Of course, An Ning was terribly embarra.s.sed when she woke up a few hours later. She was barely clothed, with only a thin blanket covering her body. Richard was sleeping soundly beside her, fully clothed and looking like he had just stepped out of a glossy fashion magazine. Even his hair was perfect, thick and glossy and....perfect.Her eyes unwittingly gazed down and settled on the faint covering of hair on his exposed pelvis. She turned tomato red with renewed embarra.s.sment as what she and he did on this small bed, his pa.s.sion and the way she responded to it, flashed before her eyes.
She was a pregnant unmarried woman, about to become a mother, and she didn"t even remember the events that led to her pregnancy. She didn"t remember where they first kissed, where they first dated, their first time together making love. She didn"t remember all of that as if she had been sleeping for years and only awakened in time for the world to end.
Did she love Richard? She doesn"t remember. He cheated on her...who was the woman? Are they back together again, her and Richard? They must be, otherwise there would be no baby, right?
An Ning got off the bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower. There were faint bruises on her legs, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s felt sore, and there was an unfamiliar tingling feeling in her intimate parts. She realized with a tiny laugh that she went around this whole s.e.x thing by following a different route. She discovered s.e.x when she was already pregnant and enjoyed the act with the child"s father whom she doesn"t remember ever loving or not.
Richard was awake when she went back to the room. He met her eyes and grinned boyishly. An Ning flushed a beet red at his expression and turned as if she was going back to the bathroom. Richard caught her hand and pulled her to the bed. The back of her legs snagged against it and she sat down, refusing to look at him.
Richard closed his arms tightly around her, inhaling her sweet fragrance as he propped his chin on the slender curve of her shoulder. They sat like that in silence, An Ning"s body rigid with embarra.s.sment. Richard gently turned her chin so she would turn and face him. He stared into her eyes then leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. It was a sweet kiss, more like a gentle salute, but it suddenly brought tears to An Ning"s eyes.
She suddenly remembered a similar memory, of him kissing her in that sweet, gentle way, of his lashes sweeping gently against her cheeks. She looked at him, trying to capture the image but it faded when she met his eyes. The eyes of a stranger. An Ning blinked and the world returned to its normal orbit.
Richard was kissing her neck, her shoulders, then her mouth, his breathing unsteady. It was an aggressive tongue to tongue kiss that brought another shudder to An Ning"s body. She moaned then pulled her mouth from Richard"s, gasping on a thin reedy voice: "I"m hungry."
Richard stopped, pressed his forehead against hers with a heavy sigh, kissed her mouth again then reluctantly let her go.
"It seemed I have to satisfy your other appet.i.tes besides this one," he said, leering fondly at her.
An Ning refused to blush anymore as she settled back on the bed and waited while he talked on the phone.
"They"ll be here in fifteen," he said, picking up a duffel bag from the floor. "My turn to shower," he winked as he went inside the bathroom.
His duffel bag. Someone must have delivered it to him here while she was still conked out after s.e.x. And the nurses...her father...An Ning buried her head on her hands and groaned. She didn"t know if she could live with the embarra.s.sment. There goes her reputation...wait! She has none! She"s pregnant. She"s not married. And she"s living in sin with her child"s father. What the...She"s practically a scarlet woman!
An Ning gurgled with laughter. She didn"t know why but she suddenly felt a lot better.
The food arrived just as Richard was coming out from his shower. He helped An Ning to the small table and laid out plates, fork and spoon in front of her. He also poured her a gla.s.s of iced tea and sliced a piece of apple pie. He then sat down, just watching with a contented smile as An Ning stuffed her mouth like she hadn"t eaten in days.
"Aren"t you eating anything?" she asked as she saw his empty plate.
"I"ll be eating something later," Richard said with a meaningful smile in her direction.
An Ning blushed scarlett and nearly choked.
When the food was finally cleared, An Ning went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Richard poked his head around the door and asked: "Do you want me to call the nurse to help you with something?"
"It"s okay. Wait...maybe change the sheets?"
Richard grinned.
"Okay."
An Ning loitered in the bathroom when she heard the nurse"s voice. After a short while, the door opened again.
"Come out. She"s gone."
An Ning padded to the bed and sleepily laid down. She heard Richard go to the bathroom and closed her eyes. She was dozing off lightly when the bed sagged and Richard slid beside her. His hands reached for her and he took her in his arms. She cuddled into his warmth and again fell into a light doze.
The arms around her tightened and Richard found her lips unerringly in the darkness. His lips lingered on her lips, his mouth sucking on her soft skin like it was the tenderest of meat he can"t bear to let go. An Ning turned her body towards him with a breathy moan. Their coupling this time was a bit rough. Maybe because they were both eager; maybe because they were discovering each other again after a long parting.
Whatever it was, in the the end, Richard refused to let her go, looping his fingers tightly around An Ning"s hand and holding it close to his chest. He buried his nose on her warm neck as An Ning"s gentle breathing cooled the dampened skin on his forehead.
******
Sarai was there to welcome them when they left the hospital three days later and moved to their new home. The new place turned out to be the penthouse of a 20-storey building, which, to An Ning"s surprise, overlooked the street where she worked.
Sam called and inquired how she was. An Ning told him to go out the building and look up while she waved at him from above. He gawked at her then laughed, asking if she would like a slice of Moira"s sinfully delicious chocolate cake. An Ning said yes, knowing from the way the question was asked that he wanted to see her.
She had been staying home for several days now and was borderline bored out of her skull. Richard and her father were rarely home and Matt was still drugged out of his mind with pain killers. Richard had forbidden her to go out unless accompanied by him or her dad and though she didn"t like his way of putting it, she had to admit that the thought of Maya attacking her without warning was a scary thought.
Sam knocked on the door a little after five, carrying Moira"s signature paper bag, which displayed a delightful print of a cake and a little girl in pigtails. Sam entered and looked around him with wide eyes.
"This place is huge," he complimented, sitting on a chair opposite An Ning. "Here you go. Moira said hi, by the way," he added, handing An Ning the bag.
An Ning eagerly took out the cake and started digging around it with a spoon.
"How are you, anyway?"
An Ning sipped the tea that came with the cake and shrugged noncommittally.
"It must have been awful. Did the police find out anything yet?
"They"re still looking."
"That"s good. Anyway, when are you going back to work?"
"Probably tomorrow. Everything okay in there?"
Sam hesitated.
"What?" An Ning asked, catching the little movement.
"I may have made a little boo boo," he stammered, flushing a little.
"What?"
"I sort of entered into a little bet with a compet.i.tor," Sam admitted sheepishly.
"What bet?"
"About winning grand prize in that tech convention I was telling you about."
"I didn"t know it"s a compet.i.tion," An Ning frowned.
"It"s really a sort of compet.i.tion between game developers partic.i.p.ating in the event on the last day. It"s kind of a voluntary thing. You can join or not, up to you. But everybody usually goes for it and big tech sponsors are usually there to watch."
"So you want to join in it?"
"If you approve, that is."
"Why wouldn"t I approve? Go for it."
Sam took a deep breath.
"Thank you."
"Is that all? Who is this rival of yours anyway?"
Sam became fl.u.s.tered.
"Somebody I knew back in school."
"Hmnn...."
A sound made them look up. Matt came out of his room drying his wet hair with a towel. He stopped when he saw Sam.
"I didn"t know you had company," he said, coming forward.
"This is Sam," An Ning said. "He works for me. He stopped by to give me this," she added, indicating the bag. "Are you hungry?"
"Not for cake, anyway," Matt said with a grimace. "I"m Matt," he added turning to Sam.
"Hi," Sam said, eyeing the both of them speculatively.
An Ning ignored his look and stood up.
"I"m going to tell Sarai you"re awake. Why don"t you stay for dinner?" she asked, turning to Sam with a smile. "I think we"re having Chinese tonight."
"Thank you but my mom is waiting for me. I need to go back," Sam said.
"Another time perhaps?"
"Sure," Sam said, standing up. "I"d better go. Thank you for not giving me grief about that thing. Really appreciate it."
"No problem. We"ll win, right?
Sam smiled. "Without a doubt."
"That"s all I want to hear. See you tomorrow."
"Yup, see you." Sam said bye to Matt then left.
"He"s a techie guy?"
"One of the best. He"s a little shy but he"s okay."
"He?"
An Ning chortled.
"You noticed, huh?"
"Difficult not to with that cute face. She hasn"t got any b.o.o.bs to speak of but she"s definitely female. Any idea why she"s posing as a guy?"
An Ning shrugged unconcernedly.
"Who knows. It seems to be the thing with young people nowadays. Maybe she woke up one morning and realized she"s really a man? Don"t want to know. Don"t care."
"Want me to check her out?" Matt said, arching a brow.
"Don"t need to. Besides, I already read her HR file. Aside from the fact that she"s posing as a man, her work is pretty excellent. She"s not involved with any of this anyway. Let her be," Aning said. "Are you ready to have dinner? I"m famished."