by Jessica Gray
They walked the length and width of the exposition for the next few hours, admiring the terrific ice sculptures ranging from fantastic creatures to whimsical depictions of childhood fairytales. Her favorite monument was a detailed model of a Chinese temple, including glowing red globes and frightful dragons with fierce open muzzles.
“Dare to put your hand inside?” Rowan asked.
For a moment she eyed the sharp teeth made of ice cubes and hesitated at how real they looked.
“Come on, you aren’t afraid, are you?” he teased her.
“Of course not.” She shot him an indignant look and put her hand inside the dragon’s muzzle. “Now you.”
Rowan put on a mock protest feigning to be afraid with such exaggeration, she burst out into loud laughter. Having to spend the day with him wasn’t that bad after all.
“Those sculptures are amazing in the daylight, but I really want to return tonight. It must be magical then.” Joanna said.
“I’ll come with you if you want company,” he offered with a sincere smile.
A moment later Mei and Nelson appeared. “Having fun?” Mei asked her.
“These sculptures are unbelievable. Thanks so much for letting me join you.” Joanna meant the words. Should Mei pursue this Nelson guy, she wouldn’t hold it against her. Without Mei’s invitation Joanna would never have been able to afford the trip here. But since Mei’s friend had cancelled the last minute, the hotel and train had already been paid for and Joanna only had to cover her food expenses.
“Nelson is hungry. Let’s find a restaurant to grab lunch,” Mei announced and gestured for them to follow her. They left the festival grounds and found a nice heated restaurant a few blocks down the main street.
Since the menu was exclusively in Chinese, Joanna and Mei assumed the task of translating and ordering dishes to share for all four of them. After ordering, Mei leaned over and said to her, “Come with me, I have to use the bathroom.”
Joanna nodded, grateful for a chance to talk to Mei. Nelson and Rowan wouldn’t understand them if they spoke Chinese to each other, but it still felt weird. And rude.
“We’ll be right back,” she addressed the two men and then the two women disappeared.
The bathroom was barely big enough for both of them to fit inside. After taking care of business, they stood before the small mirror looking at their reflections.
“You like this Nelson guy?” Joanna asked her roommate.
“What’s not to like? He’s blonde, strong, handsome, and the best part…he has a fat wallet.” Mei turned towards her with a dreamy expression upon her face.
“Really? That’s what you like about him?” Joanna groaned.
Mei didn’t pick up on her sarcasm and continued to talk about Nelson’s wealth. “Yes. He’s from America and loaded. He’ll soon be an emergency doctor and you know what they earn. I’m sure he has a nice house, a car, and vacations two times a year. Imagine all the fancy events I could visit as his wife…”
Wife? Mei had known that man for less than a day and she’d already gone over to the dark side of wedding planning? Joanna stopped listening. Many of the girls at her university studied for the exclusive reason to find a man to provide for them – preferably a foreigner who could give them the kind of luxurious life they longed for. But she hadn’t deemed Mei to possess the same flippant attitude.
“…when he returns home to America. If you marry Rowan we could even live in the same city, wouldn’t that be fun?” Mei punched her arm with enthusiasm.
Joanna stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. A marriage was the last thing on her mind. Once she finished her studies, she hoped to save enough money to open her own practice and heal people with her skills.
Mei didn’t wait for an answer and detailed her exact plan how to seduce Nelson – not that there would be much effort needed – and then life happily ever after as his wife. She touched up her lip gloss and then grinned. “We’d better get back before Nelson comes looking for us.”
Joanna followed her as she exited the bathroom and returned to their table. The waiter arrived with their food the moment they sat back down at the table. Mei joked and giggled and fed Nelson with her chopsticks and soon enough they engaged in a very private and intimate conversation, oblivious to the other two people at the table.
Joanna tried her best to avoid staring at them. But that left her with the single option to turn sideways – and stare into Rowan’s intense green eyes. His smile intensified when he noticed her embarrassment at the performance of the lovebirds opposite her. Where should she look now? Straight at the wall? Or down at the bowl with Gong Bao Ji Ding, fried chicken with chili and nuts?
“Were you born in Beijing?” Rowan’s deep voice asked her.
“No,” Joanna replied, thankful for his attempt to strike up a conversation. “My parents live in a rural area in the Sichuan province. That’s in the South of China.”
“Do you miss your family back home?” His voice had changed and she saw a fleeting sadness etched into his face.
“Not really. This is my first semester and everything is so exciting,” she answered and then turned the question on him, “How about you?”
“Sometimes.” He chuckled and shrugged his broad shoulders. “But like you, I’m new to Beijing and everything is so exciting. Being a resident emergency doctor is demanding and I rarely have time to think about anything except my current patient.”
She smiled and glanced at his fine, long fingers. They were the perfect instruments for a surgeon. “How long have you been in China?”
“Two months, but it seems like two days. I’m still living in the student quarters.” The sadness in his eyes disappeared and those cute brown spots on his irises drew her in.
“You do? I always thought the resident doctors had private apartments?” She scrunched her nose. The student quarters were primitive compared to what he must be used at home. Usually six students shared a room. Three bunk beds, three school desks and three closets were the only furniture.
“They do. But for some reason there was no apartment for me.” He must have noticed the incredulous look on her face, because he explained, “But they gave me one room all for myself. Anyhow, I’m hoping to move into a new apartment before Chinese New Year.”
Joanna nodded as nostalgia filled her heart and mind. Chinese New Year was less than two weeks away, but she wouldn’t be able to spend the holidays with her parents. No money for a plane ticket. It would be her first New Year’s celebration without her parents.
“There’s a light show tonight at the festival ground, would you like to see that?” Rowan asked her with an easy smile.
“That would be awesome,” Joanna said, gleaming with joy. “The sculptures were fantastic at day, but during night? This must be pure magic.”
“I’m an emergency doctor, I don’t believe in hocus-pocus,” Rowan answered and she cast him a confused glance.
Nelson entered their conversation saying, “Mei and I were just talking about that as well. How about we head back to our hotels and meet up later?”
Joanna nodded and looked at Mei, thankful when she also nodded her capitulation. The men paid for their meal and then they exited the restaurant. The icy breeze caught Joanna by surprise and she involuntarily took a step backwards, and collided with Rowan’s hard chest. Her body did strange things again and she felt warmth hitting her cheeks.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts but to no avail. Rowan’s unique musky and masculine smell clouded her senses. Joanna dug her mitten-clad hands deeper into her pockets, wondering how he could exercise such physical power over her.
Nelson flagged down two taxis.
“Ladies, your chariot awaits,” Nelson said with a flourish and a mock bow.
Mei giggled and Joanna thanked him with a shy smile. “I guess we’ll see you both later.”
“That you will,” Rowan answered with a much easier smile than he’d been sporting this morning.
Joanna smiled and slipped into the back of the taxi after Mei, giving the driver the address to their hotel. She settled back in the seat, and some twenty minutes later she stepped out of the taxi at the entrance to the hotel, and then gasped in surprise when another taxi pulled in directly behind them and Nelson and Rowan stepped out. She stared in disbelief.
Then Mei joined her on the sidewalk, laughed and asked, “You’re staying here?” When Nelson grinned at her, she turned to Joanna and whispered, “This weekend just got a whole lot better.”
Joanna wondered if Mei had purposely secured their rooms in the same place as the two Americans, but then again, Mei hadn’t met Nelson in person until earlier today. Deciding this was just one of those weird coincidences, she pushed her thoughts aside and entered the lobby.
Chapter 4
Rowan and Nelson settled into their hotel room and Rowan flopped down on the bed. It creaked under his weight, but he couldn’t care less. He also tuned out Nelson’s babbling on how close he was to landing a hit with Mei. The image of sweet Joanna still lingered in his mind and his anger had dissipated. A smile appeared on his lips.
“I’m gonna take a shower,” Rowan said after he woke hours later. Then he disappeared into the bathroom. His grin deepened. Joanna would love the room. It was tiled from floor to ceiling with white, glittery tiles. But every once in a while there was a pink, red or blue tile. Much like the Cinderella castle with its trendy colored cones. He’d loved the sparkle of admiration on her face. So kissable.
Stop right here. He stepped under the shower and scrubbed his hair. For all you know, she isn’t even of age yet. He scrubbed his body vigorously in an effort to wash away the sensations she caused to zing through his body. The way she looks she can’t be older than seventeen. You’re twenty-four. Rowan’s self-recriminations didn’t help. His skin tingled – and not from the lukewarm water. Frustrated, he stepped out of the shower and rubbed himself dry. In the mirror, a tousled mess of half-dried hair sat on his head. He combed it with his fingers, but then thought better of it and used a hairbrush.
On second thought, he took out razor and shaving cream. Usually he never shaved on his days off. It’s because of my birthday. Nelson had all but forgotten the special day and after a glance at his watch he decided it was still much too early to call anyone back home. Calling his parents at five a.m. on a weekend would cause more curious questions than he was willing to answer.
Nelson knocked on the bathroom door and yelled, “Hey, what are you doing in there? I need the bathroom, too.”
“Coming,” Rowan called out and washed the last trace of shaving lather from his face.
“You? Shaving on a day off?” Nelson stared at him like he’d seen a ghost. He and Nelson studied medicine together back home and initially, it had been a great relief to have a familiar person with him while abroad. But recently Nelson’s player attitude had started bothering him. He treated the women here as if they were nothing more than objects to screw and toss away.
“Don’t get any wrong ideas,” he warned his friend.
While Nelson took a shower, Rowan stretched out on the bed on his back, hands folded behind his head, looking up at the ceiling. The fake old-fashioned chandelier broke the light and sparkled in all colors of the rainbow. A smile appeared on his lips as he remembered Joanna’s sparkling smile. Spending the day with her had been surprisingly entertaining. Fun. Easy-going. She was the sweetest, most innocent girl and gorgeous in a way he’d never experienced before.
Nelson exited the bathroom and stuffed a few condoms into his wallet before getting dressed.
“You’re serious about laying that girl?” Rowan rolled his eyes.
“Sure. That’s the whole point to this trip. I would be doing a disservice to womanhood if I didn’t pleasure those begging for it.” Nelson grinned and pulled a sweater over his head.
“Let’s go. I’m hungry.”
“Me too,” Nelson answered with a wicked grin.
They took the elevator down to the lobby and minutes later Rowan looked mesmerized at the sight of Joanna walking towards him. Mei was with her, but he only had eyes for Joanna. His groin heated as she approached and he noticed her makeup. She’d emphasized her beautiful almond-shaped eyes with whatever thing women used to make them appear dark and mysterious.
Those deep black pools magically drew him in and he barely contained a sigh itching to escape his lungs. The cutest smile appeared on her face together with a rosy shimmer on her cheeks as she noticed his attraction. A heat wave blossomed through his body.
Her petite frame was wrapped into a thick aubergine-colored winter coat, complete with a smart beige bonnet, woolen fingered gloves and a scarf in the same beige tone. Despite her thick layers of clothing her movements remained graceful and elegant.
After he stopped staring, Rowan noticed Mei, who greeted Nelson with a bright smile and received a kiss on the cheek in return. He briefly wondered whether it would be appropriate to do the same with Joanna, but dismissed the idea. China wasn’t the United States and kissing the cheeks or hugging was something his cultural awareness trainer had told him was reserved only for close friends of the same sex.
Nelson grabbed Mei around the waist and escorted her out of the lobby to one of the waiting taxis. Rowan and Joanna drudged behind.
Some twenty minutes later, they arrived in front of the restaurant the lady at the hotel reception had recommended. Rowan offered his hand to help Joanna out of the car, and as soon as her small hand disappeared in his big one, electric bolts rushed through his veins. She must have felt the same, because she raised her wonderful dark eyes and cast him a confused look.
He itched to put his hand on the small of her back to lead her inside the restaurant, but resisted. Once inside, he helped her out of her coat and almost had a heart attack when he saw her slender figure accentuated in the gorgeous silk dress she wore beneath.
A traditional Qipao-dress in brilliant red that contrasted sharply with her expressive eyes and the shiny black hair that she wore in a chin-grazing bob. Although the Mandarin collar didn’t expose a single inch of skin, the supple fabric clung to Joanna’s petite figure, making his mouth water at the delicious curves it displayed. His gaze followed the lines of the dress down to her perky breasts, across her slim waist and the rounded hips, until it was drawn to the two big flower applications on her skirt that ended a few inches below her knees.
Rowan’s mouth dried up. Unable to stop himself, he whistled low beneath his breath, and watched entranced as a blush covered her cheeks. He held her chair out while she slid into her seat and then couldn’t resist leaning down and whispering next to her ear, “That dress should be outlawed.”
Joanna giggled and then said something to Mei in Mandarin, while everyone settled around the table. The restaurant specialized in Chinese Hot Pot and as soon as the waiter arrived, Mei and Joanna engaged in a lengthy discussion with him in rapid-fire Chinese.
Rowan glanced at Nelson, not sure what to make of it.
“Did you know the waiter?” he asked Joanna when they finally stopped talking and the waiter disappeared.
She gave him a confused stare, but Mei answered in her place, “No. We just ordered our meal.”
“It took you all of ten minutes and several thousand words to order our food?” Rowan said with disbelief.
“Of course. Mei and I asked the waiter about the different kind of soups they offer and which ingredients they use. Then we discussed about how long the soup should be cooked and…” Joanna explained
“Wait. You told the waiter how they have to cook their dishes?” Rowan rolled his eyes.
“Yes.” Both women nodded their heads as if this was the most normal thing in the world. Maybe it was. At least in this part of the world.
Their beverages arrived. A pot of jasmine tea with four tiny cups and four bottles of Coca-Cola.
“We thought you’d like something from home,” Mei said as she distributed straws for the coke.
A wave of nostalgia hit Rowan, but he would rather be caught dead than tell them their friendly gesture had only served to make him sad.
“You’ve eaten hot pot before?” Joanna asked Nelson and him.
Both men shook their heads.
“It’s a specialty of the colder regions in China,” Mei explained. “Hot pot consists of a large simmering metal pot of broth set in the middle of the table. Then you have all the dishes that you basically cook yourself by holding them into the broth with your chopsticks.”
“Kind of like fondue,” Nelson said.
Mei cast him a smile that clearly said she had no idea what fondue was, before she continued to explain, “We ordered spicy broth, but not too spicy.”
“No worries. I specifically told the waiter not to make it Sichuan-hot,” Joanna added.
“Thanks for that,” Rowan said. He’d heard that the food from Sichuan was famous for its spiciness. The liberal use of Sichuan peppers, chili and garlic was a lot to handle for any person not used to hot food.
“I ordered us a sampler platter of meats and vegetables,” Mei informed them.
Nelson nodded. “Sounds good. What’s in the sampler platter?”
“Mutton, beef, lamb and chicken. And a variety of vegetables, including tofu, and cabbage.”
Rowan and Nelson shared a funny face and Joanna giggled once more. “Tofu is not to your liking?”
“Not at all.” Rowan squinted his eyes.
“Well, there should be plenty of other things to eat.”
“Good. I’m starving.” Rowan looked at Joanna and found his eyes drawn to her lips. He had to force himself to look away when it became apparent that he was staring at her.
While they waited for their order, the four of them chit-chatted about the Ice Festival in Harbin, and the arctic temperatures.