WAITING FOR THE BEGINNING

29. Days. Hours. Minutes.

Fifty-eight days, seven hours and 47 minutes. That's how much time has passed since Xian Ling / Ping Ping last saw Wei Xin.

The day after Wei Xin left, she went to the flower shop, looking for a message. She had no idea what kind of message Wei Xin would leave.

The shop manager Tao Zhen, a kind looking man in his fifties, gave her a brief lesson on the names of the flowers. More importantly, she caught on quickly, each of the flowers had a special message.

Red roses for urgency, yellow for danger and white meant complete/safe. He asked her about her favorite flowers and when she couldn't answer, he walked her about - letting her touch and smell the daisies, the mum, hydrangeas, jasmines, gardenias, lilies, tulips, the sunflowers. In the end, she fell in love with the camellias (the tea flowers) - reminding her of something she could not recall.

"Alright," Tao Zhen picked off a pink camellia and handed it to her. "Let this be his way of saying 'he's fine.'"

She visited the flower shop. Every day, Tao Zhen gave her a camellia. By the end of the second week, Tao Zhen offered her a job (with Wei Xin's consent) - to help with the arrangements and deliver them. Neither he nor she could have anticipated the effects of this decision.

Without her knowing, at least once a day, her deliveries brought her to the office building and condo high rise where Wei Xin could observe her. And Wei Xin could not have expected that her deliveries would put her in De Yi's path of expansion.

Each day she went to work, then she stopped by the little food stands to pick up a few dishes for herself. The days passed on quietly. She prettied up the little apartment with her drawings and set the table each day as if Wei Xin were coming home.

On one of those uneventful days, she finds a camellia with a note - Friday, 3 pm.

She counted the days, the hours and the minute.

She comes home by 2, carrying supplies to make a home cooked meal and a new dress, modestly priced.  She finds Wei Xin already on the couch, dozing in an expensive suit. The moment she closes the door quietly, Wei Xin opens his eyes alertly and then relaxes when he see her. He smiles ever so slightly, with the joy bubbling underneath.

Neither knows how to greet the other; and perhaps no greetings is needed. He closes his eyes as as she moves towards the kitchen to set down the groceries.

She kneels down next to him, counting his breathing and memorizing the the features of his face - angular, tanned, a five o'clock shadow and wrinkles forming between his high arched brows.  She reaches up to smooth out the wrinkles.

His hand rough with callouses envelopes hers as he kisses it and then brings it to his heart, holding it there.   With the other hand, he strokes her hair and until she's persuaded to lean onto his muscular chest.

She listens to his beating heart and breathes in his scent - with a hint of a floral perfume.  She doesn't ask; she doesn't care.  She's just too happy to be next to the familiar form of his body, his smell and the touch of his hand.

In the morning, she finds herself on the bed, snuggled in his arm. She stirs and the arms tighten around her.

"Ling Ling." Wei Xin gently strokes her back. 

"Um."  His fingers send shivers and tingles down her back.

"Let's go some where for the day."