Fool for Love (High Rise) (2 page)

“Hey.” Maddie certainly hadn’t expected to share her morning elevator ride with the sexy gym instructor. “What a surprise.”

“A welcome one I hope.” Alex beamed a broad smile and Maddie wondered how someone could look so fresh and energised at this ungodly hour of the day. “Not too sore today?”

“Yeah, about that…” Maddie shifted her weight to her other foot. “Do you do massages?” The words just slipped out, surprising Maddie. She wasn’t the flirting type anytime before noon.

“There’s an idea.” Alex stroked her chin pensively. “Break ‘em and then fix ‘em. A potential gold mine.” She grinned at Maddie. “I just moved in so I may need some time to set up.”

Maddie snickered at Alex's playful repartee. The elevator chimed twice, indicating they had reached the ground floor.

“Down the escalator I presume?” Maddie had a hard time peeling her gaze away from her companion’s pronounced biceps as she held her backpack over her shoulder.

“Just like everyone else on this mountain.” Alex exited the building with what seemed like a spring in her step. “But not without fuelling up on coffee first.”

“That makes two of us.”

They walked the short distance to the escalator in silence and slid down to the street below. Maddie perked up at the sight of her favourite coffee house. And the company she was keeping. Ever the numbers’ person, she did wonder how much money gym instructors made to be able to afford rent on the forty-second floor of a prime real estate location like The Ivy.

Alex gallantly held the door of The Bean open for her, sparking the question if she might be of the same sexual persuasion. Maddie made a mental note to ask Isabella, who would surely know. She had a better eye for lesbians in this town. Maddie didn’t have a clue, which was probably why she had ended up fumbling with a married woman behind closed doors for the past six months.

“Busy day ahead?” What was that accent? The sexy instructor definitely had Chinese blood running through her veins, but it was mixed with something darker and more exotic.

“Always.” They shuffled forward in the line to place their order. “As good as married to the job.”

“What do you do?” Alex's dark eyes locked with hers and Maddie felt something flutter in her belly.

“Ah, the most frequently asked question in this city.” Maddie held Alex's gaze. “I’m an investment banker at Crawford & Charles.”

“Oh.” Maddie couldn’t help but notice the disappointment in Alex's eyes. She figured she’d probably heard the words investment and banker one too many times. Half of the expat population in Hong Kong practiced the same profession.

“I do sincerely apologise.” Or maybe she was part of the Occupy Movement. Or a communist. Either way, if you lived in The Ivy you had to love money at least a little.

“May I take your order, please?” The girl behind the counter asked in broken English.

“A tall espresso and whatever this lady is having.”

“A skinny mochaccino, please,” Alex told the barista, then turned to Maddie. “Thanks. I owe you one. I gather I can find you here every morning?”

“Like clockwork.” Maddie paid for the beverages and they padded over to the reception counter. She suddenly thought that, despite being the opposite of a morning person, she wouldn’t be opposed to having a coffee with this tank topped beauty every morning.

Their drinks didn’t take long to arrive and they left the shop together, joining the dozens of other escalator commuters down to Central.

“I swear to you, this is my only vice.” Alex shot her a gloriously caffeinated smile. “I’m usually such a good girl.” A little bit of froth clung to her upper lip and Maddie was convinced it would be the cutest thing she’d see today.

“Really? That’s it?” Maddie raised her eyebrows. “No skeletons in your closet?” She mildly regretted her choice of words, but was curious to see the other woman’s reaction.

“I’m half-Chinese and I came out at the tender age of eighteen. I’ve respectfully buried all the skeletons and the door to my closet is wide open.”

In the two years Maddie had lived in Hong Kong she’d never heard a Chinese woman speak so candidly about her sexuality, without obvious qualms or hang-ups. Refreshing, she thought, as her interest in this new addition to her building heightened by the second.

“I was twenty-one, but I believe I’m a generation older than you.”

“Don’t be fooled by the smoothness of my skin. It’s an Asian thing. I’m probably older than you.” Alex winked at her. “This is my stop.” They stepped onto the platform between two moving parts of escalator together. “See you tomorrow night for combat?”

Oh yeah, Maddie thought, but just nodded before Alex, along with her impressive shoulder line, was swallowed by the crowd. Maddie continued her journey to work with a surprisingly sunny disposition.

When she arrived at the office, her assistant Venus was already present, buzzing like a bee.

“Morning, Maddie.” Venus was always around, lurking about, which was basically her job, but still, with Maddie’s recent indiscretions she might know more than was good for her. “June called in sick.”

The mention of June’s name made Maddie stop dead in her tracks. “What do you mean sick? What does she have?” This was Hong Kong. You didn’t call in sick unless you were almost dead—and even then it was frowned upon.

“She didn’t give me any details.”

“When will she be back?” Relief—the guilty kind—washed over Maddie at the prospect of at least not having to avoid June today.

“She said she’d call once she’d seen a doctor.”

“All right. Keep me posted.” It was too much of a coincidence for June’s sick day to not have anything to do with last night’s events. Maddie closed the door of her office and wondered if she should call her. Better not when she’s at home, she concluded.

ALEX

“Is she blond? A bit uptight looking?” Nat asked. They munched on Thai salads, beef for Nat and pomelo for Alex.

“I wouldn’t say uptight. She’s a banker though.” Alex couldn’t help but scoff at the word. She’d slept with her own private banker for six years and was adamant not to repeat that mistake.

“I think I’ve seen her around with Isabella.” Nat bunched her lips together in a pout. “I’d never pegged her as gay though, but you know what bankers are like. Poker face until they die.”

Alex puffed out a disdainful snort. “You’re preaching to the choir.”

Nat dropped her chopsticks and patted Alex's hand. “It’s not because Rita was such a bitch that they’re all the same.”

“I haven’t made this assessment lightly, Orange. I’ve thought long and hard about this. I even suffered for it. And the evidence is glaring. They’re all stone cold greedy bastards for whom nothing is ever enough—especially the women.” Alex leaned back and held her arms wide. “Look at me. I work out thirty hours per week, if not more. I have a pleasant enough personality. Some people might even call me ‘a catch’.” Alex curled her fingers into quotation marks. “But not Miss Rita Lowe. Oh no. She had to go and have a bit on the side.”

“Rita obviously lost her mind.” Nat let her blue eyes glide over Alex's form. “You are a catch, and don’t let anyone ever tell you differently.” Alex wasn’t especially gunning for the compliment, she was more joking—or rather, venting—when she’d said it, but it was a welcome balm to her bruised ego.
 

“And let’s be honest here.” Nat caught Alex's gaze. “Our neighbour does sound like your type.”

“Nu-uh, I’m done with that type. I don’t want another Rita.”

“I’m not saying you have to marry her. You can simply have a bit of fun.”

Alex sighed. She’d never see eye to eye on this with Nat, who was always pushing her to have more
fun
.
 

“So fundamentally different, but such good friends.” Alex didn’t feel like the twelve-hundredth quibble on this topic. She had three more classes to teach that afternoon, of which two back-to-back RPM sessions, and she needed to save her energy.

“If the need ever gets too big, I’m in the next room.”

Alex got to her feet and mock-slapped Nat over the head. “You disgusting specimen of a woman.” Not that Alex hadn’t ever entertained the notion. Nat was certainly pretty, with her big blue eyes and unevenly cut black bangs, but she wouldn’t ruin their friendship over a one-night-stand. And a relationship with someone like Nathalie Orange was out of the question.

“That’s what friends are for.” Nat grinned broadly at her. Alex did love her dearly. She had been the one to pick up the pieces of Alex's broken heart after she found out about Rita and her Mandarin teacher Peggy.

“What about Isabella?” Alex changed the subject. “I’ve had my suspicions about her.”

“She’s a tricky one to figure out. I’ve only had a few short chats with her at The Bean.” Nat painted a pensive look on her face. She took matters of determining someone’s sexuality extremely seriously. “And everyone in body combat looks gay.” With her mouth drawn into a smirk, Nat locked eyes with Alex. “Especially you. You’re a beast up there with your little microphone and bumbag. A completely different person than the one sitting in front of me now.” She took a sip of her lime soda. “Don’t get me wrong. I love your fitness dominatrix persona. And I’m sure I’m not the only one.”

“Shut up.” Alex dipped a finger into her glass of water and sprinkled some in Nat’s direction. “Anyway, I’ll have my revenge later. Pump or spin today?”

“I’m not sure I want to take a class with you when you’re in this kind of mood. I fear I may live to regret it.” Nat bent over the small formica table. “You need to get some. Trust me, I know the signs,” she whispered. “And you may not want to see it that way but, from where I’m sitting, Blondie looks like one hell of a prospect.”

Usually, Alex found Nat’s ceaseless innuendo amusing, but today it grated her nerves a little. Maybe because there was an inkling of truth to her statements. “Well,” she stood up. “We can’t all sit around and do nothing all day. I have to get back to work.”

“I don’t feel spoken to in the least.” Without a care in the world, Nat folded one toned leg over the other and fixed her eyes on what looked to Alex like a sixteen-year-old girl who had just walked into the restaurant. “I do a lot of research for my next masterpiece in places like this.”

“Good luck, Hemingway. See you in class later.” Alex left some bills on the table to pay for her share of lunch and left the diner.

On her way back to the gym, she contemplated seeing Maddie the Banker again. Maybe if she shut off all her emotions—or if she had a lobotomy. Alex wasn’t one to make the same mistake twice. The first time around had hurt too much for that. And, unlike her flatmate, she didn’t have a problem with staying dry for months. She had other, more sane ways of draining the excess energy from her body. Hell, she used her body all day long. In bed, all she wanted was a good night’s sleep—which, due to Rita’s antics and the effect they had on Alex—was pretty hard to come by of late.

MADDIE

On Friday morning June was back at work, the pallid complexion of her skin contrasting with the big dark shadows under her eyes. Maddie’s first reaction was concern. She figured June had called in sick the day before because of Maddie’s umpteenth lousy attempt at a break-up. Now it appeared there really was something wrong with her and, apart from concern, Maddie had to deal with floods of compassion washing over her. She wanted to call June into her office, close the door, take her in her arms and tell her everything would be all right. Except, it wouldn’t. It never would.

While squinting at a spreadsheet on her screen, her thoughts kept drifting to her sexy co-worker. Was it love? Maddie didn’t have a clue, which was probably a clue in itself.

By eleven she couldn’t take it anymore and punched in June’s number.

“Hey,” she whispered, even though she was hiding behind a closed door. “Could you come and see me for a second, please?”

“Is it business or pleasure?” June’s voice sounded measured, her tone clipped, as if, this time, she’d really resigned herself to the fact that they were over.

“I…” Maddie hesitated. “I just need to know you’re all right.”

“I’m fine.” June sighed into the receiver. “I have a lot to catch up on. Is there anything else?”

“No, not—”

“Good.” With a cold click, June hung up.

Maddie massaged her temples. Two years in Hong Kong and only some heart break to show for.
 

Stretching her shoulder muscles, which were still slightly sore from Wednesday’s brutal immersion into the world of group fitness classes, she wondered what she’d do this weekend. Probably come into work on Saturday to pick up the slack of the week. There was always slack to pick up. Always an excuse to not take a junk invitation or go hiking with Isabella. Then there was Sunday. How to get through that again?

On impulse, she picked up her phone once more and called Isabella.

“Let’s do something this weekend.”

“Is that an indecent proposal?”

Maddie chuckled into the receiver. She’d never really thought of Isabella that way. She might as well face it. Maddie had a serious penchant for Asian girls, which was probably the only reason she was still in Hong Kong. But she decided to play along. “It can be if you want it to be.”

“Your blatant enthusiasm is really winning me over.”

“Don’t take it too personally, please.”

“No worries. And leave it to me. I have two clients to see Saturday morning, then I’m free. Maybe you should take Monday off.”

“Impossible.”

“I thought so. See you tonight for another round of combat.”

“Can’t wait.”

Maddie hung up and let her thoughts wander to Alex. She had hoped for an impromptu elevator encounter again this morning, but in a massive building like theirs you hardly ever rode the elevator with the same person twice.
 

She had the same smoky eyes as June, but her hair was much too wavy to be exclusively Chinese.

A beep from her private phone jerked her out of her reverie. A text message from June.
It’s for the best we ended it. Trust me.

One lunch and two more meetings and then the weekend awaited. She might even be frivolous and have a lie-in on Saturday.