Take My Breath Away

Avoiding Gus, Debbie found a quiet corner and sat down, looking blankly into the distance. She was immersed in deep thoughts. 'What's Carlos doing right now? I've been away for a few days. Has he been missing me?'

Since she was on a trip far away from the city, Debbie had left her diamond ring behind.

"Debbie."

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by a voice again and she snapped back into reality.

Debbie turned to look at the person and gave him a friendly smile. "Hi, Gregory." Gregory had helped her several times in the past few days and she felt the need to be polite to him though she did want to stay alone and allow herself to indulge in Carlos' memories.

Gregory sat down next to Debbie. "Why are you sitting here alone? Are you feeling cold?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"No, I'm okay."

She thought about her quarrel with Carlos a few days ago, so she wasn't in the mood to talk much. Gregory was a man of few words, so he didn't know what to say next either. Awkward silence filled the air.

He unwittingly stole glances at Debbie, who had loneliness written all over her face. Finally, he broke the silence and asked, "Debbie, you look upset. What happened?"

"Oh...Um... It's nothing, really." Not knowing how to explain what had happened, Debbie gave him an embarrassed smile and then suggested quickly, "Let's go and find the others!" Being alone with someone who had nothing in common with her made Debbie feel uncomfortable.

Gregory stood still, watching his favorite girl walk away from him. He had a lot of questions for her, but they were all stuck in his throat.

He wanted to ask her about her relationship with Carlos. But he knew that he wasn't in a position to ask such a private question. Left with no choice, he hurried to catch up with her to find their other schoolmates.

On their way, they bumped into Gail, who was complaining to another girl about how dirty the village was. She was telling the girl that she was afraid of catching some infectious disease.

Debbie had been hearing Gail's constant complaint ever since the day they had arrived at Southon Village. Every time she felt like rambling, she would complain to the same girl. But in front of others, she would pretend to be tender and sweet.

And once again, Debbie got to witness Gail's instant change in character. A boy approached Gail and called her name while she was talking to the other girl. She instantly stopped wearing her long

bie had asked, he said in a haste, "Rest assured, Debbie. I'm not petty enough to try and get even with a girl. I'm going back now."

He quickly turned around and ran into the courtyard of one of the villager's house.

Soon after Gregory left, Jared showed up and slowly walked towards her. With obvious worry in his eyes, he shouted, "Debbie, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you since noon. Why are you just standing here? Aren't you cold? There's a stove inside the house. Come and warm yourself up."

Debbie sniffled lightly. She felt touched by what all her friends did for her.

Gregory had defended her in front of Gail and now Jared was worried about her health. But somewhere in her heart, she felt like something was lacking. She wondered what it was.

But she soon realized what she had been missing.

When Debbie was close enough to him, Jared whispered, "Hey, I got some interesting news for you. Mr. Huo had apparently arranged for someone to tell the village head to give you special care. Did you know about this? Okay, no need to answer that. I just saw a huge question mark pop up on your face. You had no idea, did you? Your husband is really warm and caring." Jared was so envious of Debbie at that moment. She had received some electric appliances to keep warm at night, but he had nothing. He only had a man to sleep together with in the same bed to keep warm, yet, the man wouldn't allow Jared to hug him.

Debbie blinked her eyes, unable to process the information. "Who told you this?" She had no idea at all. She couldn't believe that Carlos' influence could reach such a remote village.