Destined to be his Wife - Forced by Fate

Let's Fix This

TangShi walked out of her bedroom and into the open plan living room to finish getting ready before leaving for school. The apartment was eerily quiet and felt empty although she hadn’t heard YuZhi depart for work yet. It was early though, maybe too early for him. The sun was barely up but today she planned on going to breakfast with Linlin before class started.

Dinner last night hadn’t helped her sort out her confusion over YuZhi’s behavior and as he took off after getting home and didn’t return till late, she didn’t see him again. She was feeling all kinds of listless and uptight and unable to relax over this and Linlin was a good mood leveler any day of the week.

TangShi padded into the kitchen in her house slippers and outfit of the day to get a bottle of water and froze when the click of his bedroom door echoed, alerting her to the fact he was most definitely still here. Hurrying to get to the refrigerator and turning her back on him so he wouldn’t see how flustered she was.

YuZhi wandered out of his room rubbing his face, still tired as he had only just got up. In long cotton pajama bottoms and a t-shirt, he strolled out in a casual meander and spotted TangShi in the kitchen already. Internally tensing up because he didn’t expect her at this time of the day and had hoped a coffee would get his head sorted before approaching her. Yesterday he knew he wasn’t in the right frame of mind after meeting Rong Sleazy Cai, so had avoided her to get his s**t together. Even with school starting this was an early hour for her and he had hoped to delay any interaction until he was more awake.

“Morning.” He faltered, aware how nervous he felt at seeing her. His insides doing a loop de loop. He knew he had to talk things out with her on the drive to school without fail and was not looking forward to having to share his head mess with her. He needed to apologize to her. That was a given.

“Morning.” She returned his greeting with a soft distant tone and didn’t look his way, instead sticking her head into the refrigerator to find some snacks for her bag. Immersed in packing her premade lunch and ignoring him.

“You look pretty. Why are you getting ready so early? Don’t you start class at eighty thirty?” YuZhi walked to the nearest counter and leaned his elbows down on it to give her space in the kitchen, watching her intently, sensing she was closed off and not her usual sunny self. His mood sank lower knowing this was going to be difficult.

“I’m meeting Linlin for an hour before I need to be there. I’ll get out of your hair. Have a good day.” She responded in a polite and tight tone and closed the door before swinging her bag up and moving on.

“Tang, wait.” He stood up as she slid out of the kitchen and headed to the main door without glancing at him once. “I’ll drive you, give me a minute to change.” He pleaded, panicking that he was losing out on the chance to fix things between them, and it would follow him all day until he collected her later. He couldn’t handle another full day of knowing she was mad at him.

“It’s fine. It’s a ten-minute walk, longer by car.” She shrugged and moved to the outer hall to put her shoes on, brushing him off. She was internally all over the place and looking to escape his presence. Nervous, uptight around him, and her face was slowly turning pink.

“Please. I have something to say to you.” He stood firm, lifting his hands, palms out, in a ‘wait for me’ gesture and then turned and hightailed it to his room to get ready.

TangShi sighed heavily and slumped back against the hall wall, looking up to the ceiling in a ‘help me, god’ hopeless gesture. Aware she was not ready for any kind of heart to heart and afraid of what he might say. She had been nervously pensive for days, expecting him to return to the cold and aloof mean guy of their early days. Her gut was telling her that’s what this was.

YuZhi got ready in record time, hauling on a fresh tee over jeans and racing back into the kitchen area with trainers in hand. His heart racing from the exertion and yet aware his palms were clammy because he knew this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation. He wasn’t one to lay things out in the open or ever say sorry in this way, so this was a first.

TangShi stood up quickly, pulled her bag onto her shoulder and walked out before him, making sure to show him no hint of her emotional turmoil. To him, she was a picture of calm and disinterested.

They made their way to the elevator and quietly stood as it came to their floor as if neither knew how to start this conversation. A heavy quiet stretching between them that highlight their awkwardness. Once inside YuZhi exhaled heavily and glanced her way, realizing her bag looked heavy and took it from her automatically.

“Let me. Look…. Tang, I …… I know I have been a total jackass these past few days.” He cleared his throat with a subtle cough, pulling her bag onto his shoulder and hating how she stood staring ahead with an unreadable blank expression. It gave him a hint on how it must feel to be on the other side of it and he didn’t like it at all.

“Hmmm.” She responded with a non-response as they reached their floor. She didn’t give him a chance to carry on and walked out at speed, looking for the usual black four by four, or his sports car.

“Over there.” YuZhi caught her by the elbow and guided her, not letting go, aware of how much he had missed touching her these past days. Her warmth and closeness making his stomach tighten and his heart ache as her familiar perfume and scent invaded his senses and it felt like coming home. TangShi had a unique smell, and it was up there with fresh baked cookies and hot apple pie.

They made their way to the car in silence once more before he opened her door and settled her in, walking around to get in the driver side. Starting the car and moving in a bid to get going fast and be able to feel more at ease at talking to her. He hoped with the road as a focus the words might slide out with less stress.

“I’m sorry, Tang. For the last few days and disappearing on you, being distant. Not communicating.” He blurted it out in a fit of nerves, hoping doing it fast would be like pulling a band aid off and glanced her way for a sign of a facial reaction. He got nothing but her calm and blank gaze out the windscreen. Making his guts tumble around in antsy nerves.

“It’s fine.” She uttered in response. Her tone empty. Not sure what else she should say.

“It’s not fine. You didn’t deserve me treating you that way and you did nothing wrong that warranted me blanking you. Believe me, I’m sorry, and it won’t happen again. I needed headspace to figure some things out.” He rambled on, filling the space and silence with words and hoping it sounded sincere.

“I get it. You don’t have to explain.” TangShi deflected again closing him out and not willing to get involved in a topic that might make her cry.

“Don’t be like this.” YuZhi reached out impulsively and stroked her cheek with his thumb, wounded at her not interacting and relating all the more how shitty it must have been for her that he did this exact thing. It brought it home and sobered his mood. “I want to explain. Can I at least do that?”

“Whatever.” TangShi flinched at his unexpected touch, and it rattled her that he was back to being affectionate. It had been missing and it made her chest ache with oncoming tears. TangShi had been listening to Linlin a lot these past days, on how not to cave and go running back to forgiveness and being a pushover, especially where YuZhi was concerned and was trying so hard to conceal her emotions. Linlin was furious at him.

YuZhi sighed and gripped the wheel, slowing at a red light in traffic and tapping his thumb on it in agitation. His thoughts scrambling in what to say to her to make this right.

“I freaked out. I was confused about how I could cross that line with you, guilty over forgetting Rhea in that moment, being able to do that and not knowing how to cool things between us and take it back. I over reacted.” He again glanced her way and saw the tiny waiver in the corner of her mouth as she turned away to stare out her own side window and avoid him. TangShi’s heartbeat had elevated, and her stomach was tensing from the rawness of her own emotion. Feeling herself caving because he was being the YuZhi she loved and not the distant jerk.

“I thought if I went to Hong Kong on a business trip and gave us a few days apart, we could forget and carry on as before. I realize now that I ran away….. and I hurt you. Tang, I’m sorry. I was a coward, but you have to understand that since my parents died I have avoided any kind of emotional conflict in my life this way and never had the courage to deal with it head on. I don’t do feelings and complications very well.”

“Then how do you manage to run a business like Leng group if you just run away from problems?” She snapped at him, finally angered into a reaction by the way his words were cutting her soul. Feeling like he was making lame excuses for wounding her.

“I’m not like this when it comes to work. I’m a problem solver and fearless because it’s something I know how to deal with. You….me….. I don’t even know how to define us.” He moved off again following the ongoing traffic as the lights finally changed and spotted Linlin’s car parked over by a trendy café, so he pulled into the nearest spot and parked up without turning the engine off. TangShi noticed the bright orange VW too and pulled her seatbelt off, ready to escape, but YuZhi caught her wrist and pulled her to him.

“Tang, come on. Please don’t leave until we figure this out and you believe how sorry I am.” He pleaded, holding her wrist and adding a second hand to it to cradle her, in a sign he wasn’t letting her go yet. He felt desperate and this was from resolved.

“I believe you. You’re sorry, won’t happen again, neither will a kiss. I get it. There’s nothing left to say.” She shrugged it off, shaking her hand to be free and then giving up when he refused to budge. In a way YuZhi was kind of proud of her for standing up to him and not being too easy to win round. This is the side of her he encouraged but it sucked to be on the receiving end.

“I’ll make it up to you. Dinner, movies, flowers, jewelry, whatever you want. Please can we just go back to how we were. I miss you.” It was the most honest he had ever been concerning his feelings with any woman, aware he had never uttered anything like that to Rhea in all these years, nor tried to bribe her with dates or gifts to win back her favor. When he fought with Rhea she was always the one who had to come groveling to him no matter the issue. He always knew he was cold and fights never affected him, or so he thought, until now.

TangShi paused; took a moment to exhale, to calm her anxiety, slowing her thoughts and inner chaos and she turned to him finally with a stubborn set to her jaw.

“What about Rhea? Are you going to tell her or should I?”

She knew this was a burning question with drama attached but she was willing to take the fallout. After all in her head, she did something wrong even if it wasn’t at the time Rhea thought it was.

“No. For now, we’re not. It will only make things worse, and she doesn’t need to know. I am trying to keep her, and I separate for the next two years and then I’ll deal with all the fallout when our contract is up. It was a moment… caught up in a romantic date, memories. It was nothing.” YuZhi had told himself this repeatedly over the last few days and he almost believed it now. TangShi narrowed her eyes at him and then relented.

“I don’t want to be mad at you anymore. I don’t want to fight.” She softened and his familiar TangShi’s sweet girl expression returned, her eyebrows dipping slightly as she frown, and he slid his hand from her wrist to her fingers and held them gently. The urge to smooth out her brows made him smile.

“Friends again?” he tugged it into his lap and held it there, so she had to look him in the eye. Nestling her finger sin his palm, aware how much he missed the feel of her small hand in his and the soft warmth of her skin.

“I guess. Are you coming in to eat with me? It’s early and you have time.” She nodded towards the café across the street, knowing Linlin could probably see them from here as she was at a window seat. It felt like her version of extending an olive branch and YuZhi understood it. He was crazy glad.

“Uh uh, not if I want to live. I know Linlin is gunning for me, Zheng already prewarned me. Buy her a lot of good things on your card, bribe her for me. Tell her I’ll take us all out to dinner this week, somewhere expensive, if she doesn’t maim me.” He jested, impulsively leaning in with his free hand to stroke a stray hair back off her temple, behind her ear to join her ponytail. Warmed by how good if felt to be like this with her again. All felt right in his world once more.

“Okay. I guess I’ll see you after school.” She blushed, her mood improving by the second and forgiveness leaching out. She could never stay mad at any one and somehow the sun was shiner brighter in her little world now YuZhi had spoken to her and wiped it all clean. She knew she was too easy and Linlin would berate her for giving in too soon, but this felt better than the last depressive days.

“I’ll come back for you in an hour and take you to school. I told you I would.” He added, mentally visualizing that asshole Rong Cai and not willing to back down where he was concerned. He would show up morning and evening for Tang to show that guy he was a permanent fixture and not willing to share. He didn’t trust him at all.

“Okay.” She smiled brightly, a true and genuine one and he grinned back, aware how much lighter he felt at seeing it. Satisfied she wasn’t upset anymore.

As she went to turn and get out YuZhi gave her one last tug by the hand and yanked her into his arms for an impulsive hug. Needing it more than ever after the agony of Hong King and half torturing his mind to hell and back. He squeezed her around the upper arms and nestled his cheek against hers for a few seconds, letting her relax before finally releasing her with a rub on top of her head. Back to being his normally affectionate self with her.

“An hour. Don’t tell Linlin because she may lay in wait or mow me down with her car.” He jested, letting her go as he watched her pick up her bag and slide out. A smile fixed on her pretty face as she waved his way and walked around the front to cross the quiet street. YuZhi watched her until she safely made it to the other side and then disappeared in the door before putting his hands on the wheel again. Happy, lighter, and yet he still had a lingering headache.

One problem was resolved, the important one, and yet the next was to return Rheas call, and answer her about the three of them having dinner to clear the air. Rhea was looking to grovel, and his guilt was gnawing at him over it.

He would ask TangShi in an hour, knowing this hadn’t been the right timing. Rhea wanted the air cleared and TangShi back as her sweet public friend, and YuZhi wanted everyone to find some kind of peaceful middle ground, even if technically they had done exactly what Rhea was pissed over in the first place.