Naomi stared down at the great divide of water that cut off their only viable escape route, the smirk on her face from before replaced with a look of utter dismay.
"Shit," she cursed. The other bank of the river was only a few metres away from where they were standing. So near yet so far. If only they could leap on the water surface like those ultrahuman kungfu masters in Chinese movies.
"Naomi Campbell!" shouts rang out from somewhere not far off in the alleys.
"Great," began Naomi sarcastically, "Well, since they're going to be needing photos for my whole coming-out story cum exotic lesbian adventure in the tabloids tomorrow, I might as well try and look pretty in those shots," giving her hair a quick sweep to the side and pretending to dust off her pants.
Naomi's eyes darted to Emily who had gone all quiet and realised that the red-head did not seem to appreciate the humor at this time of crisis. "I'm sorry," Naomi began apologetically. "I really didn't mean to drag you into this-."
"Do you trust me?" interrupted Emily as she turned and looked at Naomi, her hazel-brown eyes sincere and boring into Naomi's azure blue.
"Wha-, What?" Naomi stuttered and leaned back instinctively, taken aback by the sudden intensity in those eyes. Her heart was thumping furiously for some unknown reason.
"Do you trust me," repeated Emily, her voice deep and soothing as she gave a squeeze of Naomi's hand. It sounded more like a statement than a question to Naomi.
"Yes…" Naomi said in a voice so low that it seemed to be more for herself than for Emily to hear. Her head hung low as she dared herself to steal a glance at the red-head. There was something in those intense eyes that made Naomi feel instinctively vulnerable, yet want to trust the bearer at the same time. They had a sort of power that she couldn't explain… It was as if they could stare right into her soul and see through all of her. Naomi swallowed hard as she tried to steady herself and block out those strange feelings.
Emily smiled kindly when she noticed how Naomi looked so distraught by the situation they were in. She gave Naomi's hand a reassuring squeeze.
"You'll be fine. Follow my footsteps closely and do not stop until you reach the other side. Not even for a split second. Let's go," Emily said in a calm and calculated voice, as she locked her fingers with Naomi's and ran towards the edge of the river.
"W- wait!" cried out a confused Naomi as she was dragged along by Emily.
"Naomi Campbell!" came the screams from behind them as the three men managed to catch up and were readying to whip out their cameras to capture evidence for their article titled Naomi Campbell's Great Lesbian Rendezvous in an Exotic Land.
"Now! Jump!" yelled Emily as she leaped into the air pulling Naomi close to her.
For a moment Naomi thought that Emily must be insane, that they were going to land with a splash in the water. She felt her body suspended for a while in the air and shut her eyes instinctively as she waited for her feet to feel something wet, but that never came. All she heard was a very loud "thud" on the wooden planks as her feet landed on the side platform of the river.
"Step only where I step on and do not stop!" Emily shouted while keeping her eyes ahead.
Naomi thought the whole situation felt really surreal as she clasped tightly onto the hand of the red-head in front of her and followed her footsteps closely, trying not to lag behind as they leapt from bobbing boat to bobbing boat. Is she really leaping or is this all just a dream? Naomi glanced at Emily, who looked extremely calm in their crisis as she led her from one wooden boat onto another in several quick motions. If all else seemed unreal, the hand that was locked with Naomi's hand felt real enough.
The boats swayed dangerously from side to side and twice Naomi was almost sure the boat on which she was stepping on was going to flip over and capsize, yet it didn't. It was as if Emily knew exactly where to tread on to keep them from falling into the water. Even the one time that Naomi lost her balance and was nearly thrown off her feet, Emily managed to hold onto her fast enough to keep her standing. Naomi couldn't help feeling that she would be safe as long as Emily was holding her hand.
They reached the other side of the river just in time to see that rain had started to pour and the three men, who were attempting to do the same to cross the river, had stupidly capsized a boat with all their weight and had landed in the water with all their camera equipment, cursing and thumping their fists in the water angrily.
Naomi and Emily ran off into the alleys with their fingers still locked together, running till they reached a side street where they saw cars and people again. As they stopped and bent over panting from the run, they exchanged looks of amusement and burst into laughter at the same time. Their hair was wet from the rain, their cheeks were cold from the wind but their hearts were radiating warmth from within. All around them, the cars had turned on the headlights and were moving along at a snail's pace now, while the people were running all over the streets looking for shelter.
"Thank you, Emily" Naomi offered sincerely, with a big smile on her face. She watched with mild fascination as the serious, confident red-head with an intense demeanor from moments ago at the river disappeared in a flash. Emily smiled and looked down abashedly, suddenly finding the ground very interesting. "You're welcome," she said with a sheepish grin.
The two stood for a few seconds in this sweet silence which Naomi eventually broke.
"We ought to look for shelter first, eh?" suggested Naomi, scrunching her face at the droplets of rain running down her forehead. Emily nodded and was about to say something, when a truck which they hadn't noticed before sped past them and sent a huge puddle of muddy water splashing in their faces.
The both of them screamed at the same time, squeezing their eyes tightly shut as the wave of water drenched them from head down.
"Shit," cursed Naomi as she looked down and saw her clothes were dripping with mud. Emily was also completely soaked, her arms smeared with a layer of dirt and mud.
"Over there," Emily gestured, cocking her head in the direction of an old bicycle shop which had its shutters down.
The duo sat in silence at the front of the shop, which had a roof barely wide enough to shield them from the rain. Naomi glanced sideways and watched Emily quietly as the latter attempted to swipe off the mud off her hands and clothes, her face a look of frustration when the dirt on her blouse wouldn't go away.
"This must be the worst day ever," said Emily as she examined her soiled clothes in despair. She must have noticed that Naomi had gone all quiet because she quickly added, "No, … something else bad happened earlier tonight. Well, before I bumped into you on the streets, I was at a club and, …" Emily's mind flashed back to the brunette whom Cook paid to seduce her at the club.
"Oh, forget about it," Emily decided not to tell Naomi and changed the subject. "Urgh, how on earth do I get this crap off," said Emily in frustration as she went back to trying to get rid of the mud on her blouse.
Naomi's eyes darted to the rain that had turned from a slight drizzle into a heavy downpour and back at the red-head. A mischievous glint surfaced in her eye as she grinned from ear to ear at the idea that had formed in her head.
"What?" Emily asked, suddenly self-conscious at the stare that Naomi was giving her.
Naomi stood up, took Emily's hand with a smile and proceeded to drag her to her feet.
"Naomi…" protested a confused Emily.
Naomi led Emily back into the alley which was now empty of people, the rain pouring down on them in torrents.
"What the heck, …Naomi!" Emily yelled above the rain, caught by surprise as the cold waves of water came gushing down on her body.
Naomi was standing in the rain with her eyes closed and her face lifted up towards the sky, her hands spread wide-eagled on her sides and fingers wiggling as they felt the sheets of rain weaving through them. The feeling of the streams of rain sliding off her forehead and her cheekbone made her smile. She tilted her head sideways and peeked at Emily with one eye, and saw that Emily was not yelling anymore, but was staring at her intently.
"Nature's shower," Naomi explained with a wink and added with a playful grin, "It's the best solution I can think of for your soiled blouse."
Emily raised her brows at the blonde as if to say reaaally? but she couldn't stop the smile that escaped her lips all the same. A smile that showed that she was already taken in by the blonde.
Emily held up her head so that the rain came slapping lightly on her face, her eyes shut as she concentrated on savoring this moment of pure bliss. All she heard then was the rhythmic pitter patter of the rain, and the gentle humming of her own heartbeat. Emily's face scrunched into a child-like grin as she tasted the rain with the tip of her tongue. The last time she did that was with Katie when they were both seven, on Nana's farm. The twins were playing with the sheep in the fields when it suddenly started to drizzle. Since Mom and Dad weren't around then, they decided to stay out in the rain in playful defiance and had a competition to see who could store more rainwater in their mouths. Katie won in the end, though Emily always suspected that her devious twin had cheated by taking sips from her water tumbler when she wasn't looking. Still, that was one of the rather fond moments she had shared with her sister. Never in her seven-year-old self's wildest dreams would she expect to do that again 16 years later on the alley of an Asian city, with a mind-numbingly gorgeous blonde she had just met (and had already kissed) an hour before.
Emily's thoughts were rudely cut off and she was brought back to reality by the sound of an unexpected loud splash followed by the feeling of something cold and wet on her exposed thighs. Her eyes flew open as she looked down at the ripples in the puddle of water on the uneven ground, and then up at Naomi, who was biting her lips to stop a cheeky grin from escaping. Her gleeful eyes were shining with child-like innocence and excitement.
"I was just curious to see if it's possible to be wetter than you already are," said Naomi as she stuck out her tongue. "Turns out that you can!" she laughed as she turned the other way and started running away from the red-head.
Emily stood stunned for a moment before breaking into a chase after the blonde who was still giggling as she ran along the alley they were in.
"NAOMI CAMPBELL!" came the screams.
It was a bad idea on Naomi's part to have done that to Emily, for if there was anything that Emily was wonderfully skilled at and trained from young, it was in the faculty of running. Emily thought she spent so much of her childhood chasing after and running away from Katie (usually after their crazy twin fights) that she suspected that they had skipped the phase of walking altogether when they were toddlers.
Thus it was rather inevitable when Naomi was caught by Emily only ten seconds after she ran away and was served with a taste of her own medicine. The frantic puddle-stepping ensued, with screams and laughter ringing out in the empty alley.
"Wait!" said Emily as she stopped suddenly and held her hand up, her ears seemingly straining to hear something in the distance.
"What is it?" Naomi's laughter faded at once as she eyed Emily seriously.
"Do you hear the paparazzi?" Emily asked as she cupped her ears on one side.
Naomi's face was a look of worry as she listened intently for any sounds other than the sound of rain falling on the roofs.
"There they are!" Emily burst out abruptly as she gestured to the ground animatedly.
Instinctively, Naomi looked to where Emily was pointing, only in time to see another splash of puddle coming in her face. Emily's deep, throaty laughter rang out as the red-head turned and ran off in glee.
That's right, Naomi Campbell. She mentally smacked herself. How on earth would the paparazzi be on the GROUND?!
"EMILY FITCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Naomi smiled to herself as she leaned against the backboard of the hotel bed and thought about the evening's events. Her hair was still dripping slightly wet from the shower she had just came out from, and she was snuggled up in bed with a blanket. Next to her was another twin bed, and Thomas was sleeping soundly, his face turned towards the wall.
It had all started when she and Thomas were drinking at a bar along another street in the district that Emily was in, and Naomi noticed this group of three men who kept eyeing her from across the room. At first, she thought they were just interested, but it seemed implausible to her upon thinking, when she remembered that she had disguised herself as a boy to avoid unwanted attention. When she saw that one of the men had whipped up a camera from the bags, she knew the game of chase had once again kicked off.
"Thomas," Naomi whispered as she tugged at the sleeve of her confused friend who was sipping a beer with eyes still focused on the live band playing. "We've got to go. You'll go left, I'll go right."
The next thing she knew, Naomi was running as fast as her legs could carry her down several streets with the three men hot on her heels. She was running out of breath and cursing in her mind when she spotted a lone white girl with fiery red hair on the streets. An idea sprang up in her head, and she decided to play a game of chance.
Naomi smiled as her fingers touched her lips. She had kissed girls before, mostly out of fun and for dorky camera poses at parties or the likes, but never had she felt such intense feelings ever when kissing a girl. Scrap that, never had she felt such intense feelings when kissing anyone. Her intention was to give only a light kiss as a smokescreen to confuse the paparazzi, but when she pressed her lips against Emily's, her head dizzied in excitement and she couldn't explain the furious thumping of her heart that had ensued. In fact, she was so caught up in the moment she had kissed longer than she should, a fact she was embarrassed for afterwards.
Naomi thought it might be her imagination, but the red-headed stranger seemed to not have minded though. Naomi saw that she had apparently stunned Emily with her unexpected kiss, and the bright blush that had crept up on Emily's face had been so endearing to Naomi that her heart swooned a little at the shyness of the girl. If there was anything that was missing in the people she knew in the entertainment industry, it was shyness and innocence. Everything was frivolous, easy and meaningless and nothing really mattered. A kiss shared between two girls wouldn't have meant a hoot to those people. Heck, a French kiss shared with a half-hippo half-dinosaur wouldn't have meant two hoots to them.
Then, when Naomi thought the game was up at the floating market, Emily surprised her with her calmness and deftness in dealing with the emergency before them. The shy girl from before she had snogged against the wall had morphed into someone who was confident and steady, someone in full control of the situation and whom Naomi felt she could depend on then. Naomi felt genuinely safe and grounded with Emily's hand curled around hers, even though she had only known the stranger minutes before. And that voice of hers! Deep, sexy and different. Naomi felt like she had heard that voice somewhere before, and hearing it had soothed her nerves when Emily reassured her back at the river.
Naomi's mind flashed back to their puddle fight. It was when she discovered a playful and cheeky side to this enigmatic stranger. She grinned from ear to ear as she pulled her knees to her chest and thought back about what happened.
Emily had managed to run so quickly that Naomi ran out of breath before she could get within five feet of the red-head.
"One hell of a national sprinter, aren't you," panted Naomi as she held one hand against her knee, catching her breath.
"I've training for the next Olympics," said Emily as she winked at the blonde who was a few metres away behind her.
"Truce, please," suggested a breathless Naomi and Emily burst out into triumphant laughter.
They ended up walking back to the main street in the rain. Naomi explained the entire story with the paparazzi to Emily as the latter listened quietly without questions, and along the way Naomi found out that Emily had a twin that was very alike yet very different from Emily.
"I can't imagine how it had been for your mother to have two of you," said Naomi, chuckling.
"Well, my mother's still alive and surviving. It will take a lot more to kill her," replied Emily with giggle. Naomi can't help noticing in Emily's voice she had kind of half-meant what she had just said. She wondered for a moment in her head how the relationship between Emily and her mother was like.
"How in the world did you know where exactly to step so that the boat wouldn't capsize under our weight?" Naomi asked, deciding against probing more and changing the topic instead.
"It just takes a little knowledge of physics, I guess. Centre of gravity and stuffs," Emily shrugged.
"You are making me sound really stupid," said Naomi with a look of mock annoyance. "Well, it's rare," she added after thinking.
"What's rare?" asked Emily.
"Girls being good at physics, that is," said Naomi.
"Yeah it is, but I'm not really your conventional type of girl I guess. I was always interested in useless stuffs that no one else bothers with when I was younger," said Emily, her tone was one more of sad resignation than pride when she stressed on the word, "conventional".
"Physics is definitely useful," offered Naomi with a smile.
"Sure it is. It saved both our asses just now," Emily said with a laugh.
When they had got to the main streets it finally stopped raining. The cars on the roads were moving at normal speeds, and people were starting to appear again.
"I've gotta run," said Emily, looking at her watch, as if remembering something.
"Oh," Naomi could hardly hide the disappointment in her voice.
"I need to work tomorrow, so I need the sleep," explained Emily with a gentle smile when she sensed what the blonde was thinking.
"Uh, …would I get to see you again?" Naomi blurted out awkwardly before she could stop herself.
"Well, when are you leaving for Bristol?" asked Emily, trying hard not to notice the blush on Naomi's face.
"Tomorrow, it's a midnight flight," replied Naomi.
Emily smiled knowingly. "Well, maybe we will meet each other at the airport."
Naomi's eyes widened in surprise as she sputtered, "Jesus! We- We're taking the same flight?"
Emily laughed, nodding her head.
"That's just perfect! We could sit together during the flight," Naomi said.
"Sure, if you could find out where I'm sitting," said Emily teasingly.
"I'll comb the cabins for any trace of red-head in sight. In any case, I could listen out for your husky voice. It's so distinctive I wouldn't miss it," Naomi sputtered in one long sentence, blushing slightly when she realised what she had just said.
Emily laughed her deep throaty laugh again. "I bet you wouldn't too."
Naomi sat restlessly in her seat. Every few seconds she craned her neck and lifted her sunglasses a little to look around the cabin for a red-haired girl, but to her disappointment, there wasn't any in sight. After a while, she finally gave up and took a copy of the in-flight magazine in the seat pocket in front of her and started to browse through absent-mindly, her eyes still looking up once in a while for any sign of Emily in the lines of passengers who were still streaming into the aircraft.
Looking out the window, she smiled as she thought of the adventure that befell her and the red-headed stranger the night before. Being chased by the paparazzi, weaving through the streets of Bangkok and leaping across the boats in a floating market with a dazzling (not to mention, ridiculously calm in the face of danger) stranger in her hand? She had all kinds of weird and wacky experiences as a celebrity, but that experience must be one of its kind.
What particularly caught her attention about Emily was the fact that Emily never expressed curiosity about her celebrity status. It didn't seem to matter to Emily whether Naomi was famous or not. She treated her like any other person she had just got to know. And that, Naomi really appreciated in a world where she felt like everyone was always fussing over her and chipping away at the bit of little privacy she still had left.
Naomi's thoughts were cut off by an announcement made by the crew of the aircraft. They were about to take off, and still, there was no sign of Emily around. Naomi was starting to worry that Emily had lied to keep her off her back. No, Naomi thought, Emily wouldn't do that. She was positive that the red-head liked her. Before Naomi's thoughts could run any wilder, she was abruptly distracted by one familiar husky voice in the aircraft speaking.
"…and Gentlemen, this is your 1st Officer, Emily Fitch speaking. On behalf of our entire crew, I would like to welcome you onboard flight XF313 to Bristol. The estimated time of arrival at our destination is 5:30am local time. The flight duration is approximately 11 hours 15 minutes. The weather's rather fine tonight, no clouds, we've got a beautiful starry sky out there, and we are expecting a smooth flight today. Once again we thank you for choosing to fly with us and we hope you enjoy your journey."
"Fuck," muttered Naomi as her jaw dropped open and the sunglasses perched on her forehead fell to her nose.