The girl in the Louvre

Holding the letter carefully in her hand, Zhi Rou looked softly at the elegant handwriting. It was addressed, To my dearest beloved. Glancing at her friend from the corner of her eyes she put the letter safely into the inside of her jacket. Once the letter was put away her full attention was settled on the macarons inside the box. Picking up a pink macaron, Zhi Rou quietly swallowed her saliva. Remembering her first taste of macaron she slightly shivered. 'I have a problem,' thought Zhi Rou as she nearly lost her self control over a small cake. Finally, she stopped hesitating and placed the treat into her mouth. A mixture of roses and raspberries exploded in her mouth as she relaxed back in her seat in satisfaction.

Throughout the next hour, she occasionally had one or two macarons until she had already eaten twenty of them. Deciding that she should leave some more for later, Zhi Rou put the box back in her backpack. Suddenly the seat that she was on started to feel really comfortable and her eyelids started to grow heavy. By now it was already around ten O'clock at night and almost everyone on the flight was trying to get some sleep.

Yawning and deciding that she should probably try to get some shut-eye, Zhu Rou closed her eyes and rested her head against the headrest. Getting used to the low hum of the plane and the other passengers shuffling sounds she slowly drifted off. Dreaming of sweet nothings until she was awoken the next morning for breakfast. Cutly yawning, Zhi Rou rubbed off the drool that had dried on her cheek as she got up to get to the little bathroom on the plane.

By the time the eleven hours and forty-five minutes flight touched down in Bejing, Zhi Rou and Jie Fang were feeling sweaty and restless. Almost twelve hours without being able to stretch out your feet, with the exception of going to the bathroom which in itself was not a pleasant experience, is quite irritating.

Leaving the plane, getting their luggage, and finally getting through security they made it to the pickup destination were their parents were waiting for them.

As she struggled through the crowd she finally saw her mom. Jie Fang had already found her parents earlier and so it was just Zhi Rou and her mom that walked out of the exit together.

"How was your trip? Did you learn a lot?" asked her mother in a strict tone. She was always like this, education came before everything. She was also the main reason why Zhi Rou could get into such a prestigious art school.

"It was really amazing, the artwork and architecture that we saw was absolutely stunning," replied Zhi Rou. "I also got to meet a lot of really nice people." Still on a bit of a high from her trip to Paris, Zhi Rou started grinning as she recounted all of the things that she saw on the tour.

Patiently listening to her babble on and on, Zhi Rou's mother slightly smiled. Her lips had the same heart shape curve as her daughters, although hers were a bit fuller. When Zhi Rou finally stopped talking she said, "While you were away a boy came by and asked if you could tutor him on his paintings. He seems nice and they pay is good, why don't you try it?"

"Tutoring? Sure, although I didn't know that anyone was looking for me to tutor them," said Zhi Rou, a little confused at the sudden invitation. "When does he want to start?" asked Zhi Rou, ignorant of the pain and suffering that this simple conversation would one day cause her.

"It is too late to start right now and you just got back so you probably want some rest, but how about tomorrow afternoon?" replied her mom.