She didn’t say anything again and simply went home. She had her dinner and waited for Junxie to return home from work. Feeling bored, she went to stay with her kids.
The two boys were playing games. They asked their mother when she thought they could mix with other children out there.
They had asked their father and he said when the time comes, he would let them out. Now asking their mother, they wished to hear something else.
Theresa Mo said she doesn’t know either but their father would have answers to their question. But in the meantime, they should live their lives happily.
She asked if they are not happy with all the people around them. The boys said they are and are always happy whenever she or their daddy comes visiting.
Theresa remained with the boys and started playing games with them. She saw them a little more mature than they were back then.
They seemed to be growing tall. She wondered if they would not grow taller than Junxie Li someday. And she had always thought Junxie was very tall himself.
Theresa Mo got involved with them and were totally immersed in the game, one party winning and the other losing.
Tim and Lee made up a team and Theresa Mo alone made up a second team. The boys were winning and she was losing.
She’s not good at playing cheese. But Junxie plays it a lot with them. She was almost sobbing when she suddenly saw Junxie Li walk into the room.
She was overwhelmed. Thank goodness, she had found an excuse to leave. Though he looked cold toward her, he smiled towards the boys.
He ran his hand over their hair and was pleased to see them growing into what he wanted them to look like. They each held his hand and momentarily forgot about their game.
“How are you kiddos?” Junxie Li asked, smiling faintly. He wondered what life would have been if he one day found Theresa and she said she aborted the pregnancy back then.
What if she lost the pregnancy like Rita lost hers? He feels so uncomfortable with the thought. Glad his kids were born and they are growing.
Julia’s child would have been their cousin, they would have had a little sister, but his brother blew that chance off.
Junxie didn’t pay Theresa Mo any glance but was preoccupied with the boys when the master of their quarter announced that it was time to go into their rooms.
Everything they do is according to timing. If they are doing something when the time comes for lunch, class or recreation, they suspend what they are doing and will go back to it at another time.
That has been part of Junxie’s life as well. That’s why he finds it difficult to sleep or eat or do anything when it’s not the time. His system and his life entirely has been programmed that way since he was little.
Junxie stood up to go. He glanced at Theresa Mo briefly and asked “still not leaving?” His expression was cold but he still stretched out his hand for her to take.
“Yeah, sure” she answered and took his hand, standing up and going with him. He held her hand but didn’t say anything to her.
Theresa pulled her off and circled it around Junxie’s waist, he didn’t resist and he didn’t push her off either. That way, Theresa Mo giggled and went along till they got into their mansion.
“How was work darling?” She asked, initiating a conversation. Junxie nodded his head but didn’t give her a reply.
Slowly they ascended the stairs to their bedroom. They’ve had their dinner separately, Junxie had his own before coming home and Theresa before going over to the kid’s quarters.
As they arrived at the door, Theresa Mo let Junxie go. She followed him into the bedroom and shut the door.
“There might be a journey to make tomorrow, and if I am going, we are leaving together” Junxie Li declared.
A journey? He wants her to come along with him? She hopes he is not traveling because of the misunderstanding with his family?
“Are you going official or for leisure?” Theresa Mo asked and Junxie Li turned and glared at her sharply. He didn’t answer her.
She is trying to guess and know if he’s travelling has got anything to do with his displeasure with his family. He has a way to avoid it without having to travel out of the country.
Trying to cover up the awkward situation she finds herself in, she explained without being asked “actually, I have been having a lot of work these days. I had to discuss it with Julia earlier in the day.
If it’s for leisure, we could postpone it till some other time when I would have less work on my desk. But if it’s official, I will just follow you like you wanted” she sounded like a good girl.
“If I want something leisurely, I will wait till our honeymoon,” Junxie Li replied. He wasn’t sure of the journey himself. If he was going alone, he would not say anything and just disappeared when it’s confirmed that he came over.
But because he wants to go with his fiancée, he told her to get her mind prepared about it.
When Theresa Mo heard Junxie’s reply, she sighed. Its official then. She doesn’t know how to go about her work though she can still work from a distance, she hasn’t done it before.
“My work, I don’t know…” Theresa Mo was saying flippantly when Junxie Li interrupted her.
“If you don’t want to go with me, I won’t force you, I don’t like enforcing anything on you. You hurt me yesterday and today, if you say no, I will keep my distance.
Besides, don’t you do the majority of your work on the computer? So what’s the big deal about going with me and having your computer with you?”
He finished talking and went out. Theresa Mo became worried, was he leaving her in the bedroom again? She stood up and went after him but he wasn’t going to his study this time.
He went to the kitchen and poured two glasses of milk. One for himself and the other for Theresa. He saw Theresa following and stood behind him.
He handed a glass of milk to her and the other, he gulped it down. He just wanted to get that dietary taste before going to bed.