Lake:I’m just tired and stressed from spending so much time with my boss and his runt of a sidekick, and the TV sucks at my hotel. I’m bored.
Cage:You should go sightseeing.
Lake:Been there. Done that. This isn’t my first rodeo inBeijing.
Cage:They have the rodeo in China?
Lake:har har har
Cage:Where are you?
Lake:Capital M. Too public for phone sex, so don’t even ask.
There it was, exhibit A ofLake says the most inappropriate things.
Cage:Wow … I uh …
Lake:Joking. I have a weird sense of humor. Sorry.
Cage:What are you eating?
Lake:Nothing, but there’s a duck and maybe some sort of dumplings on my plate and a really expensive bottle of wine on the table since my boss pays for my meals. Isn’t that terrible? I’m already feeling regretful. The whole starving-people thing weighs heavily on my conscience. I should have just grabbed a bag of pretzels at the hotel and called it a night.
We continued to text for almost forty-five minutes before I tossed Thad’s credit card on the table. Cage felt like somebody I’d known my whole life. The conversation came easily.
Lake:Catching a cab back to my hotel. I’m tired. Fact: I haven’t slept well since my accident. I feel chronically sleep deprived. I don’t even call what I do falling asleep. It’s really just passing out after hitting a wall. I seem to go from 100 to 0 in a matter of seconds.
Cage:That sucks.
I signed for the bill then made my way to the entrance, dodging people and tables while my head was down staring at my phone.
Lake:Enough about me. What are you doing?
Cage:Just enjoying the evening.
Lake:It’s not evening there.
“I know.”
I hit that wall. I had to have hit that wall. It was a dream. It had to be a dream. I had to be asleep. The mirage standing next to a taxi by the curb in front of the restaurant was the man of my dreams. He smiled. I remained static with my jaw unhinged. I needed to wake from my dream, but I didn’t want to, it was too good.
“Of all the places in the world, you had to come here for work. Do you know how impossibly difficult it is to get here? A passport wasn’t good enough. I had to expedite a visa. Security violated me on so many levels I’m certain I’ll forever be emotionally scarred, and don’t even get me started on the impact this little detour could have on my career.”
Blink.
Blink.
Blink.
I needed a better response than a blink. Each time I thought he’d disappear because he wasn’t fifteen feet from me. There was just no way it was possible.
“You said if I was in the neighborhood…”
I nodded slowly. It was progress, another sign of life.
“You, you’re… oh my God. You came to Beijing for me?”
Cage returned a guilty shrug like it was no big deal. I was amazed every time a guy returned my phone call. Flowers sent my heart into arrhythmia. Following me to Beijing? Complete cardiac arrest.
