Twice the Love
Authors: Berengaria Brown
Evernight Publishing
Copyright© 2012 Berengaria Brown
ISBN:
978-1-927368-57-2
Cover
Artist: Jinger Heaston
Editor:
JC Chute
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING:
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is
illegal.
No part of this book may be
used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission,
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This
is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any
resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or
dead, is entirely coincidental.
TWICE THE LOVE
Berengaria Brown
Copyright © 2012
Chapter One
Cherry McNair shook her shoulder-length dark
brown hair off her face and pushed her luggage trolley out of the customs area
and into the arrivals hall at the
her new life. Well, sort of ready.
I’m almost
thirty years old. All my remaining possessions are in two suitcases. I’ve quit
my job, left my country and my friends, and am about to start a whole new life
in a new land where I don’t even speak the language, and be the “wife” of two
men. Well, it’s what women have been doing for centuries, after all. Although
they probably didn’t have two husbands.
Lee and Harry had promised to meet her, and
they’d all exchanged plenty of photographs in their emails. But she was still
feeling rather dazed after the long flight, and the huge size of the airport,
and she worried about recognizing them in such a large crowd.
They’re part-American, part-Chinese, but to
me they look quite Chinese. Will they look like their photos? Lee’s hair, sort
of shaggy and a little bit longer, Harry’s skin a slightly darker brown?
Sheesh. I
thought LAX was big, but having to catch a train to get to your luggage?
Sheesh.
Nevertheless, the crowd was very well behaved.
People were talking and laughing, but they were standing in neat lines, waiting
politely for others to pass. There was no pushing or shoving or screaming as
there had been back at LAX.
I’ve never
travelled so far before, through so many time zones. It’s all so very big. But
I like it. It’s friendly and welcoming and totally fascinating.
Lots of people were holding up signs with names
on them.
And there they were, Lee and Harry, Lee holding
a sign saying “Cherry” and Harry holding a bunch of bright yellow sunflowers.
Cherry pushed her trolley down the aisle then
into the arrivals hall proper, and stood to the side as Li Chang and Song Hao
made their way through the crowds to meet her.
Both men bowed slightly then broke into smiles.
“Welcome to
“I hope your journey was not too tiring,” added
Lee.
“The flight was smooth. I made all my
connections without any worries. Everything went well. Thank you for coming to
meet me,” replied Cherry, her tone rather disjointed.
Harry handed her the flowers, bowing slightly
again, as Lee took charge of her trolley.
They’re
lovely flowers. How sweet of them to have brought them for me. So welcoming.
“Come this way. I’ll go and get the car while
Harry waits with you and the luggage.”
Cherry nodded, trying to pull herself out of her
daze as her blue-gray eyes looked around at the spectacular building, filled
with light from its high glass walls, with lots of interesting metal shapes in
the structure and huge artworks dotted around the floor space. And flowers.
Lots of flowers, and plants in planter boxes.
“I can’t believe how big the airport is. I’ve
never seen so many flowers inside. And thank you for the sunflowers, too.
They’re so pretty.”
“Third largest building in the world by area,”
said Lee. “That two-minute train trip to get your luggage took you two
kilometers.”
“More than a mile,” nodded Cherry, too tired to
do the math accurately.
“One and one quarter miles,” said Lee helpfully.
Lee effortlessly pushed the luggage trolley
loaded with her two large suitcases and her wheeled carry-on, up a long slope
to the exit. Cherry carried her purse and her flowers. They turned to the right
where there were vehicle loading bays and Harry took charge of the trolley as
Lee jogged off to retrieve their car.
“Please, sit down,” said Harry, gesturing to one
of the benches. “Are you very tired from travelling?”
“I’m fine standing. I’ve been sitting for way
too long. It was two hours to LA, twelve to
it’s the jet lag I think that’s confusing me. My stomach tells me it’s one
time, while the clock is saying something quite different.”
“We’re sixteen hours ahead of
“And at home we were ahead of LA, and
it’s all very confusing,” sighed Cherry. “But I’m glad to be here. And this is
a stunning building. All the amazing shapes in the structure. I’m really
looking forward to seeing some of the other places you built for the Olympic
Games, like the Bird’s Nest Stadium, too.”
“It’ll be our pleasure to take you to see
whatever you wish. And we’ll show you ‘Big Underwear’ too. That’s what we call
the CCTV headquarters building. It is not quite such a visual success as the
National Stadium, the world’s largest steel structure,” Harry replied, calling
the Bird’s Nest by its official name.
Just then several cars pulled up and people
began loading their luggage, and right behind them was Lee in his and Harry’s
car.
Cherry sat wide-eyed in the backseat of the car
trying to absorb the atmosphere of
her new home. Everything was very clean. There was no trash, no dirt, not even
any fallen leaves anywhere on the streets or sidewalks. There were a lot of
bicycles though, and motor scooters, and strange little one-person cars with an
enclosed luggage area at the back where sometimes an elderly person or other
family members sat with whatever was being delivered.
The bicycle riders seemed to be totally
fearless, zipping in and out around cars and trucks and through intersections
instead of staying in their own traffic lane. And many of the bicycles also
carried passengers.
I’m glad
they have a car. I can’t see myself riding a bike here,
she thought.
I would never
have enough courage to move through four lanes of cars and buses to make a turn
into the street I wanted to enter. And there are no turn lanes at
intersections. Everyone just sort of pushes their way across. Scary… I’m
definitely not going to try that…
****
Almost an hour later, they’d left the busy Ring
Roads and huge multistory tower buildings behind.
They were in an area of narrow streets with
high gates and walls, but no house windows, stoops, or gardens visible.
“We have arrived,” said Song Hao, or Harry,
jumping out of the car and opening a gate. He pulled the double doors back then
laid a double-ended wooden ramp up and over a step at the gateway and down the
other side.
Li Chang, or “Lee”, drove slowly up the ramp and
down into a narrow courtyard, while Harry pulled the wooden ramp inside and
closed the gates.
Cherry’s eyes widened as she gazed at several
pomegranate trees, some shrubs and flowering bushes, herbs in pots, and a
small, covered fishpond with carp swimming around in it. So much, in such a
small space. A long building stretched from the street to the back of the area,
extending across the back of the allotment, in a sideways L-shape.
Lee and Harry collected Cherry’s luggage, then
indicated she should follow them toward the back of the courtyard.
“Wang’s house,” said Harry, pointing to three
steps leading up to a door. “Zheng’s house,” he said as they passed an
identical entryway.
“Our house,” he said, stopping at the final
door.
“You are most welcome into our home. Now it is
also your home,” added Lee. He opened the door, bowed, and ushered her inside.
Cherry stepped into a living room with a couch
and easy chairs, a large chest of drawers topped by a flat-screen TV,
bookshelves against another wall, and a floor-to-ceiling storage cupboard
beside the door.
A rectangular dining table was folded up and
placed on its side behind the couch, and half a dozen straight-backed chairs
were stacked one on top of the other beside the bookcase.
A small kitchen was through an archway to the
left and a door into a bedroom was on the right.
“Come,” said Harry, leading Cherry into the
bedroom. A king-sized bed occupied most of the room and three chests of drawers
were against the far wall. “This one is for you.” Harry touched the one nearest
to the door gently.