Page 60 of From Beijing, With Love

A smile spread across Daniel’s face when he (and the rest of the lobby) heard a glass-shattering squeal that could only belong to his best friend. He barely had time to stand up before Poppy barreled into him like a small but mighty cannonball.

With his arms wrapped around her slender frame, Daniel felt a whole lot better. God, he’d missed her.

“You are literally killing me.” Poppy wriggled in his arms, which only made him squeeze tighter.

“I’m literally killing you, really?” Daniel grinned down at Poppy. Even though they had never gone a whole week without a video chat since she left Amsterdam, seeing her in three dimensions just hit differently. For one, the phone camera didn’t pick up on her newly developed tan, or the subtle caramel highlights in her shoulder-length brown hair.

“Literally, yes.” Poppy flashed him a smile. Her big brown eyes—a shade lighter than Yang’s—searched his face, then her expression shifted to worry. “Babe, are you okay? You look dreadful.”

“Ouch.”

“I just meant you look … well, dreadful.” Poppy prodded his face with her cold fingers. Only she got to do that. “It’s either that you are in crisis or you had too much sodium, because your eyes are puffy.”

“Too much salt, probably.” Daniel wasn’t about to admit that he was a mopey mess, not within the first five minutes of seeing Poppy at least. He had that much self-control (and pride).

“Speaking of too much salt, shall we have Peking duck for dinner? I know a place nearby,” she said, fingers tapping away on her phone. “Let me see if I need a reservation.”

“The place three blocks that way?” Daniel waved a hand in the general direction of the restaurant. “We can just walk in. I was there a few nights ago. Life-changer.” Daniel tried his best to sound enthusiastic. The meal reminded him of Yang, but so did the entirety of Beijing. When he met Poppy’s quizzical face, he added, “The one on Jiaomin Jie, right?”

“Did you just say Jiaomin Jie? Your pronunciation is actually … kind of spot on.” Poppy raised her brows. “And here I thought you were hiding in the hotel room by yourself this whole time.”

“I went with Yang—the tour guide you stuck me with.” Daniel took a nonchalant sip of his gin and tonic, only to be greeted by the clink of ice cubes against the empty glass.

“That wasn’t part of the tour.” Poppy’s back straightened. “Did he take advantage of you?”

“Uh …” Daniel was blushing now. He would hardly call it being taken advantage of; being a willing and enthusiastic participant was more like it.

“How much did he charge for it?” Poppy asked.

It took Daniel a full three seconds to get his mind out of the gutter and realize what Poppy was actually worried about—Yang upselling him on tour services.

Daniel was never quick on his feet, nor had he ever lied to Poppy (successfully), so out came the truth. “We … uh. It turned out that Yang was into … well, me. So, we hung out last week.”

“Daniel Wu!” Poppy’s eyes grew wide in that tell-me-everything kind of way, and Daniel blushed like he was caught with his hand in Yang’s metaphorical cookie jar.

“It’s just a casual thing. It was nice having a local show me around the city. That’s all,” Daniel said with a shrug. “Now are you going to feed me or not?”

Poppy peppered Daniel with questions about Yang throughout their dinner. Daniel answered each one with the casual air of someone who had nothing to hide, but with a bit of distance and always in past tense.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of this.” Daniel stuffed one last bite of duck in his mouth, even though he had zero room for it in his stomach.

“We can come back here again before we leave for Japan. Maybe this Yang you keep talking about can join us?” Poppy said as she grabbed the bill.

“First of all, there’s no way you are paying.” Daniel snatched the bill from her. “Second of all, I keep talking about him because you keep asking about him. Third of all … he’s leaving for his hometown tomorrow. So this is kind of it.”

“Well, I’m here now, and we’ll do Beijing the right way.” Poppy gave his hand a squeeze, and Daniel wondered if she saw through his facade.

After he settled the bill, Daniel managed to lead them back to the hotel without getting lost, a feat that Poppy didn’t seem all that impressed by.

“I’ll meet you in the lobby tomorrow after you check out?” Poppy asked through a yawn.

Queasiness rose in Daniel’s very full stomach. “Why am I checking out?”

“Dumb dumb, you’re coming to stay with me, of course,” Poppy said with an exasperated wave at the glassy facade of Hotel Alium. “I’m not leaving you in this hellhole by yourself now that I’m back.”

Daniel’s lips stretched into a big smile. “This hellhole is a five-star hotel.”

“Anywhere without your bestie is a hellhole.” Poppy pinched Daniel’s arm like she used to do when they were teenagers. Six months apart didn’t change their dynamic one bit. “I’ll leave you to your laundry and packing party now.”