Love's Labors Lost (Ch.5)
by Ring-chan

Wednesday, late afternoon
"Excuse me?" Ryu stepped up to the small bus station ticket booth, trying his best to get the attention of the man inside who had decided to busy himself with reading a magazine rather than tending to his job.
"Excuse me, sir?" Ryu repeated. "I'm not from around here. But can you tell me if the city of Kompong Som is near by?"
The man peered lazily over the top of the magazine and nodded.
Ryu quickly asked again, "It has a airport right?"
The man nodded again.
Ryu felt desperation gnawing at the pit of his stomach and he glanced at the clock on the wall. He needed to get to that airport and fly out to Hong Kong tonight. If he doesn't arrive on time, if he breaks that promise, Chun Li will think he has abandoned her again...
Ryu had no idea that it would have taken him all week to travel from the wilderness back into civilization, and most certainly did not expect it to be so difficult to get to a city with an airport. Mentally, he filed this experience into the back of his memory, leaving himself with some wise travel tips should he ever need to come back to Southern Cambodia.
"Sir, do you know how long it will take to get to Kompong Som?" Ryu asked again.
"Look sonny," the man irritably replied. "The schedule and ride information are all posted over there." He jerked a thumb towards a bulletin board behind Ryu. "You want information, go look it up," he rudely snapped.
"Yes, I'm sorry," Ryu apologized before scurrying away to check the information.
It took him no more than 2 minutes to extract the information he needed from the faded bus schedule.
He made a few calculations in his head.
"2 hours to get to Kompong Som and the next bus leaves in half an hour... I'll arrive there around 6:00."
Ryu bit his lower lip, something he did only when he was extremely nervous.
"It might be a tight time squeeze, but I should be able get a flight to Hong Kong by at the latest 10:00."
He marched back up to the ticket booth and bought a bus ticket for Kompong Som, which the man showed little concern until Ryu handed him the money.
And after the transaction was completely, Ryu asked him for the use of a phone.
"There's a pay phone down that way," the man gave a vague directional gesture towards the right. Ryu grabbed his bag of belongings before heading down in the indicated direction.
Sure enough, not too far away there was a small, dusty public pay phone there for his use. Ryu took out the small phone book stashed just below the phone and leafed though the pages to find the number for the Kompong Som airport.
He inserted a few coins and dialed the number.
Ring... Ring...(Ring-chan... sorry, couldn't help myself ^.^ Anyhoo, back to the story...)
"Good afternoon, Kompong Som Airlines, how may I help you?" a female voice answered the phone.
"I was wondering if there are any flights to Hong Kong this evening," Ryu asked.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, we have 3 flight to Hong Kong this afternoon from Kompong Som," the voice answered. "One at 5:00, one at 6:30, and the last at 8:45."
"When will the 6:30 flight arrive in Hong Kong?" Ryu asked nervously.
"Around 8 o'clock."
"Great! I'd like to reserved a ticket for the one at 6:30 please."
"Of course sir, and your name?"
"Ryu Hoshi."
"Which class will you be seating in sir?"
"Umm..." Ryu nervously reached into his bag and pulled out the remains of the money he brought for his trip. For all this time, he had been too preoccupied to even worry about expenses or the thought that he might not have enough to get him home.
"How much would a coach ticket cost?" he asked while counting through his bills.
"That would be $115, sir."
Ryu breathed a sigh of relieved. He had $122, enough for him to get home as he had originally planned. "I'll take one coach ticket then."
"Okay, sir. That’s one coach ticket for Flight number 727."
"I'll pay cash when I pick it up at the airport."
"Okay, thank you Mr. Hoshi. Thank you for choosing to fly with Kompong Som Airlines. We hope you will enjoy the trip."
Ryu hung up the phone and checked his watch to find that he still had about 20 minutes before the bus left for the city.
Then the thought hit him... he scrambled for the phone again.
He needed to make another call to a special someone...
~~~~~~
Chun Li smiled at her reflection in the mirror. It was a genuine smile, where the joy in her heart manifests itself as a twinkle in her eyes and the gleam of her smile could melt any man's heart... it was her only true smile for the entire last week.
She was happy... no, beyond that... she felt carefree because the burden of a decision has been lifted off her mind. A week of deliberation and she had came to her decision.
Jeff, that's who she belongs with. That's her decision, and she's confident with it.
She could hardly suppress a giggle as she twirled in front of the mirror, allowing the silk fabric of her long, sleek cheongsam dress to flutter at her ankles and whisper while gliding over her skin. Chun Li scrutinized her reflection again.
The ivory silk dress so perfectly complemented her natural tan, and at the same time also modestly highlighting her slim, athletic figure. A few curled tendrils of hairs escaped from where she had so carefully clipped them up. Those curls dangled down to adorn each side of her face, embellishing her beauty in such a way that she seemed all the more angelic.
Chun Li never wore makeup, nor did she need to, but for this occasion, she applied a modest shade of lipstick to accent the color of her lips.
One final look in the mirror...
Yup, she was ready for the opera! Oh, how long has it been since she had seen "Rigaletto?"
Chun Li glanced at the clock.
4:00, Jeff would be there to pick her up any minute. He had apparently made plans for them to visit the opening of a new exhibit at the Hong Kong Fine Art Museum before the opera.

Suddenly the phone rang, jolting Chun Li out of her thoughts. She smiled as she reached for the receiver.
"Must be Ryan calling to say he’s on his way over," she thought, while conscientiously checking her hair.

"Hello?"
"Hi Chun Li?"
Her smile disappeared almost instantaneously and happiness was replaced by abject horror.
A pause followed.
"Ryu?"
"I just wanted to call you and see... see if you were going to meet me tonight," Ryu replied hopefully. "I just reserved my tickets. It's flight number 727, and it's going to arrive in Hong Kong at around 8 o'clock."
"Ryu, why are you doing this to me?" Chun Li replied, fully aware that her voice sounded bitter, vulnerable, and hurt all at once, yet she was absolutely incapable to regain any control over herself. She bit down on her trembling lip. She felt herself crying and there was nothing she could do to stop herself.
"What? What do you mean, Chun Li. I just..." Ryu responded, almost flinching in surprise as Chun Li’s sharp-toned voice interrupted him.
"Every time I manage to forget you... every time I manage to move on, you have to come back and remind me!"
"Chun Li, I'm really sorry..."
"Ryu, please... I don't want to hear from you anymore."
"Please, just listen..."
"Ryu, forget that anything ever happened between us, and we can go our separate ways. It was a mistake... all one big mistake!"
"But I can't just forget about..." Ryu raised his voice, trying to somehow make Chun Li hear his love.
"Goodbye Ryu."
With a resolute click, the line went dead and Ryu knew she was gone again.
"Chun Li, I love you!" He tried to yell into the phone. "I'm sorry... please, I love you!"
It was almost as if he thought he could some how force those words into her ears if he could scream it loud enough. He keep yelling that until his voice grew hoarse. Only then did he realize it was futile.
She couldn’t hear him... she won’t... not anymore.
Ryu felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach like a knotted lump as he hung up the pay phone. Out of the hazy mess of thoughts in his mind, Ryu noticed that the edges of his eyelids felt moist...
The mighty Street Fighter champion was crying.
~~~~~~
Chun Li wiped at her eyes with a tissue.
Oh God she was crying again. Just how does Ryu always manage to affect her this way? Or maybe the question is why does she always let Ryu affect her like this?
It took her the entire week of debating, deliberating and pondering before she finally come to the conclusion that she wanted to be with Jeff. But that whole week’s worth of a decision and her composure was suddenly shatter by the mere sound of Ryu’s voice...
What did this mean?
What was she going to do now?
~~~~~~