Our Winter

i'm sorry

Minghao looked toward the entrance again. No one came in. He sighed. Someone called his name, snapping him out of his trance.

"Mr Xu?" One of the employees had called.
"Oh, uh yeah?"
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, sorry I just was out of it for a second. Don't worry." He said with a reassuring smile. He looked around and saw one of the new faces, and guy around his age, wave to someone at the entrance. Minghao turned his torso and saw Mei coming in. He was even happier to see she was smiling, a huge contrast from earlier. Mei sat down next to the new guy and they exchanged words and laughed a bit. His smile dropped a bit. Mei was already close to him? Did she meet this guy in university? Why was she laughing so much? He never really liked company dinners (and he knew no one else did either) but his father made him organise them. Working in his father's own company had its perks but he always knew people talked behind his back for it. The amount of times he'd heard that his position was a result of nepotism, even he didn't know.

More than anything, he hoped no one would say the same about Mei. Speaking of her, Mei had gotten quite drunk at this point. Most of the dinner was over, and people were just drinking and hanging out. Minghao politely smiled, but made sure not to drink that day. After all, someone had to be sober.

Mei's cheeks were tinted a bright red, and she giggled as her words slurred together. Deciding to call it a night, Minghao stood up.

"Thanks so much everyone for attending. I hope you guys had a good time today. Make sure you all get home safe and don't drive okay? Bye!" He said to those who were leaving. The other man was trying to wake up Mei, who was pretty much out of it. He carefully approached the pair. "Oh, Mr Xu, you can go ahead. I'll take Mei."
"You know her?"
"Well, we only met this morning but I'll be able to find someone who can take her home." He said, still trying to wake Mei up.
"Oh uh," he paused. He didn't know the man's name.
"Chen. My name is Bai Chen."
"Ah, thanks. I know a mutual friend Chen, so I'll contact them to come get her. Don't worry and thank you for looking out for her." He said. Chen looked a bit hesitant but nodded eventually.

He waited till Chen left before trying to wake up Mei again. "Mei, get up. Let's go home." He nudged her. She barely moved. He kneeled down, and tried to lift her head up so she could drink some water. Mei shook her head. "No." She said, pointing her finger directly at his face. "Come on Mei, drink a bit then you might sober up." He urged. "No. I'm not gonna drink. Take me home." She said, barely conscious. He sighed. "I can't do that, people are going to think I'm a murderer." He got up. "No, you're not. You can carry me." She said, putting her hands up. He thought, well he couldn't just leave her there. He slung her over his shoulder, picking up her things with his spare hand. His father would pay for the dinner so he wouldn't have to worry about that. He walked to his car and put her in the passenger seat, buckling her seatbelt for her. As he climbed in, he noticed Mei had fallen asleep. "Oh shit, where does she live?" He said, trying not to panic. He found her purse dangling out of her handbag. He opened it to find her ID, which had her address. "Xu Minghao, you're a genius." He told himself as he began driving.

Who knew that there would be so much traffic at 11 on a Tuesday night? Halfway through the standstill traffic, Mei had woken up. She was saying things he barely understood. How much did she drink?

"I hate Mina, that girl stole my candy!" She said, full of rage.
"Who's Mina?" He asked, bored from staring at the car in front.
"That girl from middle school. She kept stealing my candy and Jia's chocolate." He had to laugh, which made Mei turn her head his way.

"Wait a minute, I know you!" She said, her eyes widening ever so slightly.
"Yeah?"
"You're Minghao!" She said, before breaking out into tears. Minghao panicked.
"Wh-what happened?"
"You left me. You promised you'd come back and yet you left the very next day. I cried and cried so bad my eyes were swollen for weeks. Auntie said I lost almost 3 kilos in three weeks from just not eating enough. You broke jun's heart too. You're evil" She said, falling asleep on the last word.