Arley is outside waiting when Xiansheng pulls up for her.

She has dressed carefully, the day’s agenda and Xiansheng’s tastes on her mind. Her shorts are shorter than will be comfortable once the day heats up and the sweat makes her thighs grab at each other. It’s a sacrifice she makes not only willingly, but gladly. The continual rub, rub, rub of flesh on flesh, spanning all the hours of the climb, will introduce an element of pain beyond the soreness of muscle, closer to her center than a blister at the back of an ankle.