Neil looked at the pretty girl in front of him and found it difficult to breathe.He was almost tempted to write a few poems about the beauty in front of him.She stood there a little nervously clasping her fingers in front of her.Smiling,to put her at ease he bowed and said gallantly while extending his hand,"Come My lady,Let us go!"Giggling like a little girl,Mi Rae put her hand in his.Before she could leave,her eyes fell on the bouquet of flowers.She stopped and said, "let me put them in the water.."
But looking at the bouquet,Neil clenched his hands and picking them up threw them into the waste bin.Mi Rae looked on in shock and tried to protest but Neil cut her off."They were not meant for you.Like you I had no idea about the news and was on my way to visit someone.I just used these as prop."With that Neil turned towards the door but Mi Rae felt horrible.She looked at the flowers and then sighed.She did find it odd that he had not handed the flowers to her but even if they had lived a little longer with her,it wouldn"t have harmed anyone.There was no need to throw away such pretty flowers so brutally.What an odd person Neil Long was!
Once at the door,she again remembered to ask their destination but before she could open her mouth,Neil put a hand on her waist and guided her towards the gate.In a little whisper he said,"Behave as if you are totally in love with me.The people should have scattered by now but there will be a few ho will try to follow us with their long distant cameras."Mi Rae immediately pasted a smile on her face and looked at him with moony eyes."When Neil turned to reciprocate the look he almost got scared by the way she looked at him.As if he was a piece of beef and she had been hungry for days....She should have been an actress!
Mi Rae,of course had no idea that she had scared Neil and she gracefully sat in Neil"s car.Indeed there was no trace of the media persons at the gate.After guiding her,Neil sat in the driver"s seat and reversig the car drove away.A few moments after the car left,a few people crawled out from the bushes and from inder other cars.A few cars even followed the way that the Rolls Royce had gone to...
In The Car:
Neil"s hands were clenched on the stearing wheel and Mi Rae could sense the awkwardness.She blamed herself for the trouble and wanted to apologize once again.She opened her mouth to break the ice but Neil was having one of it.He turned on the radio at full volume and ignoring her presence,continued to drive on.
He was angry.But at himself and not at Mi Rae.For years,he would only visit his Ning Ning on this day.Other times when he missed her,he would look at her picture on his screen saver and stop himself.Today remarked her tenth death anniversary and he was unable to go to her.And he had no one to blame but himself.Mi Rae would have been fine even if he had not come.But he had been unable to stop himself.He did not know why Mi Rae had this sudden pull on him but he did not like it one bit.
Mi Rae knew when to take a hint and so instead of saying anything,she turned her head to stare out of the window.she had no idea what was wrong with him.His mood had become grim ever since he mentioned the flowers..She thought back to the events of this morning and reached a conclusion.And was immediately angry."Stop the car.",she suddenly yelled at Neil.
Worried from her sudden yell,Neil immediately gave an indicator and stopped the car on the side.Turning to her,he asked,"What happened?Are you alright?"
Facing him Mi Rae said,"Neil Long!I did not need you ar ask you to rescue me!So I don"t want to disrupt whatever date plans you had.You can drop me at the nearest restaurant and I will go back on my own!Do not show me your temper and scowl as if I am the one forcing you!"
Neil was shocked at this.He had not realized that Mi Rae would be able to read him so easily.While he digested this information,Mi Rae was glaring at him rather pa.s.sionately.He realized that she had misunderstood him. After all he had kissed her last night and today he was taking flowers for someone else..and so he decided to explain.Taking a deep breathhe said,"Mi Rae,I was going to visit a grave and those flowers were meant to go there.Please do not take it personally.And I am angry at myself so I am sorry if I have made you feel bad.!"
Mi Rae was shocked a bit at that and did not know what to say.In fact she had been feeling jealous that he would take flowers for someone and would rather throw them away..But now she understood and felt her emotions go even more unstable.Whoever he had been about to visit at the grave must be important to him for him to have prepared the flowers so lovingly.
Seeing that Mi Rae was lost in thought,Neil further explained,"Mi Rae those flowers were for my fiance.Today is the day she died."
And Mi Rae"s heart suddenly shattered.