Page 46 of Roberto

I thought about refusing and bending her to my will…

But I was enjoying our little dance too much.

So I said, “Alright.”

“When did you first know? What you like, I mean.”

“When I was 20.”

“What happened?”

I thought about answering her…

About telling her the story of my first experience…

But it felt too soon.

So I playfully looked at my watch instead. “Oh, no – look at the time. I have to get you back to work.”

“NO!” she cried out and laughed at the same time, slapping her hand against my arm.

I shrugged. “What can I do? I promised.”

“You coward!” she said as she continued to laugh.

“Not at all,” I said with a smile. “I’m just not going to tell you that storyhere.”

“Why not?”

“It’s private. And slightly scandalous. Not foryourclub, obviously – but for an establishment like this, it’s a bit risqué, and I wouldn’t want it overheard.”

She looked at me sideways. After a long pause, she asked, “Where would you tell me, then?”

“At your place. Over a drink.”

She looked at me for a long moment…

Then said quietly, “Alright.”

My heart skipped a beat.

“Alright, then,” I replied. “I’ll get the check… we’ll go back to your place… and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

She stared at me, her eyes two dark pools of desire. “Okay.”

I signaled to the waiter for the check, then looked back at her. “Don’t you need to call the club to let them know you won’t be back?”

She gave me a mischievous smile. “I’m the boss. I don’t have to let them know anything.”

23

After we said our goodbyes to Chef Silvestri, I had the limo driver take us to Mei-ling’s apartment building in the hills above the city.

The last leg of the trip was along a heavily forested two-lane road. The trees to our left were so thick that they occasionally obscured the lights of Hong Kong below.

Mei-ling told me that she lived in a building called the Summit that sat atop one of the highest peaks in Hong Kong. At 65 stories, it soared above the rest of the city. The only taller building was Highcliff, another residential tower a few hundred feet from the Summit. Because of the buildings’ thin widths relative to their height, locals had dubbed them ‘the Chopsticks.’

As soon as we emerged from the forest and saw them in the distance, I understood the nickname. The towers looked like two glass rods jutting up into the sky.

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