Qi Cheng stood outside an old building staring up.He did not know which window belonged to her but he could not stop himself.He had expected to look for Onita for some time before he would be able to find her.Even then it would have taken time to gather the courage to confront her and ask her for closure.What he had not expected was to see her the moment he got off the plane.And that too with a small baby.To top it of she had been scared of him!Him!As if he would ever harm her and then Neil Long had come in the middle!He had actually felt enraged when he saw her go with him.And he had to admit that he had even felt envious when her daughter had gone to another man so easily.He wanted to know who was the man that she had chosen as her life partner.It couldn"t be Neil Long because Alicia also had not known her whereabouts until yesterday.Unable to sleep at the hotel,he had been tossing and turning wanting to confront everyone when suddenly he received a message from Ryu Long,"The baby is adopted.Neil is her lawyer."This was followed by another message which contained her address.And after having waited here the whole night,here he was.Due to jet lag and his restlessness last night,his face looked puffy and eyes swollen.Anybody who saw him now would be petrified but here he was trying to find answers.
Finally,Qi Cheng went inside and up the stairs.Standing outside the door,he rang the bell and waited.
Onita was wearing her rattiest sweat pants and ts.h.i.+rt when the doorbell rang.Today was a day when she finally felt relief and security that all would be well.She had been baking since morning and the house was filled with the aroma of freshly baked chocolate-peanut b.u.t.ter brownies.She had specially prepared these for Neil as she remembered Al telling her once that he was partial to peanut b.u.t.ter items.Playing with her daughter she wanted to ignore the outside world but the doorbell was irritating her.Harrumphing,she opened the door and instead of glaring at the person,her mouth fell open.Standing there in a polo t s.h.i.+rt and blus jeans was her ex-Qi Cheng.She wanted to close the door in his face and hide when she remembered that he really did not clear the air with him.He was the one that had to suffer because of her and her pride.!So she did not close the door in his face..
They stared at each other,taking in their fill of each other and saying nothing.Both had a thousand things to say and ask but all they could do was stare.Just then a little cupid stumbled on stumpy legs and said,"Teng Teng!" and ran to him hugging his knees fiercely.Surprised Qi Cheng looked down to see the little girl had wrapped her short arms around his knees and was smiling at him beautifully.Seeing him look at her,she raised her arms and said,"Teng Teng,Up!"
Still surprised at the bossy little girl,Qi Cheng picked her up and she placed a wet kiss on his cheek.She then looked at her mother and proudly said,"Mama!Teng Teng!"
Onita was shocked as well.She did not expect little Al to remember and recognize him.Onita had a small group photo of the three of them in her bedroom and sometimes Al would point at the pictures and ask about the people about them and so she had told her Al and Qi Cheng"s name!But this was astounding!Smiling at her proud daughter she said,"Yes Al that is Cheng Cheng.Very good girl Al.Why don"t you bring Cheng Cheng inside and we will serve him some tea?"
Nodding to her mother,Al held Qi Cheng"s hand and brought him inside.Qi Cheng had just gotten over his shock and followed the little girl into the small but cozy house.He could see the little touches that were pure Onita and some unexpected things as well.She must have changed so much.The enticing aroma of baking made him hungry as well as he had skipped breakfast.He looked at little Al who was staring at him and looked back a little awkwardly.He did not know what to say to the little kid.He thought about talking about the weather but he didn"t think she would understand.Just them Onita came back with a tray of hot brownies and tea.
Placing the tray in front of him she pa.s.sed him some tea and offered the brownies.He took one and politely thanked her.They both behaved a if they were meeting for the first time and not as if people who had once been good friends and had started dating.
Qi Cheng tasted the brownie and almost groaned in appreciation.He was about to compliment her when little Al interrupted,""This is for tuptake friend!whydidugivetotengteng?"The little girl suddenly looked angrily at her mother.Confused he asked Onita what the little baby meant.A little embara.s.sed Onita explained,"She said that the brownies were for her friend Neil and why did I give them to you?"
Seeing Qi Cheng"s expression,Onita wanted to hit herself.Why did she have to explain everything to little Alicia!Now Qi Cheng would feel embara.s.sed!
But Qi Cheng did not feel embara.s.sed.What he felt was envious.The previously tasty brownie tasted like sawdust in his mouth...He almost wanted to spit it out...