"Thank you for agreeing to come here in the first place. This really means a lot to me... more than you'll ever know."
Dr. Joseph Chan beamed behind his spectacles. "That's never a problem, Anita," the man said. "I'm only doing my job, like any other doctor would."
"Maybe so," she replied, "but without your constant support, I don't think it would have been easy for me, especially when my own husband didn't even come to visit me regularly..."
The man winced when she mentioned about the matter again. "Look, he is a business man, and you know how one is - always running here and there," he tried to rationalize.
"And you're always defending him!" she objected, and took another swallow of the Japanese beer. However, she apologized almost immediately, holding her head.
"I'm sorry, doctor. This is supposed to be a celebratory dinner."
"Where is he, by the way? Why didn't you invite him together tonight?"
Once again she looked bitter. "Well, I didn't really tell him about this. I only said that I was going to see you tonight. Anyway," she added, "he's out of town until the day after."
The Chinese doctor raised his brows, but did not pursue the matter further. He sort of knew that the Lims were not in the best of terms at the moment, and did not want to interfere.
Anita pressed her temples again. "I have this headache, doctor," she complained.
He looked at her. "I think you've been having too much to drink, you know that. I don't want you to be alone with that condition, especially when you're still recuperating."
Looking at his watch, he decided to call his wife at home on his mobile phone.
"Hi honey... yes, I am... I think I'll be home a little late because I'll be doing some paper work tonight," he spoke, out of Anita's earshot. "Don't wait up for me... yes, I'll be reachable through this number. Bye!"
Chan looked at his patient. "I suggest you take a rest at a hotel nearby, will that be all right? Don't worry. I'll give you something for your headache."
After checking into the Sheraton Imperial, Anita was already groggy from the drug that her doctor prescribed, and once he helped her onto the double bed, she was out like a light.
Watching her sleeping soundly, the man loosened his tie. He actually was not sure why he had decided to do what he had done. He knew that she was emotionally vulnerable at the moment, and wondered whether he was consciously aware that he was taking advantage of the situation.
Lifting his leather briefcase up onto the table, he took out a clear folder and his laptop. There was a report to be done, and he might as well do it now. After all, he told himself, although a little unconvincingly, that was what he had told his wife he would do, and he intended to keep his word.
Switching off all the lights except the one at the table, he went to the stereo set and tuned on to his favourite radio station. The songs played were sentimental and dated back to the early sixties when he was in secondary school in his hometown.
Smiling, he went to the mini bar and chose a Campari. He needed something to soothe him as he took off his long sleeves and sat at the chair, and was soon engrossed in his work on his PC.