Have to go
It was the western New Year’s Eve. Sky could see Andy was excited. Although he hadn’t found anything substantial, he was looking forward to the trip. Sky had no choice but to buy the tickets. He had asked Mei Lai if she wanted to come along too. She’d refused. She wanted them to spend more time together.
As he waited for Andy to return from work, he looked at the sketch lying next to a pile of printouts of the photographs of Andy’s dream guy. Was it really him? Could he make Andy give that guy up? Could he make Andy forget that face? He could fight with a physical existence but not a shadow from Andy’s mind.
What if Andy and the guy had shared a past?
It was Sky who stood beside Andy now, not that guy. Sky wanted Andy to see him for who he was. He wanted Andy to recognize the love inside him. He didn’t want Andy to feel lonely like he said he did. He wanted to protect him from all pain. He wanted Andy. He loved Andy.
As he prepared to step into the new year, Sky wanted things to improve. It had to go either this way or that. He’d been prepared to wait forever, but Andy was bent upon going after the dream guy, who he thought was his real lover. To everybody Sky was a happy, fun-loving person but, in reality, he was sad and lonely inside. His smiling face covered his wounded heart. He drank. He smoked now. He hated himself.
But he still loved Andy. He wanted to see Andy happy. If that involved helping Andy chase his dreams, he would.
And then a thought struck him. He felt angry at himself. What if the dream guy’s contact details had been on Andy’s cell phone? If only he hadn’t deleted all the numbers. In his wish to win Andy, he had actually hurt him. He tried to remember the name of the person who’d sent SMS to Andy a few times. He tried to recall the numerous voicemails the guy had left him. Something baby. What was the first part? What had he done. He sighed with disappointment.
He felt restless. The only way out of this mess was to help Andy find the guy. He got up and paced the floor like Andy did all the time.
###
Diano reached home a few minutes before midnight. Summer was up and watching TV.
“Hi. I’m home.” He kept his voice low.
“Hi!” Summer ran to give him a hug. “How are you?”
“Who is it?” Cute ran out of his room. When he saw the others in a hug he jumped on them. “Baba, you are home!”
“Ha-ha. Relax. I’m fine. How are you? Where’s Jai Jai?” Diano looked around for the kitten.
“Sleeping on my bed. Let me get him.” Cute went back into his room and reappeared with Jai Jai.
Diano took the cat and gave it a tight hug. It meowed back in protest.
“Look,” said Summer. “I’m sorry for what happened.”
“If I knew Norman was Oliver, I wouldn’t even think about him,” Diano said.
“I’m sorry too.” Cute looked down at his feet.
“What for?” asked Diano.
“I knew about it from the Halloween night.” He spoke in a low voice.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Diano was surprised.
“I didn’t want either of you feel hurt. In hindsight, it was a stupid mistake. I’m sorry.”
Diano laughed when he saw Cute’s sad face.
“Are you okay?” he asked Summer.
“Better than before.” She smiled with pursed lips. “You?”
“Good.” Diano smiled. “I’m going to Malaysia with Brian. We’ve booked a meditation course there.”
“You and meditation?” asked Summer.
“It’s a 10-day challenge. We aren’t allowed to talk, to read, to write, etc.” Diano paused for effect. “No phones, no laptops, no gaming devices, no TV and no Internet. No nothing!”
“What?!” Cute looked shocked.
“Are you allowed to eat?” asked Summer.
“Yup. Breakfast is at 6.30 a.m., lunch at 11.00 a.m. and tea at 5.00 p.m. There’s no dinner.” He laughed. “I guess I’ll lose some weight.”
“Why don’t you give me the money?” Cute asked. “I can teach you here.”
“It’s free. I’m just paying for the flight.”
“What about accommodation and meals?” asked Summer.
“All free. If you’re happy with the course, you can donate any amount you like. There’s no obligation. Until then you live the life of a monk on somebody’s generosity.”
“This meditation style is funny,” Cute said.
“It’s an ancient technique taught by the Buddha himself. It was lost to the world but somehow preserved in a monastery until a few years ago.”
“Does it work?” asked Cute.
“Brian’s tried it before. He said it does.”
“Cool,” Summer said.
“Hey, it’s almost midnight! Countdown time,” Cute said.
They ran to the window, which offered them a view of a very crowded Times Square.
