The Suspicion

"But this one is different. Mother suspects this man is her boyfriend," Xu Jing argued. At the same time, he grimaced, it felt like the word, 'boyfriend' had taken a piece of his soul from him.

"Yes, but the operative word here is suspects. There is no real evidence," Joann replied before adding, "Furthermore, Sylvia herself said that this is only her colleague and I choose to believe her."

"Joann, if there is a 0.1 percent chance mother is right, we have to take a good, close look at this guy. How dare he dates our daughter behind our backs and staying out so late at night on top of that! Such insolence!"

"I agree you are right… if this is really her boyfriend but how are we to know who is this man if Sylvia does not want to bring him home and introduce him to us? In any case, I still think you should have a little more faith in our daughter. I am sure she know what she is doing."

"Joann, that is where you are wrong. I have full faith in Sylvia but the one I am worried about is this mystery boyfriend of hers. You know how sneaky these men are with their sweet nothings. Let me tell you, the male Homo sapiens are the most dangerous creature in this whole wide world," Xu Jing said as he paced around the room, trying to work the stress out of him.

Out of Xu Jing's sight, Joann rolled her eyes, thinking to herself, 'Aren't you a man yourself?'

Hoping to end this conversation, Joann tossed the final problem back to her husband, "Then, how do you suggest we solve this problem?"

This was hard to resolve because if Sylvia did not want to bring the man back home and clear the air once and for all, there was nothing they could do about it… or at least that was what Joann thought.

Xu Jing though had a different idea in mind. He turned to Joann to ask, "You said Sylvia is currently out with the boy?"

Joann answered, "Yes…" but a bad feeling rose in her gut, "Why would you want to know, what are you planning, Xu Jing?"

"Then, we shall go pay them a surprise visit! That way we can see for ourselves what is really going on!" Xu Jing exclaimed.

That was not a bad idea… if a little disrespectful of their daughter's wishes to keep this affair of hers a secret. However, a problem remained to be solved.

Joann asked, "That might be so but how you do plan to locate them? Call Sylvia and ask? I do not think she will be dumb enough to tell us where she is without getting suspicious."

"Of course, not! I have something better!" Xu Jing said as he pulled out his phone. He tapped furiously on it before explaining to his wife who was looking at him with a curious gaze, "It's like this. I have implanted a tracking app on Sylvia's phone and I will be able to track down her location since it is connected to my phone."

Joann was so shocked by this revelation that she did not even know how to respond. It was quite clear that Xu Jing had done this without any consultation with her and definitely not with Sylvia. Her daughter would not have allowed him to do something like this.

"Xu Jing, you have planted a bug in your own daughter's phone? Isn't that a bit much?" Joann questioned.

"What is so too much about a father being concerned for his own daughter?" Xu Jing challenged. There was such a fire in his eyes and conviction behind the words which left his lips that Joann realized argument would be futile. Xu Jing believed what he said fully.

"Don't say I did not warn you when Sylvia finds out and turns on you."

"I am sure she will understand it. This is a necessary evil. I am just concerned about her." Xu Jing fixed his hair, put on his jacket and grabbed the car key off the table. When he was at the door, he turned back with a frown and asked his wife, "Well, aren't you coming?"

Joann rewarded him with a frown of her own. "You want me to come with you on this wild goose chase?"

"Of course, aren't you worried about our daughter's safety?"

Joann thought about it. Xu Jing had definitely over-reacted but the man had a point. Seeing the man in person would clear up his identity once and for all, and they would not worry about Sylvia for no reason anymore.

Furthermore, in spite of what she told Xu Jing, Joann had to admit that she too was also a little bit interested in the mystery man's identity.

'A late night car ride with fresh air to accompany the witch hunt for our very own daughter's potential boyfriend-slash-colleague…' The thought itself sounded so silly to Joann.

Therefore, it was a surprise to her that the next words that left her lips were, "Alright, let me grab a few of my things and then I will go with you."

Well, one could say that in reality, Joann was not a little bit but a lot interested in the mystery man's identity.

…

On the way to find Sylvia, Xu Jing kept making threats like, "If I find out the man has laid his fingers on Sylvia, I will personally snap his fingers off one by one!" or "How can he approach our Sylvia without even meeting her parents first. I will have to teach him a lesson in manners!" as he navigated the streets.

Sitting next to him, Joann could not help but smile. She had not seen the man so passionate and invested in something since… well, since they were Sylvia's age and Xu Jing was pursuing her.

'No wonder they say the daughter is the father's lover from his previous life,' Joann thought.

As the city lights rolled past them, the silence of the night and the rekindled passion in the man next to her brought Joann down memory lane.