Transformation Story: The Replacement Lover

This is not a sequel to my story ‘Hahsni’ but is set in the same ‘universe’.

The Replacement Lover

She was there again: the young Chinese woman off Susan’s course.  Susan now knew her name: Suyin.  Like a lot of the Chinese, she also took a Western name and the fact she called herself ‘Susan’ made the situation doubly uncomfortable, especially with the surname.  There had already been an occasion when she had to emphasise that she was Susan Leyton to distinguish herself from Suyin Lei.  Suyin was sat next to Russell at the long library desk.  Though both were concentrating on the laptops and sometimes even looked at one of the books stacked on the desk, the closeness of them, let alone the occasional shared gazes and small smiles, would indicate to anyone that they were together.

Susan was not really clear when that had happened, perhaps two or three weeks back.  Susan had encountered Russell in the freshers week; he lived on the same corridor in the student halls as Jo, who Susan had known vaguely in college.  She had got to know Jo better since they had both pitched up at the same university.  Susan had played it cool with Russell; perhaps, she now reflected, too cool.  However, there was something about him, his ability to make decent conversation and to have fun without ending up bent over a kerb vomiting, that appealed to Susan.  He got his course work done to a good standard without appearing to be a swot.  He was handsome but not in that pretty way that Susan felt too many women of her generation fell for.

Things seemed to be going well.  She ran into Russell when they were parts of various groups out on a night on campus or in town.  Susan made sure that she ended up in his sub-group if they fragmented and certainly that she would be sitting next to him.  In her eyes, it must be only a matter of time before they ended up alone together.  He would ask her out or ask if she would sleep with him or something somewhere in between – Susan’s fantasies varied quite considerably.  However, then, something went wrong.  If asked, Susan would have said it had been sometime after that evening when they had not been able to get into the club and the bus service had been re-routed.  Susan was not clear if she had ‘preloaded’ on drinks or had been ill, but her memories of what precisely had happened were a bit fuzzy.

From what she had been able to piece together, Susan recalled that her group, by that time, was down to five or six.  Jo and Amy were certainly there, Russell, Jack and G, too, she was certain.  They had run into two Chinese students who had got lost.  The minicab they were waiting for had not turned up.  The seven or eight or nine of them had all been pretty much in the same boat.  Susan had all the city’s taxi companies listed on her phone and had managed to arrange them finally to pick up both groups from the edge of the commercial park.  For some reason Susan had ended up in the taxi with G who has by this stage nearly comatose and two of the Chinese women.  She recalled one of them was Qiaohui, it had sounded like ‘Chow-huey’ and anyway, she called herself Charlotte; a lot of them adopted British names while studying.  Thinking back, Susan imagined that there must have been one more Chinese woman: Suyin, who went in the other taxi, as, from that night on, she had become Russell’s friend.  Susan tried to pretend that Suyin was not his girlfriend but realised that lie was wearing thin.

The following Monday Susan had positioned herself at the seat close to where she knew Russell habitually sat.  On a couple of occasions she had ‘bumped into him’ or, catching him yawning, had suggested they go for a cup of coffee.  Then suddenly, Suyin, though she did not know her name at the time, was there; sat right next to Russell.  Even from the first time, it was apparent they were not simply friends from the same course.  At first Susan could not even remember seeing Suyin in her lectures, but imagined that, given how quiet the Chinese students were in class and how they tended to cluster together, she could have overlooked her.  Now, however, Susan seemed unable to miss her.

Suyin was clearly a good student, but she dressed in a stylish, indeed sexy way, that Susan had to fight hard not to admit that she liked.  Her long black hair bracketed her cute Chinese face perfectly.  Her slender legs were shown off by the shiny black leggings she favoured and the over-the-knee or heeled ankle boots she alternated between.  She wore the biker-style leather jacket or a fitted one and the black of her outfit was sometimes lifted by white or red patterned tops she wore enhancing her not over-generous but shapely bust.  On other occasions, she wore plain silk blouses in teal or maroon.

Though she would not have admitted it, Susan’s style over the past couple of weeks, perhaps, had altered in response to what Suyin wore.  She had treated herself to her own leather jacket and her skinny jeans had been replaced by black leggings, some, like the ones she wore today before today with a PU strip down them.  Her trainers, no matter how new they were, had been consigned to the back of the wardrobe.  She now tried to look her best teetering on the heels of her new ankle boots even though their heels were chunky rather than stiletto.

This afternoon was no different.  Russell was there and Suyin was sat next to him.  They were working hard on their laptops.  Susan felt unhappy that that.  They seemed to be having a full-on relationship but it appeared to be beneficial to their studies rather than distracting from them.  If Suyin had led Russell away from his work, then, Susan felt, she could feel angry with, or at least disapproving of, her.  On this basis, there were no grounds for discontent except her own failings to have jumped in sooner.  Susan tried to focus back on the book she had in front of her and then the e-journal open on her tablet.  However, she found she could not help but glance once more back at Russell and the young Chinese woman with him.

For a moment Susan wondered if she was being foolish making such a fuss over Russell.  She guessed, in part, it was that she felt she had let him slip through her fingers, rather than him being a man beyond her reach from the first.  She had let her hair grow long and had now dyed it black.  She worried that it was going a bit far, but if it was the style that Russell liked, then it seemed only fair that she get on a level playing field with Suyin.  Perhaps today they could have been sisters.  However, nothing Susan did seemed to catch Russell’s attention.  Then the couple indulged in a long kiss and smiled.  Susan felt she had failed utterly.

Walking away, trying to be mature about it, Susan found herself in a part of the library where she did not usually go.  As she did, she caught sight of Charlotte smiling and waving for her to come over.  Susan felt it might be good to talk to her, not least so that she did not feel that she was prejudiced against all the Chinese students simply because of the actions of one.  She told herself that even that attitude was mean spirited.  After all, Russell was a desirable man, it made sense that other women would be interested in getting to know him; to date him.

Susan realised she had not run into Charlotte since the night out and recognised it would seem impolite if she blanked her now.  She was sat with another Chinese woman of a similar build, dressed in that mix of painfully cute and very sexy some of them favoured – very fluffy sweater and flat ankle boots rimmed with faux fur, but between slick black leggings that Susan felt envious of.  She had invested in a pair, but so far had not dared to wear them.

“Susan, hello.”  Charlotte said.

“Qiaohui, good to see you.”  Susan replied a little surprised how the woman’s name came to her lips.

The one with Charlotte looked up and smiled as if a little surprised to see her.

“You remember Jiaying – Joyce, from the evening when you helped us get back?”

Now looking at the woman, Susan realised this was the one, rather than Suyin that she had helped.  She wondered if she was becoming more adept at telling the Chinese women apart by more than simply their clothes.  Many had similar long straight hairstyles and the same square glasses, but now Susan felt she could tell Jiaying very easily from Qiaohui and indeed from Suyin.

“We should all go out together, for the New Year.”  Qiaohui suggested.

Somehow Susan found she knew she meant Chinese New Year; she even knew which animal would be that year’s.  Quickly Susan realised that the idea of hanging out with these women seemed good.  There was something about them which felt right.  Furthermore, they did not seem averse to having her as a friend.  For a moment Susan wondered if she had been too focused on Russell and as a result had neglected other social contacts she could have been making.

“That sounds excellent.”  Susan responded with genuine enthusiasm.

Her response clearly pleased Qiaohui and Jiaying.  For a moment she felt like complimenting Qiaohui on how good her English seemed to have become; there was not even a trace of accent.  However, Susan recognised that was probably patronising, especially given how she knew no Chinese.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Do you know Suyin?”

“Lei Suyin?”  Qiaohui asked.

Susan knew Chinese put the surname first, so this had to be the one.  She guessed there were probably other Suyins at the university and Qiaohui might know them too.

“Yes.”

“Do you know her?  She’s on your course?”

From the corner of her eye Jiaying seemed to be mouthing something to her friend, but Susan did not feel that it was anything nasty.

“Yes.  That’s the one.”

“Have you spoken with her?  She’s lovely, very friendly, just like you: stylish, clever too.  I think you’d get on very well.”

Susan now wished she had not asked.  She knew many of these things about Suyin and was sure if, it was not for the rivalry over Russell, they could have got along; perhaps even been friends.

“Do you know her well?  Have you invited her along for New Year?”  Susan asked.

Susan wondered if she would opt out if Suyin was coming along too.  She had no desire for awkward silences between them to spoil the evening.

“Yes, I know her pretty well; I am getting to know her better.”  Qiaohui responded.  “Yes, I invited her to come with us, just today.”

“Oh, okay.”

“You have a lot in common, I am sure you would get on very well; you’re in the same situation.”  Qiaohui persisted.

Susan smiled at that.  It was really what was the problem.  They were on the same course and fancied the same man.  If they had been more different, perhaps it would have been better.

“I know.”  Jianying now piped up.  “You can get on with us, yes, because we have met before.  Why don’t we introduce you to Suyin?  Come here tomorrow at this time and we’ll set it up.”

“Ye-es.”  Susan responded tentatively.

She told herself she had to be grown-up about this.  After all she was not a teenager any longer, she was a university student and that meant she had to be mature.  She had no doubt that this would not be the last time that someone else would beat her to a man who caught her eye.

Susan caught sight of the clock.  “Sorry, I need to get down to the short loan section.  Melita said she’d be bringing back a copy of Stephenson so I want to take it straight out.”

“Sure.”  Qiaohu smiled.

Susan realised the woman was simply good to talk to; less fussy than many of the others she knew here who always seemed to want to talk mainly about themselves and kept trailing off in conversations to check something on their phone.

“See you tomorrow.”  Jianying said, smiling.

It seemed she had a private joke going on in her head, but somehow Susan knew it was not at her expense.  She guessed she did not know either of the women well, but there was something about them that seemed able to combine being studious with being stylish and fun; probably the kind of person she needed as friends.  As she walked away from the desk where the two Chinese women were sat, Susan noticed a couple of the people gazing at her.  It was not as if university libraries were silent places these days.  There was always someone speaking on their phone or playing something without headphones, especially Classical music, on their laptops or tablets.  She caught the eye of a lanky Chinese man and he smiled at her.  For a moment Susan envisaged levelling the score and simply asking him out.  However, the demands of the rules of the short-loan collection drove her on now and she focused on getting the book she needed.

****

Susan felt wired rather than tired.  She had rushed through the Stephenson book as best she could and had brought it back to the short-loan collection.  Now she was simply drifting around the library feeling she had done enough for today, but too on edge to really settle to something else.  Before leaving her room, she had found herself dressing up in the clothes she had not dared to wear yet even since she had been investing in things she thought might attract Russell.  Given how Qiaohu and Jianying dressed and they seemed to be on the cusp of becoming friends of hers, she guessed it would not do to look dowdy.

He was there.  Susan realised she had come on to the level where Russell often sat and he was still there.  More than that, he was alone.  Feeling a strange thrill, perhaps simply mischievous, Susan walked up and down close to Russell, bending over to show her bum and thighs to best effect in her shiniest leggings, pulling her leather jacket tight against the black lace panelled top she wore.  She tossed her head so that her long, now black, hair swept over her shoulders.

Russell looked up and smiled.  “Susan, what are you doing?”

For a moment she felt embarrassed; she felt foolish.  However, the fact that she had managed to snare Russell’s attention appeared to be a reward for that unease.

“Come and sit down.  I’m almost finished.  Then maybe we can get some food.”

Susan wondered if this was a joke.  She knew, however, that Russell was not one to do that: he was not sombre but he took things seriously.  He might not look at her in the way that she would have wanted, but she had no sense that he would toy with her.  She wondered if Suyin would be jealous, yet envisaging the Chinese woman springing out and challenging her for ‘stealing’ her boyfriend did not fit.  Perhaps they had been getting too close and Russell and maybe Suyin herself had realised they needed to keep up a broader range of friends.  If that was the case, Susan felt she should adhere to her plan of being mature about all of this.  She did not need to be asked twice, she sat down next to Russell and looked over at the essay he was finishing.

Then his hand slid out and rested on her thigh before gently sliding back and forth over its shiny coating.  For a moment Susan wondered if she was dreaming or was something else going on?  Had Russell and Suyin had a row?  Had they split up and he was turning to her as the easiest to catch on the rebound?  Was he being a typical man and seeing nothing wrong in having two women on the go at once?  Quickly Susan analysed her feelings about these things and found that if that was what he wanted, she was not averse to it.

“You mean ‘the cause of’ rather than ‘because of’ – there.”  Susan pointed to the text of his essay.

“Your English is coming along really well.”  Russell responded.

Susan guessed it was a joke but she saw that he made the correction.  He saved and then shut down the laptop.  He turned to face her.

“No hello kiss?”  He asked.

Russell lent in and Susan responded, feeling she should not pass up the chance.  Russell’s lips were soft on hers and she peaked her tongue between them as they kissed.  That felt good and Susan realising she was getting aroused by this.  The tight fitting clothes she wore seemed to add to that and she was very glad she had dressed up.  They broke and Russell swept her long black hair away from her face as if they were used to being so close to each other.  Deep within her, her mind was questioning what she was doing, torn between finally getting Russell in the way she wanted and yet feeling like a love rat on a young woman who deserved better.

“So, what do you want to do?”  Russell asked, one hand toying with Susan’s hair; the other sitting proprietorially on her thigh.

“I’m really horny.”  Susan confessed but then almost gulped it down, shocked at herself from saying that aloud.

“I love the way you say that.  Well, we can see what we can do about that, but first I really need some food.  You don’t want my tummy rumbling while we’re at it do you?”

It took a moment for Susan to realise that Russell had just agreed to sex with her.

“What about Suyin?”

Russell chuckled.  “We’ll deal with your ‘hunger’ once we’ve had something to eat, okay?”

Susan felt it was no real answer but went with it.  Russell held her hand as they walked from the library and Susan felt that even if this was a short-lived thing, it still made her feel good.  They headed over to the student shop.  On the way Russell suggested rather than eating in one of the campus outlets, given how she felt, they get something to take out and eat in bed.  To Susan, conscious of Suyin or one of her friends bowling up and challenging her, agreed it was the best plan.  As they walked along the food section, Susan noted how many items were for Chinese students and she felt a sudden urge for noodles in a miso soup.

“How about these?  They are quick and easy.”

“What flavour is that?”  Russell asked.

Susan was surprised he could not see for himself, but maybe his eyes were tired.  “Hot and sour shrimp.”

“Okay, might be a bit strong for me.”

“Rice noodles with spicy beef?”  Susan suggested for him instead.

“Sounds good.”

Susan found the brand she preferred; fresh ones in a box and soon they were at the check-out.  Russell added a couple of Snow beers which they had started selling.  It was the most popular brand in China, though Susan was not really sure how she knew that.  Had it been something mentioned in one of the lectures on brands?  It did not matter as she knew she liked the taste.  Soon they were out of the shop and trekking back to Russell’s room.  Susan envisaged them being a couple, heading back from the shops to their flat on Saturday evening, for sex and then a lazy Sunday doing much the same.  For some reason, though, when she thought about what kind of flat she wanted, she envisaged looking out over the lights of Shanghai.  She laughed, guessing the food she had bought was having an impact or maybe it was just her impatience to get Russell’s cock inside her.

Soon they were in bed with their bowls of noodles and their beers.  Susan had provided Russell with a strip tease, sliding out of her sexy clothes.  Her body seemed a bit pale and she wondered if she had lost some weight.  Coming off the heels of her boots, she also felt a little shorter.  However, the reaction from Russell quickly dismissed such concerns and she quickly joined him in bed.  The food finished, they gazed at each other for some moments and then Susan put her hand on Russell’s naked chest.  The space in a student’s bed was limited and she looked forward to the time when they could get away somewhere to a place with one of a decent size.  All kinds of sexual games began to come to mind.  For now, she was enjoying the proximity of Russell’s body.  It was lean and lightly hairy but she found she liked that; something a little exotic in her view.

Russell proved content to let Susan slide the condom on his hard cock and sit back propped up on pillows as Susan straddled him.  She found herself sliding slowly up and down his cock, controlling the angle and speed to give herself the greatest sensation.  Then gently Russell reached out and caught her erect clitoris between his fingers.  At that sensation, Susan tossed back her long black hair and moaned aloud.  She felt the reaction from Russell’s cock deep inside her and so eased up and off him to let his ardour cool a little.  She thought to herself that it was as if they had done this before; that they knew what the other liked.  She guessed that made Russell all the more special, if he could be this alert to her needs on just the first attempt.  Yet, as she continued the long, slow, sex, Susan strangely felt that this was not the first time; almost as if she could remember previous occasions in this very room doing this or something similar.

No concern, however, proved capable of dousing the lust that Susan was feeling.  She simply grinned as she realised that when she had woken this morning she had thought that she was close to losing any chance with Russell.  While there might be complications ahead, for now, she was winning, it was her body that his cock was being slid in and out of.  Susan toyed with her pert breasts, drinking in all that she could of this session; burning it into her memory until she turned some corner and she realised she was on the rise of an orgasm.  Russell’s encompassing fingers were almost too much but she could not break from them and the pleasure they were pumping into her.  She felt shackled to his cock, riding it harder and faster now, unable to slow her drive to climax.  Then she shook, her pussy clamping hard down on his cock and in return its hardness pushing her literally toppling over the edge, splashing down into the orgasm.  Her body felt cold; her body felt hot; she felt as if her skin rippled with electricity and her body pulsed with waves of sensation.

As Susan tumbled from her boyfriend to lie jammed beside him, she saw his cock was still erect.  Catching her breath she encompassed its head in the ring of her fingers and gently grasped his balls.

“That’s it, all the way.”  Susan said breathlessly.

Russell turned to look at her and then closed his eyes as his cock throbbed and jerked in her hand looking to utterly fill the rubber with his jism.  Panting he slumped back.  Susan watched him as he cleaned up and then came to lie with her, encompassing her body within his bigger form, pulling the duvet back over them both.

****

Susan awoke to Russell bringing a cup of tea.  Hers had no milk in it and she wondered if he had run out.  There were large leaves in the bottom of the cup but she found it really refreshing.  It was early morning but she felt eager to get on the go; to shower and put on fresh clothes.

“What are your plans?”  Susan asked.

In part she was wondering how he was going to deal with all of this and Suyin.  Maybe she had been right and they had broken up or at least were on a ‘break’.

“I’ve finished the essay and you’ve done yours.  How about going for a walk out to one of the villages?  I know you’re not keen on the full-on roast dinners but they usually serve something fish or even Thai food, you like that.”

For a moment, Susan was going to challenge Russell’s view of her tastes, but then realised that he was precisely right.  It seemed like the perfect idea.  If he wanted to spend more time with her, she knew she was not going to question it.

“Sounds good.”  Susan replied.

She envisaged putting on her leather over-the-knee boots and her longer leather jacket in case some places were muddy; she did not want to spoil this outfit.  Susan got up from the bed, naked and let Russell come and kiss and stroke her skin.  She padded to his small bathroom.  That was the reason why they came here, his room was one of the modern ones with a bathroom en-suite.  They were seen as suitable for conference attendees during the holidays.

As she switched on the light and looked in the mirror, Susan almost jumped back, startled.  She blinked and looked again, but in moments realised that what she saw was for real.  The mirror did not show the face she knew; instead it showed Suyin.  Yet, that was impossible.  For a moment, she wondered if this was a dream, but the feel of the cold floor and the breeze from the bedroom were real enough.  Susan turned side on and looked at her slender body, the long black hair which looked its natural shade rather than dyed.  Then she went closer to the mirror to study the pretty Oriental face she now wore.  Susan ran her finger around her elliptical eyes and what it felt matched her reflection.  For a moment she felt as if she was in a stranger’s body, but that quickly faded and Susan could not suppress the growing contentment she felt in looking like this.

Susan’s mind ran with all kinds of thoughts but none of them seemed feasible.  In part she was disappointed.  She had believed that Russell had wanted to be with her – Susan Leyton not with Lei Suyin.  There was now no question why he had been happy to be intimate with her, he had believed it was with his established girlfriend rather than some new doppelganger or avatar or whatever Susan had somehow become.  Accepting that she was going to find no rational explanation, Susan pondered what would happen now she looked like Chinese woman and one that already existed and was at this university.  How would she explain this to her family?  What happened when she turned up in seminars saying she was actually Susan Leyton?  There was so much to work out.  She had to hope that this was only some anomaly.  She guessed that the best place for now was to be here with Russell, who was happy to have Suyin or at least someone looking like her, in his room.

Calming herself, Susan showered and dried her long hair.  Then she went back to the bedroom where her clothes were laid out.  She found the return of the thrill of getting back into these snug and sexy things, recognising that she could enjoy how they made her feel even if she believed they were part of this pretence.  It seemed ironic that she had tried to mimic Suyin so hard that she had come to resemble her.  Susan mustered a brave and loving face, she did not want to worry Russell especially as he might be her only ally.

“Susan, are you alright?”  Russell asked.

“Yes, probably just a bit tired.”

“Well, look, let’s not set off until twelve.  You get your head down and I’ll pick you up at your room.”

“Sounds good.”

Susan smiled and gave him a kiss.  He was a decent man and a pretty skilled lover.  She had been right about him, she knew for sure now.  It just seemed a shame that she had had to come to resemble another woman in order to have those facts confirmed.  As Susan walked across the campus, she found herself looking at her reflection in every window.  It never wavered; it just continued to show an attractive Chinese woman.

Stepping into her room, Susan felt glad to be back in her small refuge.  However, as she looked, she realised that here things had changed too.  Though there were the English language books she knew, there were also a number which if she looked at hard, she realised were in Chinese.  The pictures of K-pop bands and Chinese movie stars on the wall, looked unusual, but she found they were familiar.  The photo of her family was the same as she knew – mother, father, brother, but looking like the relatives Lei Suyin would have in the place of the Leytons.  Now she found herself recalling that her parents had paid the one-child policy fine for having her brother.

Susan slumped on her bed.  Then stood to splash water from her sink on her face.  However, it was clear she was not waking up from this.  Dimly she slumped back on the bed, gazing at the ceiling and listening to the sounds of other students beginning to stir in the building around her.  As she began to recall memories of Zhejiang province, Susan began to wonder if she had been ill or had some kind of break-down.  Had she been Suyin all along?  Had calling herself ‘Susan’ for the ease of the British meant she had begun to think that she was a British woman herself?  Had she really come to believe she had been born and brought up here, with all the equivalents of her true life, but UK style?  She remembered the saying of Zhuang Zhou questioning whether he was a man who had dreamt he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was a man.  If he had had that sensation over two thousand years ago, how much easier was it in this age of constant media bombardment and a surfeit of stress and caffeine?

There was a knock at the door and for a moment Susan wondered if it was Russell.

“Suyin, are you there?”

Susan went chill at the sound.  She recognised it in an instant: it was Qiaohu’s voice.  Did she know what had happened?  Was she behind it?  Susan tried to remember back to when this had started.  Surely it had been the day after she had helped Qiaohu and Jianying get back from town.  Susan jumped up and opened the door.  Qiaohu was there smiling.  She was dressed in a short black raincoat and long black suede boots.

“Erm, come in.”  Susan said, not simply to be polite.

Qiaohu walked in then turned to hug Susan.  “I am glad that you made the right choice.”

Susan stepped back.

“What choice?”

“To accept my thank you gift.”

For a moment Susan wondered if there was something she had missed and they were talking at cross-purposes.

“To become Suyin.”  Qiaohu continued.

“You did this?”  Susan pointed to her face.

Qiaohu nodded and smiled. “Susan, of course.  It was to thank you for being so friendly, so helpful.  I … my family have special skills.  So naturally, I have made you Chinese, it is a wonderful gift for you.  Look around: on your course, in this university, Chinese are the majority.  Don’t you want to fit in?  Soon China will run the world and I didn’t want such a nice woman as you to be left on the losing side.”

“But I am not Chinese.”  Susan protested.

“Then why are we speaking in Chinese?”

For a moment Susan was going to deny that they were but somehow she recognised the way she was forming words.  Then she recalled how she had read the titles of all the books on the shelf; even the noodle packets the day before, without difficulty.

“Anyway, this is what you truly wanted.”  Qiaohu continued.  “You have been dressing as Suyin; you have grown your hair the same.  The new form would not have taken if you had been really opposed to it.  You worked hard to become a sexy Chinese woman and you have succeeded.  The last piece was that you got the boyfriend you desired.  If nothing else, that confirmed that you really, really wanted the gift I was offering.”

Susan thought perhaps it was too early to consider Russell her boyfriend, but there was a nice feel to that thought.  She found she was focusing on that rather than the impossibility of what Qiaohu was telling her.  Susan tried to concentrate on that.

“Okay, but what has happened to Suyin?”

“You are her.  There is no other.”

“But I saw her.”

“Not yesterday though, did you?”

“No.”  Susan conceded.

“That was because you had slipped into the form I had provided.  You are now Lei Suyin; Susan Leyton has gone.”

“Gone where?”

“She never existed.  As I say, we have powers to alter reality.”

“So you can change me back?”

“Why?  Why would I do that?  You had a choice.  If you had walked away, then the jutihua would have faded.”

“So what would Russell have done?  He fell in love with her.”

“Well, she is just a Chinese version of you, so, of course, he responded to how you feel about him.  Suyin has not gone, she is with him.”

Susan wondered if she wanted to get back to being the British her, she would have to give up on Russell.  Then how would he cope with Suyin, his ‘Susan’, disappearing?  Susan stopped herself: that was not a sufficient reason for her simply to remain what Qiaohu had made her.

“So, you are saying there is no way back from this?  I am stuck as Suyin forever more?”

Qiaohu nodded.  “I thought you’d love that fact.”

“But I can remember that I am Susan Leyton.”

“Can you?  Speak to me in your best English.”

Susan attempted to recite a poem.  Immediately she recognised it as ‘Quiet Night Thoughts’ by Li Bai and then as she sounded it out in English, even she picked up how strong her accent was.  Yes, her English was good, but no-one would imagine her to be a native speaker; not even British Chinese.

“Tell me of your childhood.”

Immediately images came to mind of Wenzhou rather than Weybridge and quickly she was recalling her lessons in a Chinese school; her brother Dai rather than David.

“It takes time for all the ripples to reach their end.  This is the reality, Suyin, this is what you are.”

Susan struggled to grasp any memory she had of herself as someone British and Caucasian, but every time she turned to something she found it overwritten by some equivalent Chinese experience.  Then she shook with a few shudders, not unpleasant, more that the final pieces slipped into place.

“Suyin – how are you?”

Suyin smiled at her good friend Qiaohu, also from Zhejiang province like herself.

“I’m feeling so good.”

“You spent the night with Russell?”

“Yes, he’s so good in bed.”  Suyin tittered.

“Come, let’s go and make some Keemun Black Tea and you can tell me all about it.”

Suyin knew that Russell would be calling round in a few hours, but she was eager to have a chat with one of her female friends, excited by how her relationship was going.  Chatting warmly in Mandarin, the two Chinese women headed to the kitchen to make their tea.