working out the details

The next day they both avoided talking about that night together, trying to finish fleshing out the story they had built of their relationship. By the end of the day Don thought they had worked out the remaining details of how they met and fell in love. Mike was fairly creative in coming up with several real-sounding anecdotes they could share, and his sense of humor slowly helped lower the tension they felt. But they were't up to resuming practice of the 'physical' elements yet - the casual touching, kissing, and more - and they slept in separate rooms that night.

Mike suggested that they spend the last day before meeting with immigration as much in character as possible, so he called Don by his body's name starting at breakfast. "Okay, Xue Li, why don't you tell me about yourself again? Your family and background?"

Don sighed but played along. "I am from Foshan. My father died when I was 12 and it was difficult for my mother to support us. I had to do, uh.... whatever 'work' I could to help. Someone told me that I could make much more money in Macao, so..."

Mike interrupted, "Xue Li, your English is suprisingly good for someone with little education. And where did you get your American accent?"

"Ta ma de!" Don cursed, irritated that Mike was right - he needed to be careful how he spoke. He took a deep breath and tried to relax. "Sorry, I have practiced English very much since come to Macau. It make much better business," he said, desperately trying to ape the accents of the girls they'd met here. He stopped when he realized Mike was staring at him wide-eyed. "Nǐ zài kàn shénme?" he asked, then caught himself.

"You spoke in Chinese! And your accent then - it was very good, authentic. Didn't sound fake at all, unlike the other day," Mike pointed out in surprise.

Don thought a moment. "I just cursed and then tried to let it flow, not **** the accent so much. And it all just came out." He frowned. "I...I understand what I said too. I thought 'damn it' when I cursed but said...well, it doesn't translate quite right, but the use is close enough to the same. And then I asked what you were looking at..."

His expression grew concerned. "What's wrong with me?" he gasped, grabbing Mike's hand.

Mike was taken aback at that but didn't pull away, instead gently holding Don's hands in his. "It's okay. Nothing's wrong. It's just the 'leftover' bits in your head," he said in a comforting tone. "Don't worry, it's a GOOD thing. Maybe because you were trying to 'be' more Xue Li today ... I don't know. But I think you need to grab that feeling or whatever it is and hold on to it. You will need it tomorrow if we want to avoid suspicion." He looked straight into Don's eyes. "Can you do that? Can you just try to be Xue Li for the next two days? Once we get passed the interviews with immigration, you can relax more."

Don took several more shaky breaths, trying to quell the sense of panic. 'Mike is right,' he told himself. 'Once we're through this and back home, I'll still have to pretend but it won't be so intense. I will be able to talk normally and not worry about every little bit of behavior.' He returned Mike's gaze and tried to speak as Xue Li again. "Shi de...yes, I do this, Mike. I be Xue Li, not Don for next days."