Chapter 1

There was always something interesting about rain, in that while it brought darkness and gloom, bright sunshine and life always followed. In all honesty, how would you get such a vibrant setting of forests and flowers everywhere? Even the grass was so green that day. And so the rain fell, day after day, giving Vancouver the reputation of a dreary location in which to live. Was it fair to say that, when it was also one of the most beautiful? Peter often wondered about this paradox, and why the rain always needed to be a prerequisite for the beauty he could see around him. The umbrella he held brushed against branches overhead, and he could hear the pitter patter of raindrops falling on his shield from the elements. That was another thing. If the rain was so good for the city of Vancouver, why was it so bad for the human body? The mysteries were often too strange. It was easy enough to explain the physics, chemistry, and biology behind rain and its effects on living things, but Peter always felt there must be a reason why it was that way. Why couldn’t it all be nice, without cause for suffering?

He looked at his watch. Was she not supposed to have met him half an hour ago? Did he get the time wrong? He hoped not; after all, she didn’t like it when he missed an appointment. Looking down the path in the park, Peter knew that there was still a lot of work to do that day. Why was he waiting in a park on a rainy day, at risk of getting a cold, for something that could wait another day? After all, Cassidy didn’t really need that book today. And he could always drop it off at her home later tonight anyway. But still, he had a book that she needed for a marketing course project. She was a business student after all, just like he was. Why business, indeed. And why were all these questions coming to his mind? Supposedly, isolation in a park on a rainy day is an opportune scenario for asking questions. Questions, questions, questions, indeed.

“Peter! Sorry, I was late!”

Turning around, Peter caught her eyes as she ran down the path. Her baby blue umbrella was flapping so much that Peter didn’t understand why her hair didn’t get wet. Breathing hard, she slid to a stop in front of him.

“Professor Erikson made the class go overtime again. I missed the bus,” she explained with a frown. Peter didn’t mind it when she frowned, but he wished she would do it less often. But he supposed that she should have reason to smile before she could smile.

“It’s all right. I don’t mind the rain.”
“You never do. You always just stand there when it’s raining.”
“The sound of rain coming down is pretty soothing.”
“Doesn’t mean you have to stand there and get wet.”
“Isn’t that what an umbrella’s for?”
“Look at your pants, they’re still wet. Why didn’t you try standing under the shelter down the path? I would have looked for you there.”
“I couldn’t be sure about that. You might have arrived here and then thought that I left or something because you came late.”
“You never leave.”
“I know.” It was true. He never wanted to leave a meeting spot, no matter how late the other person was. He always trusted that the other person would arrive eventually. He always gave them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps it was to his detriment, but he preferred to wait for others than give up hope that they would not be there.

“Here’s the book.” Handing her a plastic shopping bag from home, he wondered how many other families kept shopping bags at home after buying groceries. Was it only an Asian thing? He knew that Cassidy kept shopping bags at home too. Probably a lot of families did it, since some supermarkets charged for shopping bags now. But what about before they started charging so much for a simple disposable plastic bag? Certainly, Asians seemed to be stingier when it came to anything concerning money. Then again, he had heard of many people choosing to use non-disposable cloth bags instead of purchasing the shopping bags from the supermarket. Cassidy had carefully taken the book from the shopping bag and put it in her backpack.

“What are you going to do? Do you want to eat lunch?” Cassidy’s inquiry was always so coy. Peter never knew quite what to expect when she asked questions. Sometimes, it seemed like she was asking something more, and other times, her questions seemed so flippant and whimsical.

“Sure. Sushi?”
“Sushi’s expensive. I have so little money this month. You know that.”
“I can buy.”
“You always buy.” He did. Why did he do that? Sometimes, he’d let her pay for herself. But he’d never let her pay for him. Some intrinsic code of chivalry, he guessed. But did chivalry have to be so expensive? Damn.

“I have coupons for Subway. Two for one.” Peter had been saving the coupons for a rainy day such as this, no doubt. He didn’t dare say it out loud, although she might have laughed at his pun. It just didn’t seem witty enough to be worthy of speech.

“OK. I haven’t had lunch yet.” They walked down to the bus stop, umbrellas brushing the branches of the trees. Cassidy had such a unique gait, but it went with her build. Springy step, but legs were awfully straight. It was like her knees hardly bent.

“Hey, the sun’s coming out and the clouds are disappearing,” Cassidy exclaimed, entering his thoughts. She was already shaking the water from her umbrella and folding it up. Peter took the umbrella from his head and looked up. Indeed, the sun was starting to peek through the clouds and the rain had come to almost a standstill. He commenced to fold up his umbrella as well.

“Do you ever wonder what exactly it is that comes after the rain?” he asked her. He always enjoyed it when she shared her thoughts regarding broad, ambiguous questions. It was a way to peer into her mind, a way to see how she thought.

“Hmm. I don’t know. A clear sky?” She looked at him, imploring for an answer.
“I was thinking sun.”
“That doesn’t always come out. Sometimes it stops raining, but the clouds don’t disappear, you know. It’s because the temperature gets so cold that the clouds stop condensing.”
“But the sun is the only thing that obliterates the rain from the sky. Cold temperature only temporarily stops it. So if we’re talking about after all the rain is come and gone, then only the sun is left.”
“Maybe. Quick, there’s a bus coming!” Cassidy ran the rest of the short distance to the bus stop, with Peter following close behind.

-----

Quickly, Peter unlocked his door and stepped inside. The rain had really started coming down again. That peek of sunshine from before had only been a tease. It was a real torrent, cascading across the roof of his home, like a million ants marching to war. Hanging his coat on a chair by the fireplace, he wondered whether there would ever be a point when his bag stopped being water resistant. Of course, there was the odd occasion when water did get inside and wet his books. But never was it major, and that only happened once a year, it seemed. It was a durable bag too. He’d had it for two years already. When was the last time he’d had a bag that had lasted that long? Gingerly, Peter put it by the fireplace as well, making sure that it stood upright so that the wet side could dry.

Beep.

There was a message on the answering machine. Going over to the den, Peter pressed Play.
“Peter, I’m going to be working late, so eat whatever is in the fridge for dinner, ok?” His mom was doing that often these days. But there were always good leftovers in the fridge. And worse came worse, he could always cook his own dinner. It wasn’t like he was a fire hazard in the kitchen.

Turning on the PC was a regular ritual when coming home. Check email, check hockey pool, check news, check message boards, get dragged into chat. It was amazing how something as simple as chat consumed so much time. Quickly, Peter went to the kitchen to make a snack. Score! There was still some leftover spaghetti for dinner! Finding some tuna, he sliced some cheddar and promptly had a tuna melt sandwich toasting in the toaster oven. Toaster ovens were useful things. Peter wondered what he’d do without one. Definitely, a toaster oven would take precedence over a lot of other kitchen appliances when Peter moved into his own place.

Grabbing a glass of milk, he made his way back to the PC. Cassidy was online. That was to be expected. She seemed to live online. Then again, so did Peter. He wondered what it had taken to be chosen as DotComGuy. DotComGuy had been the legal name of a man who was paid by a few Internet and computer companies to live an entire life online. Talk about the easy life, although Peter had to admit that it could have gotten boring after a while. The guy wasn’t allowed to venture beyond his backyard for the whole year, although he was welcome to have visitors. The vast majority of his social life was online. That was a lot of Starcraft matches.

Twilight: You’re home already?

The message popped up on Peter’s screen, flashing. Why did she call herself Twilight anyway? He had never asked.

Lacuna: Yeah, just got in. What are you doing?

Peter had found the word lacuna in the dictionary a few years ago. It meant blank space of missing part: gap. He liked the sound of it, mostly because he deemed the letter L to be the most lyrical consonant in the whole alphabet. After all, it was a liquid, and had a soft, but still full and rich sound. Lacuna. It just sounded so mysterious. And he always was interesting in finding any blank spaces in himself that needed filling. How could his personality change? Were there any life expectations he desired? Where did he keep the sanctity of his mind?

Twilight: Researching for the marketing project.
Lacuna: The book should be helpful. The author’s world-renown, you know.
Twilight: Most of them are. Otherwise, they wouldn’t sell well.
Lacuna: Bad sellers still get published though.
Twilight: But not necessarily sold. ;)
Lacuna: That’s true.

Peter absent-mindedly flipped through his email. Where the heck did all this spam come from and who had the gall to make it in the first place? His eye spied an email from Edward Chan. Good old Edward. The guy was working as a full-time relief worker for a non-profit organization in western China. The floods had really been impacting the region this year. Curious as to what Edward had to say, Peter clicked on the message. Seeing an image appear on his screen, Peter snapped to attention. It wasn’t just Edward in that picture. What Peter saw startled him, and he felt a shiver crawling up his back and through his neck. Edward was standing beside Peter’s father.

Twilight: Hey, the rain stopped.
Lacuna: … Yeah. It did.