Hearts Will Remember

Chapter 2

Telling himself to get a grip, he put his phone back on his ear and told Mark that he will take care of his sister's call and hung up. Then he noticed a business card lying on the floor under the woman's table. She must have dropped it while getting up to leave. He picked up the card and looked at it without reading its contents. In the years he has lived in NY, he has never showed more than a passing interest in women. He has dated here and there, but more for business functions than for romantic reasons. Shaking his head at his strange behavior, he put the card on his pocket and sought out Mrs. Liu to pay his bill.

Deciding to do some work at home, he told Xian to drive him to The Plaza. In the elevator on his way up to his penthouse, he wondered what Zhuang wants. He has not talked to her in a month and he hoped she was not calling him with yet another demand from his mother to come back to London. When he decided to leave the Dao Ming Group and London 4 years ago to start his own investment firm in New York, his mother was very angry and could not accept his decision. He was the successor to the Dao Ming business empire and was expected since his birth to take over the business when he came of age. And he did.  For a couple of years, he worked in their London office and took over his mother's position when she retired.

He often wondered if he would still have defied his mother if his life trajectory had not changed ten years ago.  When he had that accident and severely hit his head, causing him to forget a whole year of his life. Although he completely recovered from the injury and has been in perfect health for the past 9 years, he never regained the 1 year he lost.

After his physical recovery in London, he earned his MBA degree and officially started working at DMG. His mother was still President and CEO when he was appointed VP. He worked alongside Zhuang's husband, Gao Lung, who was also made VP after he married Zhuang. He liked Lung and thought he was a hard worker and knew the ins and outs of the business. Together with Lung and armed with some fresh ideas, they were able to help his mother prevent the hostile takeover that some of her business rivals were plotting against DMG during a crisis caused by over expansion and poor management in some of their hotels. When Dao Ming Feng decided to retire 2 years after Si came on board, he took over his mother's position as CEO. He then appointed Lung as President. They worked very well together and increased the company's value under their leadership.

Work kept him busy with little time for himself or to think too much about the accident and what he lost. But there were always times when intense loneliness would hit him and he felt very disconnected from his life. It bothered him that he still has not regained his memories after 5 years. His doctors had advised him to let his memories come back on its own instead of forcing himself to remember because of what happened before, but he felt that he could never truly move on or heal completely until he does.

Five years ago, he made a decision that once again changed the direction of his life.  He called his friends who were away from Shanghai at the time and told them that he wanted to come back home so he could try again and get his memories back. Lei, Ximen and Meizuo were hesitant to go with his plan, and for good reason. Shortly after his accident while recovering from a London hospital, they tried to help Si remember the events leading to the accident. It proved to be too much for him. His system shut down and he went into a coma for almost a month.

He brushed them off.  He insisted that he was physically and mentally ready. Knowing he could not be deterred, they agreed meet up in London before heading back to Shanghai.  Si knew they would try to talk him out of it but he was determined.  Besides, it would be the first time in a long time that all four of them could be together at the same time. As years passed, each of them became busy with their own individual pursuits.

Lei has gone on to become a successful performance artist and was always on the road doing solo performances or as a guest performer. Ximen expanded his family's tea business and travelled all over the world making deals to get his teas in as many markets as possible. Meizuo decided to branch out from the traditional family business. With Lei as a silent business partner, he went into artist management specializing in performing arts. They now have a stable of artists in different disciplines including concert artists in piano, violin and saxophone, dance and music ensembles, an orchestra and theater actors and actresses. Over the years, each would come to London for business and visit with Si, but the matter about the lost year was never discussed.

Si had his driver pick them up from the airport and brought straight to his office since he was wrapping some things up before his leave. He was bringing them to dinner at his favorite restaurant in Chinatown. He has not been back to the restaurant since before he started college in Mingde.

"Ah Si, are you sure the restaurant is still there?"  Lei looked tired from the flight and probably would be happier sleeping it off than going out to eat.

"Yes, I am sure", he answered. "I had my assistant check. Come on, lets go. This is the first time all four of us are together in years and I want to go out and have dinner together like before". Looking at his friends gathered in his office, he felt calmer and a little lighter after months of feeling in a state of limbo. He got up from his desk and everyone followed him out the door.

Si's driver dropped them off at the restaurant and he led them inside. Mrs. Yue saw him when entered the door and gasped.

"Ah Si! Oh my goodness, you are here! I have not seen you in so long! Come in, come in", Mrs Yue exclaimed as she led them to an empty table.

"Mrs. Yue, it is so good to see you as well. These are my very good friends from back home in Shanghai, Lei, Ximen and Meizuo. They just arrived and I brought them here so they can taste your delicious food", he explained.

"Ah, that is great. And its also wonderful to see you a little happier than the last time you were here. It was too bad you and your girl had to separate because you obviously loved each other very much".  Hearing Mrs. Yue's words, a buzz suddenly hit his brain and he flinched. He was about to ask her what he meant when a kitchen staff called her saying they needed her urgently in the kitchen. Making her excuses, she called one of the waiters to handle their orders. In a daze, Si looked at his friends who seemed to be frozen in their seats.

Meizuo was the first to recover. "Ah Si, how are you alright? You look like you are in pain. This is why we are not sure you are ready to remember. I am just concerned what happened before will happen again. It was very bad that time. The doctors cannot explain why you had such a violent reaction just from hearing about...", he hesitated.

"About a girl?!" he exclaimed. "A girl who must be so important that I brought her here before the accident and Mrs. Yue thought we were in love?!" He became more agitated and the pounding on his head was getting stronger.

"Who is she?"  He looked at his friends pleadingly. It felt like knowing about this girl would be the breakthrough he needed to finally unlock his memories.

Lei looked at him intently. "Ah Si, yes, there was a girl that you met in Mingde during that year you forgot. And something happened to her..."

That was the last part Si remembered before everything around him turned black.