Faith in Me

Chapter 3 - A Difference in Perspectives

The air was thick with anticipation as they silently assessed one another, neither moving, their skin tingling with expectation.

His face was so close that she could see the absurdly long length of his eyelashes and the black flecks scattered at whim inside his dark brown eyes. His breathing quickened and her heart rate followed.

This was it. He was moving even closer now. Her eyes widened as she waited for him with bated breath.

Make a move. I dare you.

But he didn't move. For some reason, this only made her heart beat even faster. He was driving her crazy trying to second guess what he was going to do next...

How was it possible that she never noticed how beautiful his eyes were until now?

SLAP!

She quickly snapped back to her senses as his palm made hard contact with hers. "Dang it, Wang He Di, did you have to hit me that hard?" Yue grumbled as she massaged the tips of her stinging fingers.

Dylan childishly stuck his tongue out at her. "It's what you get for being so distracted." He reached for her hand and inspected her fingers closely before lightly rubbing the redness away. "What were you thinking about anyway?"

At the reminder that she had been distracted by his eyes rather than focused on their game, Yue could feel her face beginning to heat up and she quickly shoved his hand away. "I was thinking about the next scene." Using it as an excuse to look away from him, her eyes scanned the expansive set of the Daoming mansion. "Do you see Yang Sao? Is she ready yet?"

A wry voice, tinged with age, sounded from behind them. "Ahem. I've been ready young lady. You are the one delaying our filming by dilly-dallying with our Young Master Ah Si here."

They turned around guiltily and saw that Guang Yang was already in full makeup and costume as Yu Sao - complete with the same exasperated look that Yu Sao frequently bestowed upon Ah Si and Shancai when they failed to do as she bid.

"We're sorry, Yang Sao," Dylan said in his most appealing voice, pulling playfully on her right arm as he beamed a charming smile down at her.

"Hmmmph."

On her other side, Yue was tugging her left arm and smiling sweetly as she apologized. "Yes, we're very sorry to keep you waiting."

"Hmmmph."

Yang Sao looked at the two young people draped on either side of her and harrumphed once more. "Am I a Christmas tree? Why do I have so many ornaments on me?"

Dylan and Yue both let go immediately, biting back identical smiles. Yang Sao may sound tough but they knew she favored them and privately enjoyed their competitive shenanigans.

"It's really Dylan's fault - he said one game but then it turned into ten games because I kept beating him," Yue offered in her own defense.

Dylan's mouth dropped open at the blatant lie but Yue simply ignored him.

"I don't know why you two insist on playing that childish game," Yang Sao said, crossing her arms as she fixed them with a shrewd look. "Is it just an excuse to touch each other?"

They both looked aghast at her blunt accusation and she smiled in satisfaction at her ability to render them speechless. She couldn't help but feel a certain feeling of affection towards these two kids, always in their own little world and completely oblivious to what was very obvious to those around them. It reminded her of her and her husband when they first met more than 60 years ago.

Before they could bombard her with their useless denials, she said, "Come, Yue, we need to quickly film the scenes. My son is visiting tomorrow and I still need to prepare some items."