Glimpses

The Bridge

It was close to dawn, and with every second ticking past, Si and Shancai knew that their time together would be coming to an end. They held hands and stood in silence for a while, watching the majestic night view of London's Tower Bridge. Suddenly, Si tugged at Shancai's hand. "I have one last place to take you" he told her as he pulled her across the street. After a few short minutes, they arrived at a little restaurant. It read "open 24 hours". "This place makes the best pancakes in the whole of London. I know how you love them as the ultimate comfort food, so let's get some before we say goodbye, okay?" Shancai nodded at him, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

They ordered and shared pancakes with maple syrup and chocolate sauce, not talking much. They didn't need to, because the look in their eyes spoke volumes of the words that could not be spoken. Finally, they realised that the time could be delayed no longer. They left the restaurant walking hand in hand,  heading back towards Tower Bridge, which is where they had decided that they would say their final goodbyes.

Si and Shancai walked slowly, trying to make their final moments together as long as possible. They came to the middle of London's Tower Bridge, their fingers entwined in a tight clasp. They had said their goodbyes, and Shancai now slowly untangled her hand from his grasp. He let her go, reluctantly, and after he had felt the warmth of her hand leave his own, he reached out for her, but quickly closed his hand again in a tight fist. She walked away from him, not looking back. Every step she took further away from him felt like a knife stabbing through his heart. He could see in the distance that she brought up her hand to stifle her sobs and he could feel his heart break into a million pieces.

Si put his hand in his pocket and turned away, not bearing to look at her go any longer. After walking a few brisk steps, with tears streaming down his face, he could not take it anymore. As quick as a flash he turned around again and shouted her name "SHANCAI! SHANCAI!!" He couldn't not do it, he thought, he needed to feel her in his arms again, just for one last time.

She came to a standstill, not wanting to believe that he had called out to her. "Could I be dreaming?" she thought to herself. She turned around and she could see him running towards her calling her name "SHANCAI!!!" Before she knew it, she was running to him too, as fast as her feet could take her. They collided back in the centre of Tower Bridge, his arms encircling her in a swooping hug. He embraced her for the longest time, not willing to let her go. Their tears intermingled and she circled her arms around his waist, burying her face in his coat.

From a distance, Daoming Feng watched her son holding the woman he loved in his arms. She had instructed her bodyguards to go out looking for her son after she had furiously discovered that Mrs Yu had let him out, but fearing their incompetency, she had decided to join the search. "Ma'am, should we..." one of them began, but she cut him off. "No, let them be, let's go back. He's my only son, and if he has decided who he should love, I shouldn't interfere any longer. I mustn't make the same mistake as I did with Zhuang," she sighed. The heavily tinted black Bentley then sped off silently through the streets of London.

Back on the bridge, Si held Shancai close. He thought that he only needed one last time to have her in his arms, but as they embraced, he knew that he could never let her go. "Let's go back" he whispered to her. "We'll face my mom together." She was terrified but she nodded her head. "So long as you are by my side, I will find the courage and strength to do this. I can't not have you in my world," Si gazed at her tear-stained eyes which mirrored his own. How could he have possibly thought that he could live and breathe without her? Never again, he thought fiercely. 

As they walked along hand in hand, the sun peeked over the horizon and its rays illuminated the young lovers. For she was his moon, and he, her sun, and for now, nothing could come between them.