Her Tears

Mei looked out of the helicopter as is approached the airport in Paris. Sitting next to Shun, she was relieved that the flight was short, but as they started to descend, the wind across the airfield suddenly changed and the helicopter lurched sideways. With no time to brace herself, Mei's body jerked violently with the movement before hitting something solid that secured her in place.

"EASY!", she heard Shun command the pilot as his arms held her tightly against his chest.

Mei stopped breathing. Her heart was racing so fast it was in danger of jumping out of her chest.

In Shun's arms she felt safe. A feeling she had yearned for, for such a long time. But as the helicopter levelled out again Shun let go of her abruptly and returned to his normal rigid self. Mei's heart sank and she chastised herself silently for wanting to feel something that she wasn't entitled to. Not when it came to Shun.

The helicopter landed safely and within minutes, they were seated on the Li family's private jet taking off for Shanghai. The flight would be a long one, at least eleven hours or more depending on the flight path and weather. And as usual as soon as the jet climbed to cruising altitude Shun's men supplied him with his laptop and a pile of work-related documents.

Mei sighed softly as she watched the world pass by through her window. Sitting on the Li family jet, while Shun buried himself in work completely ignoring her was like Deja-vu. Nothing had changed in the last four years and she now realised that nothing ever would have, even if she had stayed with him.

"Would you like a glass of wine Mrs. Li?", a young and handsome steward approached her with a smile, holding out a vintage bottle for her to inspect.

"Oh … umm, thank you but I don't drink alcohol", Mei responded. "And I'm no longer Mrs. Li, so you can call me Mei", she smiled sweetly at him.

"You will call her Madam Ren", Shun commanded the steward calmly without looking up from his work.

"Ahh … Yes sir. Of course, sir!", the steward responded to Shun with fright, before giving Mei an apologetic look and retreating to the galley.

"What was that?" Mei asked, annoyed. "There was no need to be so rude. I was simply being friendly".

"My staff are not here to make friends", Shun looked up at her. "You may no longer be Mrs. Li, but they must still address you in a manner that is respectful to me. And since when did you stop drinking?"

Mei looked at Shun with a stunned expression before letting out an incredulous laugh. "Li Shun, I know our marriage wasn't ideal, nor was it something you wanted. But I can't believe that you didn't even notice that little detail about me in the time we were together!"

Shun watched Mei as she leaned back in her seat and turned her head to look back out of the window. She was upset with his question. But why? He looked at the laptop screen in front of him and combed through his memories.

It was true. He now realised that he had indeed never seen her drink alcohol during their marriage. Even on their wedding day she had held onto her full glass of Champagne and made excuses that it would ruin her lipstick if she took a sip after toasting their guests. At the time Shun had simply ignored it as vanity, but perhaps it wasn't.

But then he remembered his credit card bills. Expensive imported wines were a regular on his monthly account, along with other luxuries. And when he came home from work at night, his mother would inform him that Mei had drunk herself to bed. A behaviour disgraceful to the Li family name.

So why was she denying it now? Was it an act? It had to be. Shun was convinced of it. After all she had fooled him for three years with her affair with his brother. He cringed at the memories and quickly pushed them aside, focusing his mind back on the work in front of him. He would not let her deceive him again.

After their brief conversation Mei sat quietly in her seat ignoring Shun. She was indeed upset at him and all the emotions she had felt since Shun literally walked back into her life just hours before started to take a toll on her body. She was tired, and before long dozed off.

The flight took longer than expected and they arrived in Shanghai in the early hours of the following morning. "Mei … Mei", Shun nudged her gently.

He had watched her sleep the entire flight. It was a sight that had both aroused him and disturbed him. She was beautiful when she slept, he had always thought so. And the memory of that brief embrace in the helicopter played havoc on his body.

Against his will he had to admit that Mei still affected him like she had all those years ago. And if they were still married, he would've scooped her up into his arms and taken her to the jet's bedroom whether she needed sleep or not. It disturbed him that for a moment, he wished they still were. And it disturbed him even more when he noticed a single stream of water running down the side of her soft cheek.

For the first time since seeing her again, he wondered what her life had been like during the last four years. Had she been happy? If so, then why was she crying in her sleep? Was she dreaming of something sad? What was it that she was dreaming of?

And then, he realised something that hit him hard. When Mei walked away from their marriage Shun had always assumed that she had done so to be with his brother. He had braced himself countless times for news of their relationship, of the scandal it would cause the Li family. But that scandal never came.

Instead Shun had found Mei alone in a foreign country with no signs of his brother. Had his brother abandoned her and broken her heart? Is that why she had lost so much weight? Is that why she was crying in her sleep? Was she dreaming of him?

Suddenly he needed to protect her. And instead of waking her up, he scooped her into his arms and carried her out of the jet.

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