Jim put his stylish new sunglasses on and walked back to Leizu's van, almost looking the part of a billionaire playboy and most definitely feeling it. His accountant brain chimed in with some quick math on how many new thralls he had on deck. Their faces flashed vividly through his mind, each one beautifully frozen in that miraculous moment of wide-eyed realization of her sudden desperate desire for him. He remembered each of the ten new faces from the hotel lobby this morning and the five from the agency lobby this morning, the three he met on his lunch break, the three personal stylists, and just now nine more models. Thirty. Thirty! Would they all be at this party? How many did they think he could handle? He was shaking his head as he got into the van.
"What's wrong, Jim?" Xiu asked as they pulled into traffic.
"Nothing, doing great. I was just doing some mental math."
Leizu giggled, correctly guessing what he had been counting. "Don't worry Jim, you're a superhero, remember?"
Jim laughed a little, paused, and said "Seems a little excessive though, doesn't it? Are they all coming to that party tonight? Kai-Ming just added 12 more, so that makes 30 on deck if I counted right."
"Sounds about right," Leizu agreed, "and yes, they're all coming. But that's just who you've met already."
Jim gasped, staring at her. "Wait, more than 30 tonight? That's insane. How could I possibly?"
"I don't know if you can. I wouldn't bet against you from what I've seen. But if we have too many, it's no problem, they can just come back tomorrow or Wednesday. If we have too few, we don't get the information we need."
"Wait, what? What information?"
"Your limits."
"Oh, sweet Jesus." Two moves ahead again. Efficient. Diabolical. "Leizu, you're amazing at this. Really. You're going to kill me. But before you do, I just want you to know that really, you're the smartest, most capable, most impressive person I've ever worked with. Hands down. It's truly an honor to be your victim."
"Aw, thanks Jim!" she said, her eyes sparkling at him in the rear-view mirror. She seemed genuinely touched. "It's not all me; it's a team effort. But you're right, I'm pretty much your arch-villain."
"Stop, right there!" Xiu interrupted, pointing. Leizu quickly pulled over, lowering the windows already.
"Don't pick them up, just white card them," Leizu said, "We're almost to the harbor."
"Excuse me," Xiu called out to a group of five young women, each carrying bags from various high-end shops that this street was known for. They were young rich wives, their ridiculously large diamond rings sparkling in the afternoon sun. They were all pretty, but three of them were gorgeous. Those three gasped and stared at Jim. Noticing that two of the women hadn't reacted and thinking quickly, Xiu said "You in the blue shirt, I think you dropped this." The woman walked to them, her eyes still fixed on Jim. Her friends watched as she approached, but the two who weren't affected by Jim didn't seem suspicious. Xiu handed her three white cards and spoke quickly and quietly "That's our contact info. Two of your friends need it too, you'll know which ones by looking at their faces. The others won't understand, so be discreet. Party tonight, hope you can make it."
The woman tucked the precious cards safely into her purse, thanked them, and returned to her friends as the van pulled back out.
"Ok," Jim said a few seconds later, returning to the previous conversation, "Why do you need to know my limits? Once you know my limits you're going to push me to my limits every night until I leave? Or until I die? Is that the plan?"
"No. Think again. Think of what happens if we recruit too many."
"Oh... Right. Wow," he said. Again, many moves ahead.
"Yeah. We are not leaving anyone hanging. When you get on that plane Saturday, your to-do list needs to be at zero. That's the most important thing. It's not just for their own good. It's the only way I can be sure we'll keep our promise to you. I can't control desperate rogues. If, near the end, we think you can't finish more, we don't let you meet more. I will need hard data on your limits to be able to convince people they have to stop recruiting."
"Park up there on the right," Xiu cut in. Jim half expected it to be another spontaneous recruiting stop, but they had arrived at her yacht club.
Jim squinted in the bright late-afternoon sunlight, doubly bright due to the reflection of the harbor below and the skyscrapers beyond. He put his fancy new sunglasses back on, happy to have them. Xiu led them through a security gate, then up the stairs to an exclusive cocktail bar, almost all glass, with a spectacular view of the harbor and the city skyline. The doorman recognized her and greeted her as Ms. Yang, holding the door for them.
The two female bartenders were both stunning. The taller one had an elegantly beautiful face and a slender, exceptionally hourglass-shaped body, exactly Jim's ideal body type, while the other had an incredibly sweet, adorable face with beautiful, sparkling eyes and a voluptuous body, a little top-heavy for Jim's taste but still very hot. They ordered their drinks, the girls getting non-alcoholic mocktails of course. He felt no shortage of attraction to the two bartenders and he had several moments of eye contact with each of them, but they showed no reaction whatsoever other than polite, cool, friendly professionalism. Leizu, Xiu, and Jim all looked at each other, puzzled. They took their drinks and made their way across the bar to where Xiu's friends were already seated.
Xiu greeted the three women with quick hugs and cheek kisses, then introduced them as Ying, Chanxin, and Diwei. They were all elegantly beautiful high society types, with perfectly coiffed hair, immaculate makeup, and tailored clothing that tastefully highlighted their shapely bodies. They made eye contact with Jim when Xiu introduced him, but none of them reacted at all beyond polite greetings.
Jim and Leizu shared another puzzled glance.
It wasn't working. What if it was over? The thought brought a jolt of relief and hope, mixed admittedly with regret. Then Leizu figured it out.
"Glasses off and try again, Romeo," she whispered.
He took off his shades. Ying gasped, flushed, and went wide-eyed when he caught her eye. Chanxin said "what's wrong?" then looked at Jim and was enthralled too, followed quickly by Diwei.
