Take My Breath Away

As Megan walked away, so did Blair's mind. It began to roam about far and wide and then she could hardly focus on the posts she was browsing on Weibo.

'So Wesley really loves Megan...I should have known!' She didn't know why, but the thought pained her heart, even though she had her suspicions a while back.

On boarding the plane, Blair had bumped into Megan once again when she was walking towards the economy class, located in the back of the plane. Megan was adjusting herself in the first-class cabin. She was surprised to see Blair and asked with a smile, "Blair, are you in first class too? What a coincidence, huh? Uncle Wesley booked a first-class ticket for me too. Are we sitting together?"

Wesley had booked a first-class ticket for Blair when she had first flown to England to begin her studies there. Now she realized it wasn't any special treatment he had given her. He had done the same for Megan. Blair remembered forcing a polite smile and pointing to the crowded economy class, most of the passengers over where, were still unsettled. "No, my seat is in economy. Goodbye, Miss Lan," she said honestly.

During the entire flight, Blair's mind had remained preoccupied with the words that Megan had uttered. 'Wesley said no to my proposal without hesitation because he loves Megan, ' she finally realized.

So he wasn't a good man. If he had Megan in his heart and loved her truly, why had he so actively kissed her?

On coming to know about this side of him, Blair had decided that she would forget Wesley and fall out of love with him.

However, things had taken an unexpected turn. Later on in the South Mountain, she was trapped by the flash floods. When she was facing death, the only name that had popped up in her head was Wesley. In her desperation and potentially, her last moments, she couldn't control herself and had sent him a message, which she had thought would be her last words in the world.

But beyond her expectations, there had been a miracle. He had come to save her life, like a hero falling from the skies. He had brought life back to her, and her love for him was rekindled, crazier than ever.

After that day, their paths had crossed a few more times. And finally, they had even moved into the same apartment. There had been times when Blair had pondered over Megan's words at the airport. She had a feeling that Megan was just trying to drive a wedge between Wesley and her, forcing them to misunderstand each other and draw apart. She had even boldly guessed that maybe Wesley had feelings for herself.

Coming back from the retrospect, Blair smiled bitterly. Such kind of ups and downs and twists and turns in her love life had made her suffer. When she finally calmed down, she looked at Wesley and told him, "Wesley, it took me all this time, but now I know that we're not suitable—" She paused. To make it sound a bit ambiguous, she added, "—for living under the same roof."

'We're not suitable for living under the same roof?'

Wesley's eyes dimmed a little. He asked in his usual stoic tone, "Why?"

"We're from two completely different worlds, Wesley. We have nothing in common." Wesley was a man of few words, and she remained quiet too. In fact, the two of them almost always remained silent when they were alone. But deep down, Blair wasn't really that quiet. She liked to laugh and enjoy. It was just that she was afraid of saying the wrong words and annoying him. She didn't want him to hate her any more than she thought he did, so she chose to remain silent.

Besides, he always treated Megan well and better than her. And regardless of whether it was about love or not, Blair didn't like that. Right now, they were having a quarrel because of Megan once again, and she was sure that it would never end as long as Megan was there.

They'd had a few peaceful moments recently. She had felt good. Even though he only came back home once in some ten-odd days, she still patiently waited for him, with high hopes in her heart. But no matter how good her mood was, Megan would easily ruin it and her hopes.

Blair was no longer the same impulsive girl who had once pled for permission from her uncle to propose to Wesley, and done that in public. She was careful now.

She had grown up over the past years and was a mature person. She wanted to take it easy in matters of love. An unrequited love wasn't in her plans and she would give up a man if she had to.

"What do you mean we have nothing in common? That's ridiculous." Wesley was dumbstruck. The idiot he was in topics of love, he had no idea what was going on.

Blair said nothing, unable to answer his question.

He leaned back in the driver's seat and looked at her, expressionless. He seemed to be pondering over something. When he opened his mouth again, he was speaking English. "Should I communicate with you in English? Should I read 'To Live'—the novel written by Yu Hua—together with you? Should I read it TO you? Or should I cultivate a hobby of collecting all kinds of notepads and notebooks like you do?"

Blair stared at him with eyes wide open in shock as he spoke. She was impressed by his fluency in the language. It was even better than a lot of English majors she had met over the course of her studies. If she hadn't been excellent in English, she wouldn't have understood a single word he was speaking due to his native-like accent.

She fully comprehended his words.

How the hell did he know she was reading the novel "To Live?" And what about her hobby of collecting all kinds of notebooks? How on earth did he know that?

Wesley didn't let her ask all that. He simply put his hands on the steering wheel and when he spoke again, he had changed to Chinese. "It doesn't matter if we have nothing in common. If you don't want to see me, that's fine by me. I will come home less often. And when you have a boyfriend, I'll let your boyfriend take care of you."

'Fine! So that means I must make a boyfriend ASAP. I will!' she swore in her mind.

When this topic was brought up, Blair got even angrier and asked in a hugely sarcastic tone, "So should I go on blind dates now? If I can date someone as soon as possible, I won't be a stumbling block and Megan can come live with you at the earliest."

"This has nothing to do with Megan," Wesley replied patiently. Megan was Megan; Blair was Blair. There was no comparison. He never put the two names together when he had to make a decision.

Blair didn't buy it. She continued to confront him, "Megan told me you two are in love, but you always keep on clarifying your relationship with her. Who should I trust?"

Wesley threw her a sideways glance. "I remember you being sure that I would never tell you a lie. Is that right?"

Blair searched her memory. 'Did I say that? Oh...Damn! Seems like I did say that once. I told him that he was a righteous man and never lied...' she realized.

Now she was out of words. She had been beaten by her own thoughts.

"Can we just go home now?" Wesley enquired.

Blair bit her lower lip. What could she say now, except reply in affirmative? She had wanted to throw up a tantrum in front of him, but it hadn't gone as she expected. She sat up straight in the passenger seat, as if conceding to him. But she still didn't want to give up and said stubbornly, "You saved my life. But I won't behave humbly in front of you just because you're my savior."

As he started the car, he replied coldly, "Yes, I know. It was my job to save you. You don't need to thank me for that."

"Huh? So in your eyes, it's your job and duty to save people, right? So does that mean everyone you save means the same to you?" When she was saying the first sentence, she felt her heart aching for Wesley. He had always made saving and helping people his belief and life's mission. She recalled that he had told her many times he was born to serve the country and its people.

However, when she was saying the second sentence, she felt sad for her own self. He had saved her life twice—her parents' incident and the flash floods. It looked like she was just one of the many people he had saved. And they both knew it: he would spare no efforts to save anyone regardless of who it was.

It made no difference to him whether the person in danger was Blair or a complete stranger. It was his duty to dive into death headlong and protect others. This realization upset her very much.

"You're right," he answered. That was the worst part. He didn't try to deny her claim.

At that moment, Blair's heart broke.

After a moment of silence, Blair took a deep breath. She wanted to clarify things. She asked him in a calm voice, "Colonel Li, can you tell me what exactly our relationship is now?"

She was thinking, 'We're not neighbors, we're not friends, and we're not lovers. Then what are we to each other?'

Wesley was concentrating on driving the car and didn't answer; she didn't press him. After a while, he finally seemed to come to a decision and told her, "Good friends."

'Good friends? Screw you! What kind of good friends will kiss each other so passionately? Pressing me up against a car!'

Blair was nearly angered to death by this idiot and his idiotic response.

Oblivious to their problems, the car sped smoothly along the city road. Blair closed her eyes and leaned back against the seat. She decided against speaking to him before they arrived at the apartment. The longer they were on the road, the slower would be his responses because his mind would be on the car.

She soon felt the car slow down. She opened her eyes to look at the road and there weren't any traffic lights in front of them.

She tilted her head to look at Wesley. The man kept throwing glances at the front right while maneuvering the car carefully.