Ramaswami/McDermott Random Legacy ch. 19: Tao Zu

Regan wanted to spend her vacation time honing her photography skills. At home, she was spending most of her time either working or pursuing her affair with Donovan, and had little time for the arts that had once meant so much to her. The Scholar's Garden seemed a lovely spot to start a picture taking expedition, so she biked her up the hills behind the Forgotten City. She met a young scholar there, Tao Zu, who was very helpful in suggesting places with great views she could capture with her camera.

She got much useful information from Tao, and should be going while the light was still good to get those shots, but Regan was reluctant to leave his company. She lingered, coming up with questions about the town, the culture, anything at all, just as an excuse to stay. Tao responded to every question, and responded to her body language, drawing closer to her as she drew closer to him. His fingers reached across the space between them to touch hers, and Regan knew he would be her lover.

"Would you like to see the Academy?" he asked.

The view from the Academy was splendid, but Regan couldn't look away from Tao's eyes to enjoy it. As the sun began to set, he offered her dinner in his home. "One of my roommates just got married and left the house, so we have a spare bed if you don't want to stay at the hostel."

The word 'roommates' awakened memories of Gustave and his complicated relations. "Would one of your roommates be female?" she asked Tao.

"Yes, Biyu Shen. Our other roommate, Shen Su, is male," Tao answered, an eyebrow raised quizzically.

"And do you sleep with Biyu sometimes?" It was a direct question, but Regan is determined not to replay her past mistakes.

Tao laughed. "No, Shen wouldn't be very happy with me if I did. Biyu is his girlfriend."

"And what about you, do you have a girlfriend?" Regan continues her inquisition.

"If I did, I'd be with her rather than spending the day with you," he answers, smiling. The path Regan's questions were following were leading her directly into his arms.

Regan took him up on his offer of dinner, but she didn't need the spare bed, preferring to spend the night in Tao's.

Biyu and Shen were happy to have her company, and made her feel as welcome in their home as Tao had. They didn't even feel the need to get dressed in her company, treating her as a fellow roommate rather than a guest.

Regan spent the rest of her vacation in their house. While she did go out on a few touristy sight seeing tours, she was becoming more of a temporary resident of the town, simply enjoying living with people her own age, without her parents constantly over her shoulder, without having to worry about her career or her child.

Only once had Regan ever spent a full night sleeping in her lover's arms, with Gustave in France, but even then she had woken up alone while he was arguing with his sometimes girlfriend Jolene. For a full week, she sleeps besides Tao, and wakes with him, a small kind of bliss she could never have had with Donovan.

Regan's Visa is only good for 6 days, and that time passes quickly. After waking beside Tao on the last morning of her trip, he asks her to stay.

"If you marry me, you won't need a Visa," he explains, "We could be together forever."

It's a tempting offer, but Regan knows she cannot accept it. Her real life, her daughter, her career, are all waiting on her return. "Come visit me in Sunset Valley," Regan offers. Tao promises to visit as soon as he can.

"It won't be the same here without you," he sighs.

(Challenge Notes: Every time anyone used plumbing in Tao Zu's house, it would break. It started to drive me a little nuts. Regan has no handiness at all and I didn't want to waste her time repairing the plumbing, so I was calling the repair person twice a day at least. Luckily, Regan has tons of money (shh, don't tell Donovan Landgraab) so she could afford to pay for the service. But I got to a point where if I heard the broken toilet music again, I was going to scream.)