Shanghai-ed

The scene's chilly, dark and faintly smoky. Puffs of steam rise slowly from the grates to join the smoke from the cigars of the wearied patrons of the sushi bar. Overhead the broken neon light flashes a sign hocking california rolls to intrepid customers daring to brave this shady bylane in the darker, crueler parts of the city for a nondescript sashimi.

The almost incongruent strains of a J-pop diva crooning spreads across the smoke and a shady lady enters the scene. Uptown looks not often seen in these parts, so much so that even the jaded customers take a slow glance her way. Sleek red bob of hair paired with a scarlet trenchcoat straight out of Pratunam Market, she slinks her way down the alley carefully, trying her best to keep her expensive Manolos out of the pools of muck.

Or was that blood?

She tries her best not to confirm the fact. The lady's here for a reason. Though she's been fighting against the urge for weeks, she knows she has to have it.

A couple stand waiting in the shadows just steps away from the garish lights of the sushi bar. An unlikely couple. The average joe you'd miss even if he fell shot-gunned in front of you - if not for his fetching fedora - and the towering amazon of a dame all dirty dominatrix in a dangerous sheath of black leather.


Damn. Did I leave my fedora behind?
The lady approaches the duo. "S, you've got my goods?"

The amazon named S doesn't even deign to reply so the man in a fedora answers instead. "What do you need it for, F?

"I must have it, P. Without it, I just might die." Her voice is desperate. A ship bound for the heady lights of Shanghai waits for her at the port that very night. Her destiny awaits but without the goods, her life really could be in danger.


Anything...
P only smiled. "You know the melamine antidote costs a bit extra."

Her eyes widened at the hidden innuendo but F hadn't come so far to crawl back where she'd come from. Even the lady knew when sacrifices had to be made. "I'll do anything. You know I would. Even right here."

The amazon lifted a chilly brow while the man just chuckled through the strained silence that followed. "Sorry, babe. I don't do the ladies."

"Don't play with the lil lady." The amazon speaks. "Just take the meds and go, F. You'll pay when the time is right."

****** And cut scene.

And this all happened in real life. Well, maybe minus my fedora hat.

Eager to take up pins and needles to practice acupuncture, Fabulous Fiona's leaving the country in a desperate hurry and she needed medical reinforcements that only the Lushes could provide. But of course we all needed to trade sushi for drugs.

Me, I was only wondering why acupuncture couldn't cure a cough and cold?
Surely a jab in the right place would displace the bad chi?