White Tiger

be great, thanks.’
    ‘You’re lucky—the little girl is a delight.’
    ‘Her father’s a sweetheart too.’
    She laughed. ‘Oh. Very lucky.’
    I turned back to the mirror. ‘I think I must be the luckiest woman in the whole wide world.’
    ‘Wait there, I’ll be right back. Oh. Here she is.’
    Simone came in wearing bright orange solar swimmers with a lurid green and purple frill around her little behind. She wriggled for me. ‘These are so cool!’
    ‘I need sunglasses to look at you,’ I said. ‘Go and ask Leo to pay for them.’
    ‘Okay. Hurry up, Emma, I want to go to the beach.’
    I finally settled on a pale blue and white striped bikini with a matching wrap that even Leo approved of.
    Jo and a couple of the other women hugged and kissed Simone. ‘Enjoy Australia, Simone,’ Jo said. ‘Have fun.’
    ‘Thanks, Jo,’ Simone said.
    ‘Are all Australians like that?’ Leo asked as we walked back to the car park.
    ‘Yep. Pretty much. It took me a long time to become accustomed to Hong Kong; we’re much more friendly and relaxed here.’
    Leo grinned. ‘I think I’m gonna like this place.’
    Monica was waiting for us with a mountain of groceries. Leo loaded them into the van for her and just as he’d finished, Mr Chen and Ms Kwan arrived. Both were smiling broadly.
    ‘Find something in black?’ I teased.
    Leo scowled as he climbed into the driver’s seat.
    ‘Yes,’ Mr Chen said. ‘The people here are quite remarkable. Very friendly.’
    ‘Now you know where I get it from.’
    We all rushed to change when we returned to the apartment. Monica chose to stay behind. ‘I don’t like the beach,’ she said. ‘I don’t like sand, and I can’t swim. Let me sort out my kitchen.’
    Simone and I waited in the living room for the others. Leo came out first. He wore shorts with the second-loudest Hawaiian print I had ever seen. His fluorescent pink shirt was absolutely the loudest. A pair of expensive sunglasses perched on his American team baseball cap.
    ‘You Hawaiian, Leo?’
    ‘Nope, Chicago.’
    I was about to give Leo a hard time about the shirt when Ms Kwan came in. She wore a white one-piece swimsuit with a large white shirt over it, a huge white straw hat and sunglasses. She looked like a movie star. She twirled for us. ‘What do you think?’
    Mr Chen came out behind her. ‘I think you look gorgeous.’ He wore his new black swim shorts with a towel thrown over his shoulder.
    He was magnificent. Smooth golden skin over toned muscle, graceful and sleek. Tall and chiselled and not an ounce of fat on him. He had an angry red mark on his abdomen where he’d been injured, but apart from that he was glowing with good health.
    He stopped in the living room and stared at Leo and me. Then he grinned, shook his head and walked past us.
    Ms Kwan stopped in front of us. ‘Put your tongues back in, you two,’ she whispered.
    It was near the end of the day and people were packing up to go. A woman power-walked along the wet sand past us. Further along the beach a man flew a large acrobatic kite, its fabric fluttering loudly. A helicopter roared overhead, following the line of the surf. The breeze was still warm and the sun was crisp against my back as we faced the waves.
    ‘We have to swim between the flags,’ I announced. Everybody looked at me as if I was completely crazy.
    ‘The current here can be really strong,’ I explained. ‘The lifeguards are professionals, and they mark the parts of the beach that are safe, and patrolled by them, with flags. You swim between the flags, you’re safe. You go outside the flags, you’re quite likely to get swept out and drown.’
    ‘That can’t happen to me,’ Mr Chen said quietly. He looked up and down the beach. ‘I don’t see any flags, Emma.’
    ‘They must have finished for the day,’ I said. ‘You just go out and swim, if you’re sure you’ll be okay.’
    Mr Chen nodded. ‘Simone can stay out of the water today, and swim tomorrow. Stay with Emma and Leo, Simone.’
    ‘Okay, Daddy,’ Simone said. ‘Look at all the sand! I want to play.’
    ‘Keep an eye on her,’ Mr Chen said. ‘Don’t let her into the water if it’s dangerous.’
    ‘It’s not that dangerous,’ I said. ‘You just need to be careful.’
    He studied the waves. ‘Let me go out and see what it’s like.’
    ‘Well then, go!’ Ms Kwan said, waving him away with one hand. She pulled a beach mat out of her bag and spread it on the sand. ‘Come and