Loving You Is Too Difficult

6

Xiang Yu did not know if Song Yu Shan had forgotten him as he had confidently predicted, but he had certainly not been able to forget the arrogant rich miss. Every time he thought about her, his lips would curl up in a smile. It had been several years, but to his amazement he was always able to recall all the details clearly. A hot summer, a young girl’s childish fantasies and dreams and how it all ended finally. In a foreign land, when he was tired and lonely, he would often think of her sweet face, her auburn hair, her hazel eyes, the purple and pink bedroom and the lavender fragrance that always surrounded her…

It had been eight years, not a short time by any standard. In the past eight years, he had broken up with his girlfriend, resigned and left Taiwan, studied for a master’s degree in the United States, set up a new business and oversaw the company as it grew from five employees to hundreds of employees…

Working sixteen hours a day was just normal for him. When they set up the business, he and his partners even slept in the office or in their cars. Today, he was the vice president of a technology company. His time and attention was all focussed on getting contracts, meetings, acquiring new business. But in the midst of all this, he would often reminisce about that sweet and innocent girl.

Who would have thought, that in just eight years,  a system engineer in a security company would become the vice president in a technology company that was growing exponentially? The IT industry had seen a lot of ups and downs and had created many storms in their entrepreneurial journey. But with his analytical ability, calm demeanour and steel will, he had always been able to come up with appropriate solutions. At this moment, though he wasn’t extremely rich, he was certainly quite well off and famous. In recent years, he had even been featured in several magazines whenever they did articles on young, successful entrepreneurs.

The understated, luxurious black Eurpoean car was pleasantly air conditioned so he did not feel the summer heat in northern Taiwan. The driver was experienced . He could easily  pretend he was driving along the multi lane highways of California rather than Taipei if his eyes were closed. In the past few years, Taipei had really burgeoned, but because of the development of public transport, the roads still did not have major traffic snarls like California. Mr Gu, the driver, always ensured that he reached his destinations smoothly and in the shortest of times. Money was not a solution to everything, but it certainly made life easier.

“ Mr Yu, we have arrived.” The car slowed down and the driver gently informed him. He opened his eyes

“ Thank you.”

It had only been a few weeks since he had returned to Taipei. He had been quick to re-acclimatise himself. In his mind, although he had been away for eight years, it was still home. He had made up his mind to return here and finally settle down. He could no longer sustain the hectic pace of life of the last eight years. Of course, the fact that the company wanted to expand in Asia also helped in his decision. They had anyway needed someone to be stationed in Asia. The execution of their expansion plans in Asia thus fell on his able shoulders.

Both  his parents had passed away. But he had others who looked forward to his return here. When the car reached the door, a little girl was already standing there. As soon as he alighted, she ran and jumped into his arms!

“ Hello”, he hugged the pink cannonball and smiled, “ Why did you run out again ? Didn’t I tell you to wait inside?”

“ But I heard the sound of the cover!” the little girl raised her round face and said confidently.

“ It’s a car. Not a ‘cover’.”

She smiled in answer, then snuggled in his arms, her face buried in his neck.