The Popstar & Me

Chapter 23 - High, Flying Dior'd

Fang emerges from his shower with a towel wrapped around his waist. I try hard not to stare, but I'm only human. He looks much more muscular in real life than on the big screen. On the big screen, he's perfectly powdered, plucked, and dressed in his tailored suits. In real life, he's just a boy who is trying to find a pair of pants to throw on.

He's a muscle-bound, swaggering man-beast who is holding his damp, flimsy towel closed right under his belly button. He curses as he bumbles about barefoot in his bedroom. He has open luggage cases strewn over his floor. I suppose that's the problem with living life on the road; one never gets to put the luggage away.

 He seems to have forgotten that the bedroom door is open. The towel inches its way down his belly as he looks for his underwear. The water is glittering off his rolls of abs, and as the towel keeps slipping, I can see a little more of his boy parts than I should.

"I have a new cleaning lady," he explains sheepishly. He bends over to pull up his underwear, and I see a flash of his upper thigh. He finally throws the towel away and turns to me. I struggle not to look at the bulge in his pants. I don't think he cares that I could see how thick his member is. I guess boys like him, who are naturally gifted, feel no need for modesty.

Thank goodness Fang finds his trousers quickly. They're hanging in his closet along with a matching jacket. In a second, he has a black dress shirt on and throws the jacket on over it. There he is, a picture of a perfect prince.

I suddenly feel hilariously underdressed here with my H&M jeans and vomit-drenched Nike's.

"Come, let's go shopping," he tells me and taps his watch. "If we don't hurry up, you're going to have to come to eat with my brother and me. If you're really unfortunate, I might subject you to my parents."

His parents? What? No way, and I ready to meet his parents! My widening eyes made him laugh.

"I'm just kidding; I'll drop you off at the taxi stand after we pick you up some shoes."

"I thought you were meeting up with your brother," I say as we take the elevator down.

"Yeah, my parents are actually in Beijing," Fang explains as he ties his tie using his reflection in the gold-gilded elevator doors. "But whenever I meet up with my brother, he wants to check in on them using Skype. My brother is the older one, and he's obsessed with the appearances of xiǎo shùn. He is especially into holding up appearances because for the last couple of months, he's been fired from his banking job, and he is living on his wife's salary. The guilt is killing him."

"Oh, that's sad," I reply. I decide not to ask Fang if he still has a job despite his accident.

"I would lend him some money or offer to let him stay here, but he refuses to accept help from his younger brother," Fang laughs as he tugs his tie into place. It's hanging loosely around his partially opened collar. He looks like a woman had tugged at his collar just a little, perhaps just enough to start some rumors. "Do you have any siblings?"

I shake my head.

"My parents separated not long after I was born, so I guess they never had the chance. Heck, maybe I was an accident too."

"Oh, sorry. My parents hate each other too, but they stay together to keep up appearances. It makes you wonder if there's any hope for the rest of us when marriage hasn't worked out for any of our role models, right?"

"Yeah," I laugh. "Maybe that's why Calvin and I didn't work out; I have trauma from my parents' separation. It certainly makes me feel better about myself. Wow, did you play a psychiatrist in one of your movies?"