Chapter 20 - The budding feeling of ownership.

As he disconnected the call, Liqin said, "It's my turn now. They will get the dinner to the room."

"All right. Who was it on the call?"

Liqin turned around and responded, "Bao confirmed the truth with aunt Roulan, and it is just as we found it out to be."

Jia dried her hair and said, "Then that is self-explanatory. You take a bath, and come."

As he walked into the bath, he heard a knock on the door and heard the room service bring in the dinner for them.

Jia waited for Liqin to join in. He came out from the bath with a bathrobe; his hair still wet with water dripping from them, and said, "Wow my tummy is craving for dinner."

Jia was dumbstruck for a while at his jaw-dropping wet look, and murmured to herself, "You look like dinner to me."

Her statement did not miss the ears of Liqin, who smiled, got up, and walked up to her, held her tightly with his arms, and said, "I heard something about dinner. Jia wolf, please don't eat me."

He then shook his head hard, and the water droplets sprinkled all over her face.

She suddenly felt warm as his hands held her by the shoulder, and stood admiring him, as he kept smiling at the obvious affirmation, that the feelings, were, maybe mutual.

Blushing at the thought of being caught red-handed, she quickly responded, "You will fall ill with, that wet hair of yours."

She then picked up the towel, and dried his wet hair, and said, "Go dress, and come for dinner."

He walked into the dressing room, and changed, and came.

As she opened the dinner, that was brought, she said, "You sure, do know what I like. I don't know how I will ever survive without you."

He walked in, in a midnight blue night suit, and said, "You don't need to. I will always be there with you."

They just had finished their dinner, when the bearer came to pick up the cutlery back.

Liqin walked to the couch and said, "I will sleep on the couch, you take the bed."

Jia held her hand out and said, "You don't need to do that. I can trust you amongst, all the men on earth. It is a huge bed, and it can fit four people at a time. No worries about space."

Liqin walked to her held her hands and said, "Are you sure, that you can trust me. What if I turn out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing?"

Jia smiled coquettishly, and said, "Then I will turn into a lion in sheep's clothing. Now go to bed."

She pushed him to the other corner of the bed and lay down.

Jia had slept through the journey to Zhuhai and was wide awake now. Liqin had turned his back towards her and slept off.

"Where do you plan to go tomorrow?"

As there was no response, she bent down to see whether he had slept. His eyes were already closed in deep sleep. She continued to gaze at his glowing face, and thought, "Even in his sleep he has an attractive, charming smile."

She bent and was about to place a peck on his cheek when he abruptly turned. In a moment, she lost her balance, fell on him, and the peck, that was supposed to land on his cheek landed on his soft lips.

Startled, his eyes opened and met hers with their lips locked with each other. He tightly held her arms, and turned around with her under him, and looked into her eyes with his deep twinkling eyes, and asked, "What were you up to?"

She laughed in her heart, and thought to herself, "He was the only one who could break the bubble of a romantic moment like this, with his untimely questions."

She pushed him aside abruptly, got up, and sat on the bed.

She turned away, gestured with her arms, and reacted as her arms slowly traced their way back to her lips, "Well, I was just checking, whether you had slept, when you turned abruptly resulting in that—Well let's sleep." She did not dare to complete the sentence.

Liqin let a naughty smile, and quickly picked up where she had left, and said, "Resulting in what?"

"Were you taking advantage of this poor kid?"

She looked at him embarrassed, and said in anger, avoiding any form of eye contact, "Of course not. How on earth could you imagine me taking advantage of you? You better stop letting your imaginations run on a wild goose chase."

He tilted his head, smiled, and replied, "It's wrong for me to imagine, but it's justified for you to act upon. Wow!"

That was the last she could take, and she picked up the pillow and started hitting him.

He first defended with his hands, and then picked up his pillow, and retaliated.

After a while, the battle ended with laughter, and they lay down on the bed looking at the ceiling engrossed in deep thoughts.

Liqin broke the silence, and asked her, "What are your requirements for a life partner?"

Jia got irritated at the question, and said angrily, "I am not sure. Let us get to bed."

She quickly closed her eyes, acting asleep, to avoid any further confrontations.

In the morning, as the sunrays, shone into their room, Liqin was the first to wake up. He turned towards the sleeping beauty in his bed and stared at her.

He removed the hair, that covered her faced, and bent down to kiss her lips, but moved away, and acted like he was asleep, as her hand moved. Unknowingly as she moved, she placed her head on his shoulder, and her hands covered him in an embrace.

He lay there in silence enjoying the bliss of the moment, and wanting time to stand still at this moment.

After a while, Jia opened her eyes and was surprised at her position. She immediately got up, brushed her hair with her hands flustered, shook her head, and walked into the washroom.

After she left, he woke up sat on his bed, and called for room service for the coffee. He called Jack in the adjacent room, to be ready by nine o'clock in the morning, to leave for the Chimelong water resort.

By the time the attendant came with the coffee, Jia had come back. He then, got up from the bed and opened the door for the attendant, thanked him, and left for a bath.

He came out dressed to kill in a deep blue casual jeans, and a white cotton shirt. He drank the cup of coffee, and said, "I will go down, and wait near the restaurant area. You get dressed up, and come down."

"I have already done the booking yesterday for the water resort, and aquarium to be visited today. Pack up your swimsuits in the bag of mine. I have already packed mine."

Jia was impressed, let out a smile, and thought, "Liqin had always been very disciplined and punctual, more so because of the fact, that he had been orphaned since childhood, and had the responsibility of his grandfather to shoulder since high school. I had always been a shoulder, for him to pour out all his fears and woes throughout. He seems pretty mature now."

She picked up her clothes and thought as she changed, "I never had the courage to open up my feelings to him and tell him, that I had loved him since high school, and not shared my feelings with him, because of the fear of losing a friend. He never shared his sorrows with anyone, other than me, nor ebbed in sympathy over his fate."

Her blushed face seemed to reflect her deep thoughts, "His smile and twinkling eyes covered all his pain, and grief. I had long decided, that I would never leave his side no matter what happens."

She stood before the mirror with the comb in her hands, as it brushed through her hair and thought to herself, "Time is running short. If I do not share my feelings with him now, I may never get a chance again."

She sat down for a while and pondered, "What if he rejects me? What if I am not his type? Will I lose a friend in search of love?"

She shrugged the thought, and told herself, "Anyway I will not get a chance to be his friend forever, once he finds a girlfriend. No girl would allow her boyfriend to have another girl as his packaged deal for life. I will not allow, that myself."

She paced up and down the suite and took a decision, "I have to confess soon, no matter what happens. What happens after that, can be taken care of, as, and when they happen. It is decided then. There's no turning back on that."

Liqin was waiting in the restaurant for her, and thought, "I cannot seem to kill time without her. It seems like ages."

He had looked at his watch at least ten times, before she walked in a stone-grey Capri jean, coupled with a knitted sequined T-shirt. Her long hair was tied in a pony.

"Wow! She looks splendid even in casuals. There is none, that had found a place in my heart, since the time I realized the beauty and joy of love and companionship. She and she alone sat enthroned in my heart, without me even knowing about its ownership being transferred to her already.

Sometimes, the one who is captivated by the joy of being lost in companionship, is not even aware of the feeling, of having his or her heart, and soul, lost to another. Such is the joy of companionship. that it yearns, and desires for nothing else, other than the presence of their loved one. Time and place do not matter to the one whose heart is ruled by love."

He shook his head and further thought, "Wow! Now I have become a philosopher too."

He smiled, at the thought, "These few days have seemed to bridge the distance between our hearts, thoughts, and feelings. She seems closer than ever."

It strengthened his resolve to be committed for life as she joined him.

He picked the bag from her hand, moved the chair for her to sit. They then ordered for the breakfast.

Post breakfast, Jack brought the car to the entrance, and they headed first towards the Chimelong water resort.