Aunt Ching left this morning to go shopping at the wet market. She had prepared breakfast for me, since I like sleeping late and eating my first meal just before noon. I left a note on the table, saying that I'm going out today. I added a smiley, so she won't get angry.
I went out to the city. I had planned to go to some tourist spots here one day at a time, there are so many after all.
I reached to Beijing's man-made forest, the largest in the world. It is housed in a metallic dome, and the sunlight made it glimmer beautifully. A batch of flowers welcomed me as I entered. I took selfies, with the flowers as background. I loved flowers, they're so pretty. I was looking at admiringly as someone's familiar voice greeted me.
"Hello." he said.
"Hi." I replied abruptly. It was the man I bumped into at the airport yesterday.
"You also like flowers?" he asked.
'Yah' was all I managed to say.
"Me too." he smiled.
It made me smile, too.
We were smiling at each other just as raindrops began to settle on my head. I looked up and stretched out my hand.
"Is it raining?"
"Yeah, obviously." he snickered.
I looked up and another raindrop fell to my cheek.
"Why is that?"
"This is also a rain forest." he said, taking off his jacket and covering my head with it."You don't know?"
"I...don't."
I snuggled more on my jacket, wearing it tighter. I think I felt a chill down my spine when I felt his hands touch my shoulders. He opened his umbrella to cover his. ---
"Let's go somewhere and wait for the rain to end." he said.
We went under a shed and sat on a bench under it. I went to get coffee-in-can from the nearest vending machine as my treat for him. I sat on the bench and gave him a drink.
"Thanks." he said slowly.
I sipped some of mine when he looked at me and asked my name.
"Alvira." I said.
"Do you live here?" he asked further.
"Temporarily. I'm from New Jersey. But I have Chinese blood."
"You're name doesn't sound like one."
I gulped my drink and said, "It doesn't matter. It's not in the name."
"Oh, so we're both tourists. I'm from Manhattan. In New York." he said.
"So you're from the city. You're probably rich."
He just grinned and sipped his coffee.
"I almost forgot to tell you, I'm Clyde."
"Nice to meet you, Clyde." I welcomed him with a smile.
He looked at me, smirking.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing." he said with a giggle. "Here, you can have this." he gave me a blue rose. It looked crystallized as it was covered with tiny raindrops.
"Where did you get this? It's so pretty." I gushed.
"I got it from the entrance."
"Wasn't there a sign saying 'Don't pick flowers'?" I kept my words in a whisper although I was angry.
"There was. But you were staring at it intently a just a while ago. I thought you wanted it."
"You stole it."
"No one saw me anyway." he insisted.
I stared at the flower for a moment.
"It makes me little guilty that you took it without permission. Anyway, thanks."
"Welcome."
He finished his coffee and threw the can in a trash bin beside the bench, while I was sipping my coffee while appreciating the rose he just gave me.
"You wanna go with me next week?" he asked me. "I'm with a group of tourists. We have tourist guide with us."
"Sure. I was planning on doing that tomorrow. I'll go with you instead." I said. "Where will we go?"
"Just around here in Beijing, not that far." he explained.
"Great. I wanna go. Where do we meet?" I invited.
"At the bus station. Nine in the morning." He suggested."Don't forget."
"Yeah, I'll remember." I said as I stood up and about to leave. "Thanks for this." I referred to the rose.
"Thanks for the treat." he referred to his coffee.
"Bye." I said.
Clyde, my new found friend, whom I first met at the airport, had invited me to go with him for a tour. He seemed okay. Green eyes, brown hair, lean body, and good skin. He seems healthy and hygienic, which makes him quite attractive. He's so...manly. I was on the bed as soon as I got home from the rain forest. I felt cold, I got rained on earlier. I covered myself in my comfy comforter, to warm myself. It was fall here in China, and the rainy days are already present. I'm getting sneezy. I feel like I'm gonna have a cold.
Clyde
I don't really know why I had invited her. The words just came out of my mouth. I didn't really mean to say those words, it just slipped out of my mouth. I guess I was at a loss for words. Now my plans are ruined. The reason I'm here in China is to find my first love, Vanessa. Bryce, my best pal, invited me to go around Beijing.
He's very adventurous, and easily gets his way. He'll convince me to go with him nevertheless, even if I don't plan to. He promised me he'll help find Vanessa, if I accompany him for a while. I'm still here in the rain forest, sitting on a bench, watching the rain go heavier. I realized it's time to go home. As soon as I stretched my umbrella open, it broke. I thought about my jacket. Oh, I had given it to Alvira. Drats. Now I'm stuck in here. I guess I'll have to wait.
Alvira
This is bad. I definitely have a cold now. My entire supply of Kleenex I had packed in my suitcase is running out. Worse, I don't have the energy to go out to the drugstore. And the worst, I don't know where the drugstore is. I curled up, hugging myself. I noticed what I was wearing. Ah, it was Clyde's hoodie. I forgot to return it. It totally slipped out of my mind. I hope he's not getting cold. Aunt Ching's not home yet. Maybe she's busy on her business. I messaged her on the phone telling her I feel sick. I waited... No reply. Maybe she's stranded because of the rain. I tried on Vanessa. She replied almost in an instant.
"Hey girl." she said.
"Where are you now?" I asked.
"I'm at a mall here in Pinggu city, I'm shopping. It's really cheap here. I love it."
Yeah, it's Vanessa, my bestie. She's such a shopaholic.
"I need help here."
"Why? What's going on?" she asked almost hysterically.
"Uhmmm... It's not as bad as you think. I just have a cold."
"Ohhh..." she uttered. "So how can I help you?"
"Please buy me some cold drops or any medicine that can cure colds. I don't know where the drugstore is."
"Haha. Sure. I'll be there in thirty minutes. Just wait, okay?."
"Thanks, girl." I said.
"Yeah,bye." Then she went offline.
She's really my best friend. The one I can call anytime. I put my attention on the blue rose I was still holding. This little rose is so pretty. Maybe I'll put it in a flower vase when I feel much better.
Clyde
Thank goodness. The rain stopped at last. Now I have to go. My phone rang. It's Bryce calling.
"Hey, dude." I answered. "Are you going with me next week?"
"Yeah. I'm going." "Wow. I think this is the first time you agreed to come with me willingly." he said sarcastically.
"Good for you. I'll bring a girl with me."
"Congrats, dude. So you finally moved on with Vanessa?" he said.
"No. Stop it, man. This one is a friend." I insisted.
"You gotta move on. There's one in a million chances you'll find that girl again."
"I won't stop 'til I find her. You promised to help me after this."
"Yeah yeah. I hope you find that girl. Just make sure she won't dump you after you find her.
"Yup.Thanks, man." I said, ending the conversation.
Alvira
I stood in front of the gate, waiting for Vanessa. She told me she'd be here in thirty minutes. The rain has stopped, but it sure is cold.
"Viii!!!" a human with a familiar voice hugged me from behind. I turned around.
"Vanessa?" I said as she covered her arms around me.
"Oh gosh I missed you."
"Miss you...too." I responded. "Let's go inside, it's freakin' cold here."
Vanessa lounged on the couch the very minute she got into my room.
"Ohhh...I'm so tired." she uttered wearily.
"I bet you shopped all day." I noticed all the bags she carried.
"Yeah. Here's your meds." she handed over some tablets.
"Thanks, Van." I popped it all into my mouth and drank water. "Have you traveled around here in China?" I inquired.
"Oh right. I haven't."
"Would you join me, I mean us and we'll tour around here. I need someone---"
"Us?" she broke into my sentence. "Who do you mean?"
"Yeah." I sounded exasperated."I have a new guy friend. He asked for my company. That's why I need someone to pal around." I pleaded.
"Who's that guy?"
"Oh, you probably don't know him."
"Oh...that's right." She paused and pondered for a moment. "I may not be able to come." she said.
"Why not?"
"I have something to do...something private."
"Really? What is it?" I urged her to answer.
"It's something really private, I told you." she said looking away.
"Well then, I guess I'll go alone."
"Be sure to take care of yourself." she reminded.
"Yeah." I hugged her tightly again as she was about to leave. She exit the gate and rode the taxi to go home.
"Bye." I bid hesitantly. She didn't say anything but smiled forcibly. She looked away as the car moved on. What was that? Why won't she tell me?
I've been getting ready for this week, for the trip. I had recovered from the cold, and I was ready to walk around and explore. I actually went earlier and waited at the bus stop before Clyde. A few minutes, he finally came.
"Why have you come so early?" he asked.
"I thought we could have more time to walk around."
"It's just 9:30 a.m, we still have 30 minutes idle."
"How about we go somewhere?" I requested.
"No. We'll wait for someone else."
"Who?" "I told you we're going as a group, right? So we have to wait for him. He's my best friend."
"Oh, that's fun." His phone suddenly beeped.
"I'll just check this." he said as he grabbed his phone.
Clyde
"I won't be able to come. I have a date with my girlfriend. Sorry bro." That jerk. He told me to come with him for the condition that he'll help me find Vanessa. Now he's the one who isn't coming. How frustrating. I dialed his number. No answer.
"Is there a problem?" Alvira asked. She must have noticed since I'm fixated on my phone.
"He won't be able to come."
"What do we do now?" she whimpered.
"We'll go ourselves. Sorry I got you into this." I apologized.
"It's okay. Where do we go now?"
"Let's go to the amusement park."
"There's one here? That's great." she jumped in excitement.
"Let's go?" I initiated.
"Let's go."
Alvira
"Have you ridden one?" he asked me while we gaped as we saw the carousel.
"Nope."
"Have you ever experienced childhood?" he said sardonically.
"I've ridden roller coasters, but carousels, never."
"You hate 'em?"
"Let's just keep this a secret, okay?" I asked nicely, then he leaned over.
"I'm scared of horses." He smiled sheepishly, then bursted out laughing.
"What's funny?"
"Those are unicorns." he said, still laughing.
"So what?, They're similar." I defended.
"No matter how similar they seem, they're still different. Remember that. Look, unicorns have a horn on their foreheads. Horses don't. And they're so small and cute." he said. "So won't you try it? It won't harm you, you know?" he continued.
"Okay, I'll try." We sat on two "unicorns" beside each other.
"I'll sit here so I can help you when you fall."
"I won't fall." I insisted.
"Just in case."
Clyde
This reminds me of my first date with Vanessa. Although it was a little different. I was the one who have never ridden a carousel before.
---FLASHBACK---
"Let's try it, come on!" I groaned, as Vanessa gripped my arm, tugging me to ride on a carousel.
"I don't want to. It looks so dumb."
"Duh," she snapped. "It's fun." I grunted, still not convinced.
"Have you ever experienced being a kid?" she asked.
"Alright. I'll do it."
"Let's go!" she jumped ecstatically and dragged me in.
"Tickets for two." I ordered from the lady at the counter.
"2 bucks each." she replied. I searched my pocket and only found three bucks. I turned to Vanessa.
"We're two bucks short." She put her hands into her pocket.
"I'm out of money, too."
"We allow two people in one ride here, exclusive for couples." the counter lady broke into our conversation. "Would you want to try that, Sir?" I turned again to Vanessa.
"Oh, of course. We'd love to try that." she replied to the lady.
"Okay." Now she gave us our ticket. The ride started to move. I hung my arms around her, I didn't care who's watching. She resisted.
"Now this is more embarrassing." she admitted.
---END OF FLASHBACK---
"Clyde!" Alvira shrieked.
I snapped back into reality as she held my arms. She almost fell. Thank goodness I grabbed her immediately.
"Thanks." she said.
"Let's go somewhere else. I think I don't like the atmosphere here."
"Yeah, it's so full of kids." she laughed slightly.
We ended up in a fast food restaurant.
"How did we end up here?" Alvira wondered.
"You said you were hungry."
"Oh,Did I?" she can't believe what she had said.
"Oh yeah, you did. I even wanted to ride a cable train."
"Then let's do it now." she said as she stood up.
"No, forget it. Let's ride it next time, when we have more companions."
"Okay." she sat down finally. She ordered her food, but I didn't. I wasn't feeling hungry.
"Something bothering you?" she asked. She had noticed my being quiet these past few hours.
"Nothing." I tried to look nonchalant. "Now get done with that. We'll be going to the park." I added.
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~Author's Note~
I'm dedicating this to atengblue
Credits to deannetianzon Don't forget to follow her! She helped me a lot in this story so I'm giving credits to her! Thanks guys! :)x
As always, long updates :3 But here ya go :3 Long part too :3
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