An Ning"s new office which was located in a quiet street corner in the heart of M City"s business district was renovated in less than a month. During this time, she had also been in constant contact with her dad"s gaming design staff, even driving to his office building to meet them face to face.The six people that met her were all young men barely out of college. The designated leader of the group was called Sam, a 21-year old tech genius who was dressed in beach attire and sporting a purple tomahawk. He gawked at An Ning when she introduced herself then gazed down at her stomach red-faced.
"I"m pregnant. And I"m a woman. Oh yah, I"m not married," An Ning said, looking squarely at him. "Got a problem with that?"
The young man flushed a deeper red, mumbled something incoherent then motioned to the rest of the group, who stepped forward one by one and introduced themselves to An Ning.
They were even shyer and more tongue-tied than Sam. An Ning looked at them, at their clean, bright faces and suddenly felt something maternal blossom inside her. She was wise enough not to show her self-mockery at the discovery. Instead, she gathered them inside a conference room and told them her plans in measured tones.
They listened in silence, their eyes sharp and inquisitive. Sam was frowning, hesitated then finally raised a hand.
"Are we going to remain a department or a separate unit?"
"Eventually we might have to," An Ning answered.
Sam nodded as if satisfied.
"We also have to hire more people. The equipment I already have. We"ll be sharing the same marketing department with the main unit but I"m also going to hire someone from outside to represent our group."
An Ning waited for a reaction but none were forthcoming.
"I"d like to end this meeting by saying that I think I have an idea of what everybody here is thinking. Daughter of the owner. Probably bored with her life. She"s enthusiastic and determined for now but she"ll soon lost interest and this group will probably dissolve in a year," An Ning took a deep breath.
"I"ll take a leave, true, but that"s only because I need to for the baby. Then I"ll be back to work because I feel pa.s.sionate about what I"m doing. I don"t know about you but I want to go head to head with anybody out there and just compete. I am fired up and committed. That"s all I want to say."
The men were silent, looking uneasily at each other. Then a young man who had previously introduced himself as Meynard asked: "Will we be required to wear formal attire in the office? HR has been really hard on Sam for wearing inappropriate clothing. They also ordered him to tone down his hair color. He"s actually thinking of quitting because they wanted to fine him for insubordination."
An Ning didn"t know whether to laugh or cry. Sam blushed a darker shade of red when he met An Ning"s amused gaze.
"No, no formal attire. But no pajamas either or other forms of sleepwear. Let"s not be too informal with each other, okay?" An Ning said, chuckling.
The men heaved a sigh of relief, with Sam and Meynard hi-fiving each other.
The move to the new location happened the following Monday. Richard drove An Ning to work. Although he had been loudly furious at her decision, Richard eventually quieted down after talking to her father.
The two men had come to a tentative agreement about An Ning. She was not a child, she was pregnant, and everything else, including their animosity towards each other, came second only to An Ning"s health and comfort. So, An Ma invited Richard back into the house. Richard still occupied the back courtyard but he was now allowed to spend more time with An Ning.
Richard stopped at a curve and looked at An Ning.
"Don"t tire yourself out too much."
"I won"t."
"I"ll pick you up at five."
"I"ll be here."
Richard leaned forward and gave her a peck on the mouth, waited until she got off the car and into the building safely then drove off.
An Ning was about to push open the gla.s.s door when a sign next door suddenly caught her eye. It was a sign announcing the grand opening of a coffee shop named Cofi-Ko. An Ning hesitated then walked over to check it out.
A plump young woman wearing a colorful ap.r.o.n stood behind the counter. She looked up when the door bell sounded then beamed a huge welcome at An Ning.
"You"re my very first customer!" she greeted excitedly. "Should I give you a discount or something? What do you think?"
An Ning blinked in surprise.
"You don"t need to. I"m happy to pay the full price."
"How about an extra slice of cake then? My cakes are pretty awesome. I"m Moira by the way."
"My name is An Ning. What flavor would you suggest?"
"The rum chocolate and the mousse. I baked those yesterday."
"You make your own cake?" An Ning was surprised.
"Of course. They"re not that difficult to make, you know. Do you work around here?"
"Next door. Your cafe looks really nice. I love the bay windows, by the way. Very chic-y French."
"My mom suggested it," Moira shrugged. "All I wanted was a little shop but she went overboard with excitement as usual."
"She has very good tastes. It feels very warm and welcoming in here. I am 100% sure your little shop will be the talk-of-the-town pretty soon," An Ning predicted.
"I just want people to like my coffee and cakes. I can"t wish for anything more," Moira said, blushing a little. "What will you have for today?"
An Ning ordered six large coffee, slices of cakes and a tall gla.s.s of flavored ice tea for herself. Moira sliced an extra piece of rum chocolate to go along with it.
An Ning was reaching for her wallet when the door bell again rang. She didn"t look around and was about to hand Moira her card when a voice spoke beside her. Stunned, An Ning looked up and met Richard"s amused eyes.
"What are you doing here?"
Richard didn"t answer, merely handing Moira some cash. Moira took it, her eyes round as saucers, her cheeks stained a delicate red as she looked at Richard.
"And you"re here because?" An Ning again prodded.
"Paying for your cakes and coffee," Richard pointed out. "Should you be eating that?" he added, pointing at the slice of cake. "You don"t want to put on the extra weight, do you? Bad for the baby."
"Haha. Funny," An Ning sneered.
"Anyway, Du Lu told me there was a newly opened cafe in the area so I came to check out."
An Ning was surprised.
"Are you telling me you also work around here?"
"The building at the end of this block."
An Ning was too shocked to say anything. Richard turned to the attentive and curious Moira and gave her his order.
"Dad would have known," An Ning said almost accusingly.
"The contract is in Du Lu"s name."
So that was it.
Richard helped with the bags and escorted An Ning to her building. Fortunately he did not insist on accompanying her inside. His presence would have raised questions she was not really sure she wanted to answer.
The day was very busy, which kept An NIng occupied. She worked and ate her lunch and interviewed applicants. Sam knocked on her door several times. Turns out, he was very confident talking about his work than he was talking about himself. He kept An Ning on her toes, his input valuable and definitive.
Ten minutes to five, An Ning received a text from Richard. She came down five minutes later and saw his car in front. The ride home was surprisingly pleasant. Richard was curious and asked many questions. He seemed geniunely interested in hearing An Ning talk about her work, on what made her decide to open her own business.
"You made me feel ashamed," she told him honestly.
"In what way?" Richard was surprised.
"You told me I was a b.u.m, which was a major shock to me. I thought since I was obviously educated I must have been doing something like earning my own living. It turns out, I was doing nothing but embarra.s.sing myself chasing after you. It was humiliating to find out how much of a loser I really was."
"I told you your parents are wealthy. You can either work or not. It doesn"t matter."
An Ning fell into a frowning silence.
"An Ning?"
"Hmnn..."
"I"m glad though," Richard smiled.
"Why?"
"Because then we can be together every day. It worked out better than I expected."
"I"m glad one of us is happy," An Ning grumbled.
Richard laughed and held her hand in his.
When they arrived home, An Ma was already waiting and ordered An Ning to go to bed early. The three of them had dinner together and Richard helped An Ning to her room. He looked longingly at the bed but contented himself with kissing her and running his hand up and down her burgeoning stomach.
An Ning was exhausted and couldn"t stopped herself from yawning repeatedly. Richard tucked her in bed after her shower then left, closing the door behind him. An Ning was awakened hours later by the insistent rumbling of her empty stomach.
She felt so hungry sleep became almost impossible. Thinking of the meat pie she had last night, her mouth watered so she finally threw the covers off, noiselessly opened the door and went to the kitchen to fix herself something to eat.
While she was heating the pie in the microwave, she also found leftover congee and salad in the fridge. She took out the congee and heated it in a pan. The salad she put on the table along with the warmed up pie.
An Ning literally wolfed down the food in her hunger. She took the milk from the fridge and poured herself a gla.s.s. The congee started to boil so she took it out of the stove and poured some on a bowl.
The simple dinner was the best she had eaten, she was thinking happily. She suddenly remembered the cookies she had Sarai baked the other day and opened the jar where she had put them. She bit on a cookie then placed nearly a dozen on a plate.
An Ning leisurely picked up the unfinished gla.s.s of milk and the plate of cookies and left the kitchen, having decided to enjoy the sweet treats in her room.
She was about to pa.s.s the french doors that led to another room when she heard noises. She stopped and listened, thinking it was the wind. The noises became louder. An Ning stiffened, recognizing what they were.
She walked towards the french doors then hesitated, her hand on the k.n.o.b. The sound of moaning intensified inside. An Ning quietly opened the door, put the gla.s.s of milk and plate on a nearby table, lightly felt for the switch of the lamp on top of it and turned it on. The two bodies lying on the sofa that had been writhing in pa.s.sion froze.
When the man and woman turned and saw An Ning, they broke apart guiltily. Richard"s face drained of blood. Maya"s scrunched into a sob.
An Ning stared at them calm as a coiling snake about to strike. Richard"s upper torso was bare. The top part of his pajamas had already been discarded and thrown on top of the sofa; the lower half hang precariously on his pelvis. Maya was wearing a black teddy so sheer she looked almost naked. The top of her beautiful b.r.e.a.s.t.s was stained with red streaks, her soft lips plumped up and moist.
An Ning made her move. The man and woman watched as she took the chair opposite them; watched as she reached for the plate of cookies and put one in her mouth; watched as she took a sip of the milk; watched her swallow; watched her clean the traces of milk on her mouth with the back of her hand.
An Ning leaned back on the chair and chuckled. Richard felt something cold ran down his spine at the sound which sounded like a death knell, mocking and terrifying at the same time.