The second floor bathroom wasrolling in shower mist and the calming scent of lavender.
In the middle of it was a blackmarble spa with 4 stone sculptures at each side that poured out water.
The spa tub was family-sized andcould easily fit 3 to 4 people.
Xin Yu selected a few pebbles ofbath salts from the rack before wading into the spa with them.
The multicolored bath saltsfizzled in the warm water instantly to create a perfumed, colorful pond ofbathing water.
Xin Yu had a penchant for takinglong bath, and with luxuries like these, who wouldn’t be?
She leaned back into the waterand sighed in satisfaction. Then, she caught herself.
“Oops, Se Cai is still waitingfor me downstairs… I better hurry.”
She pulled her hair up into abun with a hair clip and started lathering up the soap.
“This Se Cai… He doesn’t looklike much… but who knew he could step up to the plate so nicely when thesituation calls for it.”
She thought back to the misadventuresthat they had had that day and shivered.
“Then again, was I being tooforward with that kiss?”
It was hard to tell whether itwas caused by the heat of the bath or something else but a blush crawled up toher face.
She submerged her body backunderwater and relaxed under the bath’s warm embrace.
She was too at ease to noticethe flicking shadow outside her bathroom window.
The shadow belonged to Se Cai.After he left the front door, he went round the yard following the sound ofwater.
Thankfully, the wall of thehouse was decorated with many motifs that he could use as foothold to get up tothe second floor.
The bathroom had a design that openedto nature so its French windows were seldom closed and the only cover was acurtain of Venetian blind.
The house sat in a corner thatwas isolated from other residences and had a verdant woodland around itscompound so normally privacy wasn’t an issue.
However, if a person could getpast security, he could easily gain access into the house through the bathroomlike Se Cai did.
“Should I go in? But if I do, it’llbe really hard to explain to her that I’m not a s.e.xual predator.”
Se Cai hesitated as he listenedto the sound of water gushing within.
The bathroom was heavily mistedby the steam but he was certain he saw Xin Yu’s silhouette inside.
“I shouldn’t be wasting time orelse I might be too late…”
Se Cai steeled his nerves andpushed himself in.
He looked left and right andrealized with a sinking feeling that there was no one there.
Se Cai ran to the door, prayingthat he wasn’t too late.
The door opened to a dimly-litwalk in closet. Xin Yu wasn’t there either.
Se Cai was heading out of the closet when heheard a series of footsteps coming from the corridor.
“Miss, I’m here with some newtowels…”
It was Sister Xu’s voice. Se Caiquickly rushed back to the bathroom since she was coming his way.
The moment Se Cai stepped backinto the bathroom, Xin Yu emerged from the water. She shook her hair out andwiped the water from her face. She chirped, “Sister Xu, you shouldn’t have broughtthem in here yourself, you can just left them in the closet. I don’t want totrouble you…”
She blinked the water out of hereyes and meant to thank Sister Xu but she realized with a start that it wassomeone else standing there.
“Who… Se..”
With desperation, Se Cai rushedto her side and covered her mouth. He didn’t want her to alert Sister Xu.
“Please keep your voice down!Trust me, I’m not here to spy on you!”
Se Cai whispered.
Xin Yu though had far greaterthings on her mind to worry about to hear what Se Cai was whispering. Shestruggled initially against his grasp before calming down enough to nod cooperativelyat Se Cai.
“Help me keep Sister Xu out! Don’tlet her in here!”
Se Cai released Xin Yu when hefelt her body relaxed. He said hurriedly while pointing at the bathroom door.
“Sister Xu, one moment, I’malmost ready!”
Xin Yu called out as she pulledher hands in front of her chest. In a lower voice, she asked, “Why are you herein my bathroom?”
“I… It’s a long story butbelieve me, I’m not here to harm you. In fact, I’m here to save you!”
Se Cai stammered in hisdesperation to explain.
Se Cai didn’t know where to placehis eyes but it would be weird if he didn’t look at Xin Yu while he was talkingto her.
Xin Yu, in her vulnerabilities,felt Se Cai’s lingering gaze. She had half a mind to lecture Se Cai when SisterXu’s voice came back from the door.
“Miss, is everything fine inthere? I thought I heard you screamed. Anyway, I’m here to bring you the towelsand we’ll need to move on to the packing soon. We have to leave early tomorrow!”
Sister Xu’s voice sounded closerand closer.
“Quick, hide!”
Xin Yu hissed.
“Hide? But where?”
The bathroom was huge but it wasascetically furnished. There was no object big enough for him to hide behind orin.
“Well… Down here!”
Xin Yu tilted her head at thespa.
This time it was Se Cai’s turnto blush. He really didn’t expect things to turn out this way.
The sound of footsteps drewnearer.
“Get Sister Xu out and I’llexplain everything later!”
Se Cai kicked his shoes out ofsight, sucked in a deep breath and jumped into the water.
It is common knowledge that thehuman body has natural buoyancy. Therefore, Se Cai felt his body pushed to thesurface by the water.
Furthermore, he went infully-clothed. The air bubbles in his clothes only added to his buoyancy.
Se Cai waved his hands aroundwildly to find something he could grab on to pull himself deeper into thewater. His hands found a pole-like object and he pulled on it hard. Little didhe know it was Xin Yu’s leg.
Dragged by the unexpected force,Xin Yu slipped and fell with a splash.
At that moment, Sister Xu burstinto the room.
She carried a stack of towelsand looked at Xin Yu curiously.
“Sister Xu… I’ve asked you toleave the towels in the closet, you don’t need to come in here.”
Xin Yu lowered her blushing faceand said softly.
“Miss, why are you acting soweird tonight? Come, I’ll help you get dried.”
She took a few more stepstowards the spa tub.
“No, it’s okay. Thanks, SisterXu, I can do it myself.”
Xin Yu said hastily. When SisterXu didn’t stop, she gathered herself and uttered with authority.
“Jin Feng, didn’t I tell youstop? Put the towels down and leave me alone!”
Sister Xu stopped midstride. Shelooked at Xin Yu with equal measure surprise and wariness.
“Yes, miss…”
She set down the towels andretreated out of the bathroom wordlessly.
[I"ve edited this chapter for quite a bit since this is a blog that is open to the public of all ages. The deleted scene doesn"t detract from the overall plotline so don"t worry.]