Hello, Mr Li: The Christmas Trip

Heya battled within herself, thinking whether it was best to invite Ning Shirong to join her family's Christmas getaway. Although he was her boyfriend, she wasn't sure about introducing him to her family just yet. They had met 11 months ago and began to date 2 months later. She loved him, but knew deep down that she wasn't in love with him, probably why she was still indecisive. She wasn't sure inviting him was a good idea. Besides, she felt he wasn't that into her too.

So when her aunt had asked whether she had any special 'friend' she would like to invite to join the trip, she had said she was going to think about it and give them an answer tonight so they could secure the rooms for the guests the following morning.

Her meeting tonight was going to determine her answer. If he already had plans for Christmas, she won't bother raising the issue. But if he didn't, maybe she would just tell him about it?

Li Heya was very self conscious so before she got to the restaurant, she pulled over to touch up her make up. When she was comfortable with how she looked, she stopped in front of the fancy restaurant and handed her car key to the valet who took her car. 

She had driven down there from the hotel where she had met the family so she was still wearing the same outfit which thankfully, didn't make her look out of place as she stepped inside the restaurant. She had been there before but it was a really long time ago. The interior had obviously been redecorated over the years and for some reasons, she didn't like how different it looked. It made her feel like everything and everyone was progressing except for her.

"Li Heya." She informed the waitress who led her to their table. 

It wasn't surprising that Ning Shirong wasn't there despite calling her an hour earlier to remind her about their date.

She waited for five minutes before a tall man in his early thirties, athletic and really handsome, sauntered inside the restaurant with a bouquet of flower in hand. 

"Compliments of the season darling. It's so good to see you again after a month." He said before he leaned towards her to kiss her cheek, then he handed her the flowers. 

"You are late," She said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and dropped the flower on the table, "again."

"Apologies. Something came up. Why didn't you order?" He asked as he sat down opposite her. 

"I wasn't sure how long I was going to wait until you arrived. Just in case... you know?" She shrugged. 

He seemed to get her silent message and reached out to touch her right hand which was on top of the table.

"I'll do anything to make it up to you. Just name it." He offered.

She finally smiled genuinely. "How about... a good Christmas dinner. I miss your cooking."

He looked a bit surprised by her request and sat up. "Christmas dinner? Aren't we spending Christmas with your family?"

"My family?" It was her turn to be surprised. It seemed he had really hoped to meet her family. He had been pushing for it for a long time but she kept putting it off. He probably thought Christmas was the best time to meet her family. 

"What's with the look? Didn't you mention your entire family usually have a Christmas party together? Oh yea! How did the meeting go? Where are we all heading to this year?"

We?

"Babe." She touched her forehead. "I think... it's still too sudden to meet my fam—"

"What? Too sudden? We have been dating for eight months! Eight months, Li Heya. You've met my family and they adore you—"

She tried not to roll her eyes at that. After her first encounter with a boy which didn't go down well, she had a hard time trusting people. So even though she loved him and believed he loved her too, she had a feeling her family didn't. They probably liked her because of her family and it was obvious whenever they were together, her family was all they ever talked about. 

"Can we talk about this after Christmas?" Heya pleaded.

"After Christmas?" Anger flashed in his eyes. "Why don't you want me to meet your family?"

"Babe—"

"Alright. At least I can meet your older brother right? Come on, don't do this to me, I've waited a long time for this."

Heya looked at him with disbelief but quickly recovered and asked, "You have some kind of business plan or idea you want to share with him?

"How did you —" He shut up when he saw the frown on Heya's face. 

'Please tell me he haven't been fooling me.' She pleaded in her head. She had gone through this more than she could count. She prayed it wasn't the same case of dating her just because they were trying to get to her family. 

"Baby.." He took her hand and kissed the back before looking up at her with puppy eyes.

"You know I missed you a lot. I just want to spend the rest of the season with you."

Heya watched him carefully. Her heart was beating really fast as doubt began to creep in. 

Maybe she should ask the question that had been eating her up for a while now. She had been too scared to ask, but she wanted to know the answer now. 

"When we bumped into each other 11 months ago, did you... really not know who I was?"

She got her answer when his eyes twitched guiltily.

"Of course I didn't! Why are you asking me that?" He denied passionately. 

Heya felt her heart break into a million tiny pieces. Once again, she had been played. 

"You are a bastard." She said before standing up. 

"Wait! Is something wrong?" He held her hand, stopping her from leaving the restaurant. 

Heya could see a few eyes watching them since they were standing and kind of creating a scene. 

"I will tell my brother about you." When his face lit up, she added, "But don't you ever call me again." She shook him off and walked away.