In the evening, i i went for a walk around the estate with two dogs, General Big Yellow and Black Guard who was staying over to renew their friendship.
It was that ti of the evening when the sun was about to set but still casting long shadows from the trees and parked cars that lined the road like quiet guards, keeping watch over the neighborhood.
She walked slowly, not pacing herself like those who were running or out on walks. Her steps were lazy at tis and active on others. She was listening to music through large furry headphones which she borrowed from Jun Yi.
It had been so long since she last walked by herself in such a relaxed way--as if she owned the sidewalk. She took deep breaths, sucking in the crisp evening sumr air. It was the kind of day which made one feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.
A day which made nostalgia feel like a physical thing--sothing you could bump into if you weren’t careful.
She had not seen much of the neighborhood since she moved in. Even her runs usually took her through a specific mapped route so there were places she had never been to. Like the small park where residents gathered for square dancing in the evenings.
It was weird seeing a few celebrities and politicians mixed in with ordinary residents, all dancing the sa moves with smiles or serious expressions on their faces.
Not a single cara was in sight.
As she walked to the glass window with an image of a couple doing yoga, she asked herself when the studio had been opened in the neighborhood. Whose bright idea had it been?
Businesses did not really operate inside residential areas. It seed like soone had decided to turn a part of their house into a private yoga studio for mbers only.
She was peeking into the window when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
She turned. And there he was.
Wuxi.
Sa bright but small eyes. Sa crooked smile. Sa black diamond studs in his ears. Sa small bun and unruly curls. But older now. He wore his doctor’s gown, smudged with ink on the breast pocket. Blue scrubs on the inside, plain white sneakers and in his hand a bag of groceries.
"Wuxi?" she said, smiling as she lowered the headsets. "Wow. I cannot believe that we are bumping into each other like this. It’s been....."
"Six years," he said, stepping closer. "We last saw each other on the day when you gave birth to your daughter."
They stood there for a mont, suspended in the mories of what had been both a beautiful and heartbreaking day. Her husband had not showed up when she was going into labor. Wuxi had been on duty that day and he took ti off between patients to be with her.
"I heard you joined Doctors without boarders or so other dical relief organization which works in war zones." She said. "I had no idea that you were back in the empire."
"Its not doctors without boarders. I joined Green cross, we save nature and humans at the sa ti." He laughed, "I moved back last week. My mom owns a house in this neighborhood and she passed it on to . She wants to move in and make it mine. Of course she is hoping that I will finally feel the emptiness and loneliness and settled down with a nice nurse."
i i smiled. "That sounds just like your mother."
They started walking together, with no clear destination in mind. They seed to fall into step easily like they used to do whenever he spent holidays at her ho. They would wander around the Royal courts often, playing doctors on ergency missions who had urgent patients to treat.
After saving imaginary lives, they would walk ho with ice cream. As they walked, they naturally fell into conversation about the old days, mutual friends and interesting places Wuxi had been to. He showed her pictures of so of the patients had saved, trees he planted, animals he patched up and even a criminal he arrested accidentally.
"You have lived a very interesting life," She said.
"So have you," he answered. "You raced horses all over the world. Honestly, you are the one that inspired to beco the kind of doctor that traveled. Whenever you returned ho, you would have these incredible stories and talk about the wonderful foods you had eaten. I used to get so jealous."
i i sighed. That was all before Mo Liang ca along and crushed her fiery spirit little by little.
"You still owe a vacation in a foreign land," he said.
"I do not recall that," she lied.
They reached the pet and children’s playground where swings were flying high and dogs chased leaves or little ones like they were young criminal fugitives. Blackguard and General Big Yellow ran off to join the gas.
Wuxi stopped suddenly and caught her arm. He looked at her with quiet intensity.
"I heard about your divorce," he said softly.
i i nodded. "Everybody has heard about my divorce. Honestly, it was inevitable, I was just delaying it foolishly."
"I’m sorry," he said.
"I am not." She laughed.
He seed to hesitate, then said, "When you ca to the hospital to have a baby by yourself, I saw you crying secretly. I saw how you watched other couples..." He stopped and sighed. "What I an is that when I saw you like that, I started to wonder what would’ve happened if I had said yes to the proposal of a betrothal between the two of us when my mother proposed it to yours.
I said no because we were teenagers and you had your dreams and a purpose and I was nowhere near mine. If I had said yes, our lives would be different today. I am sure that I would have made you happier than Mo Liang ever did."
She looked at him, surprised. The proposal was seen as a joke between their two families. It all started because she was very close to Wuxi from the age of two to six.
People often joked that they were childhood sweethearts and so thought they would marry as adults because their mother’s were best friends. She had never put much thought into it as a child.
She also never put much thought into it as a teenager. And as ti went on, she and Wuxi saw less of each other because he moved to a boarding school in E city to pursue sciences and dicine eventually.
They kept in touch and still saw each other during the holidays but their lives had taken different paths. He ca back to the capital for his university and they rekindled their friendship.
It never crossed her mind that he wanted more from their relationship.
"Did you have feelings for ?" she asked him.
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