"I hate this place!" Lei exclaimed and to prove his point, he smashed the oar against the water. He had to row on a boat just to get a signal and call someone. Heck, in Hong Kong, they would probably already think he died if he didn't call them before.
And Lili was laughing her ass off on the shore, where she was recording him. She still wasn't comfortable enough to be in the same boat with him. She even slept in a different room than him and locked herself during the night. He had to do it alone, even though she showed him first. It wasn't as easy as it looked.
"You need to make the same movements with both hands to go straight. Otherwise, you will still go around in circles," she shouted at him. It was good she was far away from him. The stare he showed wasn't that nice.
"As if I didn't know," he uttered, and bit his lips to contain his anger. She really was pressing all his buttons hard.
It was the same as when they went together on a trip. Lili said he needed to feel normal and took him through the forest, on a path that was more like a tiny strip of trampled grass.
Twice, twice, he almost fell down to his demise because he tripped over tree roots that were across the path. And she was laughing her ass off again. Calling him a spoiled boy.
And what was pissing Lei the most was that she was right. He never had to walk on a path like this. Every time he walked his way, cleaned up and paved. Literally and figuratively.
When they got on the ferry, it was so small and full of people he had to stand the entire way. Thankfully, it wasn't more than half an hour. Because they only went to the dam. Bought lunch and dinner, took care of a few calls, and then went back. On foot. All the way.
There was no need to explain that he was exhausted from walking for almost two hours and he was happy that Lucy told him to take comfortable sneakers and not go in a suit as he wanted.
Lei's mind went back to this moment when he was trying to keep calm and not jump into the water and attempt to swim just to make that one call to Dylan.
"Why can't we take the ferry again?" he asked, almost crying. Lili laughed and shook her head.
"The ferry is not stopping by our place today. You either have to row or take care of it tomorrow…" Lei grimaced in pain. He stopped trying to row and let his head fall into his arms, rubbing his eyes and temples.
A sound of water splashing sounded and Lei looked in the direction Lili was standing. She was heading his way; her shorts still on the shore.
"What are you doing?" he exclaimed, asking. He was confused. How she wanted to get on and could she take it? Lili started swimming when she lost her footing and steadily worked her way to him.
Thankfully, Lei wasn't able to row far, so it was in no time that Lili was by the boat. She grabbed the back of the boat, jumped up and down, and with the force she created, she was lifted so her hands were straight up on the rim. Then the only thing she did was to let herself fall in the boat with the weight of her upper body and then put her leg up.
"Get to the front," she said when standing already inside. But Lei was too stunned to move. Because of two things. All this happened in a matter of minutes.
And the second thing was that Lili was standing drenched in front of him, water falling down her body, the shirt was glued on her like a second skin and Lei had problems looking away, trying to let her feel comfortable.
"Lei," she said, his name flowing out of her lips like fine silk. Lei punched himself into his thigh, surprised how much it hurt, but it was enough to wake him up. He moved his ass on the pointy front and sat there while Lili got in his place.
"Are you okay?" he asked. Lili smiled at him and nodded.
"The past few days when I saw you struggle in the mud, tripping over trees, falling down from bed, eating a days-old bread and the same meal for three days. Without uttering or doing anything to me, my body doesn't react in a bad way anymore," she said and made Lei almost fall into the water. He swayed with surprise and how all the stress went away.
"I know it's important, so I will help you. Still, don't do any sudden movements. I may freak out if you do." Lei nodded totally, getting what she meant by sudden movements.
"Can I touch your hand?" he asked with hope in his voice. The oat was quietly drifting on the water, the oars in the water. The silence was heavy before Lili nodded reluctantly.
She sat sideways on the bench and reached out to Lei with her hand. It was something out of the ordinary nowadays. He was just staring at her hand like it was a miracle. Before slowly raising his own hand. The movement was really slow and uncertain.
But slowly his hand was raising, hanging just a few centimeters from Lili's, waiting. She was the one that made the last step. Lei didn't have the courage to overcome the small distance and almost got a heart attack when he felt her soft, warm hand on his.
"I actually missed that," Lili whispered, watching their joined hands, fascinated.
"Miss, you are in a way…" Old man on a boat said to Lili, of course in Czech. She immediately sat properly, grabbed the rows, apologized, and took control of the boat.
When they were out on the dam lake, Lili let the oars go once more and turned to Lei once again.
"I really think I made such fast progress only thanks to you. My psychologist thinks the same. And I'm thankful for it," Lili said and smiled, reaching out with her hand. Now, Lei wasn't so reluctant. He took her hand in his and caressed her skin with his thumb.
"I will do everything I can for you." Lili laughed out. It was so cheesy. He was so cheesy. But he was hers and he would never ever hurt her. Now she knows it. And her body acknowledged it too.