White Tiger

They’re all over me.’
    ‘Sounds like guy heaven to me,’ I said unsympathetically.
    He banged his hand fiercely on the desk. ‘You are no help at all, you know that?’
    That pushed me over the edge. I completely lost it. I crossed my arms on the desk, buried my face in them and laughed until the tears came.
    He sighed loudly and looked away.
    When I’d regained control I sat up and wiped my eyes. ‘But what does this have to do with me? What do you want to ask me? I don’t know how to shake women off.’
    ‘Could you come with me and be my shield?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Come with me to the concert. It’s for a good causeand I’d like to help out. If you come along, they won’t chase me nearly as much.’
    ‘See, that didn’t hurt, did it?’ Leo said from the office door.
    ‘Go and perform twenty-five stage one sword katas immediately,’ Mr Chen snapped.
    ‘Whoa, excuse me .’ Leo spun to return to the training room.
    I turned my attention back to Mr Chen. ‘You want me to go along with you and pretend to be your girlfriend?’
    ‘No. It was a bad idea. Forget it. Dismissed.’
    ‘Don’t you dare. You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend ?’
    He sighed loudly. ‘This was a very bad idea.’
    I rose and closed the door to his office. I sat again and searched for what to say. ‘Do you want me to be your girlfriend?’
    He just watched me silently.
    ‘Well? Obviously Leo thinks this is a good idea.’
    ‘Leo’s opinions have absolutely no bearing on this situation.’
    ‘Well? Mr Chen? John?’
    He winced.
    ‘Do you want me to be your girlfriend? No, wait.’ I raised my hands and took a deep breath. ‘John…’ I dropped my hands onto the desk and studied them, then looked up into his dark eyes. His face was rigid with control as he watched me. ‘There is nothing I would like more than to take our relationship a step further. Nothing I want more. Nothing.’
    He didn’t say anything. He just watched me.
    ‘Both you and Leo have said that it can’t happen. Is it because you want to protect me?’
    He studied me carefully. ‘Yes. I am protecting you.’
    ‘If the demons know that we care for each other, I’m a target as well.’
    He watched me.
    ‘If the demons don’t know, then I’m not a target.’ He sighed gently.
    ‘But you still want me to come and pretend to be your girlfriend. You want me to pretend to love you in public, and be nothing in private.’ I leaned forward over the desk and rested my hand on his. ‘How about we try it the other way around? Be nothing in public and love each other in private?’
    He jerked his hand away as if he’d been stung. His face didn’t shift.
    ‘Okay,’ I said.
    He put his elbows on the desk and buried his face in his hands. ‘I am sorry, Emma. I should never have asked you this. We can never be anything more than friends. I have my reasons.’ He dropped his hands and looked into my eyes. ‘Please accept this. Be my friend. I love your company, but it can never be anything more. If you continue to push it, then I think it would be better if you left.’
    I took a deep breath. ‘Okay. I’ll come with you and pretend to be your girlfriend, and I’ll be happy. I’d love to have my photo in the social pages.’
    He gazed into my eyes. ‘Are you sure?’
    I snapped myself out of it and tried to sound as cheerful as possible. ‘Sure. I’d better go and buy something glittery enough to wear.’ I grinned at him. ‘And you’re paying for me to have my hair done on the day.’
    ‘Whatever it takes,’ he said, relieved.
    ‘See? That didn’t hurt, did it? All you had to do was ask.’
    ‘You want to go and do sword katas too?’
    ‘Don’t mind if I do. Simone can come with me; we’ll do them with Leo.’
    He breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Thanks, Emma. I really appreciate this.’
    ‘Oh, don’t worry, you’re going to pay,’ I said, and went out.
    After Leo and Simone had finished performing the twenty-five katas, I stayed behind and did them for a while longer. A long while longer.
    Nobody said anything.
    Later I went to Leo’s room and rapped on his door. ‘Come.’
    He was curled up on his sofa, watching a dreadful American action movie. He turned down the volume and I sat next to him.
    ‘Tripe,’ I said.
    ‘Yep.’ He pulled himself upright. ‘What is it?’ ‘I need to buy a dress. For the charity thing.’ He glowered.
    ‘Help me buy one, please, Leo.’
    He crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Slap me