Struggles

[Zain's Point-of-View]

Zain opened the passenger door for Phoenix. He held a hand above her head to ensure she didn't hit her head on the roof. He gave a gentle push to close the door then rounded the hood to get into the driver's seat.

"Where would you like to go?" he asked her. "I'm craving Spicy Tonkatsu Ramen," Phoenix said. She leaned her head against the headrest and tilted her head toward him and batted her eyelashes. She was putting on a cute act and if she thought that would work on him, she was absolutely right.

After they spent the morning together, she seemed to warm up to him. She seemed in a slightly better mood, but Zain could see by the set of her shoulders that she was still tense.

He had stayed in the room with her while she unpacked her things. She had refused his help so he quietly sat there, occasionally they spoke to each other.

Zain chuckled at her and then put the gear into drive. "You got it," he said to her as he began to take off toward Sakura's Ramen. It was a place they had been to before in their teenage years.

Zain recalled the first time they went there together. It was his last year of high school and he was having a really bad day. He had fought with his family that morning and nothing had gone right for him that day.

He recalled that it had been raining that day and he had decided to walk home in it. He remembered the way the water fell on him, the droplets ran down his face. His hair fell into his eyes, but he couldn't care less.

Then all of a sudden it wasn't raining anymore. Well that is to say it was, it just wasn't raining on him.

He glanced up and saw the umbrella, then he looked to his left to see the girl holding it above him.

"What are you doing? It's pouring!" a cheerful Phoenix had looked up at him. She had been equal parts happy and concerned.

She had looked so cute in her light jacket and ponytail, smiling up at him. He had almost smiled himself, while he looked at her.

"Go away, Phoenix," he sighed instead. He had tried to walk away but she gripped his upper arm and stopped him. He could have walked away but he didn't want to. It was something he had never been able to explain.

Ever since they had met at the age of ten and twelve respectively, his thoughts would always go back to her. He would think of the jokes they shared, or how she reacted to things. It would always bring a smile to his face.

"Go home, Phoenix. I'm in no mood," he had said to her. "No," she said back.

That day she had grabbed him and led him to a taxi. She rattled off an address and fifteen minutes later they had arrived at Sakura's Ramen.

"Why are we here?" he had asked her. "Do you trust me?" she had asked him.

"Yes," he had said hesitantly. In all honesty, he did trust her. But that didn't mean he wasn't wary.

She had held her hand out with a smile and he shook his head. But he had taken her outstretched hand with a smirk on his face. Phoenix had tugged him closer to the restaurant.

It was the first time they had held hands like that. He had gently squeezed her smaller hand in his.

Zain remembered how her hand had felt in his. His hands were so much larger than hers. But more than that, he found he had really liked holding her hand.

She had ordered them two bowls of Spicy Tonkatsu Ramen. Zain had made a face as he wasn't particularly fond of it. After the first bite he was right, it was really spicy and he most definitely did not like it.

Phoenix had laughed at his expression and offered him a glass of cold water. He drank half of it before he pulled it back.

"This was a good idea to you?" he had asked with an edge of hysteria in his voice. She laughed. "Yes, whenever I'm upset I have this. It makes me sweat a little, cry a little, but afterward I was good as new," she had replied.

"Try it, I promise it works," she had said. "And if it doesn't?" he questioned. Her face slipped for a second and he instantly regretted it. In an effort to make her smile again, he had shoved a big mouthful into his mouth and forced himself to eat. He was sticking his tongue out, and had panted like a dog after he had swallowed.

She laughed again as he had reached for the water. They finished the ramen and she had been right. For some reason, it did cheer him up. Although he never found out if it was really the food or if it was the company that cheered him up.

Ever since that day, whenever one of them was having a bad day, they had gone there. In the past five years, Zain had gone there in the hopes that he would see her. But he never did.

"Sakura's Ramen?" she asked from the passenger side. He smiled, the fact that she remembered made him feel a spark of hope.

He knew he needed to explain to her what had happened that night and why he had pushed her away. He hoped she would at the very least understand and hate him a little less. He didn't expect her to forgive him, but he hoped.

He wasn't ready for something serious then. He was now and it was only ever supposed to be her. Hopefully that one drunken night, five years ago didn't cause him to lose her forever.

[Evelyn's Point-of View]

Evelyn woke up the next morning and skipped her usual shower. Jinhai changed her bandages for her and helped her dress for work. There wasn't a way to hide her sling and Jinhai refused to relent on it.

She did her best to cover it with a suit jacket wrapped around shoulders.

He made her a smoothie for breakfast and made coffee which he poured into a travel mug.

Driver Chung was waiting for them downstairs. The driver had opened the door for them and they slid in.

"Good morning, Driver Chung. I didn't know you were driving me this morning," she said.

"Your father arranged it. He's worried about you," Driver Chung responded. He didn't need to say it, Evelyn could see it in his eyes when their eyes met in the rearview mirror. He was worried about her too.

There wasn't a doubt in her mind that Driver Chung had volunteered for the position. At the age of forty-five, he was still very fit.

He was an ex marine and he had spent a couple of years as a bodyguard before he became a driver for the Wei's.

Deming had been impressed with his work ethic and poached him from a rival company almost ten years ago.

He had mostly driven the kids, and Evelyn did feel safe with him. She was glad that he was here.

"Does this mean you'll be driving me from now on?" she asked him. "Yes, Ms. Wei," he responded. It's been over ten years and he was always formal with her, despite all her attempts for him to call her otherwise.

"Must you always be so formal?" she asked him. "It's only appropriate, Ms. Wei," he replied as he put the car the into drive.

She sighed knowing it was no use. He would never relent no matter what she said.

Jinhai sat next to her and he held her good hand on his left knee. The ride was uneventful as the couple was quiet in the backseat.

Driver Chung dropped her off in the private garage under WWO. Jinhai got out as well.

"Don't you have to go to Li Corp?" Evelyn asked him. He shook his head.

"I have a meeting with your father this morning," he answered. "Oh," she said. She used her access card and the private elevator opened for them.

They took it to the top floor and he let her exit before him. She smiled back at him.

"Ms. Wei, I'm glad you're okay," John Ru said. "Good morning, John. Thank you," she greeted.

"John, this is Jinhai Li. Jinhai, this is John Ru," she introduced. Jinhai face remained impassive as he studied the man in front of him.

John gave a short nod of the head and extended his hand. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Li," John said with a smile. Jinhai waited a moment before he extended his own hand to shake John's.

"Come, I'll show you to the conference room," Evelyn said as she led the way. Jinhai gave a millimeter smirk to her back and followed her.

She led him through the doors to the conference room. He walked in and took a seat.

"Please wait here. I'll let the Mr. Wei know that you've arrived," Evelyn said.

"Ms. Wei," he nodded at her. His face was stern as he bade her farewell. She returned the sentiment her face as stern as his.

She turned to leave and headed to her office. John was on her heels. He waited until the door closed before he began to talk.

"Evelyn, what happened? Why is your arm in a sling?" he asked. She sat down in her seat without answering him. She gestured to the seat in front of her indicating that he should take a seat.

Evelyn knew that she could not tell him the truth. Right now, the less people that knew, the better.

"I had an accident yesterday, it's how I got the sling," she said.

"What kind of accident? Neither Ben nor your father showed up to work yesterday," he said. He didn't seem to believe that it was a minor accident.

"John, I know you're doubting me. But there's no reason to. Right now, we have a job to do," Evelyn said. This effectively shut down anything else he wanted to say.

Evelyn turned her computer on and went through her work emails. The doctor she had tried to get in contact yesterday, emailed her back and expressed interest in the project.

Evelyn emailed back to arrange a conference call to better explain the details of the project.

So far Evelyn had spoken with several experts that were on board with the project. There was nothing concrete yet, as they were still waiting for funding. Also she had spoken to them when she was at Cheng's Global Corporation.

Even though she had spoken to them when she was working there, they had specified that they would work with her. They never said that they would stick with CGC.

Some have said they would be willing to relocate to Beijing and others said they would be willing to come once a month for about a week.

This particular doctor was a fetal surgeon. Besides helping pregnant women maintain their pregnancy. She wanted to give the chance for woman whose babies had a medical condition to be treated in the womb. Thus eliminating many complications postpartum.

This particular doctor had one of the highest success rates in the world.

With only a week away from the proposal she knew she needed to have all her ducks in a row.

As she continued through the emails she saw emails from the doctors she had corresponded with at CGC.

A couple of the doctors had backed out, most likely following the news of her divorce and CGC's stocks plummeting.

Evelyn told John to correspond with the doctors throughout the day and arrange for her to speak to all of them individually.

There was no way Evelyn would allow them to simply back out of this project. It was too important to her. It was something that was meant to change the future.

Evelyn tilted her head back until it came in contact with the headrest on the back of her chair. She breathed in deeply for one minute and then proceeded to tackle the rest of the day.