True To You (Taking Chances #2) (14 page)

“Ah, what the heck,” Sam exclaimed as she stood up to join them. “Group hug?” The three sisters embraced one another and laughed at the awkwardness of the gesture.

In that moment, the ache in Melanie’s heart eased as she looked at Sammie’s and Billie’s beaming faces. Even if her love life never recovered, she was grateful to have the love of her sisters to lean on.

---

The next day Melanie found herself staring at the contents of the hotel room’s walk-in closet. She pulled out several monochromatic outfits, finally settling on a white sleeveless top and black slacks. While she changed, she heard Billie’s excited squeals as she raved over the room service menu.

“Can you believe we can order a whole lobster?”

“Uh, yeah, for the price of three buffet meals downstairs,” Sam retorted. “Room service is a rip off if you ask me.”

“Ming said we could order whatever we want and charge it to his account. Can we at least get some cheese and crackers? I’m starving.”

“He already paid for our plane tickets and rooms. We’re not going to let him pay for our food, too.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll eat the pretzels we got on the plane. I’m glad Ma asked for seconds, even if it was kind of embarrassing.” She grabbed a bag from the pile of snacks sitting on a glass coffee table in the middle of the suite. “Do you guys want one?”

“Nope, I’m good,” Sam answered. “We just ate dinner half an hour ago. I can’t believe you’re hungry again.”

“I didn’t eat much of my steak. The sauce had too much tomato in it,” Billie replied with a shrug. “What about you,
Ga Je
?”

Seconds passed before Melanie realized Billie had been calling her. Heading into the living room, she called out, “I’m fine, thanks.”

Actually, fine was the opposite of how she felt; anxious was a more accurate description. Her stomach had been in knots ever since they arrived in Las Vegas yesterday. The anticipation of seeing Ming had her feeling like a wind-up toy with its inner springs wound tight. She needed to release the tension soon before she imploded.
God, help me,
she prayed,
please give me courage.

“Do you want me to go with you? Because I will.”

The protectiveness in Sam’s voice produced a small smile on Melanie’s face. “I’ll be okay, really. I appreciate the offer, but I need to talk to Ming alone.” She pulled her cell phone from her back pocket and turned it on. “If only he’d text me to let me know when he’s free.”

“Can’t you meet him after the concert?” Billie asked.

“He said he’ll be busy with his fans afterward. It’s better that I see him before.”

“How generous of him to squeeze you into his schedule,” Sam smirked.

“Sam, I know what you’re thinking, but-oh, maybe that’s him.” Melanie glanced down as her phone vibrated. “Okay, I need to go, but I’ll see you guys at the concert. Your tickets are on the table, along with Ma and Ba’s.”

“Got it. Call us if you need anything.”

Melanie called out a word of thanks to Sam as she headed out the door. She took the elevator to the top floor and arrived at the door of Ming’s penthouse suite. Taking a moment to compose herself, she rang the doorbell and cleared her throat.

“Ah-May,” Ming declared as he swung the door open, “you look beautiful. Come in.” Switching to Cantonese, he asked, “Would you like something to drink? I remember you liked champagne. Let me pour you a glass to celebrate our reunion.”

“No, thank you,” she answered in their shared tongue, “I’m fine.”

“Suit yourself.” Taking a glass of red wine from the counter, he settled himself on a black leather loveseat in the center of the room. “Come sit with me.”

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Melanie walked over and took a seat on the opposite end of the couch. To her chagrin, Ming moved next to her and threw one arm around her shoulders. The harsh smell of alcohol filled her senses, causing her to gag. “How many glasses have you had, Ming?”

“Just a couple. I like to loosen up before a concert.” A lazy smile appeared on his face, followed by a dimple. “You haven’t changed much.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, always looking out for me like you did when we were kids. I still remember how you would show up outside my classroom to give me your notes. Other things, too, like helping me with homework after school. Pushing me to study for tests. My parents couldn’t believe I had the best tutor in the neighborhood and they didn’t even have to pay you.”

Melanie groaned inwardly as she began recalling their youth. Seeing the past through the lens of time had a way of putting things into focus. Sam was right; she had behaved like an adoring dog with Ming, following him wherever he went. She could have been the poster girl for the term
puppy love.
These memories made her cringe now, but she was grateful for the insight they brought. “I did wait for you after school every day, didn’t I?”

“Every day until you moved to America. That’s when I started failing most of my classes. My grades were never the same again.”

“Well, that was so long ago. No one cares how you did in high school.”

“That is true.”

“And you’ve done well in your career.”

“Yes, I have. Fortunately, I had my good looks to fall back on.”

“Yes, fortunately,” Melanie agreed with a hidden smile. She was certain Sam’s eyes would have rolled out of her head had she heard Ming’s comment. She had to admit he had a healthy self-esteem, and rightly so; there was no denying he was a
leng zai
¹¹
. Her own confidence had peaked when they were dating, especially when her mother bragged about her daughter’s handsome boyfriend to all her friends. But had she been too blinded by his charisma to see beneath the surface? “But there is more to you than your appearance, of course.”

“That is what I like about you, Ah-May. You always believed in me. Of course there is more to me than my looks. There is my natural acting ability, too. Thank you for pointing that out.” Ming leaned close and tipped her chin up with one hand. “I forgot how good we were together. The memories are returning to me now. Didn’t you come back for one of my birthdays?”

“It was your twenty-first birthday. I flew to Hong Kong to surprise you.”

“Yes, I remember now. You showed up in a short red dress with a zipper down the back.”

“You remember the dress I wore?”

“Of course. Unzipping it was the highlight of my birthday.
You
were the best gift I received that day,” he clarified, his voice taking on a husky tone as he whispered in her ear.

Melanie’s cheeks flushed and she freed herself from his touch. Crossing her arms over her chest, she attempted to create some distance between them. “Ming, I-I’m glad you brought that up,” she stammered. “We need to talk about that night.”

He downed the rest of his wine and set the glass down. “It was quite memorable, wasn’t it?” he gloated with a sly wink.

Much too memorable in Melanie’s opinion, especially considering the consequences that evening produced. “If it was so memorable, then why didn’t you return any of my calls or emails when I came back to America? I left you several messages, but I never heard back from you.”

“You did?” He cocked his head and disinterest clouded his handsome features. “I must have missed them. I was working twelve to fourteen hour days. There was no time for personal business.”

“You didn’t have time for one phone call?”

“Ah-May, I was in the middle of making a big movie. You know, the one that got me nominated for the Hong Kong Film Award. You must have heard about it in the States.”

“I had no idea.”

Ming continued lamenting, unaware of the sarcasm dripping from Melanie’s words. “Everyone said I gave an amazing performance, but the Best Supporting Actor award still went to Chow Yun-fat. It was a difficult time for me. I almost quit acting, but my fans persuaded me to go on. I received so many letters from them; I couldn’t let them down.”

The anger she had buried for so long rose to the surface, choking her words. “But what about me? Didn’t I matter to you, especially after what we did that night? You didn’t want to disappoint some complete strangers, but you were okay disappointing me? You really let me down, Ming.” She wiped at the tears trickling down her cheeks as she struggled for her breath. “You let us
both
down.”

“Us? What are you talking about?”

“Me… and our baby.” Her gaze met his in a moment of truth. “I got pregnant.”

Melanie saw his eyes dart about the room as if he expected a child to pop out from behind a potted plant and run into his arms. The emotion draining his complexion was unmistakable. It was the one she remembered from the faces of men demanding paternity tests on the
Maury Povich Show
. But, in this case, she didn’t need a test to prove what she already knew.

The man sitting beside her was a coward.

Ming clutched the front of his white tank top and took a deep breath as he stared off in wide-eyed silence. After a minute, he took a plastic bottle from the coffee table, popped two pastel tablets into his mouth and chewed them with fervor. He refilled his wine glass and downed the contents before he stammered, “Are you… are you sure it’s mine?”

Melanie’s voice rose in admonishment as she blurted out, “Of course I’m sure. How can you ask that? I’ve never slept with anyone else.”

“I had to ask. Many women claim to be pregnant with my child so they can get access to my money. I already have one kid to feed, and you wouldn’t believe how much his mother demands from me.”

Shaking her head in disbelief, she retorted, “I don’t want your money.”

“But you expect me to be involved in the kid’s life, right?”

“I don’t want your time either.” In fact, the more she saw his true colors, the more she realized she wanted nothing to do with him. Part of her wished to see him squirm more, but she decided to put an end to his thoughtless spiel. “You can stop worrying. There is no baby.” Sensing the confusion in his eyes, she reiterated, “I had a miscarriage.”

“Oh!” The relief in Ming’s voice echoed throughout the suite, even as he attempted to maintain a neutral demeanor. Leaning back, he propped his bare feet on the glass coffee table in front of them. “Well then, that took care of the problem.”

His remark was the last straw. Melanie jumped to her feet and turned to face him. “You know what the real problem here is? It’s that I never realized what a-a,” she stammered in Cantonese, before switching to English for the right words, “a self-centered, egotistical, pretentious jerk you are!”

Ming raised both palms in confusion. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

She couldn’t be bothered to translate, not with all the adrenaline pumping through her body. She charged on with a heady outburst, “I can’t believe I spent so many years pining after you. I even considered giving up the best thing that ever happened to me because I thought you and I were more compatible. Thank you for showing me how wrong I was,” she scoffed as she walked to the door. “And don’t worry if you can’t follow what I said because it doesn’t matter. All you need to understand is this:
goodbye
.”

Melanie exited the room, feeling considerably lighter and more at peace than she had in years. She also left with a renewed belief that the very thing she had been searching for in Las Vegas was already waiting for her at home.

TEN

“
Ga Je
, where are you? The concert is starting in twenty minutes.”

“Oh, sorry Sam, I forgot to call. I’m not coming. You guys enjoy the show.”

“What? Why not? Where are you?”

“I’m going back to California. I had to pay a hand and a foot for a ticket, but the important thing is that I made it onto a flight.”

“You’re going home? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. No, actually, I’m great. I finally know what I want, and I’m going to go after it.”

“Wait, do you mean you’re seizing the moment?”

“Yes, I guess I am. Call it a New Year’s resolution,” she stated with growing confidence. “I’m seizing the moment.”

“Does this have anything to do with a certain math teacher?”

“Maybe,” Melanie teased with a lilt in her voice. “Okay, yes, it has everything to do with Ben.” Her ears perked up as an announcement came over the intercom. “Hey, we’re taking off now. I’ll text you when I land, okay?”

“What do I tell Ma and Ba? Ma’s got her Cruella de Vil look on right now. She’s going to freak when she hears you’ve escaped her claws.”

“Just tell them the truth,” she insisted with a nod at the flight attendant who was motioning for her to hang up. “I have to go. Bye!” She turned off her cell phone, buckled her belt and leaned back in her seat for take-off.

Soon after the plane had reached cruising altitude, Melanie’s seatmate turned to smile at her. The older Asian woman leaned over and inquired, “Are you Chinese?”

“Yes, I’m originally from Hong Kong. You are, too?” she guessed.

“Yes, I immigrated from Taiwan when I was a teenager. I’ve lived in the Bay Area ever since. My name’s Julie.”

“I’m Melanie,” she replied and shook the hand Julie extended to her.

Gently patting the arm of the man resting his head on her shoulder, Julie continued, “This is my husband Ted. He gets motion sickness so he took some medicine earlier. He’ll probably sleep the whole way home.”

Melanie’s medical training kicked into gear and she suggested, “Would you like me to turn on the vent for you? It’s a good idea to have some air circulating so he stays cool.”

“Yes, please, I don’t want to move and risk waking him up.”

As Melanie reached up to turn the knob, she caught a glimpse of the sleeping man and drew in a sharp breath. “Oh, it looks like he’s sleeping well.”

“That’s a relief. I can’t stand to see him sick. He turned an awful shade of green on the flight over. His skin reminded me of bitter melon, just not as bumpy.”

Melanie’s nose wrinkled at the mention of the acrid tasting gourd.

“You don’t like bitter melon?”

“That’s one Chinese dish I will never get used to. I don’t mind eating a little bit since it’s nutritious, but I certainly don’t eat it for enjoyment.”