Dynamics of a Breakup - Part 2

The One:

Let us leave our lovely couple to their private matters and travel one day into the future. We arrive to witness a nice and pleasant morning, a perfect day for new encounters and making new friends.

That is exactly the spirit with which An Mei was looking forward to this meeting. She was now sitting at an upscale cafe in the Financial District of Tianjing City, pretty close to the Wu Long headquarters, sipping coffee, and waiting for Li Jing and her new boyfriend.

The cafe was mostly empty on account of it being the weekend. But what few patrons remained were mostly occupied with their own work and showed no particular interest in the famous author An Mei. Even her security team (which was supposed to be protecting An Mei in secret) was pretending to read the morning paper and enjoying the coffee that An Mei had sent them earlier.

The door opened, and a woman entered wearing a cap and sunglasses, the classic A-lister disguise. Despite being incognito, it was impossible to miss how gorgeous Li Jing was. Even An Mei, who was a pretty young woman by any standard, sometimes felt insecure in the presence of her strikingly beautiful third sister-in-law. The title by which Li Jing’s fans called her, ‘The Goddess,’ seemed to fit her like a second skin. For how could this heavenly beauty be anything other than a goddess? Surely, she carried at least a hint of the divine essence?

Li Jing noticed An Mei, and her face brightened immediately. She waved and then walked over to her sister-in-law.

“Meimei. You came,” Li Jing said happily, as if she wasn’t fully expecting An Mei to be there.

“Of course, jie. It’s an important occasion. How could I not be here?” An Mei replied.

“Thank you, sweetie. You are the only one in this family who has my back. Look at my siblings; none of them wanted to be here. They all think that this is just another phase, I am sure.”

“Don’t worry, jie. Once they get to meet him, I am sure they will all come around.”

“Right? I mean, they have to. Gao Feng, he is just the best. I am telling you, Meimei, he is an amazing guy. He isn’t like the others. He respects me, and he actually listens, you know. When I am with him, I feel like I can be fully myself.”

An Mei smiled generously and gave Li Jing’s hands a gentle, supportive squeeze.

“I am really happy for you, jie. I can’t wait to meet him. Where is he, by the way?”

“Ah, he is running a bit late. You know how investment bankers are, always busy and all that.”

An Mei did not know. But, being busy seemed like something investment bankers would do. She nodded along appreciatively.

“He should be here pretty soon. Oh! That reminds me. Meimei I am just going to pop into the washroom and adjust my makeup. I want to look my absolute best for this meeting.”

“Of course, jie,” An Mei said, even though she could not see how Li Jing could look any better than she already did.

Just as soon as Li Jing had left for the washroom, the cafe door opened once more, and in walked a handsome man in his early thirties, wearing well-fitting and expensive business casual clothes. He placed his order at the counter and began scanning the cafe. His eyes fell upon the cute girl, who was sitting alone at her table, nursing her coffee.

Like a hawk who had just spotted his meal for the day, the man walked purposefully towards An Mei’s table and placed his coffee right next to hers.

An Mei looked up confused and a little annoyed.

Before she could say anything, the man began, “Hey, aren't you An Mei, the famous writer? I am a big fan of your work.”

An Mei smiled politely and said, “I am. Thank you for your support; it means a lot.”

Rather than asking for an autograph or a photo, the man pulled up a chair and sat down right in front of her.

“This is great. I was just here for a family meeting and wasn’t expecting to run into a famous author. You never know who you’ll meet around Tianjing City, right?”

An Mei wanted to ask him to leave. But the words ‘family meeting’ caught her attention. She smiled mirthlessly and replied, “You are absolutely right. You never know who you might run into. And you are?”

“Ohh! How foolish of me. I forgot to introduce myself.” He produced his card. “I am Gao Feng; I work for Qizha Investments. You know, that big building that’s pretty close to the Wu Long headquarters. You should be able to see it from here.”

An Mei couldn’t. It was covered by trees.

Gao Feng believed himself to be on a roll, and he wasn’t going to stop now. “You know. Famous author, investment banker—what a pair we make, right? How about this? Why don’t I take you out tonight and show you a good time? We can get a few drinks, and maybe go dancing, and see where the night takes us.”

An Mei, unwilling to entertain his comments any longer, simply lifted up her hand and showed him her wedding ring. “Sorry. I am married, quite happily in fact. My husband will be waiting for me at home.”

Gao Feng didn’t get to where he was in life by accepting refusals, especially from women. So, he changed tactics.

“That’s a shame, really. But hey, never say never, right? By the way, I loved that new character in your book, Chen Yingmei; she looked pretty feisty in all those posters. Was she based on you by any chance?”

An Mei was getting quite irritated by now, and even her patience was wearing thin.

“No. Sun Yingmei,” she made a point of stressing the word ‘Sun’, “who was present in the prequel as well, is in fact based upon my little sister. She is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and enjoys beating up people who make unwanted advances on me.”

Undeterred by the threat, Gao Feng was about to grab An Mei’s hand when a melodious but furious voice rang out through the cafe.

“Gao Feng. What do you think you are doing?”

Gao Feng looked like he had just accidentally discharged himself of his breakfast and reluctantly turned to face the full wrath of the beautiful dragon. His demeanor changed completely. Gone was the boisterousness and flirtatiousness. His proud shoulders sagged, and a distressed smile appeared on his face. He almost looked, submissive.

“Li Jing, baby. It’s nothing,” he tried to explain. “You know who this is? This is the famous novelist An Mei.”

Not seeing any change in Li Jing’s furious expression, he dug himself deeper.

“You don’t know her? I mean, why would you know her anyway? She is no one special compared to you. I was just trying to get her autograph, but she insisted that I give her my number. I refused point blank and told her that I am just here to meet my girlfriend’s family member.”

“She is the family member, you creep!” Li Jing screamed.

“Wh… What?!!!” was all Gao Feng could manage.

“She is my sister-in-law. I asked her to come here to meet you,” Li Jing said, striding with purpose towards her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend.

“But… but she is…”

“She is what? Not only do you insult her, but you have the audacity to hit on her while I am in the washroom. My own precious sister-in-law. And to think I ever saw anything in you.”

“Li Jing. Ms. Li, please, I am sorry. I didn’t know.”

“And if you knew, were you going to continue to pretend?” Li Jing looked disgusted. “You make me sick. We are done, Gao Feng. Consider this our official breakup. And don’t you dare contact me again.”

Gao Feng was speechless.

“And this is the most important thing, so listen up. If you ever so much as look in the same direction as my sister-in-law again, you will soon learn what homelessness feels like. Is that understood?”

“Ye…”

“Speak up.”

“Yes, Ms. Li. I won’t disturb her again.”

Li Jing turned her back to Gao Feng as if he was no longer worth her time and gently took An Mei’s hand in hers. “I am sorry to have put you through this, Meimei. Let’s go.”

As An Mei got up to leave, Li Jing turned to the barista and said, “Please get the bill. My ex-boyfriend will pay for it.”

Aftermath:

That certainly went well. The villain was punished, the princess was rescued, and Li Jing escaped another bad relationship. But even things that end well leave scars in the hearts of those it affects, and today’s events had left a big wound on Li Jing’s heart. It wasn’t so much the breakup, but the string of bad choices that led up to her being suckered in by another scumbag that made it worse.

“Why am I like this?” Li Jing asked the universe while resting her head on An Mei’s shoulders, licking the ice cream cone that An Mei had just bought her.

Their location was secluded enough that there was no cause for immediate concern. But a picture of Li Jing crying on a park bench while eating ice cream would certainly make the headlines. And An Mei was determined to prevent that catastrophe while balancing the familial duty of consoling her sister-in-law.

“How am I so stupid?” Li Jing wailed. “Why do I always choose terrible boyfriends?”

An Mei gently patted her head and said, “It’s alright, jie. It’s alright. It wasn’t your fault.”

“It wasn’t?” Li Jing looked at her sister-in-law with weeping puppy dog eyes, hoping to hear those reassuring words again.

“Of course, it wasn’t. You saw how he was, how easily he lied. I am sure you are not the first girl he manipulated or tried to cheat on.”

That did not help. “I am like all the other stupid girls who fell for his trick,” Li Jing howled.

An Mei looked around to make sure that no one was drawn in by the noise.

“Jie. Why don’t you eat your ice cream? It’s starting to melt,” An Mei said, trying to change topics. “Ice cream is always good to get your mind off of a breakup… I hear,” added the romance novelist who had never broken up with anyone before.

Li Jing looked at her ice cream cone sadly and said, “It’s chocolate.”

“You don’t like it?”

“I do. But I like peanut butter as well.” She pointed at An Mei’s own cone.

“Ahh! That’s… that’s great. Here, you can have mine. One peanut butter to go along with your chocolate.”

Li Jing quickly snatched up An Mei’s ice cream and started eating both. “I do feel a little better. This is really good.”

“Right? Ummm… jie, why don’t I take you home? Maybe once you are home you will feel even better.”

“Home?” Li Jing pondered. “All those cold and empty rooms, and no one to share them with,” she said dramatically. “And I am sure my maids will be judging me. You know how gossipy they are.”

The maids were in fact not gossipy at all. They were all professionals who cared deeply about Li Jing’s privacy. But An Mei wasn’t ready to endure the consequences of contradicting an emotional and weepy family member.

“I see… Is there anywhere in particular you want to go?”

A couple was walking by, and the woman seemed to recognize Li Jing. That quickly upped the stakes for An Mei. When An Mei was recognized in public, it usually meant a couple of fans asking her for autographs. But when Li Jing was recognized, it meant that a mob was about to form.

“I don’t feel like being alone. I want to stay somewhere nice and cozy. Something like…” Li Jing pretended to think. “Something like your apartment. That would be perfect.”

“Our apartment?”

The superstar’s puppy dog eyes were back. “Yeah. You wouldn’t turn away a sad sister-in-law, would you, Meimei?”

An Mei saw a few more people walking towards them.

“Of course not, jie. Weiwei and I would be very happy to have you at our place.”

“I would like to stay for a couple of days.”

“You can stay as long as you want.”

“Promise?!”

“Promise.”

And with that, An Mei sealed Li Wei’s doom.