unsure of what to say or how to go about the current ordeal, Xing Fei looked to his friends for some assistance.
Li Han stepped forward and grabbed Fu by the arm, trying to lead him away. 'This isn't the place to do this, buddy. It isn't the place at all'.
Fu shrugged Li Han off as though he was nothing before squaring up to Xing Fei as a group of people were pouring out and heading to their respective cars.
"I love you… I fell in love with you and I swear this isn't some dumb affection or something", Fu attempted to work his way into Xing Fei's head.
Xing Fei shook her head aggressively, shrugged Fu off in the process and screamed, "I can never love you! Can't you get it into your thick skull that there is nothing between us and that there will never be anything there!?"
The massive crowd around suddenly halted and silence ensued right after the outburst. Xing Fei, reddened in the face with a clenched fist and an influx of anger building up on the inside, attempted to walk away but Fu pulled her back by her arm.
Angered by the act, Xing Fei shoved Fu, prompting him to stagger backwards and fall on his behind. "Get the fuck away from me you freak! You don't mean shit to me and never would!"
Li Han stepped between the duo while Xing Fei fondled her pockets for her car key.
Mei waved at the crowd, attempting to disperse them as she muttered, "Nothing to see here… move on now".
Feeling slightly embarrassed, uncomfortable by the occurrence and by the number of people whose intentions the altercation with Fu had managed to gather, Xing Fei needed to leave as soon as possible. She fondled her pocket for her car keys some more but realized she had left it inside.
Gutted, he mumbled in disgust, "This night cannot get any worse".
He raised his head, turned around and prompted towards the door before halting at the sight of an even more disturbing occurrence. Standing in the doorway, having witnessed everything that had transpired some minutes back with Fu, was none other than the "bridge guy" Xing Fei saw the other night by the river.
Xing Fei's heart sunk into her chest, her stomach felt empty and began to churn with despair, while her eyes locked its gaze on "Lin Tao" without being able to simply peel her gaze away.
"Fuck me", Xing Fei muttered with a great deal of despair and shame.
Those deep green eyes continued to stare at her with some measure of disappointment behind them, just before Lin Tao Douglas broke his gaze away and headed to his car. Petrified with the feeling as though her knees were about to give up on her, Xing Fei wished the night would come to an end already. She wished she had not come for the party with her friends in the first place.
Those green eyes would haunt her for the remainder of the night. The innocence she had seen in them at the bridge over the river, seemed to have been replaced with some form of judgment.
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