Sometimes I feel like I live in Grand Central Station

It was times like these Vivi was glad that her cell phone worked internationally. It was going off like crazy, as soon as she turned it back on when she got off her flight from Lux to China. Lexy had set the ringtone to her latest single, and it was nice to always have a piece of her sister with her, when they weren’t together.



It was Lexy calling, not surprisingly. She was glad for the distraction, having had Sookie lecture her about drinking. She'd seen the tabloids after her sushi dinner. They had interpreted her stumble as further proof she was drinking to excess, which was in no way true. Sure, she had had a couple cups of sake, but not enough to trip over her own two feet. It was press, nonetheless, and it pissed Vivi off. She had a reputation to maintain, and that wasn't helping.

“Hey! Big sis! Are you off the plane yet?”

“Yeah, just got off. I’m talking to you, aren’t I?” Vivi said, laughing.

“Oh, shut up. I’m just asking if you’re coming to my show on Saturday? My manager is making up the VIP list, and I wasn’t sure if you’ll be back.” Her sister sounded annoyed. She usually was, when her manager was involved. Lexy’s manager had bullied her into bleaching the hell out of her hair, because white blonde was the in thing for pop stars. Now, Lexy had to go to the salon once a week to get her roots done, and would spend hours there getting her weave refreshed.

“I will be there. Don’t worry. I’ll see if I can’t sneak away and catch the red eye. If I have to leave Sookie on the Great Wall, I will.”

“I’m putting Garrett on the list too. I want to hit on him some. And you can too! It’ll be fun! Maybe he can be one of your flings!” She said, whispering now. Lexy knew her sister had the occasional fling with men, even though she wasn't supposed to, and did her best to keep them a secret.

“Oh, God, Lex. Don’t do it. Are you sure he’ll even show up?”

“Well, if he’s gay then he’ll totally be there. And if he’s not, he’ll be there for the wine, women, and song. Yeah, I know he was rude to you, and probably thinks you’re a fall down drunk, but maybe he thinks you’re lush, and was just trying to cover it up.”

“You’re talking out your ass now, I can tell. I gotta go, going through customs. Ugh, the people working at the airport are cute in a Peoples-Liberation-Army kind of way. Makes you just want to take one home so they can spout quotes from Chairman Mao all day long.” Vivi said, adjusting the bag on her shoulder.

“Gahhh, you do need to rest, how long was that flight? Thirteen hours? Call me when you get to the hotel! Love you, big sister!” Lexy said, making kissy noises on the phone before hanging up.

Vivi laughed and headed for customs. Knowing her assistant, she would have about ten minutes to rest, and then it was off to meet public officials and kiss babies and stuff.

It was all true. The cars picked them up at the airport, and instead of staying the night in Beijing to sleep, it was off to Guangzhou to the orphanage there. Vivi loved going there, and playing with the children. Many of the older children had seen her movies, and they loved that she would visit every so often, just to see them.

Vivi went from room to room, talking to every child in Chinese. That was one thing she wouldn’t change, having the time and energy to spend with the children. And when that was done, it was off to the nursery, one of her favorite rooms.
The caretakers had a very small newborn girl, that had been left just hours before, and they handed it to Vivi, telling her that they had simply named her Ju, which meant chrysanthemum. Vivi smiled and held the small, delicate child. She didn’t want kids of her own, but it didn’t mean she didn’t like them. She was set in her ways, and enjoyed having the one meaningful attachment with her sister. Anything else would be too much for her.

The baby was finally asleep and Vivi handed her back to the caretakers, feeling rather sleepy herself. She had a long day tomorrow, speaking to government officials and giving speeches. She would probably fall asleep on the phone with her sister when she got to her hotel.