3. I didn't mean it

"I heard that Josh and Jess broke up d a?"

"Yeah, I heard it too."

"Why ah? Do you know?"

Keng Loong just shrugged his shoulders and looked blankly at Gerald and Wan Xing.

"Wan Xing, didn't Xue Xing say anything to you?" asked Gerald, who was probably the kay pohest guy ever to walk on the earth.

"No wo, I dunno know anything..." answered the curvy girl in glasses and shoulder length hair.

"I haven't seen for for quite a while edi. I don't really know where is she now oso. I'm a bit worried la, I dunno what's wrong with her," she continued with a sigh.

The three friends were sitted in a quiet corner of Chill, their customary bar. The events that they have heard recently were a little worrying to them. Their so called ringleader and his girlfriend had broken up and the friend closest to them seem to have cooped herself up in the room, not emerging for a long time. They were starting to get worried.

"How a? What happened to the 3 of them?" asked Keng Loong, looking at his girlfriend and his friend.

They stared blankly back at him.

****

Shit... Not again...

Josh sat up in bed and cursed.

Screw it, I'm already late anyway.

He drew his hand over his tousled hair. His handsome face was shadowed, unshaven for 3 days. He had gone to bed in that state again- dishevelled, reeking of stale smoke and beer. His clothes were crumpled, having slept in them during the night.

Empty beer cans were strewn around his room, his ashtray filled with cigarette ends and a pile of dirty clothes lay isolated in a corner.

He sighed. He knew he was getting himself into trouble being this way, skipping work again, but nothing seemed to matter anymore.

Jess had left him, and it was his fault. He shouldn't have brought Xue Xing over to his house that day.

****

Since they started working in the same company, Josh and Xue Xing saw a lot of each other.

Josh fetched her to work in the mornings, had lunch with her in the afternoons, had dinner with her at night, and fetched her back again after work. Not to mentioned the endless working hours spent together in the office. He came to enjoy her company.

Being smart, creative, outspoken and direct, Josh soon gained the attention of everyone in the advertising firm, including his superiors. He was soon in charge of bigger contracts, coming out with advertisements for prominent companies that pleased his clients and his bosses.

Xue Xing, every bit as creative as him, but not so outstanding, was always his second in command, being in the same team as him for every project that they handled. She was his little willing shadow.

Days blended in to weeks, weeks into months and the two of them were spending more and more time together.He found less and less time to keep in touch with Jess.

****

That wasn't my fault. I know she's busy too, that's why I did not want to disturb her. And she could've called me more often.

Xue Xing was around me always not because I wanted her to, it's because she had to be... We can't be blamed for falling for each other... Right?

It just happened...

****

Xue Xing and Jess were like direct opposites of each other, even in looks and personality.

Jess was tall, elegant, with a slight tan from always being outdoors. She had long flowing dark brown hair which framed her face perfectly. Her features were exotic, courtesy of her mixed parentage. With her witty mouth and outgoing personality, she was always full of jokes, ready to take on anything thrown at her.

Xue Xing on the other hand, was short, petite and fair. Her long straight black hair had a china-doll haircut, amplifying her cuteness. She was shy and a lot more timid compared to Jess. After hanging out with their gang, she became a little more confident of herself and more willing to let go. But still, she was the quietest one among their babbling group of friends.

Their personalities contrasted too. Jess was a confident, headstrong girl, never afraid to voice her opinions and speak up when she felt that something was wrong. She had a temper as well, quick to light up like a match and but quick to go off. When she was lighted though, her mouth did more damage than she knew she could. With her personality too similar too Josh, they were at loggerheads with each other at times. Each time they quarrelled, the arguments they threw at each other took hours, sometimes even days to smooth over.

Xue Xing? Xue Xing was different. He noticed how docile, patient and understanding she could be. She would just listen to him and agree. Even if she had an opinion of her own, it took a bit of coaxing to get it out of her, and she would say it in her sweet, soft spoken way. With him, she was little more comfortable at expressing herself, but with others, she was just this cute little timid fresh graduate.

She begun sharing things with him, things that he did not know about her. He begun to know more of her hope, her dreams, her passions, her fears, her worries.

****

"We're in my place now. Tell me what's wrong."

Xue Xing looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.

"It's my mom. She's in the hospital again. She fainted at home. My brother just called me..e...," she answered, her sobs coming back to clog her speaking.

Josh put his arm around her.

Poor thing.

Her mom had been sick for a long time. Coming from a broken family, he knew that Xue Xing's mom meant everything to her. He knew how her father had left them, leaving her mom to fend for them. He knew how Xue Xing had to live when she was younger, scrimping and saving every little bit of money that she had. Life was better for them, when her brothers started working. But now, her mom, barely able to enjoy the comforts that her children could now give her had fallen ill. Brain cancer.

Xue Xing buried her face in his shoulder and cried. Josh drew her closer into his embrace

As her sobs subsided, she lifted her head and looked at him. That was when he leant down and kissed her, unable to resist anymore.

And that was when Jess came into his apartment, much to his horror.

****

Jess looked down at her ringing handphone.

#Josh
0125567489#

appeared on screen

Jess cut the call and continued driving.