- 5.
That night, we didn’t sleep, we were up until
morning.
<
I had never slept with Chad, that was my first
time.
It was painful and great at the same time.
I still get butterflies when I think about it.
I was staring at the man in front of me, when
Jenny suddenly pointed at my face. “Sarah,
why are you blushing?”
She was pointing between me and Chen Mo.
“Sarah, you haven’t fallen for my Chen Mo,
right?”
I was stunned.
Her Chen Mo?
く
What did that mean?
Lisa chuckled.
“Jenny, you weren’t gonna admit that you
were chasing Chen Mo, but now that my
sister might try something, you just gave it
away?”
Jenny glared at her, but she was blushing.
She said to me, “Sarah, you can have any of
the guys in my life except for Chen Mo, got
it?”
One of the guys who came with them
chuckled.
“Jenny, how can you say that to Sarah? You
forget that the last person who went after
く
Jenny’s face changed. “Don’t mention that,
it’s bad for business!”
I realized that Bethany died in Jenny’s hotel
but I didn’t know it had impacted her
business.
Because, after Bethany’s death, I was not
only blocked by Chad, I was blamed by
everyone.
Then I was kidnapped when I tried to get him
back,
My parents were always arguing.
They blamed each other for not raising me
well.
The woman who let me get away with
<
everything was slapped by my mom and then
she took money from my dad and left.
Lisa was the only one who stood by me for
two days.
She kept telling me to let go of Chad and to
get on with my life.
She said that he was just one guy, not worth
this.
But when I disappeared, she fell in love with
him.
Chen Mo and Jenny left.
Chen Mo turned his head a little as he left.
I waited for him to look back at me.
<
But he just turned his head and left.
I wasn’t sure if he had turned his head or if it
was my imagination.
The friends also left.
Lisa grabbed my hand. “Sis, Chen Mo is hot, but don’t mess with him, can’t you tell that Jenny likes him? You owe Jenny a lot, you shouldn’t be stealing her man.”
I stared at her, confused.
“What do I owe Jenny?”
She didn’t want to say, but she still did.
“After Bethany killed herself, it was all over
the news. Jenny’s hotel didn’t have any
customers for a long time, even the chain
<
stores were affected. Then, after you went
missing, they found out you were at the hotel.
After that, Jenny’s family was cyberbullied. The hotel loses money every day.”
So, was that my fault?
When Bethany’s case blew up, I was attacked
by everyone.
I had no idea that Jenny’s family was affected
by it.
Bethany killed, herself, it wasn’t my fault, so
why was I being blamed for the hotel losing
money?
I felt like these accusations were worse than
being skinned alive in Myanmar.
く
I knew that explaining myself wouldn’t make a
difference.
I shook my head. “I’m going home. Do what
you want.”
“It’s late, we’ll take you home,” said Chad.
I waved my hand. “No thanks, I’ll just get a
cab.”
I really didn’t want to be around those two
anymore.
Chad insisted. “It’s on our way.”
Lisa held her chest and gagged a few times.
“Chad, let her go home by herself. I’m not
feeling well, take me to get some medicine.”
<
I didn’t say anything. I just walked out and
took a taxi home.
Back in my apartment, I dropped into bed and
I thought of a phone number, then I dialed it.
It was a phone number that Ji Fan gave me
when he said goodbye in Myanmar.
It was an American number.
He said that if I ever got rescued and had any
kind of big problem, then I could call that
number.
But don’t call it unless I needed to.
Of course, that was if he was still alive.
I dialed the number, but hung up before it
く
I didn’t know what I would say if he picked up.
Would I ask if Chen Mo was him?
Would that even count as a “problem?”
If no one answered, or the phone was off,
what would that mean?
Did he die?
I didn’t want to know.
In the dark, I held my phone tight.
After a while, I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I felt really dizzy. I went
downstairs, got some food, then I went to the
dessert shop.
<
There weren’t many customers in the
morning, so I sat watching the cooks
preparing the food.
Then someone stood right in front of me.
“Welcome,” I said before I even realized it.
Then I saw, it was Chen Mo.
