1
When Renee wokeup, she wasn’t in her room at home. It took her a moment to remember where she was. Then she smiled.
She sat up and leaned back against the plush velvet headboard, looking around with pleasure at the suite her boyfriend had booked for the fortnight. There hadn’t been time to check it out last night. She’d only been able to shuck off her shoes and dump her bag in a corner before Jason had distracted her.
It was the penthouse suite, with a wraparound terrace—the most expensive set of rooms in the hotel. Fresh white carnations were set out in a black vase on a side table by the bed. Next to the flowers was a card—Renee leaned over to look at it—saying how delighted the hotel was to be hosting global pop sensation Jason Tsai. Morning sunshine streamed in from the adjoining conservatory.
It was the kind of place Renee wouldn’t have splurged on even in the days when she was spending on her father’s dime. Despite Dad’s wealth, he had an appreciation of the value of money that ruled out certain extravagances.
Jason had a different attitude, but then, it wasn’t like he couldn’t afford it. His last albumEXTRA.ordinaryhad been a huge success in China, Hong Kong, and his native Taiwan, as well as across Southeast Asia.
“Wang Leehom for the TikTok generation,” theSouth ChinaMorning Posthad called him, to Jason’s chagrin. He liked to think he was in a class of his own.
And hewas, Renee thought loyally. Their relationship wasn’t public—his fans wouldn’t be happy about it, and Jason had his endorsement deals to think of. But she sometimes entertained herself with imagining the reaction of people back home in Singapore to the fact she was dating Jason Tsai. It would impress her parents’ friends and her old schoolmates more than anything else she’d ever done.
She got out of bed, wriggling her toes in the carpet, and wrapped herself in a crisp white hotel bathrobe, before wandering out to the sitting room.
Jason was taking a phone call out on the terrace, already dressed in a Comme des Garçons hoodie and distressed jeans. Behind him unfurled the lush green expanse of Hyde Park. The city skyline rose up beyond, prosaic and beautiful in the sun. Brown, white, and grey office buildings, Victorian red brick, the ever-present cranes, and in the distance, the geometric glass shapes of the City’s skyscrapers, looming over the squat onion dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Renee’s heart rose. She never got sick of London. She might have been born in Singapore, but she’d chosen this city.
She was admiring Jason’s ass in those jeans when he turned and she saw he was frowning. His face cleared when he met her eyes. He said something into his phone, wrapping up the call, and came in.
“Good morning, handsome,” said Renee.
“Morning.” Jason smiled. A little thrill of anticipation shivered through Renee.
Sometimes she worried about their relationship. Her business kept her busy, but Jason was on another level. He was always touring, or recording, or visiting his parents in their giant suburban house in California, festooned with photos of him at every microstage of development—from kindergarten concerts in Taipei,to his first day at elementary school in Walnut Creek, to that weird Korean magazine shoot he did when he debuted, where he was draped suggestively over a horse.
It was hard to connect the way Renee felt one should in a serious relationship. There were video calls, but either they spoke when it was nighttime for her and Jason had just woken up—and he was not a morning person—or it was nighttime at Jason’s end, which tended to lead his mind towards the bedroom.
Renee had nothing against FaceTime sex in principle, but it was hard to get in the mood when it was the middle of the afternoon and Jason was booked in between a call with suppliers and a session with the tax accountant. And then his feelings got hurt, and she felt bad…
But now they were going to have a whole two weeks with nothing to do except focus on each other. Jason was in town to shoot a music video, and he’d extended the trip so they could have a holiday.
It was going to be amazing. Renee would make sure of it.
Jason sat on the sofa opposite her. “How do you look so good when you’ve just gotten out of bed?”
“Thank my dermatologist,” said Renee. “Are you hungry?” She picked up her phone, navigating to the hotel’s online menu. “They serve these gorgeous breakfast spreads here, with cute little waffles. I saw them on Instagram. Are you off carbs at the moment? We could get you an English breakfast—or ooh, grilled lamb kidneys, that’s interesting. Or we could go out? Have you thought about what you want to do while you’re here? Don’t laugh, but I made a spreadsheet.”
Renee swiped away from the breakfast menu on her phone, bringing up her spreadsheet. “There’s so much you never get around to doing when you live in London. I thought we could do a champagne flight on the London Eye? Kind of cheesy, but fun?”
Jason held up his hands, laughing. “Hey, slow down.”
“Sorry,” said Renee, penitent. “You must be jet-lagged. We can get room service and chill. Whatever you want to do.” She set down her phone, smiling up at him. “I’ve been really looking forward to this.”
“Yeah. Totally,” said Jason, but his eyes slid away from hers. He rubbed his thighs, clearing his throat. “Listen, Renee…”
Renee waited, but nothing further was forthcoming. Jason avoided meeting her eyes.
Foreboding swept over her, like the shadow of a passing cloud.
“What is it?” she said. She glanced at his phone, in his front jeans pocket.
Maybe something had come up. He was going to have to fly off early, or reshoot the music video… “Was that your manager on the phone?”
“No,” said Jason. “I was talking to my mom.”
