The Divorcee Is A Wicked Black Belly

Richard set up an office in one of the old buildings in the estate and spent his days driving the short distance between the main house and his office. His parents seemed satisfied with his filial dedication and he was satisfied to be doing his own thing. The only one out in the cold and seething about the arrangement was Valerie, who demanded that Richard introduce her to his parents so they could get married immediately.

She had gone to the south to film her TV show and came back just as Richard was packing his bags to leave. She had been naturally p.i.s.sed off and even screamed shrilly at him like a fishwife. She stormed off in anger but returned an hour later to demand that Richard honor his commitments to her because she was owed.

He forced her to become his mistress; she can"t openly date him because everyone knew his ex-wife. She was sick and tired of being constantly introduced as one of his talents every time they were out. Everything will be okay once they"re married and people realize how much in love they really were.

Richard didn"t say a word and merely continued folding clothes in his bag. He wanted to say something but what? He didn"t know. He had been feeling out of depth since his divorce and he can"t understand why. The work he had loved so much and put much time to build had started to seem stale to him.

Even the people who knew him personally was surprised when he announced he was leaving the city to move back in his with his parents. Leave city M? Just when his top talents were earning successes in the movie and TV industry? What was he thinking about? Du Lu, who had started the business with him, was more blunt: "You sound like you"re nursing a big broken heart. Is it An Ning or Valerie?"

He didn"t even rise to the challenge, merely walking away and locking himself inside his office. He started the talent agency when he came back from uni five years ago, His father had been very surprised since he had been expected to take his place in the family business along with Alex. But three years spent in Europe and months traveling with a group of students on a pilgrimage to Fatima changed all that.

One of the students in the group had been a struggling actor who convinced him to manage his career. The actor had been in the business for nearly two years and had been through three different agents, one of whom attempted to **** him during an out-of-town shoot. Richard was intrigued by the actor"s tale of woes.

It sounded ugly yet fascinating to him. When he came back, he immediately contacted a realtor and rented an office under his partner"s name on the ground floor of a building owned by his former in-laws.

The business took off almost immediately. Du Lu was street smart and knew the business inside out. At first, he helped Richard navigate the industry"s under belly then left to concentrate on becoming a famous actor when Richard transformed from an ingenue to the steely-eyed human-eating wolf everyone was terrified about. For Richard, the life of an agent became a journey of self-discovery.

He realized that by changing careers, he more or less took a job that measured him for his competence alone in an industry that allowed him no lifeline in case of failure. But he also realized that this world, which can become toxic and deadly depending on current ratings and box office returns, was something that suited his personality. He loved to talk, he loved to party, and he loved the make-believe that sells itself as true and real in a world riddled with the fake and meaningless.

The holidays came and went. He heard that Han was back in the army and that An Ning was staying with her parents. Valerie was in Venice shooting a movie, which paired her with a popular young actor whom not a lot of people know was gay. Valerie was excited to do the movie because it was her first and the publicity was going to be enormous. Richard squeezed a lot of money on her behalf from the producer who also wrote the screenplay. The story was infantile, the production big and Richard was flat out bored with it all.

He drove to the city one day to check the publicity stills that the production was preparing for release the following week. It was hot and humid and traffic was at a stand still. The road was literally clogged with cars and angry motorists sweating under the sun. Seeing the long line ahead, Richard called the production crew and re-sked a meeting with them the day after. Turns out, one of the crew staff was about to call him to ask the same.

"There seems to be a major accident up ahead," the staff said. "About a truck and an ambulance I believe. I heard it on the radio."

Richard said something about police cars driving towards the crash and was about to put his phone down when he heard his name being called. He turned to his right and saw An Ning on a car beside him, her perspiring face leaning out of the window.

"Richard!" An Ning screamed, tears running down her terrified face. "Richard! Help...help me! Get me to the hospital please. I think I"m losing the baby."

Richard stared stupidly at her. "What?"

"Help me," An Ning sobbed. "Take me to the hospital."

Released from his catatonic state, Richard run to the car and opened the driver"s door. "What the h.e.l.l are you doing?" he snapped angrily. "Don"t you have the sense you were born with? Who told you to drive a car when you"re pregnant?"

"I was about to meet Han at Charlie"s. He said no but I insisted. I was getting bored doing nothing and it"s not far. Richard...please...please help me," she said, her thin shoulders wracking from her sobs.

Richard depressed the seat belt, lifted her in his arms and carried her to his own car. An Ning was crying brokenly, her small body heaving with each sob, her stomach barely visible under the loose white summer dress she was wearing.

"Let me have your phone," he said. When he found the name, he pressed the call b.u.t.ton and waited. The phone was answered after one ring.

"An Ning? Where are you? I just got off the plane and heard the news," Han"s voice was racked with worry. "Are you okay?"

"Meet us in St. Lukes," Richard said without preamble, starting the car and driving thru the island into the opposite lane. "I"m driving there now. The hospital in Lithe. The road is open to traffic."

"Richard? Is she okay?"

"She"s alright. Just a bit shook up. I"ll call ahead and let them know. Here," he said, turning to An Ning. "He wants to talk to you."

By now, two police cars were trailing after Richard"s car. One car drove closer, the driver gesturing angrily for him to stop. An Ning leaned her head out the window and yelled at him. The driver of the car, a young policeman barely out of his teens, stared at her then as her words finally made sense, his eyes opened wide in horror.

There was a sudden screeching of the brakes. The police car swerved to the shoulder and came to an abrupt stop. The other police car behind him tried to avoid the car in front of him but plowed instead next to an EMT parked on the roadside.

Richard drove on steadily, watching the unfolding catastrophe on his rear view mirror with detached amus.e.m.e.nt. "And it"s only Monday. I wonder what you"ll do next for an encore."

"It does feel like a Butch Ca.s.sidy and the Sundance Kid kind of getaway, doesn"t it?" An Ning grunted, her face pale and wet with sweat. "But poor Han won"t be able to get through in that pile up."

Richard dialed Han"s number. "Change of plans. Go to the Western Hotel in Wilson. There"s a helipad on the rooftop. A plane will be waiting for you. It will get you thru to the hospital faster."

"What happened?"

"Pile up. The police was a little excited and caused an accident."

"Is Ning Ning okay?"

"She"s fine," Richard said, giving An Ning the phone. Richard dialed a number on his car phone and spoke to his secretary. "Tell Dave to stand by. There"s somebody I want him to pick up. Tell him to take him to St Luke"s in Lithe. That"s right. In Lithe. I"m driving a friend there right now. What? It"s my brother Han. You"d better call the hospital and tell them what"s going on. Call the director. He knows me. Okay, that"s it. Talk to you later."

He glanced at the girl sitting quietly beside him. She was clutching at her stomach, smoothing her pale hands around the slight bulge, her eyes glazed with panic.

"You"ll be alright," Richard said. "We"ll be there soon."

"The doctor told me it might be dangerous for me," she said quietly. "He said my hips were too narrow for pregnancy. He said that I might not carry the baby to full term if I"m not careful." She gripped her hands tightly. "But I didn"t listen. I put the baby in danger with my own stupidity. I"m scared, Richard. I"m really scared."

"Nothing will happen to you and the baby. I will not allow it," he said grimly. "What surprises me is how fervidly you seem to really want this baby. You didn"t seem that much interested in having my child when you were married to me."

"I don"t want to talk about that," An Ning said awkwardly. "It"s all in the past."

Richard was livid. He didn"t know where his anger was coming from. It"s been half a year since their divorce but looking at her, the protective way she was holding her stomach, he suddenly wanted to smash something. To hold it in his hands and destroy it whatever it was.

Perhaps it was envy or jealousy or the sense that he had been tossed aside like a used napkin or something. Her quiet joy looking at the bulge which was her stomach grated at him like electric bolts stinging his skin.

"Perhaps I wasn"t good enough to be father material to your kid, right? I cheated on you and humiliated you and you hate me, I understand. But you didn"t give me a chance to say sorry, An Ning. You didn"t give me a chance to change my mind and that"s what really bugs me. And then you went out and slept with my brother. It was all convenient for you, wasn"t it?"

"Were you expecting me not to leave even after all you"ve done?" An Ning was incredulous. "We didn"t even have a honeymoon because you were drunk and stayed away while you mooned and cried over your f.u.c.king wh.o.r.e. Please...spare me the histrionics of listening to your so-called f.u.c.king regrets and that it was me you loved all along.

"You never loved me. You merely tolerated me because I was convenient and available and you were used to me. Like an old bathrobe you can"t make yourself throw away because it"s familiar and you"re used to it. I spent my entire life chasing after you, Richard. I never in my life thought that there will come a time when I would stop and just leave you be. That"s the strangest part of all of this. That I would live apart from you and survive."

"Why does it have to be Han? Why can"t it be some other man I didn"t know? You could have picked up someone somewhere and it wouldn"t have mattered."

"It does seem strange to realize that you"re going to be an uncle to the child of your ex-wife, doesn"t it?" An Ning chuckled. "It"s completely mind boggling, man. I totally get where you"re coming from."

"I"m glad to see you find it so funny," Richard said sarcastically.

"It"s totally hilarious. I mean, think about it. How are we going to introduce you to our child? His uncle or his stepdad? You must admit it"s f.u.c.king crazy."

"I didn"t sleep with Valerie until that night you found us together," Richard said. his voice quiet and sincere. "I couldn"t hold it in anymore and just wanted you to find out on your own, I guess. I couldn"t tell you. I was afraid to tell you. I"m really, truly sorry, An Ning."

"Thank you," An Ning said quietly. "We were so young when we got married. I think we both thought it was the continuation of the future since we"ve known each other since we were kids. There were no expectations, we thought. We"ll get married and live happily ever after and that was it. Cookie cutter perfect. We were both so naïve, Richard," An Ning smiled ruefully.

"Did I really fall in love with Valerie? How did you know it was love? It could have been infatuation or something. Fascination perhaps?"

"Half a year later and you still don"t know? Give me a break. I knew three seconds after I saw the two of you together. The funny thing is you lasted more with her than the length of our marriage, you realize that?"

"I don"t know if I want to marry her," he said, throwing her an uncertain look.

She doesn"t seemed surprised by that admission. "It"s probably because you don"t carry the weight of adultery anymore. You"re now more mentally prepared to deal with the situation with a clear mind. You realize the situation we"re in right now? This could have been us if we had stayed married together. You"ll be driving me to the hospital while we argue about Valerie. Heck, we"re doing it now and I"m not even married to you," An Ning said. "Whatever it is you"re feeling right now, I think it"s part of the moving on process. Whether you marry Valerie or not, you"ll be stuck in the same rut of guilt if you don"t pull yourself out of it."

The silence was occasionally broken by An Ning"s rasping gasps. When Richard turned and looked at her, she was still in the same position as before, her hands protectively clasped around the bulge on her stomach.

"You didn"t even give me a chance," he can"t help but grit out. "You didn"t even fight for me."

An Ning had no answer to that. They drove to the hospital in complete silence. In a short while, An Ning was wheeled inside with her doctor following closely behind. Richard wanted to leave but Han hadn"t arrived yet and he didn"t want to leave An Ning on her own.

The examination didn"t last long, the doctor later telling Richard that it was a false alarm. Pregnant women were occasionally plagued by gas that seemed serious but really was not. An Ning was embarra.s.sed and refused to meet Richard"s amused gaze. Richard"s phone rang. It was Han.

"He"ll be here in ten," he told An Ning. "I"d better go and meet him. Will you be alright waiting here?"

"I"ll go with you," An Ning said, jumping from the bed. "I"m okay," she said when Richard was about to protest. "I need to walk it off anyway."

The two of them took the private elevator to the rooftop. They were waiting on the helipad when the helicopter came into view. An Ning happily waved her arms in welcome. Richard pulled her away as they waited for the helicopter to touch down.

The helicopter was a few feet away from the ground when the door suddenly slammed shut behind them. Startled, they turned and saw two men wearing black masks rushing towards them. Richard was slow to understand what was happening but he saw the man on his right took something out of a big heavy bag and point it at the approaching helicopter. He shouted something to An Ning who was still gaping at the men in surprise.

Han leaped out of the helicopter and rushed towards An Ning. There was the sound of something like a click and a hiss and the helicopter was blown out of the sky as if it was a kite made of matchstick. The last thing Richard remembered was An Ning"s body slamming hard against him as he gripped her in his arms while the world around them burned and turned upside down in the flaming light of the sun.