Take My Breath Away

"Hi, Aunt Debbie. What the heck? When did you and Uncle Carlos tie the knot?" Megan asked with an innocent look on her face. She let go of Carlos, came over to Debbie, and held her arm like an old friend, though this was the first time they had met.

Debbie gave an awkward smile. "We got married three years ago, but he was always busy, so we weren't able to go out on a date until recently."

"Oh, I see," Megan responded. Then she turned to Carlos and complained, "Uncle Carlos, this is all your fault. You guys have been married for three years. So how come we haven't seen her til now?" Carlos held Debbie's hand with a smile.

"You are right. Mea culpa. I'll make up for it," he promised while looking Debbie in the eye.

Debbie blushed. She noticed Carlos was flirting with her again and every time he did that, her heart started pounding.

When the group walked in, a throng of young people already packed the venue where the party was being held. Everyone was having fun.

When people saw them, the women went crazy. "It's him! It's Carlos Huo! And his friends too! My God! I can't believe I'm seeing Carlos Huo!" one of them exclaimed.

"Wow! They're so hot! I like all four. What should I do?" a second woman said.

"Megan was right. She really is tight with Mr. Huo. But who's the woman next to him?" another wondered.

"I dunno! Never seen her before, but she's gorgeous," their friend said.

Their discussion went on like that, making this or that comment, usually about their looks.

Later, the group split up. Damon was pulled away from his friends by two beautiful women. Curtis and Colleen went somewhere alone. Wesley left his friends with Megan while she held his arm. Only Debbie and Carlos stayed put.

A waiter came to them offering all kinds of alcohol. Carlos took a glass of wine from the tray. When Debbie thought it was for her, Carlos told the waiter, "A glass of lemonade, please."

"Yes, Mr. Huo."

After the waiter had left, Carlos sipped the wine and asked Debbie, "There's food over there. Hungry?"

Debbie didn't respond. She looked at him and asked, "Why lemonade?"

"For you," answered Carlos.

Debbie was struck speechless. She looked around and everyone else had a glass of something alcoholic: Wine, liquor, champagne, even cocktails—no one was drinking lemonade. "Lemonade? Seriously?"

"Yes," Carlos said. Simple, direct, and to the point. He didn't like it when she drank alcohol.

Debbie was annoyed, but she knew she couldn't convince Carlos to let up. He was stubborn like that.

Soon the lemonade was served. She took the drink resignedly and followed Carlos to the refreshment tables. As usual cake was her favorite. She picked up a Hokkaido chiffon cupcake. After taking a bite, she asked, "Any shows tonight?"

"Yeah. Wesley invited Megan's favorite actress," Carlos answered while leaning against the table behind him.

Seeing how much the four richest and most powerful young men spoiled Megan, Debbie couldn't help asking, "Who is she?"

"Megan Lan."

"I know that. I mean—"

"Carlos, Megan was looking for you," Damon cut in, holding one tall, slim woman in each arm.

"Okay, I'll go check on her. You have some fun," Carlos said to her and left.

A minute later, Debbie saw Megan take Carlos' arm and walk into a room with him while they were talking and laughing. Debbie stared at the door, but after 15 minutes or so neither of them left the room.

She hesitated about whether to knock on the door or not. To her surpise, Colleen was already standing next to her, holding a glass of champagne. "Let's dance," she urged.

It was pitch dark outside. Deafening music echoed around the island. And the thumping could be heard everywhere. Tons of young people undulated on the dance floor, hypnotized by the pulsing beats and pleasure.

Debbie took one last glance at the room where Carlos was before nodding her assent to Colleen.

Once on the dance floor, Colleen shifted from a gentle, quiet young woman into a hot, seductive dancing queen. She shimmied and stepped in time to the music. She wasn't the shy young woman anymore—she was a hottie on the dance floor and no one could stop her.

Slowly, even Debbie succumbed to the mesmerizing beats and started to move her body. But Debbie wasn't really in a dancing mood.

Her mind was millions of miles away. She was thinking about Carlos and Megan. 'What are they doing in that room? Am I being paranoid?'

Like a mind reader, Colleen suddenly stopped dancing. She hugged Debbie and whispered to her, "I thought the same thing. I thought I was just paranoid, but it turned out... Just...just watch out for Megan."

Before Debbie could say anything back, Colleen was all smiles as she walked over to Curtis who was waving at her.

Standing on the dance floor, Debbie watched Colleen leave, so confused.

'What did she mean?'

Curtis saw Debbie standing alone on the dance floor. When Colleen approached him, he remarked, "I guess you didn't behave while I was away. Did you have fun?"

Colleen grabbed his hand and said, "Debbie and I had just started dancing before you brought me here and left her alone. Debbie will be upset."

"You want to go back? You can dance more," Curtis said with a smile. He knew Colleen better than anyone else. On the outside, she was quiet and tender; on the inside, she was as wild as a panther.

"Not on your life. I want to keep an eye on my boyfriend in case some teenage girl steals him away from me." Colleen meant Megan, but Curtis didn't realize that and kissed her forehead.

"I saw Megan and Carlos walk into another room. Any idea what they're doing there?" Colleen asked, assuming a casual tone.

Curtis didn't answer but flicked her head. "Ow! Why did you do that? Don't you love me anymore?" she cried.

"Why are you so focused on Carlos? A friend of Megan's gave her a painting as a birthday gift. It was a landscape painting of the Qing Dynasty. She wanted Carlos to verify it wasn't a fake.

"Oh? Carlos knows about antiques? I didn't know that."

"He's seen a lot of them, so he more or less knows."

Colleen pursed her lips and didn't say anything. She wanted to go back to Debbie and tell her what she just heard. After thinking about it, she let go of Curtis' hand and asked, "Debbie's alone on the dance floor. Aren't you worried?"

"Nope," he replied.

In fact, Curtis wasn't worried at all. When they walked in, everyone had seen Debbie with Carlos. That was enough to ensure that no one was going to mess with her even if they didn't know who she was.

Besides, all the guests at the party were good people. Debbie knew martial arts, too. She could take care of herself. So Curtis was going to let her do what she wanted and have fun.

Hearing what Curtis said, Colleen didn't insist on going back to the dance floor and stayed at his side.

Later, two women invited Debbie to go sailing. She wanted to go. She also thought she should tell Carlos about it in case he was worried. But he still hadn't come out of the room yet, so Debbie had to go alone.

Fortunately, before she stepped on the boat, she saw Colleen and invited her along. So Curtis also knew where she was.

Once the two girls were aboard, Curtis told the pilot, "It's late. Don't go far. A circuit around this area will do."

"Yes, sir."

There were quite a few people on the boat. Debbie didn't talk much with strangers, but because of her lively and outgoing personality, she fit in very soon.

Musical instruments were available on the boat. Debbie took a guitar and played "Never Grow Old" for everyone. "I had a dream . Strange it may seem. It was my perfect day. Open my eyes, I realize, this is my perfect day..."

When the song was over, everyone was enthusiastically clapping, and made their enjoyment known.