Chapter 203 - 6: What Else You Want To Know?

It was the first time he had been to Jessie's apartment. It was a high-end, one thousand square foot apartment for singles. From the vase placed in the hallway to the floor lamp in the sitting room, every detail of the decoration showed that the owner had an extraordinary and refined taste.

Jessie took off her coat and turned the music on. She hummed the song that was playing and walked to the kitchen. She soon came back with a bottle of red wine, a dessert, and a salad.

A magazine was spread out on the coffee table. Jessie put it away and said, "I bought it because of you. The interview wasn't good. It was too general and vague, at least for my taste. For a low-profile and canny person like you, it isn't easy to have a good interview." She shook the goblet in her hand and added, "If I did it, probably I could do it a little better."

Tristan gave her a glance and said, "Lucky, you didn't interview me."

Jessie looked directly at his eyes and said with seriousness, "But I think I don't know you well enough either."

"What else you want to know?"

The music was turning from merry and soothing to slow and lingering.

Jessie had let her hair down, and she looked gentler. Her rosy complexion, blurred eyes, and full lips appeared more scarlet and fresh than the cherry in the salad. Her beautiful features made her difficult for him to refuse. Tristan didn't refuse, and then their lips were together, rubbing each other. Their tongues plunged deeper, rolling, exploring, and s.u.c.k.i.n.g.

They were grown-ups. It was easy to get into this state.

Tristan's hands were holding her slim waist and stroking, moving up to her soft full b.r.e.a.s.ts.

It was so natural that she started to loosen his tie. He gently pressed her hands and said quietly, "I have something else to attend to tonight."

Jessie smiled and said with a scented breath, "Lousy excuse."

Tristan calmed down immediately, and he got to his senses immediately. He heard her saying in his ear, "What if I won't let you go?"

He asked, "Would you?"

Jessie was a proud woman, and at the sight of the ring on his hand accidentally, her d.e.s.i.r.e faded away in a half-second. She went back to sit on the couch and rubbed her temples, as if something occurred to her suddenly, and chuckled, "I almost forgot. I have a guest tonight."

Tristan took it as the signal to leave. "Sorry. I have to go now."

A few minutes later, when Tristan got back to his car, he didn't start the engine immediately. He lit a cigarette and pressed his forehead with his hands. He was surprised at his refusal.

He had known Jessie for five years. Their relations were between friends and lovers. From the outsiders, they were a perfect pair, and with that notion, both of them could avoid a lot of suitors.

Jessie was different from most of the females because of her education and profession. She was pretty but not hollow. Of course, she had the same characteristics as most women-vain, affected, proud, and domineering, but only up to reasonable degrees. Besides, he was no perfect man either.

They hit it off. He appreciated her and rather liked her.

And to top all these, it was to his advantage to be with her.

However, he could see that their relations were like a kettle of water that was heating up but never quite boiling. It was his own problem, he knew.

When the cigarette was almost out, he extinguished it. He caught sight of the lip print on the corner of his mouth from the rearview mirror. He wiped it with a piece of tissue, but then he found his shirt collar also had a lip print. He frowned and started the engine.

Tristan drove back to his villa by the seaside. He had two houses. He lived in a high-end service apartment downtown most of his time and only came here on weekends or when he was in the mood occasionally.

When he got in the house, a snowball-like fat cat jumped off the couch and rushed to him. He changed to slippers and wanted to hold them. The big cat detected his alcoholic breath and retreated in disdain. Tristan smiled and patted its head. "Be good. Papa will go to take a shower."

In the bathroom, he took off his ring and put it in a box on the counter carefully before he got undressed. The warm water sprayed down and hit his shapely body, streaming down along his firm and clearly defined muscles. He looked at himself, robust, streamlined, and youthful. A man of 35 years, he was still young and vigorous, with d.e.s.i.r.es, ambitions, and overwhelming hormones. When he thought of that moment in Jessie's house, he shook his head. Was it a waste?

After the shower, he applied some body lotion and put on his ring, and came out of the bathroom. The fat cat was squatting outside the bathroom loyally. He held it up and was startled. "So heavy! You need to be on a diet."

The fat cat gave a snort at his comment and curled up in his arms comfortably.

He planned to watch TV for a while, but after pressing the remote for a long time, he found almost all channels were noisy parties, love stories, or family reunions. Reunion, for a person who could not have a reunion, wasn't what he wanted.

In the few hundred square feet living room, a man and a cat, the scene was lonely. The cat looked decadent too. Otherwise, it wouldn't have indulged itself in overeating. See, it developed a double chin. He touched its warm and soft neck with his chin and murmured, "Did you miss her too, Lulu? Uh?"

He carried the fat cat Lulu to a remote room at the end of the corridor. The room wasn't big, with black and white geometric patterned carpets, a low bookshelf, and a grand piano. The piano was dark and shining like a mirror and free of dust. He went over, sat on the bench, and opened the cover.

His fingers touched the keys, and without instructions of the brain, he played naturally.

Like the twinkling of a brook, the song flew smoothly in the air. It was the most commonly played background music, Souvenirs d'enfance.

The white cat lay over his knees and listened quietly.

Tristan was immersed in his playing and enchanted in his imagination. A person was sitting below the stage and was moved to tears…He smiled in his imagination.

Few people knew he could play the piano. He had no interest in music, but his mother forced him to learn. Later, every time he learned a new song, he only had one purpose, to play for a person. And the time he spent by the piano was the happiest time in half of his life, or maybe all of it.

After he finished the song, he stopped and could feel the loss inside.

The cat had fallen asleep on his l.a.p. He could even hear it snore regularly in the silent room. Outside of the window was the dark dome of the sky. Suddenly, somebody lit a firework, and it brightened the sky for a few seconds.

***

Kate went back to the supermarket for work. All her co-workers knew what had happened to her family and showed great concern for her. John even treated her to a feast after she had missed Sarah's birthday party. Kate was so moved. She didn't expect to have gained new friendsh.i.p.s in this city.

Kate had thought of leaving the city to avoid trouble, but she was afraid that no place in this world was absolutely safe. Besides, it was not easy for a person like her to find a job. As the saying goes, a rolling stone gathers no moss.

Another reason Kate wouldn't leave was that last fall, she signed up for courses at the Open University. She had quit during her last year of high school because of her family's financial status, but she had still had dreams of going to college. When Kate found out she could sign up for courses without a high school diploma, she couldn't give up a chance to realize her dreams.

After New Year's Day, John seemed to have matured and actually came to work on time every day. He even dragged his girlfriend Sarah, who usually lived on Chinese time, to work. But John found that Kate was quite different ever since her trip home. She worked hard as usual, but she always seemed flighty or distracted and regularly made mistakes.

John reckoned that Kate was worried about her father's health and did what he could to take her mind off of this. Sometimes he invited Kate to hang out with him and Sarah. They went to karaoke together a couple of times, but it was always him and Sarah singing while Kate listened. Despite this, it seemed to cheer her up a little bit.

They dragged Kate to discos and bars too.

Kate didn't like these places, but John persuaded her that it was healthy to release emotional pressure before you either turn crazy or die. A balloon will explode if you don't stop pumping air into it.

Kate was really not interested in bouncing and twisting madly to the roaring music, but she was attracted to the fancy show of bartenders making c.o.c.ktails. Tossing the shaker, lighting glass on fire, and pouring drinks behind his back, all these techniques amazed her and gave her short moments of peace.

The bartender handed her a brightly colored drink after he finished his show. "Ma'am, this one is on the house."

Kate took it with appreciation, but she didn't dare to drink it.

"Don't worry. I will carry you home if you are drunk." John said.

The young bartender explained casually, "It is almost non-alcoholic. It is easier to get drunk with your boyfriend than with this."

Sarah, sitting nearby, threw a small pill into her own glass and asked whether John would like to have one while shaking the glass tipsily. John shook his head. Then Sarah drank it up, took off her jacket, and walked to join the dancing crowd.

John sat with Kate by the bar and chatted with the bartender.

After a while, there was a commotion in the crowd.

The music was still roaring. The crowd dispersed and formed a circle. Two women were wrestling with each other and rolling on the floor. John cast a glance casually at first but quickly stood up and rushed over. One of the women was Sarah.

How they got into a fight was unknown. But they were fighting tooth and nail at the moment. A girl with neat bangs was sitting on Sarah, but Sarah was pulling those bangs with all her strength. Of course, she was pulling Sarah's hair too.

The entire crowd stopped dancing and stood there to appreciate the free show.

John and Kate finally managed to rescue Sarah from the fight. The girl with formerly neat bangs was visibly annoyed. She covered her face with one hand and pointed at John and Kate with the other hand and said, "Bitch! You got helpers. Just wait."

Then she took out her mobile phone and made a call. "Honey! Somebody bullied me in the bar!"

Someone in the crowd said, "You're in trouble now. You pissed off the gang."

The girl with now tousled bangs yelled, "Wait until my husband comes…if you have the guts."

John was reluctant to admit defeat and bluffed that they would wait, but he was thinking of retreating. He signaled Kate to get their things and pulled Sarah, who was unaware of the danger and was still having a verbal battle, away from the girl and her bangs.

John and Kate held each of Sarah's arms and dragged her out of the bar to hail a cab. But as soon as they got out of the bar, a bunch of people blocked their way.

Kate raised her head and was shocked.

Even under the dim street light, she could recognize the leading guy, who wore ragged jeans and held a cigarette between his lips. He was Curly-hair!

There were four to five men beside him. Some were skinheads, and some had scars on their faces. None of them looked kind.

Kate lowered her head and leaned toward John hastily. Someone rushed over and threw herself into Curly-hair's arms. Then she turned around and pointed at John.

"Honey, they bullied me." The girl said in anger.

The man who she was calling "honey" was Curly-hair, AKA Ed. Ed lowered his head and saw three obvious bloodstains on his girlfriend's fair face. It was quite shocking. He spat and said, "Hey. It is based on you to bully a woman."

John argued, "It was just women fighting, scratching and pulling hair. My girlfriend also got scratches on her face."

As he was saying this, he drew Sarah close to show off her scratches, but shit, there was nothing on her face! "What a bitch," he cursed internally.

One of the guys jeered, "Maybe she has internal injuries? How about stripping off her clothes and letting me examine her?"

John got irritated. "Cut the crap. What do you guys want?"

Ed threw away the cigarette b.u.t.t and spoke in a strange voice, "Nothing. So your girl scratched mine? Which finger did she use? Just cut that finger."

Kate shuddered with fear because she knew these people would really do it.

John pushed Sarah behind him.

"Don't bully a woman. Come to me!"

"Brave of you." The man was waiting for these words. He waved at his guys and said, "Go ahead."

It was not until then that they realized that these guys had weapons with them. Some had long iron sticks, and some pulled out their metal belt buckles from their jeans. They waved their weapon and approached.