Dying to Live Read Free Page B

where she was still sure she could see smoke. When she looked back, the man was still looking at her. His gaze was thoughtful and curious.
    “I’m Pete,” he said, offering his hand.
    “I’m Xin. It’s nice to meet you,” She replied, accepting the handshake.
    At that moment, Xin noticed the air hostess pushing a trolley up the aisle towards them and remembered the drink she was going to order.
    “I was going to get a drink, would you like to join me?” She asked, gesturing at the hostess trolley, which was now almost level with their seats.
    “That would be lovely, Xin. Thank you.” He smiled and turned his attention to the hostess, who had halted her trolley beside them. “I’ll have a coffee, please.”
    Xin suddenly felt a slight embarrassment at her intention to order a whiskey with ice. It was, after all, still morning when taking into account the time difference.
    “I’ll have coffee too, please,” she said, hurriedly. The hostess smoothed out her pencil skirt and busied herself with the preparation of their beverages. She enquired as to whether they took milk and sugar. Xin answered yes to both and Pete answered no to both. A minute later, they were sipping at the drinks as the hostess sashayed her way back down the aisle.
    For a while they sat in companionable silence, as they enjoyed the warm drink. Xin looked at Pete. It was a long time since she’d had the experience of meeting a new man. Of course, she did meet new men every day, but not on a friendship forming level. Usually it was just work related. It was a pleasant sensation to be sitting next to this man, who she didn’t know, but feeling that she would like to. He had blonde hair that was messy and a little wavy. His smile showed off dimples and gave the impression of a charming and cheeky character. He was a slim man but not without muscles, and she imagined that if he stood up he would be quite tall. There was, however, an unmistakable sense about him. A sense that there was much more to him than you could see: wisdom and intelligence, goodness, self-sacrifice and chivalry. Xin could not put her finger on how she knew it, she just did.
    “So, what brings you to Vegas?” Pete enquired.
    “Oh, just work, you know,” Xin answered, taking a grateful sip of her coffee. It had been a much better choice than whiskey. “What about you?”
    “I threw a dart at a map, this is where it took me.” Seeing Xin’s raised eyebrows he chuckled, “I’m serious.”
    She laughed with him.
    “What about your work? And your family?”
    “I don’t have a wife or any children, not now anyway, and the rest of my family understand me. They know that I want to see places and do things. I can still keep in touch with them while I do it.” There was a pause whilst he drank and then he continued. “As for my work, I’m fortunate enough that I can do that anywhere.”
    This seemed to create more questions than it answered. Xin had picked up on his choice of words. ‘ Not now anyway’ . It felt insensitive and nosey to ask a perfect stranger what they could have meant by that. She instead opted for the safer question that came to mind.
    “What does your job entail?”
    “I’m an artist.” Pete must have realised how vague his reply was, because he went on to explain. “I draw and paint, mainly. My subject matter is mostly people and places. Just different things that I see, but people seem to like them. I’ve painted things from all around the world.”
    Xin sat in awe for a few moments. It sounded like such a perfect thing, yet was completely unexpected. “What will you paint in Vegas?” She asked.
    “I’m not sure yet, but I never am until I get there. I like to just wait and see what I notice and experience. Not just the physical things I see, but the things I detect about a place that I’m not supposed to.” Xin didn’t understand what he meant at first. “Places always have secrets. I like to poke at the darker underbelly and the