Love Began with the First Meeting

In the bedroom of the luxury suite room, Brian was seated on the floor in front of the door with his back leaning against the wood. He was clenching his fists as his heart was hurting as he heard Eric's cries from the hallway. He knew that Molly was there and he knew that

she must be so heartbroken and so distressed. It hurt him that he hurt her like that, but he didn't go out. He did not move from his spot.

Ling was standing in front of him with her arms folded lightly across her front. She looked down at Brian, who seemed to be in as much pain as Eric and Molly right this moment. She sighed, crouching down in front of him. "Does it really have to be like this?" she asked him softly. Her heart ached, seeing him suffering.

Brian closed his eyes. The sadness seemed to be rippling in great waves across his mind and it showed on his face. He felt an urge to yell, to cry, to rush to Molly's side and tell her how much he loved her. But he couldn't. For a long time, he sat there, quiet and still, trying so hard to fight back his tears. He immersed himself in the pain and suffering that he was feeling. No one could understand how much he was hurting for himself and for Molly. But he couldn't show his true heart to anyone, not even to Molly. He wanted her to forget him, to get away from him, for her own safety, but instead she was right outside his hotel room, convinced that he had lost his memory. Brian could not bear to think how much she was being tricked, and how much he was hurting her directly and indirectly.

It was a long time until he'd calmed down somewhat. He got up and went over to the armchair by the window and sunk into it. All of his energy seemed to have drained out of his once powerful body. It was slackened now, empty of all emotions, echoing the emptiness of his eyes and his heart. 'Eric and Molly must have gone now, he thought. Maybe she got better and they both left, or maybe they were still outside in the hallway. He wasn't sure. But he tried to keep his mind off them for now. Although he was sitting rigidly and trying not to make too much sound, Ling could hear him gritting his teeth from pain.

Although she did not know him well and did not care much about him, Ling was perturbed to see him in so much pain. "If love is this painful, and this hurtful..." she started, her voice soft and full of sadness and pity. She went to sit on the edge of the bed. "I would rather live alone forever." She looked over at Brian, her eyes wet and fixating on him.

Brian hung his head low, his heart completely seized with insufferable pain. He didn't think there was another day in his whole life that was more painful than this one. Suddenly, fueled by his anger, he stood and turned towards the wall and drove his fist through the painting that was hung there. Immediately, blood started to trickle from his hand down the painting, but Brian didn't even flinch. Like the painting now was bleeding, so was his heart, bleeding from the inside out from the pain that he felt. He crouched down, facing the corner of the room, and stared numbly in front of him at nothing in particular.

*

Molly finally came to wake up, but her eyes needed time to adjust; her surroundings deemed to her a momentarily lapse out of reality. Then her eyes caught a glimpse of the curtains and the walls up ahead. Her head felt like it was being hammered and going to explode. "Little Molly... Little Molly..." It was a soft, quiet voice that was calling her name.

Then came another voice that struck her innermost core. It made everything all right. "Mommy..."

She opened her eyes slowly and saw Mark and Shirley standing next to the bed she was on. Her vision cleared and her mind also cleared. This felt like a dream to her, seeing her most cherished people right after waking up from what seemed like a coma of terror. For a while, no one spoke. Molly was still trying to recover from her numbness.

"Mommy..." Mark was calling for her again, his eyes red and swollen from crying.

Molly roused and then sat up a bit, smiling at him. Everything that was inside of her seemed to melt. She reached over to wipe his tear-stricken face, and then cupped his chin lightly, rubbing her thumb on his cheek. "Mark, you are a brave boy," she told him smoothly, her voice full of love and tenderness. "Don't you cry now."

Mark looked up at her and then wiped his face with his arm. "I won't cry. I won't cry." His voice was trembling as he tried not to cry. "I won't cry," he said again. But no matter how many times he repeated those words and no matter how many times he wiped at his face, drying the tears that fell from his eyes, more tears replaced them and started to cascade down his face.

Seeing him like that made Molly's heart lurch forward, seemingly out of her chest. She sat up more and pulled him gently towards herself, wrapping her arms around him, hugging him so tightly. Her mind hurt, her nose was red and her eyes were red, but none of that mattered right now. "Mark, let's leave this place. Okay?" she asked against Mark's soft hair, rubbing his back.

Mark nestled himself in his mother's warm, soft embrace, burying his face in her chest and hugging her back. "I'll go wherever Mommy goes," he told her in his sweet and innocent voice.

Molly sighed and kissed his small head, feeling her heart melting with tenderness and love for her son, her ever so cute and adorable little boy. "My dearest boy," she couldn't help but exclaim, rubbing his back, then his arms as she pulled back just enough to kiss him on the forehead. "My sweet darling boy..."

"Little Molly..." came Shirley's voice, interrupting their bittersweet moment. Seeing them both so upset made her heart ache. She looked upon mother and son with pitying eyes. "Little Molly, are you ready to go?" she asked.

Molly looked up at her, her eyes red and swollen all over again. "Mom, I am so sorry... I..." she paused, brokenhearted and too distressed to be able to finish her sentence. Shirley held up a hand.

"It's okay, you don't need to explain." Shirley's voice was quiet and full of tenderness. Molly looked like she was about to protest, but Shirley shook her head at her. She knew that Molly had a hard enough time deciding to leave everything behind; she would not have Molly worry about abandoning her too. She loved Molly as much as she loved Wing. Molly had become like her real daughter and not just a daughter-in-law. She had resolved that whatever Molly decided to do, it would make her happy, and so Shirley would be happy for her. As the realization of Molly's leaving set in, Shirley stepped over to them and enveloped Molly and Mark into a hug. She held both of them close. Eric had told her what had happened the day before, and so she could not complain. Molly had made up her mind and it wasn't her place to question her decision. Knowing how fragile Molly was, Shirley knew how hard it would all have crushed her heart. The greater the hope, the bigger the disappointment. After all that Molly had been through the day before, the last glimmer of her hope would be shattered. There was nothing more that could hold Molly to Shirley's home. "Little Molly, remember my words always. Wherever you go, you are always my daughter-in-law. I love you both. You are always welcome here!" Shirley's voice was firm and resolute.

As she spoke those words, tears began flowing out of her eyes, unapologetically cascading down her cheeks. Shirley didn't move to wipe them away or hold herself back. If her tears were able to make her suffering heart feel the tiniest bit better, she would welcome all the tears in the world to come. She would consider herself blessed.

The air around them seemed as though it was affected by the ice-cold pain in their hearts, frozen in time and space. Molly, Mark, and Shirley stayed hugging, holding each other close, and keeping each other's crying company with their own wailing. It was a depressing sight, and Eric and his uncle Richie were standing by the door, watching the scene unfold in front of them.

"Uncle Richie..."00000