Chandra had her eyes shut as she lay there in a tub of warm water. In her mind’s eye, she saw emptiness and darkness. Yes, that was all she wanted to see. A void. She didn’t want to think about anything. Not about her past. Not about Dave. Not Lisa. Not her beloved mom, dad, or Grandma Lin. Not Jeremy. And definitely not Lilly’s father.Just a void of darkness.It was nice to just lie here in the bathtub in a five-star hotel, doing nothing and thinking about nothing. To just simply enjoy oneself as one saw fit. Well, it was her belated birthday, after all, and she deserved some wonderful moments once in a while.She opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling, her mind blank.Soriya called out to her. “Chan, sweetheart? Are you okay in there?” She sounded worried. “You’re awfully quiet, you know.”“Jesus, make some sound, will ya?” Dara said loudly from the other side. “You’re awfully suspicious.”Chan chuckled. “Yes, I’m fine, darlings. Just getting out of the tub now.”Chan thought
Chandra, her sisters, and Alex met with their friends Georgina Price, Ruby William-Chan (soon to be Ruby Hasting), and Isabella Robertson at a Thai restaurant at exactly seven. After their greetings and hugs, they settled down and began their catch-up session at the bar.“I’ve got one for everybody,” Ruby announced, grinning from ear to ear, her eyes twinkling with delight.“What?” Soriya couldn’t help asking with excitement. She loved receiving gifts, and any little thing would make her day.Ruby dug her hands into her bag and took out a pile of pink envelopes. “Tada!” she said, waving them around for everyone to see.“Oh my God, are they what I think they are?” Dara shrieked.Soriya nodded. “Oh, yes. They’re invitations!”Ruby laughed as she handed them out. “One for Alex and, of course, Jayden.”“Your wedding invitation,” Isa shrieked in excitement.“It’s about time,” Georgie said, smiling, taking hers from Ruby’s hand.“And, of course, one for the Chandler sisters,” Ruby said. “Ch
An hour later, once they’d finished with their meals and were now just chatting about men, Soriya brought up the name Jeremy White again. She was very persistent where her sister’s love life was concerned.“What is this?” Nikki cocked her head to one side, giving Chan a look. “You went out on a date and didn’t tell us. You never go out on dates.”“Just one. Just last week,” Chan said in defense. “And there was nothing really to tell.”“But we can totally tell,” Dara said, “that he’s really into you.”“I agree with that one,” Soriya said. “He is so going to ask you out again. I can feel it in my belly.”The girls laughed at her comment.“Your belly, huh?” Isabella asked, cocking her head to one side.Just then, Chan’s phone rang. She glanced at it and frowned because, apart from her sisters and friends who were currently surrounding her, no one had her new number yet.Soriya leaned over to look at the name on the screen and said, “Holy shit! Speak of the devil.”“Oh my God! It’s Jeremy
They managed to get out of the restaurant without Ethan noticing Nikkita, and she sighed in relief. As they were strolling along the streets toward the hotel, they were chatting and laughing at the silly situation Nikkita was in, which of course, she didn’t appreciate.Soriya was, as usual, being her baby self and came to hook her arm around Chan’s. “Chan, can I have one of your scented candles Nikki gave you?”Chan laughed. “No, you may not.”“But why not?” She looked pleadingly at Chan with a puppy dog face. “Please?” She rested her head on her sister’s shoulder.Chan laughed. “All right.”“You’re spoiling her,” Dara said.Soriya poked out her tongue at her sister.“I can’t believe that was your boss, Nikki,” Ruby said. “I would have thought you’d be all over him, being you.”Actually, Nikki thought, Ruby’s right.She had been all over him, what with him being such a hunk and all, and most importantly, an Asian. It was her dream to date and wed an Asian hunk. But then the damn man h
For a week now, Sam had wanted to know if Jeremy had asked Chan out on a second date. Every time he opened his mouth to make the inquiry, however, he got interrupted, and it was driving him crazy. Then, of course, he chided himself for caring, for being too interested. After all, it was supposed to be none of his business.He took another sip of his beer, put it down, and relaxed back in his chair as he watched Jeremy on the other side of the lively, busy restaurant. His cousin was talking on his cell phone. A few seconds later, he hung up and returned to his seat with them. Sam wondered if he’d called Chan to finally ask her out for that second date.The restaurant was busy tonight. It was, after all, a Saturday night. No doubt, the bar next door was packed full of people as well.At their table, sitting beside Sam, was Nina, while opposite them was Jayden McCartney and Alec Hasting. At the head was Jeremy, who kept flicking his eyes to his cell phone.Jayden eyed Sam and cocked his
Sam and Alec turned in that direction as well, and they saw a group of women there, heading toward the bar area. Alex and Ruby were amongst them.The group of females was about to turn the corner when Alex caught Jayden watching them. She scurried over, and Jayden couldn’t help but want to pull her in his arms. Ruby saw her fiancé Alec as well and came over gleefully. Their friends, curious, followed behind.“Hi, Alec,” Ruby said. “I want you to meet my friends.”Alexandra came over to stand behind her husband’s chair and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders. Jayden, as comfortable as ever, stroked his wife’s hand and kissed her on the lips.Behind them, Soriya and Dara glanced at each other and snickered delightfully. Then they expected the same lovey-dovey performance from Alec and Ruby. They weren’t disappointed. Alec pulled Ruby into his arms and gave her a passionate kiss, at which Ruby scowled.“That’s enough, mister. We’re in front of my friends.”Alec just laughed it of
Sam didn’t know why he kept glancing at the entrance of the restaurant after the girls had left. Why he thought by keeping an eye in that direction he’d get a glimpse of Chan, he wasn’t sure.Beside him, Nina was bored stiff, and when the conversation went deeper into the business side of things, she’d had enough and excused herself.“I really must go,” she said. “I’ve got appointments tomorrow.”“Sure,” Sam replied, disinterested.Jayden and Alec waved her farewell.The fact was, as rude as it might sound, the men were quite relieved when she was gone. On that note, they relaxed and started joking around.It was a little while later when they were on the topic of football that Sam saw the young woman he wanted to see most at the door.Dressed in a white cocktail dress, her long hair done up into a loose bun, she was breathtaking. The moment he saw her, he wanted to walk right up, pull her into his arms, and kiss her passionately.She and the other young woman in a sexy black dress we
For the first time in years, Chandra just danced and didn’t think about anything. She was able to simply enjoy the moment. Nikkita was encouraging her to go along with the music, twisting and twirling her this way and that. Dara and Soriya were also having a blast, dancing their hearts out energetically. Georgina and Isabella were doing the same, while Alexandra and Ruby were sitting on the sidelines, watching them.It was a little later when Chan just couldn’t take it anymore. Gosh, she really needed some fresh air.She shouted to her friends and sisters, “I need to go.”Nikkita signaled that she couldn’t hear over the noise. “What?”“Bathroom,” Chan shouted again, pointing toward the door.“Oh.” Nikkita understood. “Want me to come?”Chan shook her head. “I’ll be back in a jiffy,” she said and waved at them to tell them she was going.Soriya shouted, “Don’t be too long.”Chan nodded in agreement and then excused herself through the many dancing bodies before her.“Sorry… Excuse me…