Clarity

“Wait, what?” Chris laughed, the corner of his eyes crinkled in joy as he looked at his counterpart. “What does that even mean?”

The heavy blush flustered on Xianghua’s face only made his smile stretch wider; the contest of seeing who will blush more is underway and for the most part they equally got embarrassed. The woman only shrugged, not knowing what to say or how to explain what she said; to be honest she didn’t even process the words that came out of her mouth.

“It’s quite weird to have no one approach you so far.” Quickly she changed the subject to something less embarrassing on her part.

The blue eyed American looked indifferent, “In the clubs women tend to be a lot bolder when they approach me, but out on the streets people leave me be. Which is great, I don’t get hound like a lot of the other actors on the lot.”

She had to agree. If she was walking alongside Tom or even Scarlett there would be fans and paparazzi already breathing down their necks. Still, Xianghua is aware that the paparazzi could be discreetly taking photos of them at any given time. It irked her and now that they knew her name they verbally bashed her in any way they pleased.

“And from what Tom told me, you have quite the following as well. With the paparazzi, I mean.” Chris casually wrapped an arm around her shoulders bringing her close; the two didn’t think much of it as they continued walking down the block. “Had to promise him to look out for you before I whisked you away.”

“Yeah,” Xianghua responded grimly. “I have quite the fan base. The blessing of working with Ben and Tom has put a spotlight on me and more. I don’t know what to do.”

“Ignore ‘em. That’s all you can do. You can’t let the paps dictate your life. People talk, they always do, but as long as your friends and family know the truth then that’s all that matters. As long as you don’t make a scene or rough up the paparazzi, you’ll be fine. I doubt you would lay a hand on ‘em with those things you call arms, but you never know.” Chris chuckled as Xianghua sent a glare his way.

The teasing also brewed between the two of them. How unnatural Xianghua’s arms can be so skinny while the rest of her body is a bit meaty and the premature balding Chris is experiencing. Flicking the baseball cap nestled on his head; Xianghua smirked before bringing her arm around his waist to make herself more comfortable.

Chris was kind enough to lend her one of his caps to hide her face from the world around her and also gave her a boost of confidence that she only had when she was under the influence. It was odd seeing the baseball cap on her head, it was completely out of character for her to wear such a thing.

Xianghua isn’t a tomboy in any factor. She loved dresses, skirts anything that made her look feminine. Because of her boy like frame she tries to stir away from wearing pants, jeans or anything that will mistake her as a male.

When she explained this to Chris when he questioned why he has never seen her in a pair of pants, he scoffed saying that she will still look good in anything and will still look like a woman if she wore pants.

So that is when their adventure began. Chris took her for the day when he had time and took her shopping for jeans, cargo pants; flannel shirts and God forbid sneakers. Since the paparazzi recognized her in the outfits that she usually wore, he convinced her to wear some of the things they bought to take her off the radar for a bit.

‘It’s for only when you go out. No one would recognize you, probably.’

He was right.

No one approached them. Xianghua felt masculine in the dark green cargo pants and black top that she was wearing, as for the sneakers that is a whole other story. When Xianghua revealed herself to Chris in her new outfit, he only grinned expressing how adorable she looked.

“You’re right. Absolutely right.” Xianghua pulled her baggy cargo pants feeling the extra space around her legs.

“Stop fidgeting. You look great…you look American.” Chris tugged on her flannel shirt that hung loosely on her frame.

“The outfit doesn’t make sense.”

“Americans don’t make sense.” He countered.

She couldn’t argue with that, some of the habits Americans have were a little on the outrageous side. They were loud, expressive and just outgoing all together. Men especially. She was used to British men being to themselves and withdrawn, quietly bumbling around—sounded like Ben more than anyone, but even a shy one like Chris is more animated than the men back home.

The girl is amazed by his character and just his relaxed personality that went along with it. He is so simple and the easiest of things made him happy. Like his bull dog, East, he could talk about his beloved companion for hours and she happily listened.

Xianghua couldn’t refrain back from a coo when he showed her a picture of his buddy. ‘I hope I can meet him one day.’ Those words spewed out of her mouth without any thought, she froze thinking she is being too attached and forceful on her new friend. Instead of Chris retreating, he only smiled and promised her that she will meet him sooner than she thinks.

It felt amazing to have someone not retreat because of her nature. Xianghua can be clingy at times, become attached to someone that she has great chemistry with and feel like they are best of friends. Most people find that off putting especially since she’s so reserved when she initially meets people.

She never felt as comfortable around someone like she has with Chris and it surprised her greatly. Probably surprised Tom even more possibly thinking he was going to Xianghua by his side twenty-four seven. The woman was always there when he made his Skype calls to Paty, but this was one of several that she missed.

“Xi isn’t with you, again?” Paty frowned, disappointed that her friend has missed another call.

Tom sighed, leaning against the counter as he spoke to his fiancé, “Apparently so, love. Xi has found a new companion, wanted to take her shopping to give her the full American experience, as much as he can.”

“She’s with him quite a lot, hasn’t she? You think something is going on there?” Her questions were the same ones Tom has been thinking of himself. He saw how close those two were and how they instantly gravitated towards each other like magnets when they were in the same room.

Pressing his fingers to his lips, he pondered at the thought before mumbling, “I don’t know. It can be something or just a potential best mate thing going on. How is Ben? Is he doing well?” Concern washed over Paty like a tidal wave as she explained that he has been getting slightly better, but smoking heavily because of it.

“All the stress and trying to ‘let go’ of Xi is really taking a toll on him. More than he thinks and I’m afraid that nothing is going to snap him out of it.”

“Just be there for him, as much as possible. It’s a rough time for him.”

Paty hummed in agreement, “There is something I’ve been wondering about. Since Xi has been doing great—exponentially brilliant surprisingly and has a new boyfriend-”

“Chris isn’t her boyfriend.”

“That maybe I can set up Ben with a friend of mine. To dig him out of that hole he’s in, she’s great! She’s around the same age as Ben, very ambitious, good head on her shoulders, and has the same values and beliefs he has. What do you think?”

It’s way too early, that’s his thought. He didn’t believe that Ben is ready to be in a relationship when all that guilt eating him up inside. Tom knew how he felt, trying to let go of someone despite Ben claiming he doesn’t have any feelings, his kind heart doesn’t want to break Xianghua’s heart and what made it worse is that Ben didn’t know the state of mind she is in so there isn’t a way for him to know if he can move on with a clean break.

“Then I’ll tell him that Xi is doing great and that can kick start the process. She’s a really nice bird, Tom. Deirdre is already interested in him.”

“You really want this to happen, don’t you?” Tom felt in his gut this could be a train wreck, Ben will get hurt in the end by sharing the news of Xianghua, but how can he possibly know when he hasn’t spoken to Ben since he left? He has been kept in the dark when it came to him and he wished his mate all the best, he truly did.

Paty nodded vigorously, determined to fix up Ben to help him out of the rut he put himself in. Tom pinched the bridge of his nose, racking his brain for a good answer before he said, “Give it a few more months, and let him improve a bit. In the meantime, be around him, be a good mate, do things with him and see where his mind is at. When the time is right then introduce them after you ask him.”

His fiancé seem all too excited until he gave his conditions. She pouted childishly as she pointed that he never lets her have any fun or have surprises anymore. In the end, he was right. Ben needed a little more time before things started to get better, but she dreaded telling him what is actually going on with Xianghua.

Once she logged off Skype, Paty wondered how she is going to approach the subject. It’s not like it never presented itself because it did. A lot more than she admitted to Tom; when they first left Ben used to ask about Xianghua daily and after a while it reduced to once a week.

The week hasn’t ended yet so she is still waiting for Ben to get into that state of mind where he asks how Xianghua is doing. Is she adjusting to America? Does she like it? Did she like the cast mates? Did she get along with them? All these questions mentally posted in his mind to ask when he sees Paty.

And when she finally did answer him when they met up, she could see how crestfallen he truly looked. It was the first time she saw him let go of his façade and remained silent the whole night. For the first time in a very long time, Paty is at a loss.

Xianghua giggled as she smashed herself next to Chris in the tiny photo booth to have proof of this special time together. They made silly faces into the camera, one where they moved their baseball caps to the side and pretended to be thugs, and had a few were they politely smiled and one where Chris pretended to lick her cheek as she shyly tried to turn her face away from him.

In the middle of them taking pictures, Chris pulled Xianghua onto his lap to make her more comfortable. She froze being this close to him, she could feel his muscles tense underneath her feeling he is struggling with the same discomfort as her. Yet he still kept her there to prove it was fine.

The flash went off without them knowing capturing the faces of uncertainty and when the next flash came along, Chris kissed her on the cheek endearingly letting the shock course through her face in the photo.

When they finally pulled away and snatched the strips, they each ripped which ones they wanted. Each got doubles for the most part since they planned prior to the booth to remain in the same position to take it twice for them to both keep.

But when the last two photos were shown, Xianghua hesitated. The first one showed them being uncomfortable and the next showed her purely shocked at Chris’ actions. “I’ll take this one.” Chris ripped the very last one and placed it into his pile. In exchange, he gave Xianghua the one where he was pretending to lick her cheek. “So you have an authentic one too.”

She didn’t know what he meant until she saw the picture. His hand placed on the opposite side of her face to keep her from moving away from her, his tongue centimeters away from her face and her face filled with joy, laughter and just a glow about her. Xianghua didn’t recognize herself; she always thought she would have that joy with Ben and yet she had that moment with Chris instead?

It all confused her.

Avoiding further turmoil and awkwardness, she smiled taking the picture from his grasp. “Thank you.”

Chris readjusted her hat so it was facing forward as he softly mumbled, “You’re welcome.”