Crazy, mad and mesmerized

Lili woke up after three hours. With a loud bang. She wanted to smash her phone on the ground. Ugh. The morning wasn't starting well. She loved sleeping. Lily could go without it but it wasn't certain she would be useful.

She took a quick shower, hoarded all the luggage, and once again checked all documents, money, and everything needed when she heard a loud horn.

Lucy was here to pick her up. Good thing that Lily wasn't the one driving today. But when she opened the door and saw her zombie-like-looking friend, she got a bit startled. They both seized each other.

"What the heck happened to you?" They blurted out at the same time. And started to laugh the next moment.

"I was babysitting in the game. You?" Lili asked, still laughing.

"Oh, I... somehow... well... It's embarrassing. I was using Mandarin only for the past few months and, well, my Cantonese got rusty. And I remembered that only yesterday. So, I had to look over it again to refresh my knowledge." Lucy blushed and Lili laughed more.

"Nevermind. Let's go. Long way ahead," she said, and they drove away.

Lucy was only a year younger than her. They met at university while studying Japanese. But they got along despite the age difference. It might have been even thanks to that they both had brain mash in their heads thanks to knowing too many languages.

The first few moments after learning a new one, they had a problem speaking in their first language. Their mother-tongue was hard and their speaking together sounded like two low IQ persons because they mixed Czech, German, English, Japanese and other languages. Sometimes in one sentence.

"You know you are still better than me. You managed to learn Mandarin, Cantonese, and Korean. I have to pay you my respect and build you a shrine later." Lili laughed again and Lucy's face became indifferent. After a short while, she spoke up.

"Maybe but I'm not the one who worked so hard that she managed to go on a trip to Hong Kong and have a nice time there because of all the money she made," Lucy stopped for a while thinking more, "I got most of the money from my father as a birthday gift. So, I still think you are better." She finished without looking at Lili, focusing on the road.

It was like this again. Lucy had a strong sense of inferiority. Her parents were quite rich, and they were giving out the vibes of intimidation.

Growing up with such a successful family, she thought of herself as nothing, even though she was an awesome interpreter and translator. Highly searched out by big companies who work internationally.

Then there was Lili having a small jewelry business while translating. Hard to unify. Jeweler through the day, translator through the night.

Three hours later, they arrived at departure terminal A and found their designated gate. Yes, it was 18 hours' travel but they will wait a lot. Flight to one country and from there straight to HK.

When they were boarding the plane, Lili got a message from the company she was supposed to meet. Asking if she would be available for a meeting on Friday at 5 pm.

Without thinking, and with feelings of having it finally over, she agreed to it. She got the address and then she had to turn off her phone.

"Oh, crap," Lili said, sitting on the plane straight to HK a few hours later.

"What happened?" Lucy's feelings were quite complicated right now. Because when Lili said crap. It was crap.

"The time. The meeting is on Friday at 5 pm, Clear Water Bay in HK," Lili said apologetically when she finally remembered.

"Clear Water Bay? The Villas area? Such a posh address? At 5 pm? Are you normal?" Lucy exclaimed, making the other passengers look at her with disgust.

'Posh, how funny from someone like you,' thought Lili, smirking.

"Well, we arrive at 2 pm, so I thought three hours should be enough." Lili tried her sad look. It didn't work.

"Plane arrives at 2 but we will go away later after we sort out everything. Then the way to the hotel and Clear Water is on the whole opposite part of the peninsula. A half-hour there. Half-hour..." Lucy started mumbling, and Lili felt a bit guilty.

Well, they would have to be in quite a hurry so they won't be late. She was indeed idiotic. Agreeing recklessly without thinking. She hoped nothing would mess up.

***

"L... long? Dragon?" Lili looked at Lucy with doubt in her eyes. Even though Japanese kanji originated from the Chinese, they were quite different sometimes, like right now. But she was trying to learn, too.

"Mmm. Zhu... Long." They both looked at the three-storeyed villa with a red sign on the top balcony railing. It looked so luxurious, with a white stone build in the hill, a brown wooden exterior, and big floor-to-ceiling windows.

Something was familiar about that logo, but Lili thought it was because a similar logo was as their profile picture.

They both climbed the stairs to the door, and they ended up exhausted. The plane was late; they managed only to get to the hotel and have a quick shower to get here five till five.

Lucy rang the bell of the big double-winged wooden door with glass windows. An older man opened the door. He looked like a housekeeper of some sort.

Lucy spoke to him and Lili was too exhausted to care; jet lag was getting her.

'This wasn't a good idea,' she thought.

The old man stepped aside and let them in. She was in awe. Both of them were. The foyer had no ceiling and you could see up to the second floor. When she looked to the left, she could see a big modern kitchen, divided by only a glass wall with a dining room, which was closer to her.

The man gestured to the right where another room was, looking like a meeting room. There was a table with a sofa and chairs. They took two on the opposite side and waited.

Lili looked around, open space, fresh, luxurious, and expensive looking. That told her that there won't be any problems with the payment. Probably.

Soon, a tall black-clothed figure appeared at the entrance to the guest room. Black trousers, black shirt on a nice build body. The almost straight neckline with a deep v-cut in the middle made Lili lose her mind. Lili unintentionally swallowed, and once more when she saw his face.

He looked so good. Slightly older than her. Soft looking night sky-colored hair with a modern cut. Straight nose, pronounced cheekbones, and a sharp jaw. Slanted eyes with deep black irises in which she could lose herself.