"It is only going to hurt a little kid, not more than an insect's bite." A young man, in his early 30s, was trying to persuade a seven-year-old to take the inoculation dose. The boy kept wriggling and squirming about, making it difficult for the attendant to give the shot. The man sighed lightly. It was a busy day.

"Okay kid, if you take the vaccination, then...Omg, look there, is that a spaceship?" The man spoke as he pointed at the window, his voice surprised. The little child, who was squirming and wriggling about, at the mention of a spaceship, looked out of the window, trying to figure out where the so-called spaceship was, his eyes filled with curiosity and wonder. Seeing the kid distracted, the nurse pushed the vaccination shot. The kid was distracted, so he didn't feel the pain at all, still looking for the invisible spaceship.

"All done kid, you can go now." The nurse said, rubbing the area where the vaccination shot had been taken.

"All Done?" Was asked with so much astonishment.

"Yes, it is all done champ. Now go, your parents are waiting outside." The kid jumped down from the hospital bed and rushed out of the room, leaving the man and his attendant alone. The man sighed as the attendant also bowed to the doctor, leaving him alone in the room. He watched his attendant leave as he picked up the medical record of the boy and kept it with the files on his chair. He would later deposit them in the storage room.

He looked at the blue walls of the hospital and his gaze fell on the files kept on his desk. His day had been busy and he was tired. He pulled out his phone and his fingers hovered over the notes app, where his schedule for the day had been drafted. He begrudgingly pressed the screen, the ap opening as he scanned his day's schedule. Another round after lunch and he would be free. He pushed the phone back after checking his registry. Being a doctor was arduous, he had learnt it the laborious way.

~**~

"There you are Brother Sizhui, how glad of you to finally come and meet me" a young man, dressed in formal attire, a blue suit and a white tie, shouted across the hospital canteen as he saw the former come towards him. 

The man who was called, also known as Wen Sizhui, rolled his eyes at his buddy's antics. He was holding a glass of orange juice and was drinking it peacefully until someone broke his tranquil oblivion. He shook his head as moved towards his best friend and sat in front of him. The man grinned at Sizhui as they bumped their fists together. A small smile appeared on Sizhui's face.

"What are you doing here Jingyi?" Was asked with a little bit of impatience.

"Woah Woah there, you little shit. I come to meet you after so long and this is what I get to here. It bruises my heart Sizhui. My little heart" Jingyi, held his hand to his chest, dramatically speaking and making a crying face. Sizhui just rolled his eyes, his face showing faux annoyance.

"Lan Jingyi, you are attracting attention" It was only then Jingyi realised that he was attracting unnecessary attention towards them. He quietly apologised to all the scrutinising gazes and resumed to look into Sizhui's eyes, as if silently mocking him. Sizhui smirked.

"Look at you, Director Lan, creating mayhem wherever you go. No wonder Huan-ge still has the upper hand in the company else the Providence knows what would have happened." Sizhui snickered lightly. the latter's eyes almost bulged out as the former just sipped his drinks, his lips curling up to a slight smirk. 

"You...." Jingyi opened and closed his mouth like a fish, trying to utter proper words, which he failed at badly. The older snickered at his scandalized expressions, his black hair glistening under the sunlight which entered the canteen through the open spaces outside.

"If only your patients knew how much of a devil you are beneath that angelic face....," Jingyi murmured, his hands forming fists as he looked away, almost done with his friend's crude remarks.

"If you have no work here, then can I be excused? I still have one more round left to do and then I would prefer to go home early today." The doctor said, almost getting up to leave when his friend stopped him. The older looked at him quizzically. Jingyi just pushed an envelope in his hands, which made the other sit down on the chair.

The doctor scanned the envelope. The envelope was blue in colour and decorated with blue patterns and white clouds, the symbolic symbol of Lan Groups, which have been passed down over the centuries. Sizhui opened the envelope and pulled out an invitation card, decorated in blue, silver and white.

"Birthday party?" He questioned.

"Don't tell me you forgot my Birthday?" Was retorted back. Sizhui shook his head, indicating a no. His eyes zeroed on the lines of the proposal and then found himself looking at his best friend in confusion.

"Before you start asking such questions, this was not my idea at all. Okay maybe, I did want a party, but not this big if you ask me. Uncle Wei thought that since I am finally turning thirty, I should celebrate my birthday well, and...."

"Senior Wei is back?" Sizhui asked, his face lighting up in happiness. 

"Yes, he is. And so are my parents and Hanguang Jun. So Uncle Wei thought that it would be a good move to celebrate the birthday on a big scale and invite the major companies of China. Said something like, expanding relations and stuff. He even persuaded Grand-uncle and has sent out invitations to many companies. It is more of a business meeting if you'd ask me, with less formality definitely. I was against it at first, but Father said it would be better since it will help me gain a foothold over the company and gain some more supporters."

Sizhui hummed thoughtfully. It was definitely a good move and it would surely help Jingyi, who was still new and learning. He nodded his head and looked at the piece of paper in his hands.

"And you are invited to the party. Don't give me excuses that you won't be able to come and stuff, because I have already talked to Uncle Ning to give you a free day on August 24th, so that you don't miss it at any cost. If you aren't coming, imma drag you from your apartment. So don't you dare."

Sizhui sighed out. Of course, Jingyi has done that. For the past thirty years of his life, he has always hated meetings and parties. In university, he was the one who would stay back and study while his dormmate and classmates went ut to party. It wasn't like he hated alcohol. He had had his fair share of spending drunk nights on Brandy and Scotch, but he wasn't too fond of people. He wasn't a pure lad, he had his wild days, riding motorcycles with Jingyi on gloomy nights, getting tattoos and piercing, spending free days at karaoke pubs with his band, but that was history. Right now, he wasn't sure if he had wanted to be invited.

"So, there is no way out, right?" Sizhui asked with slight hope. He cherished his friends, but it was parties and gatherings that he hated. He half anticipated that Jingyi would pity him, but the latter part of him knew that he wouldn't be.

"NO." a firm answer and a strong one at that.

Sizhui sighed. He would have to go home and prepare himself. His eyes landed on the envelope and the letter. This is going to be a long weekend. He thought.

~**~

A stack of documents lay on the mahogany table, untouched. On each side of the table, sat people, men and women, dressed formally, whispering among one another, but too soft not to disturb anyone. The seat at the table's head remained unoccupied. The presenter was standing at the other end of the room, occasionally glancing at his watch to check the time. He appeared nervous, and he had a good reason to do so.

The room was white in colour. The windows were made of glass, which gave a perfect view of the city outside. The building to which the room belonged, stood tall amongst all the buildings in Bejing. The entire building, divided into more than twenty departments, provided the work to almost a quarter of the population of Bejing. Run by an extremely young CEO, the company flourished to its name. Carp Town Enterprises, which was written in bold at the entrance of the building, presented an air of authority. Not only were the employees in the company well-affiliated but were also punctual and obedient. The administrative system worked well, good enough for fair salaries and security. The interns were carefully selected, the most competent out of the stablest. All in all; business continued well, and Carp Town Enterprises was the second most successful company in China, and fifth in the world.

A yellow Porsche vroomed in the basement of the company, hurling the dust in the sky before it gracefully entered the designated area and came to a halt. The door of the car opened, and a young woman, in her middle twenties, stepped out of the car, dressed in a long brown coat and a white shrug and white jeans. Her hair was tied up in a bun, while some stubborn hair strands curled on the side of her face. She wore brown shades which hid her amber eyes and her lips were chapped from the August wind. She carried a designer handbag and her heels clacked when she walked towards her company.

All the people collectively bowed to her when she entered the firm. She slightly nodded her head, her hair still in place, not a single strand a miss, as she made her way to the elevator. She entered the elevator and pressed on the 36th floor. 

~**~

The people sitting in the meeting hall greeted her as soon as she entered through the doors. All stood up simultaneously, bowing at her as she made her way to the head of the table. Once there, she took off her shades and ket them skillfully on the mahogany table.

"Good morning everyone, I am exceptionally sorry for the delay. Let us begin. Mr Shang, you may start with the presentation." She nodded at the presenter who was nervously fiddling with his sleeves. Once he got his chance, he bowed back and started the presentation, his movements focused.

"Unlike the former design which was based only on the quantity and rate enhancing, this time the designs of the system is based also on the quality of the designs......"

Quite some time passed, the woman discussing the matters with the team. Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes to hours. What seemed like finally a year, after two hours the meeting was adjourned.

"Email me the designs once you finish them, Mr Liu. And Mr Huang and Miss Liang, I want the documents submitted from your departments by Monday. Thank you, everyone, you may leave." 

All the people seated in the meeting room bowed at the young CEO before moving out of the room noiselessly. The woman sat at the table watching the others leave. She reached out for the documents which lay on the table and scanned through them, reading them and letting out quiet sighs when she spotted some inaccuracies. 

~**~

Black heels clacked on the marble floor as the young lady entered the office suite on the 39th floor. The suit was not only extravagant but also luxuriously made. The interior was brown with glass designs. A glass desk was at one end which had a stack of documents waiting patiently to be read and marked. The building was the tallest and the city lights shone at night through the glass windows. The woman kept her bag on the couch and settled sophisticatedly on the seat allotted for her, and leaned back on it. The documents on the table felt like they were eyeing her as if taunting her. A slow feeling of rest greedily tempted her, but she decided against it. There was work left, which was needed more. Before starting with the work, she pressed a yellow button near the glass table to call her secretary to inform her about the day's schedule.

A few moments passed by, a knock reverberated on the door.

"Come in" She spoke softly.

A man neatly dressed in a black suit and black bow tie entered the office suite and bowed to the woman. He carried a file with him which he placed in front of the CEO as he sat on the seat opposite the glass table.

"Good morning boss, or should I say Miss Ling" The young man spoke, his voice filled with mirth as he leaned a little forward towards Jin-ling who shifted back. 

"Cut the crap Xuanyu, what is in my schedule today?"

"HEY! Where is my respect? As far as I remember, I was your uncle." The person named Xuanyu mocked the younger CEO, not at all overawed by her.

"An uncle whose age is almost comparable to that of his niece? Quite remarkable! But so sorry Xuanyu, I am not calling you by that appellation. Now can I please know my agenda for the day?" Jin-ling voluntarily pulled the older's name, to make the latter annoyed. Xuanyu, or better yet, Mo Xuan-yu huffed a whine and started speaking, listing the schedule of the day of the young CEO

"You have a meeting at 10 o'clock with Mr Yang about the finalisation of the models of the new automobile that we are gonna launch, you have a meeting with the Zhang groups at 12 pm, then we move straight to 1:30 pm, when you will pick your daughter up from school, you are having lunch with her at 2 pm at Hang Lao Restaurant, and finally you have the last meeting with Mrs Kim. That's all." He slumped back on the chair, twirling round sitting on it. Jin-ling raised an eyebrow and stared unimpressed, but chose not to vocalize anything. She closed the current file she was reading, aside and picked up another one from the pile. Xuan Yu stared at her working.

" Oh before I forget," The Secretary's voice cut through the silence that had filled the room for a while. The young CEO looked up and gestured for the other to keep articulating. " .... You are invited to Director Lan's birthday which will be held this weekend, that means, day after tomorrow. " The pen on the woman's hand halted on the paper.

" Wish Director Lan a very happy birthday from the Carp Town Enterprises, but I will not be able to make it. And I am extremely penitent for it, but I have some major affairs to attend to" She resumed her work after uttering the words required. It has been exactly five years since she has ever been to parties and she had learnt to loath them the more she matured.

Her secretary was however not impressed. "And why wouldn't you go" Was asked with irresistible impatience.

" Cause I have work. I am a busy person Mr Mo. I do not have time to slack. " A short and terse answer. But Mr Mo Xuan Yu wasn't buying it. He tapped his feet on the ground and stood up. The woman didn't seem fazed at her secretary's conduct at all. Her eyes fell on a blue envelope which was slid across the desk. She picked it up, gracefully. Inside was a card, decorated with blue, silver and white with the cloud motif of the Lan groups. Her eyes glided over the words, slightly mouthing to it before she opened the envelope and placed the card back into it, just the way it had been conferred to her.

"So?" Her secretary asked, foot-tapping in annoyance.

"I cannot go, Xuan Yu, I am occupied." The secretary rolled his eyes.

"You will go, you can't keep being like this all the time. You need to let go of your foregoing A-Ling, it's been a long time. How much are you going to act like it doesn't affect you, but yet you are the only one who is being affected? It distresses me to see you like this A-ling. Please A-ling, please."

Jin-Ling sighed before she leaned back on the chair, looking at her uncle in his eyes. Her uncle was soliciting with her, and she abhorred it. She glanced at the portfolios on her desk and back at her uncle's face. When was the last time that she attended an informal party of the companies? Maybe the time her corporation rose to prominence. At the age of 22? Was it then? Or was it ere that? Her mind switched to her memories, thinking about how memorable those days were. If only, she could possess on to it for perpetuity. That was the past, she knew it.  past she could only dream of, but no longer get back.

"I will go" 

Mo Xuan Yu, who was looking uninterestedly at his step-niece, doubled his eyes when he realised what the younger has said. He excitedly held the younger by her hands and looked at her, a smile on his face, and a look of relief that his niece was finally stepping back. Maybe, he thought, she can finally start letting go of her past. 

"REALLY?"

"Yes yes, I will go, now let go of my hand, I have work, and you too are not spared from the work."

Jin-ling replied shaking her head at her uncle's antics. Mo Xuan yu looked at her eagerly and then immediately let go of her hand, bowing slightly and rushing out of the cabin, not before telling her that he would choose the best dresses for her so that she rivalled every Corporates heiress at the party. Jin-Ling barely huffed.

She silently pulled out one of the desks and picked up a polaroid picture from it. She glanced at it briefly, happy memories resurfacing. Her lips curled, but something reminded her that this was nothing but an illusion. She knew it too. They knew it too. She placed the picture to where it belonged and resume her work, occasionally glimpsing at the clock to check the time.

Was it the right thing to do? She asked herself amidst work.

~**~