Relapse: A Novel (17 page)

Beijing was speechless for a moment and then managed to say, “Thanks, Lootchee.”

“Enjoy yourself, baby! I’ll be counting down the minutes and hours until we see each other again,” he said before they ended the call.

“I’ve been sent to give you a full-body massage,” Su-Yung said. “Let’s start.” He rubbed his magic hands together.

“Okay, Su-Yung, give me about fifteen minutes to wash off the work dust and I’m all yours.”

“Excellent, madam.” He agreed to come back then.

Right on schedule, skin still soft and wet from the shower, Beijing waltzed back into the front room wearing a bathrobe. There were candles burning; a cushioned table sat smack-dead in the middle of the floor, draped with white sheets.

“All right, get undressed,” he said. “Lie facedown on table and cover self. Be back couple minutes.”

Beijing did as she was asked: disrobed, lay on the table facedown, got under the sheet, and waited for Su-Yung to come back. When he returned, he put on some relaxing music. Beijing closed her eyes and imagined a lazy, perfect sunset.

She nodded her head back. Next she heard the splattering of oil being squirted onto his palms. He rubbed his hands together,
and the room smelled like lavender. Once his magical fingers found her neck, all of her aches, pains, stress, and cares melted away into his touch. She was like butter.

“You like?” he asked.

“What?” She was feeling so good she’d missed what he said.

“You like?”

“I like,” she murmured.

Twenty minutes into the massage Beijing was sound asleep, feeling like a lottery winner. Then she could feel his hand lingering on her butt a little too long for her comfort.

“What da fu—” she said, about to jump up and duke it out with Su-Yung.

“Whoa, baby, it’s me,” Lootchee said with a smile.

“How … where?” She was so relaxed, she felt delusional

Lootchee silenced her with a kiss. “Relax.” Then he put his finger to his lips before giving her another kiss.

He picked her up, carried her to the bed, and placed her on the silk sheets. He gently pulled her bottom lip between his own and softly sucked on it, giving her a long, hot, and juicy tongue kiss. After half a dozen more pecks, his tongue moved between her lips and teeth, going in for the kill. She could put up a fight or accept it, but Lootchee was prepared to conquer her either way. He was met with a reticent yet insistent suction. She was roping him in like a cowboy at a bull-riding rodeo.

Before long their tongues were attacking each other like swords used by two professional fencers. Her hands rushed down to the bottom of his shirt, pulling it over his head. Lootchee’s hands dropped down to her butt and squeezed it like it was Charmin.

He dragged his tongue over one breast, rubbing the other with his hand. As if his tongue had a mind of its own, it trailed down her stomach till it reached the spot between her legs, leaving wet footprints as it was marking its territory. With his free hand he spread her legs and his tongue dove in like a scuba diver looking
for lost treasure. Beijing gasped then relaxed as he probed for the goodies.

When he was done, Beijing got on him and rode him like a stallion, making him call her name.

“Beijing, Beijing, Beijing!”

The next morning, Lootchee and Beijing slept in and ordered room service. “I’m so glad I don’t have any special guests in town.”

“Me too,” Lootchee added.

“So, today I think I’m going to take you on a picnic and we can sit by the lake and appreciate the small things life has to offer us, like the natural wonders of the world.”

“I’m cool with that.”

Lootchee gave himself a tour of her posh suite.

“This place is cute,” he said, nodding.

“Isn’t it?” She was glad that he liked it.

“Nothing like indulging in luxury, but you are my woman now and my lady lives a little bit more extravagant. So we need to find you a place.”

“But I stay here free of charge. Free room and board and food. I don’t have to pay for anything.”

“And you won’t have any bills at your new place either.” He gave her a long French kiss. “After the picnic, let’s go look at condos.”

Beijing didn’t want to argue with him; nor did she want to give up her place at the Tabby. Still, she reasoned with herself, maybe if she did, she wouldn’t have to take her work home with her. So it seemed like Lootchee’s thoughts did make sense.

“Ask your boss for a vacation,” he said.

“It should be okay with him. Before I met you, I hadn’t really taken any vacation. I’ve always been a workaholic so he shouldn’t have a problem.”

“Even if he does, you need to just take one.” He got up, went into his bag, and pulled out two envelopes. “Choose one. Do you
want door number one or door number two?” he teased, holding them both above her head.

“Depends on what’s behind the doors.”

“I can’t tell you, you have to pick.”

“I don’t know.” She carefully examined both envelopes.

“No peeking.” He playfully hit her. “Stop torturing yourself and pick one and get it over with.”

“Okay, so let me get number two,” she said excitedly.

She opened it and could not believe the contents. A trip to Rio de Janeiro. She was too excited, and the flight would leave in only two weeks!

As the jet touched down in Rio de Janeiro, a Latin man leaned over and said, “Rio is the most beautiful city for a love affair. Whenever I leave I am filled with
saudade
.”

“What does that mean?” Beijing asked.

“Um, it’s like longing, unbearable longing, the way you long for a lover when she is away from you.” The Latin man’s eyes glinted, looking over at Beijing and Lootchee.

“Really?” Beijing said. Then she looked over at Lootchee, who wasn’t even listening. His eyes were glued to the scenery outside the window by their first-class seats.

“Have a wonderful trip,” the Latin man said.

And it was wonderful. They spent days lolling around on Ipanema Beach or watching soccer matches that Lootchee just had to bet on, nights dancing in the clubs, and mornings having sex in the king-sized bed of the luxury suite at the finest resort in the city.

One afternoon Lootchee had to meet with somebody on some business. He wouldn’t say what it was, and Beijing was pretty sure it wasn’t legit. It didn’t matter what he did, she thought. A lot of men earned their money in underhanded ways and then went on to turn their cash into legitimate businesses. Her own daddy had done that, turning his ill-gotten gains into a prosperous towing and transport business. Lootchee could do the same thing when he was ready.

In the meantime he gave her a wad of cash and told her to go shopping in Rio, and she wasn’t about to say no. In fact, she found it was damn near impossible to say no to anything Lootchee wanted.

So that night when he looked into her eyes over a dinner of tender Brazilian steak in a restaurant overlooking jungle waterfalls and said, “Baby, I want you to move to Dallas,” she was at a loss for words. Her job was her world; everything that she had been busting her butt for.

“You want me to quit my job?” she asked. What a choice, she thought. She loved her work. It defined her. Would she give it up for Lootchee? She might finally have to say no to him after all.

“Did you forget they just opened a brand-new Tabby Hotel in downtown Dallas?” Lootchee asked. “I wouldn’t tell you to give up your yoke. I know how much that means to you. Shit. I just want you to be nearby so I can take care of you when you ain’t taking care of others.”

Beijing melted.

“I’ll call Thaddius as soon as we get back,” she said with a smile.

Thaddius was glad to reassign Beijing.

“It’s a new property and we could use your expertise,” he said. “Maybe even take on an understudy. No one can be as good as you, but if you could train a mini you, of course I would be most appreciative.”

It took her a week to get things packed up and get the Charlotte
staff set. April said she was sad to see her go, but happy to get a chance to do some of Beijing’s work. Greta even said she’d help her get moved and maybe she’d stay in Dallas for a while to keep her company. Rayna sulked.

“Girl, you can’t just up and leave us,” Rayna said over drinks at Scorpio, the hot new gay club where even straight girls loved to go and dance.

“Rayna, I have so many frequent flier miles I can come back anytime I want. And you can come down to Dallas. Hell, this ain’t the horse-and-buggy era. Lootchee will be happy to fly his boo’s best friend down once in a while. Plus I’ll have to come up this way to check on Chyna and make sure her drug-addict momma isn’t trying to peddle her pussy for crack,” Beijing added.

“Paris isn’t that bad,” Rayna said.

“I hope not. As long as Willabee takes her medication, Chyna should be okay, but believe me, I’ll be back on the regular to check on my family. We can hang out then.”

Beijing got along great with the new staff. There were plenty of oil barons and dirty politicians who needed her discreet help in so many different ways. There was a famous preacher who liked to invite homosexual prostitutes to his room and do crystal meth with them, never mind that he was spearheading a campaign to prevent gay people from having the same rights as everyone else. Then there were private meetings between politicians so high up that Beijing had to scurry around making sure Secret Service agents didn’t shoot someone. It was an exciting place to be, but her job was no longer her whole life.

Thaddius gave Beijing a suite at the new hotel, but she hardly ever slept there. She stayed with Lootchee when she was off duty in a place he got for the two of them nearby. Even though she loved her job, as the weeks turned into months, she found that she spent less time worrying about her clients and more time taking
care of Lootchee’s needs. It was overwhelming, but she loved to take care of her man.

One morning Beijing lay in the big mahogany bed watching Lootchee sleep and realized how much she missed him when they were apart. She ached for him. What was the word that Latin man had said to her on the airplane:
saudade
. That was it. She was filled with an unbearable longing. She sat up and looked at herself in the mirror over the dresser. Damn, she was hooked just like Teflon the Don had been on his drug of choice. She lay back on the fluffy down pillows. Now she understood what it felt like to be under the complete control of something—or someone!—else. She was jonesing for a man: Lootchee.

Then Lootchee stretched and turned his head toward Beijing.

“Good morning, my love,” she said.

“Is it love?” he asked, staring into her eyes and waiting for the answer.

“Of course it is.” She paused and then asked him, “Don’t you think so?”

Beijing never mentioned love because she knew that the discussion was like a double-edged sword. Beijing’s father had put her up on this game, and she took heed. If she spoke on it too soon, it could run a man away or give him the wrong idea. On the other hand, some men used the L-word loosely to get whatever an emotional needy woman was willing and able to give.

“This may sound crazy to you but all of this is new to me. Before now, I simply didn’t love women,” Lootchee admitted.

“What? Huh?” Beijing was confused. How could he go through
thirty years of life without romantic love? “Please don’t tell me that you did men?”

“Do I look like a switch-hitter to you?” Not waiting on an answer, “Between my mother’s bullshit and me seeing so much in the streets, I decided a long time ago that in this business, I don’t have time for any distractions.

“Sure, I thoroughly enjoy the company of beautiful women, but I always remembered that line Robert DeNiro used in that movie
Heat:
Never get too close to anything that you’re not willing to part with in thirty seconds. I didn’t have time to engage in deep relationships. They were too time-consuming, and in my mind women were trouble, only good for three things: helping me get to the next level, busting a nut, and as an arm piece, in that order. Plus, a lot of women are nags and want to keep tabs on me.”