Book 0 of "One Lifetime is Never Enough".
A chance encounter. Or was it really?
Lee Tanaka was a young man at the peak of his life. Smart, good-looking, great career in a growing law firm, with a good personality to boot, he was the perfect man.
Hi...
To his surprise, and delight, Mia did not pull away from him. He knew that she must be aware of his growing feelings for her, but she hardly touched on the subject.
Lee did not want to push it further either. He was too scared the young woman would just up and leave him in the dust. He would rather wait.
He didn't care that he was four years younger and Mia was probably just amusing herself with this relationship, treating him like she would to a younger brother.
Over the next few weeks, they actually went out a few times together - sometimes with James; sometimes with both Jet and James;
Luckily no Sandra.
His favorite outings were when there was only the two of them. Mia was bright, very career oriented, and she gradually opened up and talked about her work and family. Lee shared about his own family background to her.
Mia loved horror movies. Lee - not so much. But he survived through the two Conjuring movies and the Insidious trilogy, because that meant he could go to the cinemas to watch both franchise' latest installment with her. God knew the nightmares he had been having after he watched those movies. Thankfully, every nightmare ended with his savior - Mia Simmons - appearing as a wonderful inclusion in his dream.
In fact, he had been having those kind of dreams lately. A lot. His laundry machine had been working on overdrive as he had to constantly change his bedsheets.
Both of them loved sci-fi, and they had a lot fun discussing who would win if Marvel and DC were to be pitted together. Mia liked Deadpool, Lee's favorite character was Iron Man. So both of them were definitely team Marvel.
Iron Man was filthy rich, had a smart-ass tongue, and was one of the strongest characters. What's not to like?
As he was on his "Pursue Mia Simmons relentlessly" mission, he put James and Jet on the backburner, annoying them to no end as he didn't want to go out on boys' night outs with them anymore.
One day, as they were out together - this time thankfully only the two of them - Mia's phone rang. Its tone was different from normal. In fact, the tone was one that Lee knew very well.
An instrumental version of his own mother's trademark song.
Mia smiled at the screen and gestured at him signalling that she would like to take the call. Lee nodded.
"Mom?" she talked to her phone in Chinese, "Yeah, all good." She nodded subconsciously, acknowledging whatever her mom was saying to her, despite knowing the other side wouldn't be able to see her nod.
"Hmm, work is OK. I'll know by end of the month if I am admitted to the board."
"Yeah, OK. Love you too. Bye."
Mia closed her phone and put in inside her handbag. Lee prompted,
"That song..."
"Oh, it's my ringtone for my mom's calls," Mia grinned, "That's her favorite song."
"We are truly a match made in heaven!"
"My mom's too," Lee said, grinning back at her.
Mia's eyes widened and she laughed heartily. Lee loved her bright unrestrained laugh.
"Chinese mothers and their old songs, right?" Mia chuckled.
Lee nodded, "Yeah, Jet and I practically grew up with her singing that song to us. It's our lullaby. I can't even forget the lyrics even if I wanted to." he grimaced.
Mia blinked, "Well, I don't really know the lyrics myself. I have heard my mother singing it a couple of times, but I hardly see her nowadays, so...", she then had a faraway sad look in her eyes.
Then Mia stomped her feet, "Because, she keeps asking me to bring a husband home!"
"Bring me home, please!"
"I mean, not that I don't want a guy, but these times are the most important times for my career," She pursed her lips, "I have worked so hard for this."
Lee could only stare at her. Mia was most radiant when she talked about her work and the things she was passionate about. Playing house with a husband and children was clearly not in her agenda. At least not now. And Lee wouldn't want to have it any other way.
He had decided, he would wait. For as long as it would take.
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Lee was on video call again with his parents one Saturday morning, his mother chirping happily as usual, and his father just said whatever was necessary. From how they conversed, Lee could assume that Jet had not actually told them about Mia.
"Good. He's not a blabbermouth"
Then his mother started singing again (1)
[Lovebirds resting as a couple, butterflies dancing in pairs;
intoxicated in a garden filled with the beauty of spring]
Lee's lips curled in amusement. This time, he didn't hate the song though. He actually sang along with his mom, inside his mind, following her verses, until finally reaching the end of the song,
[Being close to my lover,
Loving that person, Loving that person,
May we always be together forever in this lifetime.]
He thought he was still humming the tune inside his mind, but when his focus returned to the screen of his phone, he saw both of his parents stared at him weirdly.
"What happened to you?" His dad concernedly asked. This time in English.
English meant business.
"What do you mean?" Lee asked back.
"You actually... sang along," His mom warily spoke - also in English - while looking at him like he was an alien.
"Uh... nothing. Love you, Mom, Dad. Bye."
Just like that, he ran away. And he ignored the incoming calls from his parents afterwards. Soon Jet sent him some Whatsapp messages. Lee stared at the screen, letting his phone ding'ed furiously for a while. Then he sighed and typed his reply before closing it down.
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notes: (1) same song in ch. 0.1, which is the vocalized version of the instrumental video I put here.
