บท 23: Lost Her Way

Sitting under the shade of trees, Xiu's eyes wandered up to look at that clear blue sky. A defiant sky looked back at her. Living through two lives, Xiu had walked under the same sky countless times. Sometimes she found it dark, angry, crying bitter tears of rain, hailing, firing away its heat, or just looking like brimstone.

But there were rare days like today when the sky looked serene, dappled by the clouds. That vast sky akin to the ocean and those beautiful clouds akin to molted feathers of an angel.

"Won't you be joining us, Ms. Bai?" Bo Jiu's voice broke Xiu's calming therapy of enjoying herself under this beautiful clear day. With a clenched jaw, she gave Bo Jiu a hard look.

"No," that monosyllable reply was enough to back off Bo Jiu who got the hint and left her alone.

Since her whole rhythm was already disturbed, Xiu decided to watch her colleagues play. It was quite obvious that none of them were taking it very seriously. They all just came to enjoy themselves, who would bother about the game rules. Only now she noticed, that she was the only one dressed like someone who was here to play golf. And ironically, she was the only one keeping her distance from golf clubs.

While the other ladies were all dressed to impress. As for who they wanted to impress, she neither knew nor cared.

"If you're gonna sit here, why did you come?" Manager Li came to rebuke Bai Xiu for keeping her distance again. Why was it that being so young, Bai Xiu didn't like interacting with people? Manager Li couldn't understand her at all. Rather, she found this girl frustrating.

"Because you forced me to," Bai Xiu answered plainly, in all honesty; making Manager Li gape at her in disbelief. This honest nature of hers was the reason she found her too difficult to handle.

"You little lass, I'm your superior. Can't you for once try to be nice to me? Perhaps I'll give you a promotion." Manager Li's words were like they fell on a deaf ear. Because Xiu was still treating her like an invisible being.

"You might get a heart attack at this age if I started being nice to you. And I don't want that. I care for you." Xiu's words made Manager Li place her hand on her neck as she felt like her blood pressure was shooting up because of this uncaring girl. How could she even curse her like this? Right at her face! And she even called her old!

"Okay, okay! Stay a damn lunatic!" With a huff, Manager Li left her alone.

Xiu watched her leaving and a smile bloomed on her face. It was quite easy to mess with this superior of hers. But this lady looked cute when she was angry, so Xiu did it at every chance she got. Xiu picked up the golf club which Manager Li forgot and looked at it carefully. While twisting it in her hands, she could easily tell that this was pitching wedge (a type of golf club).

Bai Xiu might have despised golf as per Nora's words, but Xiu didn't. At least, not until she was Chen Xiu. She learned it diligently under her mother's orders, only to fit into the elite class of Capital City. She was talented in golf, even beyond her mother's expectations but to give a face to those pampered socialites, she had to lose oftentimes.

What a pity that she buried her talents only to be acknowledged by people who didn't matter from the beginning. Once Xiu even thought of becoming a professional golf player because her instructor was impressed by her talent. But her mother didn't let that happen. At that time, Xiu had realized that she was just a stand-in doll who was supposed to achieve those heights of fame that her mother couldn't do so in her youth.

With a sigh, Xiu dropped the golf club and stood up from the grass and dusted off her clothes.

"When are we having lunch, I'm hungry." Xiu's voice broke the chattering of everyone as they looked at her in astonishment. When did Bai Xiu start to care about food? Wasn't she always skipping lunch? No one had ever seen her eating in the company's cafeteria. And she never went out of the office during lunch hours either. Feeling their curious gazes a bit annoying, she gave a look that seemed to say, "What? Never seen someone hungry before?"

All of them shifted their gazes away from her at once.

"Food is served. All of you, please follow me." A golf club attendant came to announce and Xiu heaved a sigh of relief. In reality, it was everyone else who really felt relieved since they didn't have to reply to her anymore.

Xiu was the first one to find a seat at the long table of delicacies. Seeing her favorite seafood, she didn't want to hold back at all. She picked up a Sweet and Sour Braised Fish with her chopsticks, she took a bite of tender and juicy fish. Although it had a humble taste, she got bored of it pretty soon.

"Manager Li, wasn't our CEO going to join us here? Why isn't he here yet?" One of the bold female employees asked.

That's when it clicked in Xiu's mind. Ahan! They all dressed up for our CEO! Xiu really wanted to have a hearty laugh. What a joke!

"Mr. Qiu is busy." A simple reply from Manager Li was a resounding slap on all the females' faces.

'He should have come. This show of circus clowns would have amused him to no end.' Xiu was musing to herself with sarcasm. It was a known fact that the CEO of their company, Mr. Qiu hated the women who threw themselves at him. These ladies were looking for their own death.

When the news of the CEO's absence was known, all the ladies were left to drown in their gloom. Except for those who really came out to enjoy on this fine day. Garrison Hills Golf Club was really a beautiful place with green grounds that felt like a carpeted floor. Xiu really found it refreshing and relaxing. She also decided to visit again but with Nora. At least, she'll have someone whom she actually likes.

There was a huge Spa center right beside the Golf Club and company actually managed to get all the employees a free voucher to pamper themselves like those affluent people often did. There was a pathway through peach woods that led to the Spa and when everyone happily weaved their way through it, somehow, Xiu managed to lose her way.

"Great! I might not be clumsy but this body sure is. I wonder how many times the real Bai Xiu found herself in this kind of predicament." Xiu was muttering to herself while trying to find her way out. The staff said that it took only five minutes to get to the Spa but she had been running in circles for fifteen minutes now. "Argh! I'm sick of it!"

Xiu kicked a peach tree in annoyance. Beautiful pinkish petals fell down on her head like snow. Xiu looked heavenwards to find the beautiful scenery of flowers grazing past her skin as if soothing her raging anger. Even standing alone in these peach woods, Xiu felt at ease now. And as her mind stopped feeling annoyed, she finally could hear the sound of water.

Following the sound cautiously, she found herself standing before a natural hot spring. Hot water was flowing from a fissure in the rocks and down the pool along the creeks. She found a couple of lounge chairs and a table full of fruits at the side.

"This must be a part of the Spa," Xiu thought out loud and bent down to soak her hand in the pool to check the temperature of the water.

As soon as her hand made contact with the hot water, her eyes brightened up. The water could be described as ideal for soaking your worries away. It looked too appealing to her. But sigh, she didn't bring a swimsuit.

With a heavy sigh, she decided to get up and find her colleagues. But as she just stepped back, she bumped into something.

"Who allowed you to come here?" As she heard a whispering voice right beside her ear, Xiu cursed in her heart. She didn't bump into something. It was someone!