Love Began with the First Meeting

Would it be better to throw in the towel and go their separate ways?

When in a relationship, one of the common pieces of advice floating around was to be more understanding and compassionate towards the needs of one's partner. What if, however, instead of bringing out the best in each other, the relationship failed to bring them closer? If someone was too empathetic to everything and everyone, it might lead to a boring, if not infuriating, path to live.

But if he knew when to tone down everyone's cry for help, and learned to listen to his own needs for once, perhaps he could experience something as mundane, and yet comforting, as crying.

After hearing such words from a person whose identity remained unknown over the phone, Molly felt the tears that threatened to escape her eyes.

Biting her lower lip, she couldn't help but clench her hand tightly, only to loosen it as soon as she remembered that she was holding Mark's small hand.

"If you don't say anything, I'll take your silence as a positive reply." Lethargic and wicked, the voice continued, "I've booked two tickets for your son and you. I look forward to our meeting." Before Molly could even utter a single response, the man, without warning, ended the call. Dumbfounded, she still held the phone close to her ear whilst waiting for what he said to sink in.

"Mommy?" Mark said, bringing her out of her thoughts. The boy looked around before saying, "The plane is ready for boarding."

As Molly knelt down to look at her son, Mark, in the eyes, a million thoughts continued to spin in her mind. "Mark," she finally said after a while, biting her lower lip. "No matter where Mommy goes, will you always go with me?"

It didn't take the boy more than a second to reply with a firm nod, saying, "No matter what you decide, I will always be by your side to support you!"

"That's my boy!" Molly said affectionately, patting his head. "Now that I have your support... I have something to tell you." She took a deep breath. "Mommy wants to try going back to your daddy," she shared with Mark, "Even if it's just a flight of fancy, Mommy will give it another go."

"It's okay, Mommy. You have me on your side anyway!" His tender voice filtered into her heart, making her eyes swell with happy tears.

"Thank you, my son!" Molly said, kissing her son in the face. Standing up with renewed confidence, she held his hand firmly once again. Together, they went back to the nearest ticket counter to get new boarding passes.

"Hello, how can I help you? Which flight would you like to get?" The ground crew asked with a smile, checking the two flights with similar departure time on her screen.

"Besides the flight to M City, what is the other destination?" asked Molly with uncertainty.

"That would be the flight to London, England!"

Instinctively, Molly frowned. "A flight for two to London, it is," she said firmly.

"Just a moment please."

Meanwhile, in the VIP room of the airport, Ling was scanning a fashion magazine leisurely. With a wireless earbud in her ear, she spoke in a slow and lazy tone, "While I did plan to bring you some special present, you know what's going on out here. Tell me, how could I have had the time to pick presents?" She sighed. "All right, I'll treat you to dinner when I'm back... You guys are too cruel! Here I was, working all the last few days, and you people with all the time in the world have the nerve to ask me for presents. All right... I know. Why don't we just talk about it when I get back? Okay, bye now!"

Hanging up the phone, Ling tossed the magazine on the table and sipped some coffee. As she had been waiting for her flight to board for a long while now, she was starting to grow bored. Fortunately, she didn't need to wait much longer.

"Flight XXX to London will be boarding in ten minutes," A sweet broadcast voice aired on the airport's radio. 'Finally!' she thought in exasperation.

Coincidentally, one of the ground crew came to find her, "Miss, I'm here to assist you. Please board through the VIP aisle."

Giving a single nod, Ling put on her sunglasses and stood up. She followed the ground crew through the VIP passageway, and boarded the plane before other passengers.

While Ling was already getting comfortable in First Class, Molly was still checking in with Mark. Once they were cleared, both mother and son boarded the plane along with a swarm of passengers. When she showed their boarding pass tickets to the smiling flight attendant by the entrance, they were led to the Business Class section of the airplane.

Turning her head slightly, Molly glimpsed at the airport through the small window while Mark excitedly buckled his seatbelt. Her heart thudded erratically at the familiar view, an inexplicable feeling overcoming her. Five years ago, she had left and flown to London. This time was no different. Flying to the same destination, Molly felt like Mark and she were destined to be on that plane.

And as it skidded across the runway and took off towards the gloomy sky, it left a white smoke in its trails. It was almost like that the very sight of it symbolized a bittersweet farewell to the past, and a positive push for all of one's hopes towards a new beginning. Leaning against the hood of the car, Eric watched the planes fly out of his sight with folded arms, one after another, with a faint hint of sadness in his eyes behind his sunglasses.

Despite being there, he didn't determine Little Molly's flight details, and thus, had very little idea whether she had already left or not. Mostly, he was just there to see the planes take off. Watching them had a way of inducing a calming effect. It helped him release all the longing and concerns he harbored towards Molly. Perhaps, he was even there to silently give his blessing.

A crunching sound from afar caught his ear. It was someone walking on the snow with slow, heavy steps.

Squinting his eyes as he spared a glance at whoever was approaching him, he averted his attention toward another plane preparing to take off, and said nonchalantly, "What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to see..." came Spark's low voice. When he finally stood next to Eric, he dug his hands into his pockets and looked at the plane as well, continuing to say, "I wanted to see if she had left..." Sighing, Spark concluded, "Whenever she disappears, I always feel lost."

Both men looked at one another, sharing a bittersweet smile. They were fully aware of what the other person felt towards the same woman. Yet, even as they both loved Molly dearly, they knew she could love neither of them back in the same way. Eric spoke, a tad too cheerful, "Maybe leaving this place will be good for her!" After pausing for a moment, he broke the eye contact and said, "My brother lost his memory of Molly. Her departure, for all we know, might be a good thing for both of them. They're just too drained and worn-out from their relationship..."

"Maybe," sulked Spark, knowing that Eric was only trying to comfort himself. All of them knew that Molly could never give up her love for Brian. Whether it was five years ago, or five years later, Molly's feelings remained the same, if not, possibly even stronger. With Brian, however, Spark could not fathom what was happening. Even to this day, he still found it difficult to believe that-after everything that they had been through, Brian lost his memories and now, could not remember Molly.

A gust of wind swept the snow that gathered on the leaves of the trees, lightly dropping on the men who stared into the distance. Unaffected, they stood in silence, both finding comfort in each other's company while trying to soothe their own heartache. 0000000