Eileen Lu was studying herself in one of the grand mirrors at the Pearl in Shanghai. She had agreed to meet up with Jared Pond. To wrap him around her finger, she had dressed according to his preferences. The velvet red ballroom dress made Eileen stand out like a beacon in the crowd. Eileen smiled. Eileen liked to look beautiful, but she preferred when people measured her on her intellectual attributes.
Eileen felt bemused by the fact that she had agreed to meet with Jared. He was a buffoon, who believed himself to be every woman's dream. But she needed an ally. She needed someone that could post the video from the Uighur concentration camps online, without drawing attention to her. Jared was that someone.
Eileen saw Jared approaching. He was casually dressed, like she had been when they met at the cocktail bar in New York. Eileen smiled. It seemed like they had second-guessed each other.
Eileen walked up to Jared and seduced:
- Hi Jared. You look great today. Are you having a casual evening?
Jared blushed:
- Well. I didn't know that you'd look so stunning today. I thought that we could meet up as friends.
Eileen teased:
- So, are friends what we are?
Jared:
- Well, unless starstruck lovers is an option?
Eileen:
- It might be.
- Let's head to the bar. I would love you to educate me on cocktails and champagnes!
Jared:
- People have told me that I am a great teacher.
Eileen:
- Of that, I am certain
After saying this, Eileen took Jared's hand as she allowed him to lead her to the bar section of the venue.
They got seated at a table, and the waiter delivered their drinks, a mojito for Eileen and a whisky sour for Jared. Eileen smiled at Jared:
- So, what brings you to Shanghai, Jared?
Jared:
- Isn't the performance and the lovely company good enough reasons?
Eileen:
- Yes. But you came here yesterday. Before I had accepted to meet you.
Jared:
- Yesterday, I was in Macao skinning some rich Chinese businessmen in poker.
- Would you like another drink?
Eileen:
- Yeah, I'll have what you are having.
Jared:
- Excellent choice, Eileen.
As Jared walked up to the bar, Eileen felt tipsy. She wasn't a big drinker, so the cocktail had got her gears moving. She needed to get Jared away from the crowds, so that she could experience him on her own. Eileen felt silly. Until now she hadn't even liked Jared, and yet she felt attracted to him? Perhaps it was a physical need that she needed to fulfil, to get away from all the stress and paranoia that the concentration camp video had caused her.
Jared returned with their cocktails and they got involved in some more idle chatter until a bell rang.
Jared:
- The show is about to begin.
Eileen was getting intoxicated and she slurred:
- How about we head straight to your hotel room?
Jared smiled and teased:
- Business or pleasure?
Eileen:
- I need to show you something. After that I am very much up for pleasure.
Jared:
- Very well. Come with me, and I'll teach you how to spend a full night of passion.
***
Eileen was riding Jared with wild enthusiasm when she realised that she hadn't told him about the virus testing video. She paused for a second. She hadn't had sex since the separation from her fiancée a year earlier. Part of her would love to have that fourth consecutive orgasm, but she needed to focus on her duty to her country.
Jared smiled at Eileen and teased:
- Are you getting tired already? It's only been twenty minutes.
Eileen was collecting herself from the exhilarating experience and was about to talk, when the door opened and two shady Chinese men ran in.
One of the men rushed to Eileen and punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground. The combination of shock, physical trauma and alcohol knocked Eileen out.
"I should not have taken all that Viagra. This is awkward." Jared thought.
Jared got up from the bed. He wore no clothes, and he was sporting an erection. This was his first fight for survival while being naked, and hopefully there wouldn't be many too follow.
One of the attackers kicked Jared on the balls, and was amazed as Jared hardly flinched. Being a prominent womanizer, Jared had developed a tolerance to ball-busting kicks, and it would take more than that to put him down. Jared responded in kind, and the first attacker was chipping for air on the ground, with his prospect of future fatherhood diminished.
"Don't come uninvited!" Jared exclaimed. Jared rushed over to the second attacker, punched him in the face, and then dropped a TV over him. After this, Jared ran back to the attacker that he had previously castrated and knocked him out with a knee to the face.
Jared put on his pants, and he checked on Eileen.
Eileen:
- Uh. What happened?
Jared:
- Some intruders decided to interrupt our lovely evening. But we shouldn't let them. Let's head over to your place and continue from where we were.
Eileen:
- So, you want to have more sex after men attacked us?
Jared:
- What better way to relieve stress?
Eileen:
- Okay. I have booked a cab to my place.
- Let's get out of here.
Having said this, Eileen and Jared hurried to grab their stuff, and they left the room before their attackers woke up.
***
The next morning, Eileen woke up with a terrible headache. She had drunk too much alcohol and getting assaulted by assassins didn't help. Furthermore, her marathon session with the tireless Jared Pond had dehydrated her. She made her way to the kettle and boiled some tea. She diluted the hot tea with tap water so that she could drink it quicker. After a few cups, she remembered the USB with the video. She tapped Jared on the shoulder and he woke up with a smile:
- Good morning, sunshine. Are you ready for another session?
Eileen shook her head and replied:
- As lovely as that would be, we agreed on business and pleasure. And we haven't dealt with the business part yet.
Jared sighed:
- I see. What is it that you want to discuss?
Eileen opened her laptop and showed Jared the video from the Uighur concentration camp. Jared looked at the video sceptically for a while and replied:
- Where did you get this video from?
Eileen:
- One of my former clients sent it to me. I cannot disclose who it was.
Jared:
- Ming Shebao?
Eileen gave Jared a worried look and held her tongue.
Jared:
- Don't worry, Eileen. I am former spy. This is what I do.
- Ming Shebao doesn't have the best reputation overseas, due to making erroneous claims in the past. But I am sure that you know about this already?
Eileen nodded.
Jared:
- So, I take it that you want me to publish these claims? In that case, I would need to verify them with RAKI first.
Eileen:
- But didn't you quit?
Jared:
- Yes, but this video is explosive stuff. I need to verify it before I release it on the Internet. I am not a conspiracy theorist that releases anything I get hold of.
Eileen:
- I understand. Don't take too long. People are suffering and we cannot know what more crimes Jing Xi is planning against humanity.
Jared:
- Agreed.
- Did you recognise the men that attacked us last night? I think you were the one who got us in trouble this time!
Eileen shook her head and replied:
- Well they didn't come here, so it must have been you.
Jared:
- Just my luck. We should leave China to be safe.
Eileen shook her head and replied:
- You should leave, but I am not going anywhere. I need to congregate with our civil liberties movement and celebrate the second Qingming festival in Suwan.
Jared:
- Isn't the Qingming festival in April?
Eileen:
- You know a lot about China, Jared.
- The second Qingming festival is not a real event. We are gathering to honour the ones who fell in the last stand against tyranny in 1989. We are not allowed to commemorate those heroes, so we created the second Qingming festival instead.
Jared:
- Very well. I better head back to Australia. It would be lovely if you decided to visit me there, after your celebration.
Eileen felt sorrow. She would love to move to Australia and leave this mess behind her. But she couldn't let Jing go unchecked. If she did, his tyranny would spread, and he would subjugate the whole world. Eileen:
- Thank you, Jared. I hope to see you soon. Make sure to spread my video.
Jared nodded, kissed Eileen goodbye, took a taxi to the airport and boarded the next flight back to Australia.