Free If Tears Were Wishes And Other Short Stories by Ruth Nestvold Page B

me." Ma-tsu gave her a beautiful smile that seemed to make Lindsay's sorrows come loose from the knot in her stomach.
    She thought getting away — running away — was what she was doing already, even if she didn't have the time to play tourist. She shrugged and returned the smile. "Perhaps I'll have some time on Sunday and can get to Yangmingshan then."
    Ma-tsu beamed. "Good."

    ****

    In the offices of NGTS, Inc., Lindsay could almost imagine she'd never left Austin. Not even the fact that everyone in the room except her was ethnic Chinese detracted from the American corporate look of the place; after all, a lot of computer geeks she knew back home were ethnic Chinese, just not as many of them wore suits.
    She had to admit, though, the atmosphere was a lot more relaxed than she'd been led to expect before she came. Just not today, at least not for her.
    She pressed the spacebar on her laptop, and the last slide in the presentation appeared on screen, a graph in blues and purples documenting Cleio Software's increase in profits in the last two years.
    "As you can see," Lindsay said, training her penlight on the figures, "Cleio remains a growing company. As our Asian distributor, you are well aware of Cybera's continued popularity. Cybera III is in the works as we speak."
    The vice-president of NGTS, Frank Shen, leaned forward. He was one of the ones wearing a suit. "But if you need us to invest in your company that much, it might be too great a risk for NGTS."
    Lindsay took a deep breath and tried to keep her panic at bay. "As I've pointed out in my presentation, Cleio is a solvent business. We've managed to make a healthy recovery since the tech bubble burst and stocks plummeted. We have the profits now, but with all the problems with the stock market ever since, we don't have enough capital for development."
    Frank murmured something to his partner and then returned his attention to Lindsay. "Thank you very much for the information. We will consider the proposal and talk more about this next week, yes?"
    "Certainly, as you prefer." She wished she could figure out what that meant, if it meant anything. Frank stood and shook hands with her and the meeting broke up. Lindsay closed the presentation and powered down her laptop.
    "You like a green tea frappucino?" It was Peggy Chiang, one of those who had worn jeans to the meeting. Next to her stood Robert Deng and Angela Liu — her Taiwanese lunch buddies of the last week.
    "Come, I buy you one," Peggy said, taking Lindsay's elbow as she closed her laptop. "You need sugar."
    Lindsay shook her head. "Was I that bad?"
    "No, no," Robert said. "Not bad. Just nervous."
    She let out a gusting sigh and allowed them to lead her out of the meeting room to the elevators. "I can't screw up. Cleio needs a partner."
    Angela pushed the down button. "I don't think Frank wants to lose Cybera. Clara Lecto is one of the biggest celebrities in Taiwan."
    Lindsay tried to smile. "As big as Mariah Carey?"
    Angela grinned. "Not quite that big."
    The Starbucks in the ground floor lobby of the building was full as usual, so they took their drinks outside. It wasn't quite as hot as it had been the day before when Lindsay met Ma-tsu at the temple. Now that she thought about it, it was interesting that the woman had used a traditional Chinese name rather than a Western one. Everyone she knew here at NGTS had both.
    "I actually met someone yesterday who didn't have a Western name like all of you," Lindsay said. "She introduced herself as Ma-tsu."
    Her three friends stared at her briefly, their coffees and frappucinos halfway to their mouths, and then, as if on cue, they all started laughing.
    "I think this woman was joking with you," Robert finally said when he caught his breath. "Ma-tsu is a Taiwanese folk goddess."
    "A folk goddess?" she repeated.
    "The goddess of the sea," Angela elaborated. "She is worshiped in China too, but here in Taiwan we regard her as our own."
    "Have you heard of Kwan Yin?"