Love Around the World 07: Guangzhou

"Plenty of time to research."

"As long as we finish in Guangzhou, or we could end our trip in Hong Kong and fly back on Cathay Pacific."

"How long are you thinking?"

"I can probably get three weeks off work at a stretch. They'll probably say I can take that but not really have much more time off."

We then fell into silence again, Wendy lifting a finger to push her glasses back on her nose as she gazed up at me. Leaning down, I left a soft kiss on her lips before gently pulling her against me.

"Mark..."

"Yeah..."

"I'm so glad I have you in my life. I can't imagine life without you now."

"You'd better not disappear from my life!"

"Not a chance!"

Turning up at Mike's place on New Year's Eve had him shaking his head in my direction after we'd settled down on one of the couches in his living room. Even though we were still only in our early twenties, the idea of a booze-filled night out in the city just didn't interest us, preferring to gather at someone's place. There was still booze but in moderation. Good tunes. Good food. Good company.

At midnight, there were six men with six women ready to see in the new year. Wendy wasn't going to be with anyone except me, or that's what I liked to think and hoped. Counting down together, everyone shouted 'Happy New Year' before we shared a kiss. The first real kiss ever. As we heard people wishing each other a good new year, Wendy was far too busy focused on kissing me.

"It's about goddamned time!" Mike stated, causing us to break apart and blush.

"Just a celebratory kiss," Wendy stated, immediately nodding in agreement to her statement. But she still took my hand and smiled at me. "A wonderful way to bring in the new year."

I don't think Mike believed it. Cindy didn't. John didn't. And I don't think I believed it at heart, but it was better than the alternative. We stayed until we were simply too tired, everyone helping Mike and Cindy clear up before we made our way home. Dropping Wendy off at home, she was so sleepy that I helped her into her bedroom, dumping her on her bed and helping her off her heels. With the heat, she only had a thin sheet to cover her, waking up enough to ensure I wished her goodnight.

"It's going to be a fantastic year," she murmured, "With my best friend."

"Love you, Wendy," I whispered. We always shared that word as it was the love of good friends. I'd never been shy in showing affection to any of my friends.

"Love you, Mark. Call me later?"

"Wendy, does a day go by when I don't call you?"

That made her eyes open briefly. "Want to stay with me?"

I wanted to. God, I wanted to. But I knew if I undressed and slid into bed with her, we would make love. It wouldn't just be sex. It wouldn't be fucking. It would be making love. And once we were done, everything would change. I'd seen 'When Harry Met Sally'. Men and women can easily be friends, but once you involve intimacy, someone is going to get attached.

"You know I'd love to... Maybe some other time. I'm beat and need to sleep too."

Leaving a soft kiss on her forehead, she smiled sweetly before I wished her goodnight. Walking outside, the taxi had taken off. Thankfully, Wendy didn't live too far away that walking home wasn't too difficult, ending up in bed just as the sun was starting to come up over the horizon.

I went to bed thinking about a lot of things.

*****

Ten months later...

To say Wendy was excited as we sipped our drinks at the airport bar wouldn't be an understatement. Mike and Cindy were standing by one of the large windows, watching the planes depart and arrive. John and Jenny were sitting nearby at the bar, deep in conversation about something. In the end, only three couples could agree on a time to go, managed to book our seats on the same flights, and we ensured we were all staying at the same places, travelling on the same trains, though we agreed not to spend each and every day in each other's pockets.

Mike and Cindy were already engaged, proudly showing off her engagement ring all the time, and I knew Mike was itching to get married and start a family. John and Jenny had moved in together rather quickly, but to say the pair of them were almost hopelessly in love with each other wasn't far off the mark. I didn't know who worked harder to make the other happier.

Wendy hadn't dated a single man for ten months. I hadn't dated anyone in the same time. We were both single. To be honest, we spent nearly all of our free time together or with our friends. Mike told me at least once a week to just make it official with Wendy, call her my girlfriend or something. Even John was in my ear, particularly once he was living with Jenny.

"I'm so excited!" Wendy exclaimed again, cuddling into my side before kissing my cheek, "Thank you, Mark. Thank you for this."

I might have organised much of the trip for us and, well, I made sure Wendy barely had to spend a cent. We would be flying into Beijing, checking out the city while also making a journey to a section of the Great Wall. We would travel by train to Tianjin, as we'd read that it was quite an interesting city to visit before we'd hop on a fast train heading south to Shanghai. We knew a visit there would require time, heading west to Nanjing after that. Guangzhou was still a considerable distance from there, so we relied on our research to pick a stop between there and Nanjing, eventually selecting a couple of historical sites that would simply break up the journey for a day. All in all, we would cover a large section of China in three weeks.

As we were flying back from Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific, it was a case of choosing which airline to fly to Beijing. Having never flown internationally, I had no real idea. The only thing we all agreed on was that we wanted a direct flight, not messing around with a stop on the way, even though it was cheaper. In the end, there was only one option. Air China.

Boarding the plane, I was amused that there were not many Western faces around us. When I joked with Wendy, she glanced back and smiled. "Well, I've got my Australian Mandarin-speaking man to help me out so I'm not going to complain," she stated.

Mike and Cindy were sitting in front of us, John and Jenny behind. We were flying overnight to arrive in the morning, Wendy lifting the armrest as soon as we finished our meals so she could snuggle against me, ensuring we were covered in blankets. Kissing my cheek, I wrapped an arm around her waist and let her sleep. I couldn't drift off as I simply couldn't get comfortable enough.

Half asleep by the time we arrived, passport control was surprisingly pleasant. Those of us who needed visas had them sorted out early. A check of our passport and visa, the official actually welcomed me in English, earning a slight look of surprise when I replied in Mandarin.

"Show off," Wendy whispered as we waited at the luggage carousel.

"We're totally showing off while we're here," Mike stated as we chuckled, "Three white guys who can speak Mandarin better than their girlfriends of Chinese orig..." He trailed off as I looked at him, feeling Wendy shuffle uncomfortably next to me, "I mean the two of us with girlfriends, of course."

Given that this was the first international trip away for most of us, we'd splurged on accommodation. Minimum four-star hotels, breaking the budget, but we didn't care. Figuring out Beijing's public transport system wasn't too difficult. Not much was in English, but the maps were easy to read. Checking into the hotel was amusing as Mike, John and I did all talking, feeling Wendy glower at me as I didn't hesitate in flirting with the very pretty girl behind the counter.

Wendy playfully slapped my chest once we were in the elevator. "You're just going to show off the entire time. Wait until we're in Guangzhou and you don't speak a word of Cantonese."

"You know I love it when you whip it out sometimes," I teased.

I knew the two others had booked rooms with queen-sized beds. I knew something was amiss when I opened the door to our room and noticed we had the same thing. Standing side by side as we looked at it, we eventually glanced at each other and smiled before bursting into laughter. Turning to cuddle her, she immediately moulded into me.

"Can you handle it?" she asked softly.

"Probably not. But we're on holiday... You know how much I love cuddling you..."

"If Mike or John know we're in the same bed..."

Leaning back slightly, her eyes gazed up at me with an intensity I'd noticed more and more over recent months. Caressing her cheek made her eyes close for a moment, that slight smile form I always saw whenever I touched her affectionately. Though I'd barely slept, I was eager to get out and explore. It seemed the women had slept fine during the flight, but we men had suffered in silence.

We did take it easy that first day, sticking to one or two main sites. We'd done our research and also carried at least two guidebooks, heading towards a particular district of the city that was meant to have some of the best food in not only the city but the country. When it came to nightlife, we did not intend to party until dawn though still wanted to enjoy a few drinks to unwind after a day of sightseeing.

For the next three days, we were up early, eating a hearty breakfast at the hotel restaurant before heading out. One day was filled by travelling to and from the Great Wall. The other two were taking in the important sites including a few hours in and around the Forbidden City. It was quite the introduction to China. Unbelievably busy and crowded, with a list of sites to see, China was clearly developing quickly in the twenty-first century.

The sleeping arrangements... That first night, I was lying in bed in just my underwear when Wendy walked out of the bathroom with her hair up in a ponytail, wearing a tiny vest and boyshorts. I looked her up and down and practically tented my underwear immediately. Sliding into bed next to me, she cuddled into me without any hesitation, her hand immediately caressing my chest.

"Please tell me we're sharing a bed the entire time while here. I'd love nothing more than to cuddle with you each night we're here, Mark," she whispered.

"Wendy... I did it on purpose."

"You did?" she asked so softly, her hand stopping for a moment.

"We're on holiday together. You're my best friend by a million miles. We're experiencing something rather special, and what I wanted to do was go to bed each night and just... You know..."

"Mark... Are you aroused right now?"

"Completely."

"Because of me?"

"Wendy, I can't think of another woman on the planet who does that right now."

She snuggled tighter against me. What I didn't expect was to feel tears on my shoulder, I turned my head to see her head buried in that little space. "I want this, but I'm scared," she whispered, "I'm scared that if something goes wrong, I'll lose you completely. I can't be with you in the way we both want, then for us to break up and then I lose you from my life. I can't risk it."

"I feel the same way," I admitted, rolling onto my side, feeling her clutch onto me as tightly as she'd ever done, "I know how I feel... And I think I know how you feel..."

Feeling her relax as I stroked her back, she fell asleep quickly as I lay awake. We didn't talk about that the rest of our time in Beijing, but when we were in private, Wendy was all over me. We never removed clothing. Barely kissed. But the affection between us would have had anyone watching believing we were together in every single way possible.

We were side by side on the rather quick train ride to Tianjin, checking into our hotel and enjoying a quick wander around the city before finding some place to have dinner. Returning to our room, Mike called and asked if I wanted to join him and John downstairs for a beer before bed. Wendy assured me it was okay, and she'd go see Cindy and Jenny in the former's room.

"When the hell are you going to admit that you're in love with her?" Mike asked as soon as I had a beer in hand.

"It's not just on him," John stated, "Her feelings are as obvious."

I sighed as it was the usual monthly conversation with Mike. I was hoping we'd get through our trip without talking about it for what felt like the millionth time. Mike eventually cleared his throat. "Mate, I'm just going to give you some advice then shut up about it. The best thing I ever did was ask Cindy if she wanted to be my girlfriend. We were already best friends. She clearly loved me as much as I loved her. And now I'm going to marry my best friend. I'd die for her, mate. Do you feel the same way about Wendy?"

I glanced at John before finally nodding. "I do love her... Too much..."

"So why don't..."

"Mike, mate... Let it go. Let them get there by themselves. You can't push things like this. I was in love with Jenny from the first day we met on campus. She knew, but she knew I needed to do it in my own time. Notice how she never dated anyone from the day we met? She knew how I felt, and she knew she felt the same way."

Mike looked at me, back at John, then at me again before he nodded. "Well, I guess neither of you has dated in twelve months anyway."

"No, they've been dating each other for at least the past year, certainly since before Christmas last year. They just won't admit it," John said with a chuckle.

I returned to our room to find Wendy snuggled up in bed, playing with her phone. Her eyes watched me as I stripped down to my underwear, sliding into bed as she immediately placed her phone down and cuddled into me. She sighed contentedly as always as I stroked her back.

"I'm happy, Mark," she whispered, "I'm on holiday with you. Can't imagine it being any better than that."

"And being on holiday with the others?"

"Eh, I could give or take them." I couldn't help laughing as she snuggled even tighter against me. "You're the one that matters most to me."

Tianjin was interesting enough. Hopping onto the fast train heading south to Shanghai, it was soon doing well over 300kph, but you wouldn't have thought so unless you looked outside to see the countryside whipping by. It was so smooth and stable; I could only shake my head and think about some of the shit transport systems back in Sydney.

Shanghai was... amazing. Simply jaw-droppingly amazing. And massive. Enormous. Twenty-five million people. Boggles the mind when you think about it, considering the population of Australia only reached the same number in 2021. You could imagine the city would fit anywhere else in the world with its bright lights. It was so crowded, a melting pot of people, yet I still felt that Mike, John and I stuck out like sore thumbs at times. We found that history still existed, aware of the old concessions when the British and French seemed to run the city at times.

This was where we properly splurged on accommodation. Five-star service, eye-watering price for a room. But the window from our hotel room showed spectacular sights, Wendy cuddling into me that night as we gazed out over the cityscape.

"Thank you," she whispered, "Thank you for bringing me here with you."

"Wouldn't have done it without you, Wendy."

"When we get to Guangzhou, I've organised to meet some of my family. Um... I might have mentioned you quite a bit so... They want to meet you too. The only problem is that most of them speak only Cantonese, maybe limited Mandarin at best."

"That's fine. You can be the translator."

I reckoned to see everything Shanghai had to offer, you'd need a month, particularly if you wanted to do day trips to surrounding areas. Aware of the sheer size of the city, we stuck mostly to the centre, the Old City, Huangpu (where the Bund is located), Jing'an and the old French Concession. The main reason to cross the river to Pudong was for the restaurants and drinking. If you've seen photos of Shanghai and the myriad of skyscrapers, that's Pudong.

Unlike Beijing and Tianjin, I was amazed at the number of English speakers. Granted, some of it wasn't particularly good, and I earned grins whenever I broke out the Mandarin. I had no idea what to expect when getting to Shanghai, surprised by the friendly welcome wherever we went. Maybe they were just used to plenty of tourists...

Wendy absolutely loved the hotel, the comfortable room we had, and all the facilities on offer. Whenever our eyes met, no matter where we were, she'd break out into this absolutely gorgeous smile. We were now walking everywhere hand in hand. In fact, it felt weird to be walking along and not holding it. Every photo I took was either with Wendy in the shot or the pair of us together. I didn't have much in the way of social media. Wendy did and apparently, each photo was receiving an avalanche of 'likes' and comments.

Our last night in the city was spent at a restaurant that sold Shanghai specialties, filling ourselves up before heading off to enjoy a night on the town. The men stuck to the local beer, the girls enjoying themselves with cocktails. Returning to our hotel rather late in the evening, Mike and Cindy didn't waste any time heading up to their room, Cindy was not shy in suggesting exactly what she needed. John and Jenny chuckled then looked at me and Wendy.

"Yeah, we might head upstairs too," Jenny stated before dragging John off towards the elevators.

Wendy took my hand and led me to the elevators a minute or so later, pressing the button for the roof as there was a pool, bar and other facilities there. Walking out onto the decking, she stood by the railing as I positioned myself behind her, wrapping my arms around her body as she leaned back against me.

"I love you, Mark," she whispered.

"Love you too, sweetheart," I whispered back.

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. You know I dated. God, I just seemed to have an eye for losers. You've been my rock for what feels like forever. There were days at university when I felt so lost, yet all it took was a hug from you and I felt the world was right again. You're the best man I know." She took a deep breath as I gently squeezed her. "What I've realised is that this place, I mean China, it might be my heritage, but it isn't my home. I know where my home is."

"And where is that?"

"My home is with you, Mark."

We stayed upstairs until she was almost falling asleep against me, making her giggle when I easily scooped her up in my arms and carried her over to the elevator. Entering our room still carrying her, I placed her gently down on the bed before she slid off and disappeared into the bathroom to change. Waiting in bed for her to appear, she was wearing a very small top and only a pair of panties that left little to the imagination. What made my eyes widen was when she removed her top to expose her breasts to me for the first time.

Blushing brightly, she lifted the sheet and joined me in bed, turning in time to be greeted by a soft kiss, feeling her warm body against me. "What do you think?" she asked nervously.

"As beautiful as I might have imagined."

"You've imagined me naked, Mark. I'm shocked." Giving her a look made her giggle. "It's not awkward, is it?"

"I'm not going to feel awkward with a nearly naked woman in my bed. Hard as a rock and thinking very naughty thoughts, but not awkward."

Turning onto my side to face her, she smiled as my fingers stroked her naked back. Kissing her again, she shuffled closer, and I heard her gasp when she would have felt my erection pressing against her. "I have felt that already this holiday," she whispered, "Is it because of me?"

"Of course it is," I whispered back.

"Do you really love me, Mark?"

"More than anyone."

"I love you so much, it scares me to death."

"So what do we do?"

She answered that question by kissing me. When I kissed her back, she moaned softly into my mouth as my hand caressed her pert little arse, feeling her pressing into my erection, earning another soft moan. It was the most intense kiss of my life to that point, an expression of all the love we felt for each other but had denied time and time again.