Bride of the Moso Prince (11 page)

“Oh,” Sadama laughed, “no hurry then. But what are you going to do for the rest of the day? There isn’t much entertainment here.”

“Well, I’m happy just to enjoy the scenery in my room. Besides, I actually have work to do.”

“Work to do?” Charlene looked puzzled.

“Yes. I have a project due in two weeks.”

“You’re kidding me!” Charlene cried, “You’re on a vacation, more or less.”

“No, Sis, I’m not.”

“You could be. I mean, you’re not the only person that’s capable of doing it, I’m sure. Let your assistants do it.”

“I know. But I started it, and I need to finish it.”

“No you don’t, Sharon. It won’t be the end of the world if you don’t finish that project.”

“I can’t be that irresponsible.” Sharon argued.

“There you go again!” Charlene rolled her eyes. “You’re hooked by
responsibility
.”

Sharon was going to argue as she realized that Sadama and Urcher were smiling at them.

She spoke to them instead, “You see, this is how we are, always arguing. I know why I missed her so much. The house was too quiet without her.”

They laughed.

After lunch Sharon took a short walk along the lake with Charlene to enjoy the beautiful scenery. The sky was blue and the clusters of clouds above were silvery white. A few boats were crossing the lake, taking algae to feed the live stocks. Soon they reached a bay with mountains forming a natural barrier on three sides. The opposite shore was kilometers away. Pine trees grew densely on the mountains.

“This is called the ‘bathing bay’ by the villagers since it’s secluded and ideal for bathing. But the tourists call ‘lovers bay’ since it’s ideal for kissing and all that.” Charlene informed her sister, “Almost every scenery spot was named with ‘lovers’: Lovers’ bridge, Lovers’ rock, Lovers’…”

“Sounds like it indeed is a romantic kingdom.”

They sat down on a rock half immersed in water. Sharon reached out to feel the clear water. It was soft and warm. How nice it would be to take a dip in such beautiful water! She loved swimming and had been a champion on her high school swimming team. But she hadn’t thought of swimming when she was packing in a hurry.

“Wish I had brought my swimsuit,” she said.

“Swimsuit?” Charlene paused for a moment and said, “I have it.”

             
“You do?” Sharon was surprised since her sister had hated it when she dragged her down to the YMCA pool in Monterey Park.

“You sent it to me along with some summer dresses.”

Sharon remembered. It was about this time last year when Charlene had just arrived Lugu Lake. She had described to her how nice the water was. “If you ever come here, Sharon, you must bring your swimsuit with you. You’d love to swim in that water!”

Thus Sharon sent her sister a swimsuit, telling her that she should swim in it for her.

After they had gotten back to the hotel and Charlene started to look for the swimsuit. She opened the closet and threw out object after object. She had accumulated quite a lot of ethnic artifacts after ten months’ stay, including hand-dyed tablecloths, embroidered head scarves, embroidered shoe insoles, etc…

“Well, you have enough things to open a shop once you get home.” Sharon picked up each object and examined.

“No way! I’ll never sell them.”

“Are you going to wear these?” Sharon pointed to a cap made of colorful beads.

“Why not?”

Seeing what a mess her room was, Sharon started to tidy it up. She gathered all the books and put them onto a shelf on the wall that Nobul had made it just for Charlene.  Then she collected all the clothes from the sofa and the bed and stuffed them into the bamboo basket that Charlene used for her laundry. Sharon thought she should clean the room for her sister, but the floor was shiny and clean. Evidently Sadama had come to clean it once in a while, for Charlene would never mop the floor. Well, at least she could do the laundry.

“Where is the laundry room, Charlene?”

“Laundry room?” Charlene was digging into a suitcase, “Oh, there is a washer downstairs. Next to the dining room.”

When Sharon came back from the laundry room,  Charlene had found the swimsuit. A dark green Nike with thin straps. It still had the price tag on it. Obviously Charlene didn’t take advantage of the water.

“You’ve never tried that water? What a pity!” Sharon chided.

“I’m clumsy swimmer. I don’t even know how to breathe!”

“That’s because you never practiced hard,” Sharon said, assuming her sisterly tone again, “always just played in the pool, with that boy, what’s his name? Sam? Sammy? And made him cry. His mother complained to me all the time.”

Charlene giggled, “And you finally gave up on me!”

Sharon slapped gently on Charlene’s forehead. “At least I got myself a swimsuit. I’m going for a dip later.”

             
After the clothes were done, she and Charlene hung them on some clotheslines in the yard. The task reminded Sharon of her childhood again. People in China, whether in city or rural areas, preferred to sun-dry their laundry. The Moso were not an exception.

“It’s a pity not to utilize the power of the sun,” Charlene said. “Especially we’re so close to it here in the plateau. By the way, sister, are you feeling ok? Are you having high altitude reactions? Dizzy, fainting, nose bleeding?”

Sharon paused, “No, I’m fine.”

             
“I have some pills in case you don’t feel well. I had never had symptoms.”

Sharon turned on the computer and worked on her project for the next couple hours. Pacific bank wanted some new sign-in features that would enhance security and fend off online criminals. Sharon was thinking a way that would help the system to recognize an alien computer, but that would require a cookie to be installed on a user’s regular computer, and she wasn’t sure whether people would like it.  She put that problem aside and worked on other things, such as a periodic message that asked the client to change his password. As soon as the sun got to the west side of the sky, she stopped. Putting on her swimsuit and a robe over it, she went out.

“I’m going to the lake,” she said to Charlene as she passed her door.

“Ah, just a second,” Charlene hesitated and pulled her sister to the balcony, “they don’t really allow the tourists to swim in the lake for safety reasons. It’s probably better if you go towards Lovers’ Bay.”

“No problem.”

             
“And it’s pretty shallow near the shore. But it gets deep fairly quickly. To be on the safe side, stay close to shore. Though I know you’re a swimming champion.” Charlene said to her sister before she went downstairs.

“All right. Since when have we switched roles?” Sharon chided, too excited to be concerned about safety issues.

She walked directly to Lover’s Bay. When she was in front of the lake she was simply thrilled. Leaving her bathrobe on the shore she went into the water quickly.

It was chilling at the first contact and she let out a joyous shout. She walked a few steps and soon got used to the temperature and started with breaststrokes. After that she changed to freestyle.  She had never felt so free in the water as she was now. She stretched her arms and turned in the water, like a fish, a lucky fish who lived in such beautiful, clean water. She could see the algae below her waving their arms as if to salute her. She didn’t mind when water got in her nose and mouth. It tasted good. No chlorine or salt. It was deliciously pure. The water felt so good that Sharon knew she wouldn’t want to leave it any time soon.

Disregarding Charlene’s advice of staying close to shore, she ventured out to the center of the lake.

Soon she was immersed in blueness. She turned on her back and was covered with blue as well. There was nothing else in her sight but the sky as if the universe was created just for her. She felt librated and carefree. With every stroke she felt a sensuous touch of the water, soothing her whole body, smoothing her and made her oblivious of worries and of her own being.  She closed her eyes and straightened her body just to float, without any hurry, without the need to get anywhere, just enjoy the absolute freedom and the perfect peace.

She almost drifted into a dream when she heard the shout of a man. “Hey! Come back here! What do you think you’re doing?” Turning on her stomach she saw a tall man waving fiercely on shore, it was no one other than Nobul.

“Come back! You can’t swim there. It’s dangerous!”

Dangerous? What’s he talking about? Sharon thought. The lake is everything but dangerous. It’s calm and the water’s smooth.

Sharon ignored him and swam away from the bay. In order not to hear his shouts she took a deep breath and got under the water.

When she surfaced again he was no longer on shore. Feeling relieved, she switched on her back again. Moments later she felt the force of the water beside her. She opened her eyelids, preparing to see a shark, or a big fish.

But instead she saw a muscular arm rising low above and into the water. Then it was that devastatingly handsome face that had occupied her dream last night, all the more gorgeous with beads of shimmering water.

She was startled and made a faulty stroke. Her abdomen involuntarily bent and she turned. Just before he grabbed her wrist she had managed to slip away and swim freestyle at full speed.

“Listen to me.” She heard his voice behind her, “It’s not safe to swim here.”

She did butterfly strokes and got ahead of him. But he followed closely.

“Fine, if you insist. We’ll swim together.” She heard him say.

For a long time they swam side by side. Sharon heard her own breathing besides the splashing of water. Once or twice his hand brushed against her thigh and her heart raced. He swam closer and closer, threatening her with his masculine presence. She did her best to keep a distance from him. While hating him for messing up her peaceful time, she couldn’t help but appreciate how well he swam. His rhythmic movements were quite a sight, and his bronze arms glistering with gold specks were strangely arousing. She found herself swimming on one side only so she could enjoy the spectacle of his body. How graceful and powerful at the same time. Then she found out that he had maneuvered her into heading back to the bay. Enraged, she ducked under him to escape but was caught by the leg. Under the water he dragged her back with one hand and then held her waist with another. Tugging her under his arm, he swam back. “Let me go!” she struggled but it was futile. She was not more than a chicken flapping its wings in the paws of a tiger. “I’ll go back to the shore, I promise!”

But he wouldn’t release her until they reached the shore and rolled onto the soft sands. 

“And you were calling me a mule. You’re the one who needs to be roped and pulled.”

He said as soon as he let go of her.

             
“You didn’t have to do that!” Sharon shouted angrily.

“Didn’t have to do that? The lake can be tricky for someone who isn’t familiar with it. There are water snakes and rocks, and you could get tangled by the algae.”

“That’s it? The way you reacted. I thought there were water spirits,” she taunted.

There was a fierce look in his eyes, but soon it disappeared. “Yes, that too. And they tend to snatch Han women with long slim legs.” He said that in a husky voice while caressing her legs with his narrowed, smoldering eyes.

Sharon shivered at such a blatant allusion. “How dare you!”

He laughed and continued to caress the rest of her body with that burning gaze. The setting sun sprinkled gold dusts on his muscular and brown chest, smooth without scary hair. In spite of anger, she longed to touch him. Then she felt weak and struggled to stand up. She picked up the towel and started to dry her body under those annoying eyes.

“Haven’t you seen a woman in a swimsuit before?” she wiped her thighs roughly, trying to suppress the tingling waves under her skin.

“No. Moso women don’t swim.” He stood up next to her. “But I must say, that’s a great outfit to attract a man’s eyes. It makes me wonder what’s not shown.”

She darted a furious look at him.

He only laughed while standing up and said in a husky voice, “Especially when what’s not hiding is so beautiful.”

Without warning he pulled her to him. Gazing down on her lips while she struggled to break away. He touched her lips with his thumb and smiling, he took a strand of hair on her cheek and tucked it under her ear. Then his finger slid down, to her
neck
and slowly to the curve of her breast. He gave her nipple a gentle rob through the thin fabric of the swimsuit and sent a shudder through the center of her belly. She gasped and frowned, her eyes burned with desire. As if that was a signal of consent, he pressed his lips on hers with an urgency that frightened her.

Nobul was frightened too, by the overwhelming urge that possessed him. He had never wanted someone so badly, at least not someone he had just met. He tried to make sense of his own reckless behavior but it was hard to think, while his body was taking control of his mind. It must have been the chase in the water. She was a superb swimmer and she was as beautiful as a mermaid. He had simply wanted to catch that slippery body and to feel it.