The corner of Kaja’s mouth twitched. After a mont’s thought, she said, "Should we pick up Mr. Li Wei as well?"
Anya’s mindless stirring stopped. Her appetite seed to have returned sowhat. She picked up the large platter of crepes in front of her and forked a few pieces onto her own plate.
"Didn’t you say just a couple of days ago that you were investigating him?" She popped a piece of crepe into her mouth and chewed. "Why the sudden change of heart today?"
"Because I found nothing," Kaja said. "It seems he’s clean."
The crepe in her mouth suddenly seed more flavorful. Anya wondered if it was just her imagination.
"No need," Anya said with a pout. "He refused my offer. It looks like he has his own plans."
"Boys need their pride," Kaja said. "Perhaps you unintentionally put so pressure on Mr. Li Wei."
"Really?" Anya asked. "What pressure did I put on him?"
This was her first real interaction with a boy. Even back in Moscow, she had attended a private all-girls school.
Kaja wasn’t sure how to explain it to Anya, who, at not even eighteen, had a trust fund with 500 million USD in cash. In the end, she could only vaguely mumble sothing about a boy’s pride.
However, this did little to comfort Anya. She gazed out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the Hudson River and the perfectly manicured lawn, the gloom in her heart clinging to her like the morning mist.
Suddenly, Anya’s phone, which was sitting on the dining table, began to vibrate violently.
Seeing the na on the caller ID, the dim light in Anya’s eyes instantly brightened.
"He’s calling ," she said to Kaja in a fluster. "What should I do?"
"Just act natural, Miss Anya," Kaja sighed. "Maybe he’s just had a change of heart?"
"Hello?" Anya deliberately pouted, answering the phone slowly. "Who is this?"
"Where do you live?" Li Wei said. "I’ll co pick you up. We can go to New Heaven together."
"I live in Riverdale, on Palisades Avenue," Anya said quickly. "I’ll send you the address."
"I’ve never heard of this place before..." Li Wei mused. "Ah, looks like I’ll have to take the long way around to get there from Brooklyn."
"That’s right, you can’t get here directly from the main roads in the Bronx," Anya said. "You have to get off at the Hudson Bridge."
"Let check the GPS..." Li Wei said. "Hmm... It’ll probably take about 45 minutes to get there."
Anya suddenly felt her appetite surge. A wave of hunger washed over her, and she grabbed the maple syrup, slathered it all over her crepes, and then stuffed them into her mouth, chewing heartily.
"There is one problem, Miss Anya," Kaja said suddenly. "The neighborhood police and security can be... rather strict about vehicle inspections."
Anya froze for a mont. After blinking a few tis, she understood what Kaja was implying.
In the United States of Arica, the greater the wealth disparity between neighborhoods, the harder it is for their residents to et. If Li Wei really showed up in a used Toyota or Honda, he would probably be stopped the mont he entered the community.
She wanted to call Li Wei and warn him, but then she rembered what Auntie Kaja had just said about hurting his pride.
Kaja sat across from her, slowly sipping her black tea.
’I have no intention of going out to greet that boy.’
The difference in their inco and status was already vast. Kaja was not at all optimistic about this relationship. If Li Wei could be made to feel ashad and back off, she would consider it the best possible outco.
However, a little over thirty minutes later, Li Wei’s call ca again:
"I’m here," he said. "You can co on down."
Anya grabbed her bag and shot out the door like a whirlwind, leaving Kaja to leisurely clean up the table.
Standing in the elevator, she watched her reflection in the solid brass walls. Her cheeks, which had been flushed with excitent, began to cool slightly.
She kept adjusting the hem of her pullover and quickly checked to see if her dark brown nail polish had chipped.
Her heart was pounding like a drum. ’He really ca.’
But Kaja’s words had cast a shadow in her mind. She started imagining a beat-up Toyota, covered in rust spots, with an exhaust pipe making a huge racket. She even planned out how she would rush over and raise hell if the neighborhood police and security stopped him.
The doorman at the entrance saw Anya dashing out and instinctively started to stand up to greet her.
But the young woman paid him no mind, ignoring him completely and bolting outside.
As she burst through the main gate, she saw a beast of a vehicle, black as ink and gleaming with a cold tallic luster in the sunlight, turn the corner. It was more than a full size larger than her rcedes G800.
The window slowly rolled down, revealing Li Wei’s face.
"What are you staring at?" Li Wei’s hand rested on the steering wheel. "Get in. New Heaven isn’t close."
"Li Wei!"
The anger and grievance that Anya had suppressed all day instantly transford into imnse joy. She had intended to walk over with composure and ask him about the car, but her body was more honest than her brain.
She practically skipped down the steps like a little deer that had found the sweetest fruit in the forest, her boots making a crisp sound on the high-end cobblestone pavent.
She yanked the door open and hopped in almost impatiently, settling into the absurdly spacious leather seat. Although the stitching felt slightly rougher than in her G800, she certainly didn’t think this was anything like what Auntie Kaja had described.
Upstairs, Kaja also saw this scene, her brow furrowing into a knot.
She took out a satellite phone and dialed a number far away in Moscow.
"Buckle up," Li Wei said. "We’re heading out now."
Anya suddenly felt a pang of hunger. She wanted to eat sothing.
"I have to say, though," Li Wei comnted casually as he turned the car around, "your neighborhood has a lot of security guards and police. I was questioned when I ca in. They probably saw my car, figured I didn’t look like a thief trying to break in, and let through."
"That’s just how this neighborhood is," Anya said, staring at him. "There’s nothing here. The butlers and maids have to go out to buy everything."
"That’s really inconvenient," Li Wei shrugged. "Not like my neighborhood. We’ve got McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC..."
The more he talked, the hungrier Anya felt. She watched as Li Wei drove past Madison Avenue, where a hot dog stand suddenly appeared on a street corner.
She suddenly craved a hot dog—a steaming one with mustard, ketchup, onions, and relish. Maybe a Russian pickle to cut through the richness. Then she’d wolf it down in three bites.
But she had no intention of asking Li Wei to stop so she could get sothing to eat. That wouldn’t fit the current direction of the movie playing out in her head.
In the movie she was imagining, they would both smoothly ace their interviews with the Yale University admissions officers today. Then, they would graduate from high school next June and enter Yale University together in the fall. Four years later, they would prepare for a grand wedding, decorating their hos in Moscow, Paris, Monaco, London, and New York with velvet, silk, and fur.
And finally, they would make love in every room of every house.
...
「2:33 PM. The waiting room of the Yale University Admissions Office.」
Anya had been sitting ramrod straight on the edge of an armchair for a full 33 minutes. Li Wei had driven very steadily, getting them to New Heaven City, where Yale University was located, before 2:00 PM. But after she submitted her materials, for so unknown reason, the interviewer had yet to call her in.
Anya could almost hear her stomach sighing. She rubbed her belly.
’I really should have gotten that hot dog.’
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