Imperfect Desires

"99 roses?"

Dylan's eyes were glued to his desktop screen where beautiful bouquets of 99 roses were displayed. He had taken Xiu's words very seriously. Now, he was really drawing up his perfect plan to get his girl.

"It represents love forever," he read the caption underneath the pictures and nodded his head before shaking it. "Nah! Cali won't like this grand gesture. Besides, she isn't even very fond of roses." He was having a very thoughtful conversation with him about his next course of action. 

He ruffled in his hair in frustration and crossed everything he wrote on the notepad. Apparently, his brain really stopped working now. This was an even harder job than anything he had ever done! Why was it even more difficult than confessing to her?

*Phone Ringing*

Dylan looked at his phone screen and took the call while yawning, "What's up, Dazi? How come you're calling me at this time of the night?"

Since Darren could hear the laziness in his voice, he replied, "Were you sleeping?"

"Nope! I'm still at the office."

"Office?" Darren looked at his wristwatch and frowned, "It's quarter to 11 o'clock." He was really surprised to hear that Dylan was at his office 'till this time. That was rare. "When did you become so diligent?"

"When you want to control your love life, you need to have two things; diligence and confidence!"

Darren was kinda speechless as he asked, "And which wise person said that to you?"

"Your girlfriend," answered Dylan with a burst of laughter. Darren rolled his eyes and shook his head with a smile. Okay! He got it! He had two dumbly adorkable people in his life. Hearing Darren sighing, Dylan continued, "By the way, bro, I have a question. May I?"

"You can spout so much nonsense but need permission now to ask a question?"

Dylan ignored his tone of voice as he continued, "I'll take that as a yes then." He took a deep breath and spun his rotating chair in the dark office room as he questioned, "So, I've been wondering. When was the first time Xiu's presence stirred your heart? Like when did you realize she was gonna be dangerous for your heart?"

Darren reminisced back to every single moment he spent with Xiu and replied, "Honestly, I found her very interesting and intriguing from the very beginning."

"I know that. Her weird personality is hard to forget," agreed Dylan without any hesitation. If she hadn't had such kind of a personality why would he be so close to her now? "But I'm asking about that one moment when your heart skipped the beat for the very first time in her presence."

As if Darren's heart and mind worked in sync as the scene from his very first dinner with Xiu flashed in his mind. With a beautiful smile on his lips, he answered, "She was drunk, sad but oddly enthusiastic to play the piano. And when she played the piano and sang in her melodic voice, I knew she was gonna mess with my feelings."

"Is it some kind of a pattern with her?" wondered out Dylan. "Why does she always sing when she's drunk?"

"Not always," replied Darren. "And besides, she has a beautiful voice. I don't mind her singing 24/7."

"Are you bragging that your girlfriend is a multitalented person?" Dylan's voice came out sour because of how he was talking about his girlfriend. 

"Why? Can't I?" retorted Darren but before Dylan could say anything, he went on, "She's extraordinary. And I have all the right to brag about that!"

"Fuck you!" shouted Dylan. "Bro! You can make anyone feel like a single dog!"

Darren only chuckled at his words. 

Although Dylan was annoyed a little bit, he still questioned, "Oh, I almost forgot. Why did you call me? Isn't this your time to hug your wife?"

"Don't be so bitter now Didi just because you don't have a wife to hug."

"Dazi! Get to the point!" Dylan didn't want that stupid idiot of a friend to shove it in his face that he was still single! When Darren stayed silent for a long while, Dylan sensed something odd. "You okay? What's bothering you?"

Darren leaned against the metal railing of the balcony as he looked at the sky and said, "Sweets asked me about dad today."

"Oh..." began Dylan. "So? Just tell her. What's the worry? In fact, you can even bring her to meet your dad. The Xia Capital is only an hour away from An City anyway."

Darren sighed heavily as he continued, "If she was just my Sweets, I won't hesitate. In fact, I'd love to introduce her to dad but..." While Dylan was frowning about this pause, Darren went on, "She's my Ah-Xiu as well."

Dylan's eyes widened as he abruptly stood up and cursed out loud, "I totally forgot about that!"

"So did I," answered Darren. "I had been so absorbed in loving the present her that I almost overlooked the fact that the past her wasn't mine."

"Dazi, what did you tell her then?"

"Nothing for now," said Darren honestly. "I don't know how to say anything to her without reminding her of the past she had been trying to grow out of."

Dylan was lost for words. Was he in a position to give a bit of advice to his best friend? No! He was not! "Dazi, I think you're calling the wrong person for advice. I'm not the wisest one. In fact, just as your girlfriend says, I'm often the dumb one. So..."

"I'm not asking you for advice. I just needed to share this with someone who would understand me. And apart from me, only you know that Bai Xiu is Chen Xiu as well. That's why I called you."

Dylan nodded his head and sat back down looking anxious, "So, what are you gonna do then?" He looked serious as he continued, "You can't probably hide it forever from her. She'll eventually have to learn about your dad and from that, she'll also learn about..." he didn't complete his sentence since he knew his best friend was smart enough to understand his meaning.

Darren thought about it and nodded to himself, "I know that. But currently, she's already having a battle with her own self. I think I should wait at least until she is more stable. Emotionally!"

"Aren't you just running from facing the truth?"

Darren frowned at Dylan's words as he said, "Didi, you're forgetting something... If she learned who my dad is, she'll also learn who your ex-girlfriend is. And what role she played in Chen Xiu's apparent 'suicide'!"

Dylan's heart shook at his words. How could he forget that? His hands clenched until his veins were visible. He was holding his emotions back as he replied, "Looks like you, and I both need to think this over."