In a park

After the incident with Jessica, Anne just walked aimlessly not knowing where to go. She didn’t want to go home just yet, she needed some time to think. When she passed by a park, Anne suddenly felt tired. She entered the park and sat on a swing.

The park and the swing have always been a sort of refuge for Anne whenever she felt troubled and down.

Even though, she had psychologically prepared herself for this day when Jessica would find out…when the day finally came with Jessica standing right in front of her, Anne still felt so lost and helpless, twirling back and forth in a situation she didn’t have any control over. She wanted so much to be of some use, to be able to be beside Louis now and make him feel better. But she knew his heart wasn’t breaking for her right now but for another woman. For Jessica, for his wife.

Conflicting emotions were tearing Anne apart.

Has she been too selfish and obstinated to have carried on with Louis even when she knew he was slowly and gradually falling in love with his wife? Shouldn’t she have just left the love triangle a long time ago and find another man who was more available to love her? Maybe if she had done what she should have, she wouldn’t cause so much pain to all three involved. Maybe her leaving Louis would be a chance for him to reconcile with his wife and to live his life free of this guilt whenever he was with her.

And then, Anne thought about Lawrence and what he had said to her; that he would always be waiting for her. Why did she never give the idea of marrying him a second thought?

She never doubted that Lawrence loved her. She also knew that if she married him, he would undoubtedly give her the happiness that Louis would never be capable of giving her.

But could she really marry a man for whom she has never felt any love towards?

Anne thought for a long while.

Yes, she finally concluded. She could really marry a man whom she doesn’t love.

Anne opened her purse and searched for her phone book wanting to call Lawrence but as she searched for it, she stumbled across a picture.

She stopped searching and took the picture out.

It was the wedding picture Louis and her took together in Australia. As she observed the picture, it was suddenly so clear why she had chosen to stay beside Louis during all this time and why the prospect of marrying another man has never entered her mind until today.

*******************FLASHBACKS*************************************************

11 years ago (Anne was 15 and Louis was 18)

In their low-rent apartment

Anne was just coming back from school. She unlocked the door to the apartment anticipating darkness to greet her since usually at this time, Louis should be at work. Anne opened the door and as she switched the lights on, she closed the door.

Once the lights were on, Anne’s eyes immediately spotted the new object in their cramped living room.

It was a piano.

Her eyebrows arched in surprise as she walked towards it.

Astonished, Anne gently put her fingers on the piano, running her hands over every single note as a wide and excited smile spread on her face.

Louis walked out from one of the rooms towards her. Anne looked up from the piano and at him.

Louis (now standing beside her): I know that this is not as nice as the one you had. Not as new, not as expensive and not as trendy… but this is the only thing I can afford. For now. At least with it, you wouldn’t have to travel all the way to the music room in your school in order to practice. (he smiles almost sadly at her)

Anne (shaking her head, she smiles widely): No, Ah Tin. I love it!

Louis said nothing. He simply smiled at her. A small smile tinged with a melancholy that Anne’s naiveté couldn’t decipher.

Anne (hurries to sit down on the piano, she couldn’t wait to try it out. And then smiling at Louis): I’ll play my first song for you!

Louis just nodded as he sat down to hear Anne’s performance.

8 years later (three years before the present, Louis was 26 and Anne was 23)

Carrying a bag containing all his belongings, Louis was standing at the doorway about to leave while Anne stood behind him, her back facing his.

Louis was about to walk through the door and leave when he suddenly turned around.

Louis: Anne, I know that you do not agree with what I am about to do. But please, can you promise me that from now on, no matter what happens, you’ll never leave me, that we’ll stick together?

Swallowing back tears, Anne just kept silent as she refused to turn around to look at him.

Louis (sincerely continuing, feeling his heart cracking at each word he says): You’re the only person, and will always remain the only person who knows the real me. Without you, there would be no “Ah Tin” existing in this world anymore. Can you…can you please promise me that? (gazing at her back with unshed tears in his eyes)

Just then honking sounds could be heard from outside the building.

Louis was still staring at Anne’s back as the honking sounds persisted outside.

After a long while, Anne finally turned around with tears streaming down her cheeks.

They stood face to face as they stared at each other with pained watering eyes.

Anne: I……(choking back another inflow of tears coming, she looks down to the floor and then up again at him) … I promise.

Louis (he strides towards Anne and takes her in his arms): Thank you Anne. (hugging her tightly)

Anne (she hugs him tightly too, wishing to forever imprint his touch in her memory. And then, she tears herself away from his embrace): It’s time for you to leave. (she turns her head around, not wanting to see his face anymore because she knows that if she did, she wouldn’t be able to let him go)

Louis: Goodbye Anne.

Anne (still refusing to look at him): Goodbye.

He left.

*****************************END OF FLASHBACKS*****************************

Tears formed in Anne’s eyes as she thought about all that they have been through together, all that they shared. There were happy times and there were also rough times but if both of them had survived until now, it is because they had stuck together through thick and thin.

And she knew that now more than ever, Louis needed her.

---

At Anne’s House

Louis entered the house, as his eyes worriedly went in search for Anne.

When he found her sitting on the sofa, he could feel relief spreading through him.

Anne turned around as she looked at him. She could note the difference in him immediately as their eyes met.

As much as he had tried to hide it when he looked at her, Anne could still see the huge impact Jessica had on him. Even though, he was safely standing in front of her now, he seemed to have lost a big part of himself.

For the first time in these past three years, he looked so completely lost and vulnerable.

Anne (moving towards Louis, she handed him a set of keys): I asked Joyce to rent a house for you. Here are the keys, you could stay there for the time being.

Louis said nothing; he just nodded feeling grateful and touched at how well Anne understood him. And at how she would always put his feelings above hers.

He was too confused right now and even if he forced himself to stay with her, both of them would not be feeling happy. And Anne understood that.

Anne (she had noticed the bruise on his face): You must be hungry right now, I bought congee for you. (then without waiting for Louis to say anything, she went to the kitchen to take the bowl of congee and also to boil an egg to treat the bruise on Louis’ face)

While Anne was still in the kitchen, Louis just sat in the sofa as he buried his face in his hands.

He totally messed up everything.

Not only did he mess up his own life, he also messed up Anne’s and Jessica’s.

And what on earth did he ever do to deserve such nice treatment from Anne. For three whole years, he had been continuously breaking her heart…and now, he had also broken Jessica’s.

And unlike any other times in his life, he couldn’t blame it on fate, he had only himself to blame.