Love Began with the First Meeting

A hint of mockery flashed through Eric's eyes. He thought, 'She's either pretending to be calm or doing it intentionally to catch my attention. It's such a pity, though.' The grin on his face widened.

In contrast to the bustle in the office room, the atmosphere was quiet and peaceful in the garden at the top floor of the Smile Hotel. Under a beach umbrella, two couples chatted away happily. Richie, Shirley, Frank and Smart sat around in a circle, talking to each other merrily.

"Smart, why don't you come see Mark with me?" suggested Shirley, her eyes glittering with excitement.

Every time Smart met Shirley after being away for a while, she found that there was always a brighter light shining in her eyes. It looked like her yearning for the beauty in this world would never diminish despite her growing age. Smart replied while smiling, "Even you are restricted to meet him secretly now. How could I dare come along? I'm afraid that Brian would blame it on us if he failed to capture Molly's heart."

Shirley burst out laughing. Shaking her hand, she looked towards Frank and said without any qualms, "If your son stops messing around between them, my son will surely be able to capture Little Molly's heart."

Frank was dumbfounded by her words. Shedding the usual serious look on his face, he complained to Richie just like he used to do during their younger days, "Richie, is Shirley indirectly saying that my son is better than yours?"

"Hmm..." Richie's gaze deepened as he said slowly, "I won't argue about who is more outstanding between them. However, in this case, only Molly's decision will give us the result, no matter what the boys are capable of."

Shirley and Smart both pondered over Richie's words. A frown appeared on Frank's face, but it quickly turned into a charming smile as he said, "Hey, I was only kidding and you had to go ahead and destroy my joke."

They all burst out laughing, and then Shirley changed the topic.

She asked, "Why don't you stay here for a few more days? You may get the opportunity to see Mark soon."

replied Frank, "we'll be flying to M Country tomorrow. We were just passing by here today, and decided to drop by to see you. You

through Smart's heart, but she kept her smile, "After all, we haven't seen you in almost three years. And you haven't returned to Dragon Island

understand, but Eric is in A City too. You should drop by to visit him once in a

themselves. Smart and I don't

you are right," said Shirley

in the same way, with many different stories buried in the river of time. Some affections never vanished over time, instead they remained as

*

QY Island were the same as the ones in every seaside city. The sun illuminated the sea surface as it rose from the horizon. Soon, the

air as she stood in the open balcony of her room. Unlike that of A City, the air here smelled humid and serene, and she

for herself. Brian had left early in

and returned to her room to get changed. She rummaged around

things one by one out of her bag. She rifled through them again, yet there was still no sign of her purse. She tried to think back to when she had last seen it, and her eyes opened wide in realization. She had left it

the corner of the bed. She was annoyed by her

she was wondering what to do. She grabbed it and glanced at the screen-- Brian. Her eyes lit up in joy and she answered it immediately. Before Brian could say a word, she grumbled, "Bri, I forgot to bring my purse from A city. I don't have money to buy lunch. Could

call remained silent. After a while, Brian

face and she asked, "Will you

some work here," said Brian, "I've booked

she couldn't figure