White Tiger

people.’
    ‘The Jade Emperor did that?’
    He glanced at me. ‘You are very perceptive sometimes.’
    ‘Go on. Tell me. It’s fascinating.’
    ‘We went to a teahouse. The Celestial poured the tea. We were horrified—to have the mighty Emperor pour tea for us, two lowly guards.’
    ‘Not that lowly.’
    ‘I’m never going to finish this, Emma,’ he said, with amusement. ‘Sorry. Go on.’
    ‘One of the guards thought quickly. He bent his fingers and placed them on the table.’ He demonstrated,bending his first two fingers and putting them next to the teacup. ‘To signify himself kneeling to the Emperor. The Emperor was impressed by the guard’s quick wit and promoted him to senior advisor.’
    ‘That was very clever of you,’ I said. ‘And over time it’s just become a tap on the table. How long ago was that?’
    ‘About five hundred years.’ He smiled wryly and put his chin back on his hand. ‘And it wasn’t me. It was Er Lang. I was the guard who didn’t think to do it.’
    ‘Does he really have three eyes?’
    ‘Er Lang? Yes. Most of the time you can’t see the third one; when it’s closed it’s not really noticeable.’
    He turned to watch the waves and sipped his tea. ‘You can see the lights from here.’
    ‘What lights?’
    ‘There is a building.’ He gestured inland. ‘It has flashing lights on the roof.’ He sounded bewildered. ‘It’s keeping me awake.’
    ‘You’re not accustomed to being kept awake?’
    He shook his head, his eyes shining. ‘One day I will tell Simone exactly what I have suffered for her. Just when I have overcome one difficulty with being human, another strikes me.’
    ‘You’ll be able to tell Simone that yourself?’
    ‘One day. Perhaps. I may be able to return in her lifetime.’ He looked down at his tea. ‘I sincerely hope I will be able to.’
    ‘Do you know how long you’ll be gone?’
    He didn’t look up. ‘Nobody has ever done this before. I have no idea how long it will take, but it will be a very long time. The answer to your question is: no.’
    ‘I hope you’ll be able to see her again.’ I turned to look at the flashing lights reflected from one of the other highrises. ‘That’s the casino. They’ll turn thelights off soon. Otherwise they’ll have complaints.’ I grinned at him. ‘Hey, why haven’t you been over there yet? You’re Chinese, aren’t you?’
    He looked as if he was going to tell me off, then smiled. ‘Gambling for money is not interesting when money has no value. The Tiger and I occasionally game for much higher stakes than money.’
    ‘Thought so. Look at the Hong Kong Jockey Club—richest institution in Hong Kong.’
    He poured more tea. ‘We need to talk, Emma.’ He put the teapot down. ‘This is very hard.’
    ‘You should have told me!’ I yelled, and he jumped. ‘Or at least had Leo tell me. I don’t know which of you is more hopeless. Ms Kwan is right.’
    He gazed into my eyes. ‘She told you?’
    ‘Damn straight she did.’
    He studied his cup carefully. ‘You are dismissed, Emma. When we return to Hong Kong you will pack your bags and leave.’
    ‘Absolutely not.’
    ‘You should leave, Emma. I could hurt you.’ He sighed. ‘I am hurting you anyway.’
    ‘No! I love both of you too much to leave. I’m not going.’
    His head snapped up so that he could see me. ‘You love both of us?’
    ‘You think I don’t?’ I sighed with exasperation. ‘You think this will make any difference to me, John? You should have told me.’
    ‘I didn’t want to lose you.’
    I reached out to take his hand, then pulled back and held my teacup instead. ‘You won’t lose me. I’ll stay with you until you go. I won’t leave you.’
    His eyes glittered. ‘I am making you suffer. You should leave. I could hurt you. Even unintentionally, Emma, I could hurt you. Even now it would not take much.’
    ‘We’ll just have to be careful, John.’ I straightened. ‘Mr Chen. We’ll just be careful when we’re alone.’ I took a sip of tea. ‘We’ll be friends, we’ll care for Simone.’ I looked into his eyes. ‘I don’t need more than that.’
    ‘Eventually I will not be able to touch you at all.’
    I gazed into his eyes. Love me completely, and be unable to touch me at all. ‘Even if you couldn’t touch me at all, John, I still think I would be the happiest woman in the world.’
    ‘We are a pair of fools.’
    ‘I know. But I’m happy to be a fool with you.’ He poured more