*Flashback Continued*
"d.a.m.n it! She hung up on me?!" Darren"s mouth was agape in disbelief and as he turned, he saw Dylan leaning against the railing beside him with a mischievous smile on his face. "What? What are you looking at?"
Dylan used the beer bottle in his hand as a mic and asked, "Our Champion of tracks and girl"s hearts, how does it feel being shunned by a girl for the first time?"
"Go to h.e.l.l! What being shunned? She"s just a nutjob. Otherwise... Otherwise, who dares to hang up on me? I"m Salvay. Regan Darren Salvay. People don"t shun me." Darren shoved Dylan away and went inside the room.
Dylan followed him inside with the same sly look and said, "Bro, did we swapped bodies or something?"
Darren frowned at him, "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"I"m confused. Since it"s confirmed that we didn"t swap bodies then how come the way you were talking over the phone was exactly like me? Do I have that much influence on you now?" Dylan"s expression told Darren how much fun he was having all by himself with his crazy nonsensical conjectures. "Oi! By the way, it was that aggressive girl from the cybercafe, right?"
Darren pushed him away and turned on the sports channel as he said, "If I have that nutjob"s phone then isn"t it obvious that she was the one calling?"
Dylan nodded to himself as he absentmindedly stared at the tv screen. But soon, he pulled on Darren"s arm again to say, "I still don"t get it though. Aren"t you really good with girls? How come you weren"t acting like yourself with this girl? Is she not pretty or something?"
"She..." Darren thought back to his meeting but could only recall her big black glossy eyes. However, from her lockscreen photo, he did know what she looked like. And even though he wasn"t gonna accept it, but he did find her beautiful. "She has a good voice." Dylan gave him a dumbfounded look. "What? I just realized it"s pretty easy to get on her nerves. So, I couldn"t help myself." Seeing the look on Dylan"s face, Darren added, "Nevermind. You won"t get it anyway."
"Then make me understand," insisted Dylan like a kid.
"Sorry, Didi. But I neither have time nor energy to communicate with you." With that, Darren went back to his own room to sleep.
-Two Days Later-
Just as Xiu had promised, she contacted Darren but without giving him a chance to speak, she said, "Let"s meet at the airport. Terminal 2, second floor"s bookstore. Be there precisely by 9:30 pm."
Darren had just opened his mouth to say "okay" but she had already hung up without waiting for his reply. "She just loves hanging up on me, doesn"t she? How lovely!" He was being sarcastic again. "Crazy girl!" He mumbled to himself before he picked up his coat from the foyer closet and said to Dylan, "Give me the car keys."
"Where are you going?" Dylan asked as he pa.s.sed his keys to him.
"Terminal 2," replied Darren honestly.
"Huh? But your flight is from Terminal 3 and that too is tomorrow. Why are you leaving now?"
Darren knocked on his head and said, "Don"t put stress on your walnut brain. Let it rest like it always does. If you use it so often, the rust might cleanse away. It won"t be good for your image."
Dylan was still scratching his head like a fool when Darren walked out the door. "Hey! Did you just insult me?" He ran out the door to ask after he finally understood Darren"s words.
Darren rolled down the windowpane and laughed at him saying, "Aiyo! It took you only a minute to realize that. I"m proud of you, Didi."
"Don"t forget to wear your mask and gla.s.ses. We both will get in trouble if someone clicked a photo of you." Dylan didn"t forget to remind him.
"I know," replied Darren.
After thoroughly teasing his best friend, Darren came to Terminal 2 and after parking his car, he went to look for the bookstore Xiu told him about. Obviously, not before using his black mask and gla.s.ses as a cover. When he entered the bookstore, it was 9:15 pm. Using his height to his advantage, he tried to look around to find someone in a white hoodie with the words "Superstar" written at the back. These were the only details, Xiu told him over the phone.
Finally, he found someone sneaking in the last row and went in her direction. Xiu was using a random book as her cover even though she was wearing a white mask with a kitty print on it. He was amused to see that usually, people used black colored clothes to stay inconspicuous but her way of sneaking around was really unique.
Darren stood behind her and said, "I believe you have my phone, Ms. Thief."
"Ah!" Xiu was startled as someone spoke so close to her and almost toppled down. However, Darren held her wrist on her time and pulled her back, only to have her b.u.mp into his chest. Because of the impact, her eyes turned teary and she rubbed her sore nose. "Can"t you make a sound? What if I get a heart attack?"
"You have such a weak heart and yet you"re able to survive in this cruel society till now? Seems like you really had a stroke of dumb luck." Darren spoke in his usual stern manner.
Realizing how close they were standing, Xiu pushed him away and went behind a bookshelf saying, "You stay in that row. I"ll stay on this one. Let"s keep a safe distance."
"Wouldn"t we look more suspicious this way?" Darren questioned as he looked at her at the other side of the bookshelf.
"Whatever! Just give me my phone." Xiu"s eyes kept looking around while she asked for her phone without dilly-dallying anymore.
Darren pulled out her phone from his coat and waved it in his hand saying, "How about you give back mine first?"
"You don"t trust me?" Xiu glared at him.
"I don"t have a reason to trust you. I don"t know you at all," was Darren"s answer to her.
Xiu"s brows quirked up slightly before she asked, "Mister, you definitely saw my lock screen photo right?"
"Yes, I did. That"s exactly how I knew it"s not my phone," he answered fixing his gla.s.ses.
"If you saw my photo. Then... Then how come you don"t know me?" Xiu was stupefied as she stared at him waiting for his reply.
"Am I supposed to know you?"