She flew off to Bangkok on Thursday night and was to return on Friday night – that was what she said in the SMS to me. I was too busy on Friday to even notice her absence. And once a while she would SMS me that she was OK and told me not to worry. I was wondering – was I worrying about her? And very quickly the day ended. I went home for a quick dinner with the kids and then off to an appointment with insurance agent. And after that I was to meet the group of friends that I just made on the internet at Next Page – at 11pm. When the insurance appointment ended it was already 10:40pm. I called home and the little one was already asleep (the maid was taking care of her). I went to pick up someone (part of the group of friends) to make our way to Next Page at Mohd Sultan. It was the first time that I met up with them. I just sat there among them, exchanged some pleasantries and continued to just sit there. Then she SMSed that she had touched down in Singapore and was asking if the kids are OK. I did not reply her. She sent me a couple more SMS but I ignored her and she must have thought that I was asleep. The music was loud and I was lost in thoughts. I realized that it had been a long time since I have been out drinking with the loud music in the air and people gyrating to the music. That must have been more than a decade ago – and I remembered clearly then that I was with her and some other friends. We were already married for a couple of years but still look very much in love as we exchanged glances as we danced to the tune of the music. I sat there and I saw them dancing, lost in the world of music. Perhaps it was true, they can forget the pain while they danced away. They thought I was bored but I was not. I was just being myself and I enjoyed being myself and lost in my own thoughts. We were there till almost 2am and then we went home. When I reached home, F was still not sleeping and was watching TV. I tried to sleep but I could not. A night of escape did not help me – in fact – it was worse as after the momentary lapse, I was back to the world of stark reality.