It will stop raining eventually..(Part 1)

This is a story gathered by 3 encounters of women in Singapore, I believe that writing out these stories can be able to project some of the true emotions and feelings of these women and also partially myself too. I hope the 3 women who would be reading this story would be able to relate to some parts of it. Its the first time I would be including myself (of course with a pseudo name). The protagonist is Alicia who struggles to find her true love. The inspiration came as my first 2000 words were written in less than 45 minutes, but it was a mess of mashed-up emotions. I had to re-edit it heavily. I hope that you would appreciate the effort as it's very hard to blend in these 3 encounters of women into one single character in one story. Enjoy!

"Hi, how have you been?" I sneaked up from behind as I saw him slouching against his car door and tapped on his shoulder.

"Hey babe, I am doing great. I thought you would take a long time to get down, princess," his tone hinted specks of sarcasm but yet a unique form of wittiness.

"I don't want to make a guy wait for 30 minutes or longer, just 15 minutes and I would be ready to go down," I explained to him as I beamed the widest smile at him and lifted up my shades to put them on top of my head .

Rick's lips moved a little but I couldn't really hear what he was trying to say or try to lip read what he was trying to say. Although I know him through a mutual friend for quite some time, it was hard to get him out for dinner as he was always busy. Although I met him a few times, the time spent with him was pretty short but I loved his company and I was glad that I could get him out for dinner on a Saturday early evening eventually.

Along the way to our destination, we chatted a little as we tried to catch up on each other. I can see that he is quite a nice chap. He is someone that I can click with. Some of my friends say that horoscope do play a part to a successful relationship. Seriously, I just take it with a pinch of salt, maybe two. I just prefer to let things be natural.

"Do you feel warm? I forgot to adjust the temperature of the air-conditioner in the car just now, " Rick realised that the weather was getting hotter as the evening sun started to give a subdued red glow in front of us.

"Its alright, let me adjust the temperature myself," I smiled at his direction as I gave a light tap on his arm, my shades were put down to where it should be as the sun rays seemed to be like darts flying towards my direction.

As he put his arm on the arm rest, his hand was on top of mine, but I did not know why I did not take his hand off me. Maybe it was a comfortable feeling that he gave to me which I cannot fathom.

After our dinner, I realised that he does not talk that much when we were eating. Except for a few words of exchange, we were quiet throughout the meal. Sometimes, I just wondered what he was thinking at times when he seemed to be staring in the blank for a while and sometimes look to me and just smiled when I asked him for his thoughts.

As we strolled along East Coast Park, the evening sun which seemed to be sinking slowly into the water at the horizon was beautiful. Most of the ships were at a standstill as they seemed to be taking a breather. The beach was relatively quiet with the occasional screaming of young children running around the beach as the sand that flew up behind them seemed to be a measurement of their enthusiasm of their activities. As we sat down on the bench, there was an awkward silence between the both of us. The surrounding noises seemed to be subdued by it.

"Do you have anything to tell me or ask me?" I initiated the conversation, not knowing what else to ask as I looked at his direction, hoping he could tell me something, anything.

"Well, I still remember this same spot where I first dated my ex-girlfriend. I still remembered this tree where we actually tried to climb up but of course we could only make it to the lower branches and not higher," his words seemed to be random, something unexpected from him as he pointed at the tree diagonally in front of us just ten metres away.

"You have a good memory. If I am not wrong, that happened about seven years ago. It seemed to leave a very deep impression inside you," I did not know what else to say as I did not expect him to dig out the past.

"Then what happened? How come you broke off with her? I would like to hear more," I continued as he just stared at the tree without saying a word and I anticipated that he could tell me more.

"Well, it's a pretty long story and I initiated the break-up. It took me about almost a year to recover fully from such an episode. I do not wish to rake the past. Hopefully you don't get offended, but I guess yours was a worse experience where you were married and because your marriage did not work out, you are now single again. I guess in your case, its a big waste that the four years with him had just gone down the drain," Rick breathed heavily in between sentences as he look at the beach, giving a solemn look as he clasped his hands together resting his arms on his knees.

"It was not easy for me, seriously. Now I am back to square one, where I can hopefully find my happiness once again. There were many times where I tried to compromise and give in to him. He seemed to be always be with his friends and he was not focused in his career," I tried to withhold my tears from coming out as I felt a mild burning sensation in my chest.

"I am sorry to raise it up.," Rick put his arm around my shoulder as I leaned towards him, sobbing a little.

"Its alright, I would be fine," my words in between my sobs seemed to be minced up in my mouth as I tried to speak.

As I put my arms around his torso, I had a very warm feeling with him comforting me. As he stroked my hair gently, I felt as if I was like a baby in his arms and my tears came to a stop eventually.

"Do you think that I can find someone to be with and start all over again in the near future?" I did not know why I blurted out such a question but it seemed to come out from my mouth without me thinking.

"Of course you can, but I guess you got to open your eyes wide and assess whether he is the right one before you take the plunge. Marriage is an important chapter in a person's life. You would not want to make a second mistake," Rick seemed to be humming into the air as his words were slightly muffled with my head snuggled into his arms, my ears partially covered.

Although we have been going out a few times before, that day was the first time when we were much closer together as we chatted and opened up to each other more. I felt that I was compatible to him, but yet I needed more time to be sure whether there is a possibility that we can go the next step.

Within these three months, Rick and I were going out more and more often. I was surprised that he was willing to spend more time to be with me and even though it was quite late at night at times, I was elated to see him.

"I realised that after three months, I do not really know you very well. You seemed to be secretive and perhaps hiding something from me," Those comments just shot out of my mouth.

Rick froze my steps as he looked at me.

“Maybe, in due time, I can tell you more bit by bit, but I was hoping that we can progress between us,” his nonchalant tone and what he told me, was not something that I wish to hear.

"We would see how it goes." I did not dare to look at him in the eye as I did not want to see his reaction. I was not actually scared but I did not want to give the impression that I want to hurt him deliberately.

"Its just that since we seemed to be compatible and have feelings for each other, maybe I would not raise this up again," Rick's tone did not seem angry, but there were traces of disappointment in between his words.

As we sat down at the benches, the cool breeze caressed my face which seemed to be seducing me to sleep. As I lean again his shoulder, the only sound that I could hear was the slight purr that came from the waves hitting the coastline. Suddenly, I thought of something that I had almost forgotten. When I suddenly sat up, Rick seemed to be startled.

"What happened, babe?" Rick put his arms around my shoulder.

"Close your eyes first, Rick, don't worry I wouldn't not eat you up," I was trying to come up with a joke to lighten the atmosphere.

As Rick closed his eyes obediently, I opened up my purse and took out two rings and since they were small, I figured out that they could only be worn on his last finger. As I put one into his last finger and another, Rick fidgeted but his eyes still remained close.

"Why do you give me those?" Rick figured out that it was a ring.

"I bought them from overseas. I figured out that you would like them. You told me that you would like to buy another ring, but I wanted to give you these two rings that I have kept for quite a few years. They are for you. You can open your eyes to see," I was satisfied when I looked at his left hand.

"Although the design is very simple, they complement with my other ring on my middle finger," Rick felt elated as he admired the present that I gave to him.

Rick gave me a hug and as we looked at each other. Our eyes met each other. I was breathing hard with anticipation, hoping that Rick could make the first move to kiss me. I closed my eyes slowly as I felt his warm mouth touching mine. Our lips sliding against each other as our tongued touched. As I felt the deep passion from him, I could not help but reciprocate as our mouths interlocked and became more aggressive with every second. I felt more emotionally attached to him.

As he finally let go, I did not want to let that moment go, I looked at his eyes intensely as I put my hand around the back of his neck as my fingers run round his neck to the front as my hands went to his shoulders. This new-found passion seemed to be built into a ball where hollowness and emptiness only filled that ball. On the surface, I could feel the connection between us, but yet deep inside, my search for something which I cannot fathom seemed to be void.

For 3 months, we could talk a lot in general but yet I did not know much about him. In fact when I asked his good friend about him, his good friend was quite clueless too about some aspects of his life too. It was this gap that I had that made me hesitate to be with him, but I did not want to tell him. Maybe he might tell me eventually when he really opened up to me in time to come.

It was another boring day in the office. Ever since I shifted my office, I did not enjoy my new surroundings. It was a bore to face two of my colleagues whom I disliked the most where I had to sit in between them. It was about three in the afternoon when an unexpected call came. It was Andy! I was so delighted that he called.

"Hey Andy, how are you?" I returned the call eagerly.

"Hey sweetie, its been a long time since we have talked. I am back to Singapore for good," Andy's voice was cheerful as he reciprocated back my tone.

"Can we meet up this evening after my work?" I hoped for a positive answer.

"Sure babe, I was hoping that we can even meet up this very minute, but I guess its alright that I have to wait a couple of hours," Andy's reply really made my day.

"Hey Andy," I was greeted with a hug outside my office building. A bouquet of roses came out from nowhere.

"Andy, you are always the same. Old habits never die," I took the roses as I smelled the scent which refreshed me straight away.

As we went nearby to have our dinner, I could not help but smile at him all the time. I did not know why, Andy was someone that I knew for very long. We were together for a short while before I know Marcus, my ex-husband as he had to go to the States to work for about nearly eight years. Now he had come back to Singapore for good.

“Do you know that I really miss you when I was the States? I did not even know you were married. You did not even tell me,” Andy grabbed my hand across the table as he put down the glass of red wine on the table.

“Andy, I did not mean to hide you, but you were away. I did not think of telling you about my marriage, but at least now that you are here, I am really glad that you did not change much,” my feelings for him seemed to be reignited by Andy.

“Want to come up to my place?” Andy grabbed my hand firmly with his question short and sweet and he smiled as he acknowledged my nod.

“Wow, your place is really fabulous,” I looked around the living room.

“I designed this whole place, myself,” his words rushed in, trying to interrupt my sentence as his hands brushed the leather sofa seat.

As I glanced at the paintings, I felt his warm body pressing lightly against me.

“These paintings are replicas with limited pieces from the famous painter, Picasso, I managed to get them in France, on the way back to Singapore,” his hands went round my waist subtly.

“You have never changed much in many aspects,” Andy’s hands gently grabbed my waist as he whispered into my right ear, blowing it gently.

I felt seduced by his statement and his touches. As I was slowly led into the bedroom, I was surprised by the shape of the bed.

“It’s a heart shape,” I exclaimed as my hands raised a little touching my cheeks.

“I always sleep on this side of the bed. This heart-shaped bed needs two people, would you be the other person?” his hands went round my waist.

My thoughts meandered around my mind. Even though I did not see Andy for eight years, the moment when I saw him in just less than 8 hours ago, I felt that my last kiss with him in the airport before he went to the States was just yesterday.

“Come sit down,” as he tugged my hand…

What would happen next? Look out for part 2!