Rich People Problems-Kwan 2017 (WWT)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MACRITCHIE RESERVOIR, SINGAPORE
It had been a long, hot, mosquito-ridden hike, and as Carlton pounded his way up another
sloping hill, he wondered what the hell he had been thinking when he suggested this plan
to Scheherazade. His shirt was drenched in sweat, and he was certain that no amount of
Serge Lutens cologne could mask how he smelled at this point. He turned around to
check on Scheherazade and saw that she was crouched on the ground, staring at
something. At a discreet distance, three of her bodyguards in jogging clothes stood
watching them.
“Look! It’s a monitor lizard!” She pointed.
“He’s a pretty big fella,” Carlton said as he caught sight of the three-foot-long reptile
resting under a clump of bushes.
“It’s a she, I believe,” Scheherazade corrected. “We had quite a big menagerie of pets
when I was growing up. Reptiles were my thing.”
“This was in Surrey?”
“Actually, this was when we were in Bali. My family lived there for about three years
when I was a little girl. I was a bit of a wild child then, going barefoot everywhere around
the island.”
“That explains why you’re not even breaking a sweat right now,” Carlton said, trying his
best not to stare too hard at her goddess-like physique shown off to perfection in her
mesh paneled leggings and stretch knit sports bra.
“You know it’s funny—I never sweat. Ever. I’m told that Queen Elizabeth doesn’t
either.”
“Well, you’re in good company,” Carlton remarked, as they finally arrived at the
TreeTop Walk, a 250-meter suspension bridge that stretches from Bukit Peirce to Bukit
Kalang, the two highest points of the preserve. As they traversed the narrow bridge, it
began to sway slightly, but then the view opened up and suddenly it felt as though they
were floating above the trees.
They reached the middle of the bridge and stood in silence for a while, taking in the
remarkable view. The tropical-forest canopy stretched all around them as far as the eye