Chapter 49 (1/1)

It was past midnight and after reassuring Myolie that she'll be here Charmaine quietly left the bedroom to let Myolie get some much needed sleep.  In another nine hours Myolie would be heading back to the police station for an extensive, detailed statement about what happened.  The initial statement had been brief and disorganized given the emotional state Myolie had been in.  After their talk, Charmaine was confident that Myolie would remain strong and collected when recalling the details on how Ron Ng raped her."How is she?" Kevin asked immediately when he spotted Charmaine coming down the hallway.Charmaine gave him a serene smile, "She's asleep.  She needs her rest in order to give a complete statement at the police station in the morning."Grateful at how Charmaine was able to comfort Myolie whereas he wasn't able to, Kevin said, "Thanks Charmaine for coming.  You don't know how much it means to me.""No need to thank me.  Myolie is also my friend and I want to be here to support her in any way I can."After giving Charmaine a brief nod, Kevin then looked over at Raymond and stood up.  Clapping his hands together he announced, "I'm going to buy some groceries."Charmaine darted a glance at the clock on the wall and exclaimed, "Its almost 1 am, no stores would be opened this late."Grabbing his jacket and keys, Kevin said, "I know a few that are opened twenty-four hours in Kowloon."Stunned by the distance he was willing to travel just for grociers, Charmaine informed him logically, "That's at least a half hour drive from here.  Can't you wait and get it tomorrow morning?"Kevin smiled warmly and answered, "When Myolie gets up I want to fix her a hearty breakfast.  She loves my home cooked meals and that's the only way I can support her at this time.""You're such a sweet boyfriend," Charmaine commented casually but there was no mistaking the admiration shining in her eyes.Kevin chucked her chin and teased, "And to think you gave me up.  Do you regret it now?"Used to his open playfulness since he makes teasing remarks like this all the time, even in front of Myolie, who laughs along with Kevin, Charmaine responded with a soft laugh before pushing him towards the front door.  "Go and hurry back."Without any acknowledgment at Raymond, Kevin left, closing the door quietly behind him.The second Kevin was gone Raymond turned on Charmaine and asked in a crisp voice, "Do you regret breaking it off with him?""What?" Charmaine gasped in surprise by the out-of-nowhere question and her surprise rapidly turned to annoyance.  Giving Raymond a look of indignation she seethed, "Just what are you insinuating?"Resting his hands on his hips, Raymond bit out, "I'm not insinuating anything.  All I asked was a simple question which requires either a yes or no from you.  Well which is it?"Aghast at his behavior, Charmaine turned and headed into the kitchen.  On the way she threw over her shoulder, "I'm not even going to bother answering a ridiculous question like that."Raymond remained in his position and waited for her to return, which she did in a minute with a glass of water.  "Is my question really that hard for you to answer?"Incensed further by Raymond's relentless insistence on this topic when she was still dealing with Myolie's tragedy, Charmaine held her hand up and said quietly, "Listen, I'm in no mood for this.  I think you should leave."Raymond didn't say a word as he stood there staring at her.  After a long pause, which felt like hours to Charmaine, he finally spoke.  However, there was a distinct change in his tone as well as his features.  "You're right.  I should leave.  I'm not wanted here to begin with."Hurt that Raymond was actually going to leave when her words were spoken out of angry frustration, she said coolly, "I guess I'll see you when I see you."Raymond saw the flicker of hurt on Charmaine's face just before she shield it with an uncaring attitude.  He didn't want to do this but Kevin's words earlier had been right.  Charmaine deserved someone better than him.  Someone who could give her things that he'll never be able to.  Being with him would cause more pain and heartache for her in the long run and he didn't have the heart to put her through it.  Turning on his heels he walked steadily to the door and opened it.  He took a step out into the hallway then turned back to look at her.  "I'll see you around."Charmaine in turn slammed the door.  Leaning against the door she wrapped her arms around her waist and slid to the floor.  Tears burst from her eyes as she mumbled, "Damn you Raymond Lam!  Why do you keep giving me false hope?!"Outside Raymond heard a soft thud followed by sobbing.  He knew Charmaine was crying and it wrenched at him to know he had again, hurt her.  But this time, he was doing it for the right reasons.  With his head hung low he walked out of the building only to be met by a series of flickering white bright flashes.  He looked up and standing before him were at least a dozen reporters who were already pushing towards him."Raymond Lam, who was that woman you went into the building with?" a female reporter asked from his left."You've been in there for a while, is she your girlfriend?" another on his right asked.Raymond remained poised as question after question continue to be fired at him.  After a few minutes when the reporters noticed that Raymond hadn't answered any of their questions did he finally make a statement.  "Thank you all for your concern about my personal life.  However, I only wish to say 'Goodnight."  With that he firmly pushed past the reporters and went to his parked car.  Before he drove off, he looked at the rearview mirror and some of the reporters were taking pictures of the building, while others were chatting among themselves.  Probably trying to concoct a story for his late visit here with the mysterious woman, Raymond thought with disgust.  He reared the engine and the car flew off leaving a cloud of dust.--------------------------------------------------Ron approached his cronies at the bar and patted each of them with a hard slap on the back.  "Hey guys!"Kenneth Ma turned at the familiar voice and drew his brows together, "Ron!  Your old man let you out?"Ron gave Kenneth a weird look and proceeded to plop himself down on the bar stool beside him.  Signaling the bartender he asked with a sly grin, "Why wouldn't he?  I'm an adult and don't need to answer to him."Sitting on the other side of Kenneth, Bosco craned his neck to look at Ron and said, "Yeah but your Dad is furious about what happened with that actress.  She accused you of rape.  She's not some chick you picked up from a bar."Ron shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and boasted, "So what?  I'll get acquitted like I always do."Kenneth gave him a piercing stare and asked in a low shaky voice, "Does that mean you really did it?"Ron saw the nervous apprehension of both Kenneth and Bosco's face and gave them a relax smile.  "Of course not!" he said easily and grabbed his beer.  After taking a long gulp, he set it back down on the counter.  "Why would I resort to rape when women give themselves up to me freely?""Then why would she accuse you of it?" Kenneth insisted which earned an annoyed look from Ron.Ron slammed his palm on the counter and hissed, "Who appointed you the prosecutor of my case?  So I'm guilty now?"Bosco hastily slid from his stool to stand between the two men.  Looking appeasingly at Ron, he said, "That's not what Kenneth meant.  We're only worried about whether you will get out of this like all the others."The statement alleviated Ron's growing ire.  Picking up his beer bottle again, he mumbled, "Let's drop this sore subject."Bosco was just as eager to be done with it.  Returning to his seat, he asked his two friends with more excitement than required, "Did you guys see the horse race last night?   It was a superb win!  You both owe me $100,000."Kenneth grinned and with the earlier subject forgotten, he looked at Ron and said, "$100,000?  Did we even set an amount for the bet?"Ron shook his head, a look of innocence on his face, "Not that I know of.  All I remember is someone offering to pay for my drinks tonight."Bosco waved the bartender over and said, "Get us a bottle of brandy.  No, make it two."A few hours later with both bottles empty and a third lying on the counter, Ron pulled out his cell phone.  In a state of dizziness he managed to push a few buttons and a video filled the small two by two inch screen.  "Wanna see something?" he groaned and then burst into nonsensical giggles.Bosco staggered off his stool to lean on Ron's back.  Peering over his shoulder, Bosco mumbled, "W-What???"  Kenneth, who only drinks enough to feel high and not drunk, also leaned in to get a closer look of the video Ron was playing for them.With both guys attention on his phone, Ron slurred, "That's me screwing that bitch actress."Kenneth suddenly became alert as the video played on.  Although the screen was small but it was big enough for him to see that Myolie Wu was not moving on the bed.