The Steps To Love You

Sometimes, when bills were too hard to pay, Bai Lu thought about it and cursed herself. Why had she sold all the furniture and left that house that was so perfect for her? Even since then, she found it hard to find a place, moving every few months, it felt like fate was telling her there was no place for her in the world.

Telling her she had made a mistake.

Once she had a safe place, one that felt like home. She sold everything off and decided to make things hard for herself and start again."I was so stupid." She repeated, sighing as she tried to figure out what expenses she'd have to cut this time.

It happened once in a while, but later she'd remember again how she had felt two years ago, when he left. Actually, no when he left, because it was supposed to be just a short trip, she might have even joined him there if the circumstances were different. It would better to say she remembered how it felt when she knew in her heart that he would never come back, and that everything they had been building wasn't but castles in the air.

Their friends would always ask about him. Where was Peter and when would he come back? She'd just kept quiet and after a few months admitted that he would not be back. He decided to stay in his country and they both agreed to end things like adults. Bai Lu's mind repeated this like a mantra, but how could her heart understand that easily?

The truth was, he just stopped contacting her, and being too afraid of hearing the words she didn't want to hear, she also stopped contacting him after a while. She knew later that he'd found a better job in France, and moved there. He probably also got a girlfriend there.

Everything in the apartment was something they got together with their hard work, and every corner of that place reminded her of him. So eventually she sold everything off, trying to free herself from the memories and broken dreams as well. She wanted to start over, but when she took that decision she didn't know it would be that difficult.

Two years later she was cursing Peter and her young naive self that decided to make things hard for herself.

She had just enough money to go for a drink. Her drinking habits were also something that would surprise Peter if he saw her now. In the past, Bai Lu never drank because alcohol disgusted her. However, the years of teaching in the school and the experience of having to throw away her dreams had changed that. She still didn't drink much, and she preferred wine to anything else, but at least once a week she would go for a drink to the pub that was just three blocks away from her building.

That night was one of those nights.

She changed into a pair of light blue shorts and a black shirt before walking down the streets that led to "Loko's".

In theory, there should have been nothing different that night. Bai Lu always sat alone and ended up leaving after one bottle of wine. She would have probably done the same, but then a handsome man from the other side of the table invited her a Margarita.

" You look like you'd enjoy sweet things." He said.

Accepting drinks from a stranger wasn't something good girls like Bai Lu should do. But she was feeling a bit rebellious, so she accepted. Why did she have to be a good girl? No one cared. And she had been alone for too long... couldn't she have some fun once in a while?

"Thanks."

He was truly good-looking. He was tall and thin, but had a very fit body from what could be appreciated through his shirt. His hair was black and shiny, and under the dim lights of the pub, his eyes seemed to be almost of the same color.

"I'm Long Wei. It's a pleasure to meet you..."

His smile was also quite charming.

"I'm Bai Lu."

"Beautiful name."

Men were all very predictable, she thought. They'd say pretty words that they thought would make women blush or would make their legs tremble. But Bai Lu wasn't one of those women, and she was sure most of them pretended anyway, just to make men happy.

"I've seen you here a couple of times." He said, when she didn't answer to his compliment.

"I just come here to relax after work. I'm a teacher."

Most people thought of teachers as boring, so perhaps this would lead him away. On the other hand, she always enjoyed talking about her job when she had the chance, there was so much to say about her kids.

"That's admirable. You look so young."

"I don't. I'm 24." She said. "But you look your age."

"Really? And that is..."

"30."

"Ouch." He grimaced as if he'd been hit. "It's close, but I'm only 28."

"What do you do for a living?"

She didn't need to know much about her prospect of a one-night stand, but some questions still were necessary.

"Well, I work here." He said grinning.

She tried to recall seeing him before, even when she usually didn't pay attention to her surroundings, and he did look familiar. He was always around this place, but never serving drinks.

"Are you allowed to sit with a client, then?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I think so. I'm not in my working hours."

"I see." She finished her glass and pushed it in his direction. "So, do you want us to go to your place or mine?"

Long Wei looked surprised, not expecting her to be so straight forward, but his hand reached hers and that single touch made her quiver. Perhaps she had really been deprived of another human touch. Or maybe it was because he seemed to be so self confident, something she envied in others and often made her feel small, because she had to work so hard for it most days.

" We go wherever you want to go, my lady."

" Let's go to your place then." She didn't want a stranger in her apartment.

She followed him outside of the pub, her heart beating fast because of what was about to come. She still convinced herself it was fine, this would be the last time they'd meet.

***

It was also her who initiated the first kiss, once they reached his apartment, but he'd promptly devoured her lips and led her to the bedroom, undressing her with incredible ease. Bai Lu's heart had been beating fast all the time, but it did not stop her from enjoying his touch.

She bit her lips and swallowed her moans. No matter what, she would never say his name.

Later, looking at that handsome man lying by her side, she thought she should feel in paradise, but instead she found the feeling of his arm under her neck unpleasant, like something that shouldn't be there. She was already used to sleeping alone.

Bai Lu wished she knew better how those things were usually done. Was she supposed to leave immediately or was she supposed to stay? Were there even predetermined rules for one-night stands? She wanted to look relaxed but couldn't help being nervous when, after tossing in bed for what seemed to be hours but were probably just minutes, her stomach growled and betrayed her hunger.

"I should g-"

"I'll make something for dinner." Long Wei immediately offered, anticipating her excuses.

"But it's late and I have to go home. I still have to work early tomorrow."

It was a lie, but he had no way to know it.

"Still, you can stay to have something for dinner and later we'll call a taxi for you." Not getting an answer after a few seconds, he added "I'll make some spaghetti."

She sighed, cursing herself for not being able to find a valid excuse to leave. When he smiled at her, she could only smile back.

"Okay."

Actually this Long Wei seemed to be a nice person, it was just that she found it hard to feel comfortable with strangers. She could do it for long enough to sleep with him once, conversation wasn't really necessary for sex, but now she was feeling awkward just sitting there in his bed as he put on some short pants and walked to the kitchen.

"Do you want me to help?"

"You can make some apple juice if you want to."

She put on some clothes, feeling self-conscious about her body, and followed him outside the bedroom. Long Wei's apartment was small but neat and elegant. Could someone really afford that kind of place just working as a waiter or a bartender?

"What exactly do you do at Loko's?"

"I'm the manager and the owner. So, I lied before. Technically I was in my working hours, but then a pretty lady seduced me and convinced me to bring her to my humble apartment."

Well, that explained why she never really saw him attending clients, but did it mean that in the future she'd have to avoid the pub if she didn't want to see him? It was so conveniently located... wait a minute, what did he just say?

"I seduced you? Clearly you were the one who came to sit at my table and flirted with me."

He blinked and looked like an innocent child.

"Well, yes, but I didn't know you would suggest leaving so fast. I didn't even use my cards, so of course it was you who seduced me."

He was a funny man.

As the spaghetti and the sauce were cooked, Bai Lu learned also that he'd opened Loko's after coming back from the United States, where he was born and raised after his family moved there. His older sister had already married and had a kid, so he came alone and wasn't really planning anything when the idea of opening the pub was suggested by his friends.

"What about you? What made you want to be a teacher?"

"Maybe it's because my mom is a teacher." She said " But really, it's because I used to do some volunteer work in the church when I was a teenager, then I realized I really enjoyed working with kids."

"You look like the type," He said, and put the dishes on the counter " that is all innocent and a goody two-shoes. That's why I thought you would reject me straight away."

She was a bit irritated by his words, but he wasn't entirely wrong so she didn't utter a word.

"So your family is also in the city?"

"My mother and my father live in a small town not very far from here. I usually visit every month, or when I have free days."

The food was ready, and Bai Lu was actually starving because just smelling it her stomach was growling again. It was embarrassing.

"Thank you." She said, picking the chopsticks, and noticing he used a fork instead.

"Don't you know how to use chopsticks?"

"Of course I do. I'm just used to these when eating western food."

He was also a foreigner in all the ways that mattered, just like Peter was. She cursed herself for thinking about that person again.

When they finished eating, she tried to pick the dishes to wash them, but he stopped her before she could do it.

"You're the guest tonight. If I make you work here, you will not have any wish to come back, right?"

She didn't say she would not be coming anyway, because it seemed like something evident. She was a stranger to him, even if they had just shared such an intimate act, but surely he'd done it many times before and didn't really mean to invite those women to come back. Those were just words of someone being polite.

"Okay, thank you." She looked around and then took out her phone to ask for a taxi. "I should really go now."

"Are you sure? It's late, you can stay here if you want."

"No, thanks. I really have to go, I have all my materials for tomorrow at home." That part was true, even if she didn't have classes until 10.

He still accompanied her to the reception and waited until her cab came to pick her up, just like a true gentleman would do. Actually, he was a nice person, and she was glad to have met him. She just didn't expect to see him again in the future, at least not in the same circumstances.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Bai Lu. I hope we meet again soon."

Her name sounded pretty in his lips, and that was also the reason why she only smiled and nodded before leaving. Names spoken by others have power, or so she believed. And as he said her name he already held a strange power over her being, but it didn't matter to Bai Lu. She was never bothered with other people having power over her, but she didn't want to be responsible for others. She tasted his name in her tongue, but saved it there, just for herself.

Long Wei.

As he closed the door of the taxi for her, Long Wei smiled. She'd go back to Loko's eventually, he knew. Even when she was probably planning to not step into the pub for a while after this, Long Wei could see it in her eyes.

He had not expected to like her so much either, but rarely there were people who crossed your path and made you wish they stayed a bit longer. He really wanted to see her again.