The Gaze of Caprice (The Caprice Trilogy Book 1) (61 page)

              Diana spent the entire lunch in a clandestine battle with Yamila over airtime.  If the minutes were counted, Yamila spoke and was spoken to more than Diana.  Mason was the one counting.  Joe was attracted to Yamila and he let it show.  Mason remembered he was working and stuck to the script.  All three men reiterated the transaction they were involved in couldn’t be discussed at length.  They gave general details and the details were the same.  Without discussing business, the conversation remained interesting. Everyone at the table was well traveled.  The lunch lasted over two hours before it began to get tired.  Diana was bored of being ignored and didn’t hide it well.  Xiaoyu and Mason both felt it was time to wrap up.  Mason was the senior agent so he called for the bill, the obvious signal.  When the waiter came to the table Joe and Yamila were in conversation mode with no hint of stopping.  Yamila tried repeatedly to get Xiaoyu involved, asking him questions about himself.  Xiaoyu like Mason remembered he was working and didn’t want to create a damper on his progress with Diana.  He was polite but tried not to get dragged into a conversation with Yamila.  Joe was lost in character.  Whether he knew he was working depended on whom he was working for.  It seemed as if Joe had bought his own cover and thought he was a financier playboy.  He started making jokes in Malay that only Yamila could understand.  The bill was paid but he kept going.  Mason wanted to feel like he had control of the situation.  Joe was becoming a problem.  Xiaoyu thought differently.  If they were international dealmakers one of them should be hitting on Yamila.  Although Mason didn’t like it, Joe was keeping the rouse on its feet.  Asking for Yamila’s number went overboard according to Mason.  But Joe would be in Kuala Lumpur long after Xiaoyu and Mason were gone.  A background agent had to have contacts.  Sexy contacts had an obvious advantage. 

Female contacts were better grounded in reality.  A sexy female contact was a trump card.  Joe knew better than Mason.  To be a background agent worth his salt, Joe had to know people in Kuala Lumpur.  Yamila was sporty and aggressive, a go-getter.  She knew many people in the city; there was no question.  Joe made a judgment call.  Yamila was worth keeping in contact with.  Joe was right.  Mason didn’t fully understand it.  Joe gave Yamila a goodbye in Malay.  The rest all did the casual handshake and nice to meet you. Joe and Mason left in a taxi.  Yamila parked nearby and decided to walk herself.  Xiaoyu and Diana went a different direction.

              Diana was upset.  It was the kind of feeling maturity couldn’t manage and half-smiles couldn’t hide.  Being cosmopolitan couldn’t do anything about being human.  Xiaoyu offered to walk her home.  She didn’t welcome him, but she let him.  They walked awhile before taking the Peoplemover Monorail.  Diana tried to stay silent but that wasn’t the nature of their relationship.  Xiaoyu was the silent one.  Diana did the talking.  She gave him a litany; a ball dropped.  It turned out Xiaoyu wasn’t the only one putting on appearances.  Diana’s cool girl metropolitan way wasn’t so she could fit in.  It was armor for her to hide in.  She had deep-rooted self-image issues.  Yamila seemed to have a way with Diana’s armor or a way around it.  Diana had always thought she was too thin.  She had a bitter disappointment with the way her body developed.  She never wanted to be a bombshell but she told Xiaoyu even his chest was bigger than hers.  She worried about having a baby because she said she didn’t know how she would feed it.  Xiaoyu said nothing just listened.  She was never teased about her body but she learned of its consequences.  She was dumped by more than a few boyfriends without explanation.  They were never forthcoming.  But in a place like Jiang Cheng, it was easy to bump into anyone by accident.  She ran into one ex-boyfriend on a number of occasions.  She also saw her replacements.  The new girlfriends had well-defined figures, more defined than hers.  Xiaoyu remembered what Georgia had said
you could get someone to risk death if you made them feel alive
.
 
Diana felt somewhat dead.  It was obvious.  She dealt with an underlying feeling of inadequacy.  In her own eyes, she didn’t measure up to her own womanly standard.  Xiaoyu took them to a liquor store after they left the monorail. 

• • •

The Mandarin conversation gave Diana some relief.  The cool girl of society spoke English and was familiar with the latest English terms.  With Xiaoyu, she could be Liu Dan from Jiang Cheng, a way of resurrecting herself.  Xiaoyu bought a bottle of
Grand Marnier
.  They passed a small grocery store on the way back to her apartment.  He bought cola and oranges.  Tracing the steps back to Diana’s apartments, he made a simple cocktail he learned from Georgia.  Georgia taught him how to mix alcohol and the consequences of alcohol in the mix.  He knew how it took the edge off.  How it increased testosterone levels in women.  He knew how it tasted and how to make it taste good.  The
Grand Marnier
mixed with cola and the orange peel oil on the lip of the glass was a home remedy.  It wasn’t the kind of sophisticated drink that would be recommended for nights dressed to impress.  Kuala Lumpur was a sophisticated backdrop.  The right outfit with the wrong drink was the same as an expensive dress with cheap shoes.  The try would fail.  But for two people from the same part of the world living like sophisticated refugees, it was the right flavor.  The orange twist was nice and natural.  The carbonated pop was synthetic and sufferable.  The cocktail was exciting in its own way.  Drinking it quick made the bubbles burn her throat.  It didn’t matter; she was ready for another.  Xiaoyu poured while he listened.  Diana was naturally jealous of Yamila.  Xiaoyu admitted her comeliness but said he was only being polite.  Diana went on about a deep-seated conspiracy by Yamila to always outdo her.  It was obvious Yamila wanted the kind of friend that made her look better.  But Xiaoyu had his doubts about a conspiracy.  Diana could drink when she was upset.  She started her third cocktail when Xiaoyu finished his first.  In the middle of her third cocktail, Xiaoyu noticed a hungry look in her eye.  He had seen the look before in Georgia’s eyes. 
A bit of stress
. 
A bit of a solution
.  He kept his drink in his hand and walked across the room to kiss her.  She didn’t join in the kiss neither did she fight it.  The slow reaction was the effect of the alcohol.  She pushed him away with her right hand keeping her drink in her left.  She finished her drink in one swallow and leaned in toward Xiaoyu.  He had shown her his kiss.  She showed him hers.  Her kiss was a serious thing.  She rolled her body against his and wrapped her left arm around his neck.  Realizing that she still held her glass she took it with her right hand and dropped her right arm.  She pushed Xiaoyu back toward the kitchen and set her drink on the counter.  Xiaoyu did the same.  Xiaoyu knelt down grabbing her by the waist.  He stood up and slung her over his shoulder.  Carrying her to the bedroom, he slid her out of her dress as he brought her back down to the floor.  She stood on the floor in the bedroom with the same look in her eye.  Xiaoyu pushed her on the bed and slid her lace underwear down her legs.  Unfastening his belt, he got out of his clothes in under a minute.  He pinned her to the bed and kissed her again. 
Again and again
.  They exchanged body parts for over an hour.  Before Diana said she was tired and bowed out.  Xiaoyu was beginning to believe Georgia about the effect of excess testosterone in her system.  Diana was passive compared to Georgia.  But she seemed to enjoy being with him more.  She lied on his chest as he stroked her hair and he looked up at the ceiling, which had the effect of the sky. 

As he stared at the ceiling, thoughts rolled through his head like clouds.  He thought of how he would get the information he needed from her and how he would get back to Paris.  Paris made him think of Marti Laine.  He felt guilty when he thought of Marti but didn’t know why.  Thinking of Marti with Diana napping on his chest felt awkward.  He had thought of Georgia many times and thought nothing of it.  Thinking of Marti made him want to return to Paris.  Not to rush her into the bedroom like Diana but to talk to her without pretense.  His world was becoming complex.  In the beginning, there were just enemies.  He was bullied constantly which had one benefit.  It made his enemies clear.  They revealed themselves every time they said his name,
Heigui
.  With Diana there was endearment.  She laid her head on his chest with a sense of security.  The feeling was menacing.  Georgia’s words came back into his head.  She was right.  He could work with his fists.  It was straightforward.  Working with his fuss, he didn’t like.  There was no way to tell but he felt it couldn’t end well.  Eventually, the truth would be the heaviest thing in the room, heavier than her head on his chest.  So heavy it would fall to the floor and they’d both be standing on it.  Now he was standing on ceremony and it reminding him of betrayal.  It reminded him of someone he killed.  Even the irony of Diana sleeping against his fake skin didn’t make sense.  Georgia was right again.  It was necessary for him to spray his entire body.  He didn’t know he would finish the day like he started it, naked.  Guo Bai didn’t have the
Mark
.  Xiaoyu did.  Diana and Xiaoyu had unusual similarities.  Both wanted acceptance and had ultimately failed.  And both were self-conscious about their bodies.               

Thinking about women in general made him think about Marti in specific.  He didn’t think much about her.  He only thought it would be good to talk to her when
Open Gate
was closed.  She was housemistress.  She could keep a secret, even if he wasn’t supposed to tell her about the project or his role in it.  He was beginning to find Mason’s debriefings inadequate.  Talking about what happened or what went wrong would no longer do.  He wanted to talk about how he felt.  He felt tired.  He closed his eyes and joined Diana in a shallow sleep. 

              It wasn’t the next morning when they woke up.  It was the late evening.  Diana wanted to drink water to combat the effects of too much alcohol.  Xiaoyu knew the effects only because Georgia had forced him to get drunk and then answer questions. 
All part of his training
.  While Diana drank water, Xiaoyu mixed another cocktail to take the edge off and shallow the depth of his deception.  He thought about how his sister had deceived him.  Now he saw how it ran in the family.

              “
Do you have any brothers or sisters
?” asked Xiaoyu.

              “
I was born in ’75 before the One Child Policy so my mother was allowed two of us
,” said Diana, “
Me and my little sister
.”

              “
How old is she
?” asked Xiaoyu.

              “
Two years younger
,” said Diana, “
What about you
?”

              “
Older sister
,” said Xiaoyu.

              “
Where is she now
?” asked Diana.

              “
In America
,” said Xiaoyu.

              “
Are you close to her
?” asked Diana.

              “
We don’t speak
,” said Xiaoyu, “
We haven’t spoken in years
.”

              “
Why is that
?” asked Diana.

              “
It’s just the way it is
,” said Xiaoyu.

              “
Do you miss her
?” asked Diana.

              “
I don’t know
,” said Xiaoyu.

              “
Wow
,” said Diana.

              “
Why
?” asked Xiaoyu.

              “
You don’t even know if you miss her
,” said Diana, “
I wonder what that says for me when you’re back in Hong Kong
.”

              “
I’ll look back and say it was fun
,” said Xiaoyu.  Diana couldn’t help but laugh.  After all, she had agreed that they were in it for the fun.

              “
What will you say
?” asked Xiaoyu.

              “
When you’re back in Hong Kong
?” said Diana, “
I’ll say…I’ll say who was that mystery man anyways
.”

              “
And who will you say this to
?” asked Xiaoyu, “
Yamila
?”

              “
She’s more prone to ask about what just happened
,” said Diana, “
The girl’s very physical
.”

              “
I noticed
,” said Xiaoyu.

              “
Shut up
,” said Diana. 

              “
Well I wanted to ask you something
,” said Xiaoyu.

              “
What
?” said Diana.

              “
Is it too late for me to go home
?” asked Xiaoyu.

              “
I wouldn’t go out by myself this late
,” said Diana.