Xiang exited the locker room out to the reception area, still wearing the robe. She felt defeated as she lumbered over to the desk.
The receptionist looked over at her and said, "Did you enjoy your...what's wrong? Why the sad look?"
Xiang held out her cloth sack. "Your cleaners...they didn't happen to hold on to some undergarments, did they?"
The reception gasped. "What? Your undergarments are missing. Hold on I'll ask them." She hurried off into the cleaning room.
Xiang plopped down in a chair, grabbed a magazine started reading. She came across a map of the world and looked for Shao Village. Sadly, it wasn't marked, but she knew where it should have been. It was about thirty miles from the ocean and a river ran through it. She looked at the map for quite some time.
Then, the woman came out of the cleaning and walked over to her. "I'm sorry, young lady? None of them have your undergarments. I don't know who or where..." Then, she looked as if she had some sort of revelation. "That boy..."
"What boy?" Xiang asked.
"I left my station for a quick rest break. Then, just as I was returning, a boy ran out of the women's changing room giggling. He ran down the street and vanished into the crowd. It must have been him who took your undergarments."
"What! Oh no!" Xiang slumped down and looked at the floor. "What am I going to do?"
The receptionist looked down. "I'm sorry." Then, she perked up. "I know. I'll give you double...no, triple your money back. And you next visit will be free."
"Are you sure?"
"The fault is entirely mine," the receptionist said. "I can't just let things sit this way. That's my way of making them right."
"T-thank you."
Xiang returned to the changing room and got dressed. Somehow, she still felt naked. This was concept was totally foreign to her. Would anybody else notice? She felt conscious about it as a group of women entered the changing room, gave her the once over, and snickered.
She looked down at herself. Everything that needed to be covered was. What did they see? She couldn't see it. This wasn't good. She needed to find some new undergarments and fast.
After leaving the changing room, she got her coin sack and the promised refund from the receptionist, as well as a voucher for her next visit. She then asked for directions to the nearest clothing store and was informed that it was around the corner and a few blocks away. With that, she hurried out.
She felt even more self-conscious as soon as she got outside and it didn't help when several people looked at her. She didn't know whether to pull down her shorts or wrap her arms around her chest. What were they staring at? Why couldn't she see it?
It got to be too much and she ran down an alley to hide. Then, she slumped against one of the building and started crying. She thought she was ready to face the world when she left Shao Village. "If only I had know things would turn out like this, I'd have stayed home."
She cried for a bit before regaining her composure. Yes, she would have stayed home if she had known the world was going to be like this. But, she chose to leave home to see the world. She was an adult. It was time to handle her business like one. "Get it together, Xiang. It's not going to be the death of you."
She took a few deep breaths and stepped out of the alley. Staying there wouldn't make her undergarments come back. Getting to the clothing store would, though. "To the clothing store."
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