HOW DO LIKE YOUR COFFEE?

The young waiter guided Madame Zhou and I to a quiet table in the corner of the restaurant and waited whilst we seated ourselves.

‘Coffee …?’ I could have done with a stiff Gin and Tonic but coffee would have to do….

‘Madame Zhou…? She nodded her head at me and I ordered coffee, croissants and a selection of Danish Pastries for the pair of us.

The old Lady slid her hand across the table and took mine in it, again I felt the strange electrical surge passing between us … it felt so good, almost sexual ….

‘Amanda, it is so nice to meet you in person at last, you have grown into a fine and beautiful woman, I am very proud of you …?

Like before on the telephone she was speaking to me as if she actually knew me … obsessive fans often do believe that they are intimate with the object of their affections … hell I once had a man who believed that he and I were married, that we had three children together …!

‘I know that it is hard for you to understand, to believe what I am about to tell you … but I do hope that you will try.’

The surge of energy passing from her hand into mine intensified, I felt alive, strong … yet powerless to object to what she had to say … I know that it sounds rather freakish to say this … considering that I was sitting in the company of an old Chinese Lady whom I had never met before … but it was as if I was about to experience the most amazing orgasm, I could fell the heat the power rising, I was welcoming it … I wanted it to happen.

‘Since your birth our destinies have been woven together …. The selection of the chosen ones is complex and unusual … I still do not understand it myself, I have asked the elders for an explaination but have never received a satisfactory answer.’

I felt myself smiling at her … I could do nothing else.

‘I have been angry, sometimes furious, as to why they picked me, why my life had to be so …. Sometimes I just wanted to be normal like everyone else.’

I knew what the old bird was saying, since I’d married Emmanuel my life could be described in the same way …

‘The good thing about you Amanda’, Madame Zhou continued, ‘ is that you live an extraordinary life already … you have already learned to be strong, to be tough, to stand apart from the crowd. Your life so far has probably been a test and you have tackled each challenge and won. I can see myself now I am with you that you are ready … and that is good.’

She let go of my hand and this point and I felt my body shudder, I gasped for breath … I felt myself flush … an old Chinese lady had just given me one of the most intense physical experiences I had ever had … I felt incredible, powerful, satisfied and, most of all …. Alive.