Bike Ride
Chen Jianyu wakes up at two o'clock in the morning his head is pounding, he reaches over no one is in the bed with him, where did she go? He can smell a light jasmine scent on the sheets and pillow. It wasn't a dream. The last thing he can recall is kissing her neck, she woke up then.. he has no recollection, he is pissed. He sees the charm is gone from the nightstand, she got what she came for then left. He bangs his hand on the nightstand, then throws the lamp across the room into a wall, he has to have that little bunny. He will do whatever it takes to find her!
He dials Wang Li's number, after several rings he answers groggy he says' “Yeah Boss.”
“Get over to the penthouse now!”
Wang Li nudges his wife who is sound asleep next to him, “Babe..babe..”
“Not now..I need to work in the morning.”
“...”
He leaves a note next to her on the pillow he got called to work. After taking a quick shower puts on a dark blue suit and goes to the garage, getting into his Land Rover he quickly puts it into reverse almost hitting the car parked the next row behind him. Wang Li slams on his brakes then turns the wheel speeding out of the garage.
He thinks to himself I need a new job, lately Chen Jianyu is acting crazy. Wang Li has never seen him lose his cool like in the last couple days. Well then again he was shot at then drugged. Hmmph.. he runs a red light no one is on the road, he knows if he doesn't get there quickly he will have to listen to a tirade from the boss.
Chen Jianyu is pacing across the floor, maybe she left fingerprints somewhere, he can have them traced. He looks at his computer, it seems Lau An sent the footage., maybe checking it he will get his mind off the girl earlier.
He pulls up the email downloading the images, Lau An did a good job the frames show the impudent woman perfectly, especially the frame where she is smiling at that stupid pretty boy behind the counter.
As he looks closely at the images, studying them he thinks there is a similarity between this girl and the girl who was in his bed last night that saved him from the aphrodisiac. Her smile when she said “Kiss me..” he won't forget. He zooms in on the image where she is smiling, could two women have the same smile? The way her pink lips curl up and her eyes are in a crescent moon shape when she smiles. But this girl has dark brown eyes, and he can't forget the sparkling green eyes with the gold flecks of the mystery girl.
The hair is the same length, color, the slender build. Could they be the same person? That would be too much of a coincidence. Everything appears to be identical except the eye color. Chen Jianyu stands up. “Fuck! Contacts! She must have been wearing brown contacts that day, there is no way to duplicate the unique hazel eyes he stared into earlier.
He is pleased with himself, that quickly fades, still how am I going to find her?
Wang Li knocks on the door. He looks at his watch he made good time getting over here. He wishes he had got a coffee he can barely keep his eyes open.
Chen Jianyu answers the door, “Wang Li makes us some coffee.” Wang Li is silently thinking he is very happy the boss said that, he was stifling a yawn on the way into the penthouse.
Wang Li brews up some Blue Mountain Coffee, he enjoys the flavor of it but it is too expensive for his wife to buy from Morning Glory they are the only shop that carries it in Pushong City. The aroma is drifting through the penthouse.
“Hurry up with the coffee, we need to figure out how to find this girl.”
Wang Li sighs not that girl again! He has never seen the boss really even take notice of a woman let alone obsess like this over one.
Here Boss.” He hands him a black cup of coffee.
“Li look at these images, with such good images of her who can you contact to find her.”
“I can contact Dong He if she has ever been arrested he can run it through their facial recognition database to find her. It would be hard with only a picture also if she worked for the government it might show up also. I'm not sure but if she has a driver's license it would be on file with the Motor Vehicles Department. He leans over Chen Jianyu's shoulder looking at the computer screen.
“I need you to bring someone in tomorrow to check for finger prints. I think the girl in these photos is the same girl who gave me the antidote. Also, tell Housekeeping not to change my bed out in the morning, or all week for that matter.
Wang Li takes a sip of his coffee, has the Boss gone insane, he is a cleanliness freak now he wants to keep his dirty sheets on the bed for a week! He doesn't like to disagree with Chen Jianyu but how could they be the same woman, he described the girl with the antidote as having unusual green eyes, this girl's eyes are brown.
“Boss they have two different eye colors.”
“Contacts.”
Chen Jianyu is sure they are the same woman, he has no idea what her plan is with him but he is intrigued to find out. He desperately wants to finish what he started last night.
“You can leave. Leave a message for Nuying to cancel my appointment with Huan, find someone to check for fingerprints in the morning and swing by the police station give this printout to Dong He. He prints from the computer then hands it to Wang Li. Be here at 11:00 A.M. I'm going to get some sleep. Don't forget to tell Hosekeeping if they change my bed they are fired.”
Wang Li gulps down the rest of his coffee, setting the cup on the kitchen counter, he thought he would have to stay here now he is going home and will be wide awake. “Goodnight Boss, I will be here at 11.”
Chen Jianyu shuts down the computer and gets into bed. He hugs the pillow with her scent on it , “I will find you bunny, you can't hide from me.”
Limei wakes up in the morning later than usual frustrated the beast left his marks on her while she was asleep. She doesn't feel like exercising she wants to hurry to the drugstore.While she showers she rubs the soapy loofah over her tender neck repeatedly until the entire area is red and inflamed.
Damn that arrogant beast she will find a way to repay him for his unruly behavior towards her last night! She dries herself off, and to compound matters because of his brother Chen Huan she can't run in the park this morning, he seemed like a stalker type, he will be there looking for her. She decides she should buy a bicycle, she can ride in the morning instead of running for awhile until he loses interest in her.
As she sits at the vanity mirror covering her neck with a scarf she stares at her face in the mirror, her beauty she inherited from her mother has brought her nothing but trouble. The reason Kuang Fu wanted to take her from her father to repay his debt was because he needed a beautiful girl to train as an assassin. Men tend to let their guard down around beautiful women he said from the moment she started training.
She places the brown contacts onto her eyes, Kuang Bo used to stare into her green eyes telling her she had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. She isn't conceited but she knows her natural good looks attract men. She just wants to find someone who loves her for the person she is not just wanting to possess her for her beauty. So far in her life she has only met bastards...she fixes the scarf better to cover the hideous marks.
When she is leaving her apartment Du Chang is running up the steps. “LiMei I don't have school today let's go play!”
“Brat I need to run errands today I don't have time to play with a High School kid!' LiMei laughs knowing reminding him he is in High School will bother him.
“Shut up! I'm a Senior about to graduate,I'm not a kid.” he knows she likes to tease him.
“What do you have to do I will come with you.”
She doesn't want him coming to the drugstore with him but having him along will get her mind off the shitty night she had last night. “Tell you what, visit with your grandparents, I am going to the drugstore to get some personal items. When I am done, I will meet you downstairs. I need a bicycle do you know a good shop that won't rip me off?”
Du Chang's eyes light up, last summer he had a job at Pushong Bicycle Shop, he can show her his expertise about bikes.
“I do! I worked in a bike shop last summer, it isn't far from here. I can take you on my bike then when you buy one we can go for a bike ride through the city. I know a cool place where we can have lunch. Your treat for me helping you right?' He smiles his handsome face full of mischief.'
LiMei flicks his forehead, “Only if you can negotiate a good deal for me!”
They are laughing as they go down the stairs, “Be back in an hour.” LiMei walks away smiling, he really is fun to be around.
LiMei walks down the street towards the drugstore on the corner, it better work, if they call her into work she can't wear a scarf it is not in their dress code. Once inside the drugstore she peruses the shelves then finds the cream she is looking for finding it in the skin care section.
She picks it up , then grabs some of her favorite lotion, it has a light jasmine scent she likes.
After she pays she gets a call from the Kitchen Manager he spoke to Song Yichen concerning her being fired and the fact they were short on reliable employees. As expected just to anger Chen Jianyu he hired her back, actually the paperwork for letting her go hadn't been filed yet, so she is to report to work regular time 6:00.
“Thank you Boss! I didn't expect to hear from you so soon, I appreciate the effort on my behalf I will work hard for you.”
“It was unreasonable the way you were fired it is only right you can still work here. See you at 6.”
LiMei clutches her cell in her hand, this is great! She really didn't want to lose this job.
She returns to the house, she walks up to her apartment to apply the vanishing cream. When she is finished she puts the green and white scarf around her slender neck. Running back down the stairs eager to start he day she knocks on the old couple's door, the old man answers smiling, this girl is a good influence on Du Chang. He said she helped him with his homework the other night. “Come in LiMei, Chang is waiting for you in the kitchen.”
His wife is a plump woman about sixty, she is sitting at the table with Chang while he is eating. “LiMei would you like some breakfast there is plenty here.”
“No thank you Mrs. Du I ate some noodles earlier.”
“Chang when you are finished I will be in the garden waiting for you.”
She bows to his grandparents, normally she frowns on this tradition but they have been very kind to her, she respects them.
Chang shoves the last few bites on his plate into his mouth and follows her, “Thanks Grandma!” he hurries out the door.
“LiMei just ride on my bike with me it isn't that far then we can get you a bike.”
LiMei hasn't ridden on a bike with a boy since she was in High School herself, she dropped out before her Senior year when her father sold her. She used to get a ride to school on the back of Yeung Jun's bike, this sounds like fun.
“Okay!”
Du Chang wheels his bike from the side of the house . “Get on, you will need to hold onto me tightly we need to go down Jongu Street it is very steep.”
“Du Chang in your dreams, haha..”
She sits on the back and they head down the street, she is watching the scenery, the part of town they live in is very pretty the streets are lined with Plum Blossom trees, little stores, some food stalls. By the Morning Glory Cafe there are Cherry Blossom trees. The weather is a little breezy, LiMei is enjoying the bike ride, the wind hitting her face.
“LiMei we are coming up to Jongu Street hold on.”
She can see the hill is very steep so she holds onto Du Chang's waist, he wasn't lying.
They start flying down the street, LiMei 's heart is racing they are going so fast. She clings on tighter to him, her chest pressed into his back.
Du Chang could have gone a different route but he wanted her to have to hold onto him like this. It feels good having her press her body into his. He has had a crush on her since she moved into the upstairs apartment.
“Ahh..slow down Du Chang!”
Du Chang smiles, “Don't be afraid.”
LiMei closes her eyes, gripping harder to his waist. They are almost to the bottom of the hill, his bike is slowing down when a black Porsche pulls out suddenly from a parking spot. Du Chang tries to avoid the collision but his bike hits the fender, both he and LiMei fly off the bike.
“Fucking shit!” Qiao Rui brakes then jumps out of his car with his bag to check the two. He dials 120 immediately., then runs over to see what injuries they have.. The boy is up and staggering with a bloodied leg, he had rolled onto the hood then fell off.
But, the girl is laying on the ground with blood on her head unconscious, she had flown directly onto the road. He quickly tells Du Chang, “I'm a doctor sit on the sidewalk while I check your girlfriend.” Du Chang tries to walk over to where LiMei is but his leg is excruciatingly painful.
He sits watching Qiao Rui examine LiMei. Du Chang wants to cry looking at her sprawled on the ground why did he take this fucking Jongu Street.
The ambulance arrives, Qiao Rui tells them to take them directly to his downtown hospital.