floor.
The bar was crowded, with knots of suits standing outside waiting for a table. Ava saw May sitting on the stool closest to the window, wearing a black silk sheath cocktail dress that came just to the knee, black hose, and black stilettos. The dress had spaghetti straps and was cut in a straight line across the chest, exposing the top of an ample bosom. Around her neck was a companion piece to the white jade bracelet Ava had been admiring earlier in the day. Even from a distance it was exquisite. And so was May. It was the first time Ava had seen her without a jacket on, and she couldn’t help noticing how delicate her frame was.
Ava waved from the door. May didn’t see her but the bartender did and caught May’s attention. May slid from the stool and walked to the door, glass in hand. It was a young crowd in the bar, and mainly men. That didn’t stop them from openly admiring a woman who had to be at least ten years older than most of them.
May said, “This is my second martini. We should eat before I get tipsy.”
The restaurant manager grinned when he saw them. “Welcome back, Ms. Lee, and it’s a real honour to have you here, Madam Wong.”
He led them to a table next to the window. “I think this is the best table in house,” he said softly.
They had hardly sat down before a pot of jasmine tea was on the table and two menus and a wine list had been placed in front of them. “Whenever you’re ready,” the waiter said.
“You look absolutely stunning,” Ava said to May. “I feel like a wallflower.”
“You have a gorgeous body. Why don’t you show it off more?”
“Remember what you said about image earlier today? Well, I’m an accountant and this is how my clients expect to see me dressed.”
May picked up a menu. “I’m starving.”
“I eat everything, so choose what you want.”
“Are you okay with only seafood?”
“Sure. How about your drink? I’d like wine. Are you going to stick with martinis?”
“No, I’ll switch to wine. You order that.”
May lifted the menu from the table and flicked it in the direction of the waiter. He came running.
“We’re going to have the double-boiled fish maw soup, a stewed whole abalone — make it the Yoshihama — and a steamed pink garoupa. Ava, can you handle live shrimp?”
Ava nodded.
“Then we’ll have the live drunken shrimp and the rice with minced shrimp and sea urchin.”
“And a bottle of Pinot Grigio,” Ava added.
As the waiter hustled away, both of them looked out onto the harbour, the skyline lit up like a magic kingdom. “I haven’t travelled that much, but I can’t imagine anything more beautiful than this,” May said.
“I would have thought you’d seen everything worth seeing,” said Ava.
“Hardly. The business keeps us grounded. We have capable people, of course, but Changxing is old-fashioned and has a hard time entrusting things to them. If he’s not in Wuhan, all he does is worry about what’s going on in Wuhan, so we stick close to home. I come to Hong Kong two or three times a year and I go to Shanghai often; I’ve been to Singapore, Tokyo, and Bangkok, and San Francisco once for three days. But other than that I’m provincial, rather unworldly.”
“I’ve been to more places than I can count, and I don’t think that makes me any less provincial than you. It’s more a state of mind, isn’t it? I mean, I met an American woman here the other night. She was on a tour of Asia with friends, and from the way it sounded, all the friends wanted to do was shop. I told her if that was going to be their Asian experience, they shouldn’t have left Cleveland.”
“Did she think you were rude?”
“No, I don’t think so. She was bemoaning them herself. She was a woman with curiosity.”
“Like you.”
“It comes with the job, though I do admit it is a natural bent.”
“Oh, and speaking of the job,” May said, “I spoke to Wuhan an hour ago. The truck has left and should be in Macau early tomorrow afternoon.”
“Thank you. Thank you for General Feng and thank you for the truck.”
The waiter arrived with the wine. Ava went through the tasting ritual and for the thousandth or so consecutive time said the wine was just fine. He poured them each half a glass and retreated. When he did, May slid her hand across the