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Chapter 1

Posted on Thursday, 9 September 2004

"Well, that's the last of them." Elaine Bai² stuck her head through the hanging curtain of beads that separated the workroom slash office from the front of the store, and sought out her friend, Madeline Gardiner, who was hard at work at one of the pottery wheels.

"Thank goodness. I thought they'd never leave."

Although she hadn't had to actually deal with them, she had had to listen to their idle chatter. Madeline wasn't what you would call a people person, that's why she usually left Elaine to deal with the customers. Still, she couldn't always let Elaine handle the storefront. Not only would it have been unfair if she had, they were equal partners and best friends after all, but Elaine also demanded her fair share of time at the pottery wheel. It was their creations that they sold in their tiny pottery shop.

Their shop wasn't much, but it brought them lots of happiness.

"Don't complain," Elaine told her. "One of them bought the green and black set of tea cups you threw last week and another bought one of my blue vases. They didn't try and haggle with me either. They just snatched them right up."

Madeline whistled as she smoothed her wet hands around the lump of clay in the center of her wheel. The tea set had been priced at eighty dollars and Elaine's vases never went for less than two hundred dollars.

"The third one was eyeing one of your little animal pieces." Madeline's temperamental artist's mood occasionally gave way to whimsy, and when it did she fashioned the cutest animal figurines out of her clay. "I couldn't convince her to take it home with her today, but I've a feeling she'll be back. Probably next week." Elaine was already rubbing her hands in anticipation of the sale.

"I'll be sure to stay in the back when she does."

Elaine laughed at her friend's obvious dislike for dealing with customers. "Well why not?" Madeline argued. "You seem to be a better saleswoman anyway."

Elaine rolled her eyes. Just her lot in life. She was lucky she didn't mind interacting with customers: exchanging small talk, explaining each piece's history, and haggling over prices. It was only the finicky ones that irritated her, and the three women she'd just escorted out of the store had been finicky shoppers to the infinite degree. Their only saving grace had been the amount of money they carried with them, and the fact that they hadn't been afraid to spend it.

"We'll draw straws."

"Did you lock the door?" Madeline asked, changing the subject.

"Yup. And counted the money, logged it in the books, and turned off the lights in the front. All you have to do is lock up back here and drop the money off at the bank on your way home."

"Great. Are you off to your parents then?"

"Where else on a Friday night?" Madeline looked way too absorbed in her work. Elaine knew how dangerous that could be. A potter herself, she knew how hard it was to tear yourself away from something once fully into the rhythm. "Are you sure you don't want me to run by the bank? If you don't leave soon, you're not going to make it the bank before it closes."

Madeline sighed and stopped the spinning wheel with her hand. She scooped up the half-formed clay and crushed whatever it was she'd been about to create, reducing it to a lump. "No, I'll go. I give up. This," she held up the gray mush of clay, "was going nowhere." She dumped it back into one of the plastic containers that littered the wall of their workroom, and wiped her dirty hands on her apron.

"Is everything all right?" Elaine asked. Her friend had been just a touch off all day long.

"You're going to be late if you don't leave now."

Madeline successfully sidestepped the question as Elaine looked at her watch and swore. "My mom's going to kill me if I'm late again."

As if her mother was reading her mind, Elaine's cell phone rang. She dug it out of her front pocket. "Hello?"

"Elaine-ah?"

"Hi, Ma."

"You coming to dinner?"

"Of course." As if she'd had a choice. Twice monthly, on a Friday night, Fanny Bai insisted that her two daughters return home for a home-cooked meal. It was her firm belief that if they didn't, they wouldn't get a healthy meal otherwise. At the end of the night, she packed her daughters off to their shared apartment with a shopping bag of plastic containers each. Plastic containers that were to be washed and returned - never thrown out - so that they could be filled with more food on their next visit.

"You no be late," Elaine's mother warned.

"I'm leaving right now."

Fanny grunted, disappointed that she hadn't had to remind her daughter to come to dinner after all. "I see you soon then."

Elaine sighed as she heard her mother click off. Her mother sounded as if she was in another one of her moods. No doubt her Friday evening would be filled with lots and lots of fun. "Well, I'm off," she told her friend. "Don't want to be late."

"I'll see you tomorrow morning." Madeline waved distractedly.

"Bright and early."

Elaine caught a cable car from the Fisherman's Wharf where the pottery shop she jointly owned and ran with Madeline was located. It'd been a gamble for them, buying and opening their own place right out of college, but they'd known what they'd wanted - to throw pottery and sell it. The inheritance from Madeline's grandmother had certainly helped. In the three years since they'd opened their doors to the public, Elaine and Madeline had surprised everyone, especially themselves, by finding success.

She wasn't thinking about the shop though, when she ran across Ghirardelli Square and flagged down the cable car. She was only thinking about not being late - again. There was nothing her mother valued more than promptness, and Elaine had shown up late for dinner the past two times. There was another reason why Fanny Bai was so insistent upon her daughters arriving on time, and preferably early. It was good form for the daughters to help their mother in the kitchen. Something Elaine had never enjoyed. A bowl of instant ramen noodles was about gourmet as she got in the kitchen.

The cable car rambled its way up the street towards San Francisco's Chinatown and dropped her off on the corner of Sacramento and California. From there, it was just a short walk to her parent's two-bedroom apartment on Waverly Place, located amidst a slew of temples. Her parents had lived there ever since immigrating to the United States from Taiwan in the 1970s, and she and her older sister Jane had grown up within the walls of that tiny apartment. Elaine didn't think her parents would ever move from that apartment. She and her sister had tried to persuade them to move elsewhere, to a bigger place where they might be more comfortable, but their parents had declined. Elaine knew why. They were comfortable where they were; in a way, living in Chinatown was just like living in Taiwan.

San Francisco's Chinatown came into being during the 19th century when men traveled mainly from the Guandong province in southern China to the United States seeking both fortune and work. The men's original intention was to make enough money to travel back to China in splendor and in wealth, but life in the Americas was hardly as they imagined in China. Returning to their homeland was often impossible, and eventually women came over to join the men that were already here. Chinatown grew from this. The community served as a comforting refuge for the Chinese people who were far away from home and living in an unfamiliar society. It also protected them from the prejudice they experienced based upon the color of their skin.

Today, Chinatown was just as vibrant and self-sufficient a community as it'd been almost two hundred years ago. Spanning several blocks, those living within its boundaries could still very easily find work, food, entertainment, newspapers, schools, religious houses, and community organizations without ever having to step outside the dragon-crested gate that served as an entrance into Chinatown from Grant Avenue. Elaine tried to avoid Grant Avenue whenever she could. It was the most tourist-oriented street in Chinatown, lined with souvenir shops and other sorts of antique shops that catered to the tourist trade.

Elaine crossed the playground where she and her sister had once played with their friends and bumped into her sister who was just about to enter the front door leading into the apartment building they had called home for eighteen years. Nowadays, Elaine and her sister had an apartment elsewhere in San Francisco. Both had wanted to live closer to their workplace, and neither had wanted to live amongst the bunched crowded streets of Chinatown.

"Hey, Elaine!" Jane looked down at her watch. "Oh, phew. For a minute there, I thought maybe I was late too."

"Ha ha, very funny, Jie." Elaine referred to her sister by the shortened version of "jie-jie," which in Chinese meant older sister.³ "Whatcha got there?"

Jane held up a white box, tied up in strings. "Dan ta."⁴

Dan ta, Elaine knew, was the Mandarin name for the Chinese egg custard tarts that were often served as dessert in dim sum meals.⁵ It was also something her father loved to eat. "Ba's favorite. You always were such a suck-up."

Jane laughed, but it was true, Elaine thought. She knew her parents, especially her mother, wished she could be more like her older sister. Her older sister had always been the better student, the prettier daughter, the more obedient child, and way more perfect than Elaine could ever have aspired to be. She'd gone on to cement her status as their mother's favorite by going to law school and snagging herself the quintessential Chinese doctor. Elaine imagined that it was every Chinese mother's dream for her daughter to marry a doctor.

"Where's Charlie?" Elaine asked after her sister's boyfriend.

"He's on-call tonight, so he couldn't come."

"Bummer."

The sisters entered the apartment building and were immediately assaulted by the various smells of Chinese cooking wafting down the hallway. They climbed the stairs to the second floor and knocked on the familiar door of their childhood home. Their father let them in, waving them in the direction of the kitchen.

"Come in, come in. Your mother's expecting you." Accepting a kiss from each of his daughters, Tom Bai then shuffled back into the family room where he'd been watching the Chinese news. The entire apartment building was hooked up to a satellite that allowed its residents to access several exclusive Chinese channels, and ever since their father had retired he spent most of his days parked in front of the television watching the news and Chinese melodramas. Elaine knew her mother also liked watching the melodramas, and if the truth was to be told, she liked watching them as well.

Elaine and Jane maneuvered their bodies into the tiny space that was the kitchen and greeted their mother, who waved them absently away. "No more room in here, too much stuff to do. You set the table." She shoved bowls and chopsticks into Elaine's hands.

"I brought dan ta for you and Ba, Ma."

Fanny grinned and patted Jane's cheek as she took the pastry-filled box. "You a good daughter. Always thinking of your Ma and Ba. Eh, Elaine-ah," she called out to her youngest, "Why you no be more like your sister?"

And so it had begun. Elaine slapped a pair of chopstick onto the table and grumbled under her breath.

Always the peacemaker, Jane shifted her body to block her mother's view of the dining room. "Whatcha cooking for dinner, Ma?"

Fanny was always eager to show off her cooking skills. She started lifting covers off the various pots and pans bubbling on her stove. "I found lots of good stuff at the market today. Look. Fish! So fresh and so big. Only cost me ten dollars." She held up her hands to illustrate the dollar amount. "Can you believe that? If we eat at restaurant, that dish alone would cost twenty-five dollars."

"I'll bet it also tastes better than what a restaurant would serve."

While Fanny beamed, Elaine was making faces and mimicking her sister's words behind her back. Jane wasn't stupid though, and turned around to glare at her. Elaine finished placing the last bowl and decided she'd find better company in her father.

"Hi, Ba." She stood behind his ratty, yellow and green lounge chair with her hands stuffed in her pocket. Ugly when he'd bought it, the lounge chair was even uglier now with all the duct tape that had been used to patch the tears. "Whatcha watching?"

"The news."

She could see that. Crossing in front of him, she sat on the sofa next to her father. The anchorwoman on the Chinese evening news was dressed in a pale lavender suit, had perfectly coiffed short hair, and spoke in fast, clipped Mandarin.⁶ Elaine grew bored just watching and listening to her.

"How's business?" her father asked after a while.

"Really good. You know how it is. Business always picks up in the summer - all those tourists traipsing around the Fisherman's Wharf. When are you going to stop by the shop again? You haven't come to visit us in a while."

Her father shrugged. "Your mother keeps dragging me to all these Mahjong games."⁷

Elaine chuckled. Like her father minded. He was just as much of an avid player as Fanny was. "Well, next chance you get you come on down. I'll show you around. Madeline and I've made some changes. I think you'd approve."

Tom patted his daughter's hand. He always approved of whatever it was Elaine did. It was his wife who didn't. But only because she wanted what was best for her children and thought she knew what that was.

"Dinner's ready," Jane called out.

The foursome sat in the same seats they'd sat in all their lives. Tom had the seat located against the wall so that he looked out on his family and the rest of the apartment. To his left sat Fanny. She was also conveniently closest to the kitchen. Across from Tom sat his youngest daughter, and to his right sat Jane.

"Eat, eat," Fanny encouraged as everyone picked up their rice-filled bowl with their left hand and their chopsticks with their right.

Elaine speared some Chinese broccoli and dumped it into her bowl. Before she knew it, her mother had also scooped up some of the steamed fish and dumped it on top. "You no eat enough, too thin. That's why no man want you."

Elaine would have protested, except that she knew it wouldn't have done any good. Elaine was convinced that one of her mother's favorite past times was to single out all her negative attributes. She was too thin this week, but two week's ago she'd been too fat. Her mother also liked to slap her on the back and tell her stop slouching. And every once in a while her mother also liked to pick on her chosen profession, convinced that Elaine was meant for more worthy pursuits like medicine, law, or business - not art. And, after she'd criticized everything she possibly could criticize, her mother would end the summation by telling Elaine that these were the reasons why she was still single.

As if it was her sole purpose in life to get married anyway.

"How is everything?" Fanny asked about her food. "Good?"

"It's good, Ma. Really good."

"It must not be that good if I have to ask for you to tell me so," Fanny sniffed. She took a bite of her shrimp-stuffed eggplants and asked, "You don't think it's too salty? Maybe I put too much soy sauce in, hm?"

Jane and Elaine each dutifully took a bite of the dish. "No, it's perfect."

"You think so?"

"Mm, very good." They quickly ate some more.

Appeased, Fanny moved on to the next dish, and so it went on until they'd all eaten their fill. Without being asked, knowing it was expected of them, Jane and Elaine stood to clear the dishes. While Elaine washed, Jane dried. "I bought some oranges this morning," Fanny called into the kitchen. "Bring them out when you're done."

Elaine searched for a plate while her sister sliced the oranges. Then, she arranged them in a circle and set the plate in front of her parents. "You know who I saw at the market this morning?" Fanny asked as Elaine sat back down.

"No, who?"

"Mrs. Chiu."

Elaine tried not to groan. Running into Mrs. Chiu was never a good thing.

"She asked after you, you know."

Elaine was sure she had. Elaine and her son were the same age and had gone to high school together. And, like every Chinese mother, she loved to compare Elaine's achievements against her son's. However, more recently, her intentions towards Elaine had taken on a different sort of bent. "Oh yeah?"

"Her son, Billy. He moved back to San Francisco two months ago. Did you know that?"

"Nope, sure didn't." And wouldn't have cared if she had known. Nonetheless Elaine had a feeling she knew where this conversation was headed and looked in her sister's direction, begging for a lifeline. Jane was too busy eating a slice of orange and talking to their father about work to notice though.

"His mama says he no know anyone in San Francisco anymore." Bingo, Elaine thought. Already she could feel the walls closing in on her. "I told her no problem! My Elaine, she know lots of people in San Francisco and would be happy to show him around."

"Oh, Ma. You didn't!"

"Why not?" Elaine thought of all the reasons why not, but knew she couldn't tell them to her mother. "You're still single. You need a boyfriend. You don't have a boyfriend, so I help you. If you were like your sister, I wouldn't have to help you.

"Billy, he a good catch! You know what his mama tell me? He's an accountant and he moved back to San Francisco because he got promotion. He make almost one hundred thousand a year. Can you believe that? You'd be lucky if he looked your way, Elaine."

Yeah right, she thought.

"Anyway, I give Mrs. Chiu your number. I tell her to tell Billy to call you some time."

"What? Ma! How could you? You should've asked me."

Fanny waved aside the concern. "So he call you. Big deal. You take him out. Have dinner. See what happens. Who knows? Maybe you like him. And then you get married and can quit working at that little pottery shop. You have babies and your father and I have grandbabies to rock. We not getting any younger, you know, and you girls no closer to getting married and giving us grandbabies. You know, all our friends we play Mahjong with? They all have grandbabies and show us picture. Sure be nice if we had pictures to show too."

Jane looked over then and thought Elaine was about to explode. She stood up quickly. "You know what, Ma? I think it's time Elaine and I went home. I have a lot to do tomorrow and Elaine still has to go into work tomorrow morning."

"It's still early. You girls should stay longer. You never visit your father and me."

"And this is why," Elaine muttered under her breath.

"Eh? What's that?" Fanny asked.

"Nothing!" Jane laughed on purpose. She dragged Elaine out of her chair before she could say anything else. It didn't take much for them to break out into World War III. "Thanks, Ma. But we really should get going."

"Well, all right. If you insist." Fanny pouted.

"We do."

Fanny filled two paper shopping bags with the food she'd made ahead of time for her daughters to take home with them. "Here you go. Call when you get home, so your father and I know you made it there okay."

Just as she did every week, Elaine bit back the comment that she and Jane made it home okay every other night of the week, but didn't have to call their mother then. "Thanks for dinner and thanks for the food, Ma."

"You be nice to Billy when he calls."

Elaine rolled her eyes. "Yes, Ma."

She switched with Jane and said good-bye to her father. She could hear her mother telling Jane to make sure she brought Charlie next time.

"I will Ma, so long as he doesn't have to work."

They finally made their escape. As soon as they were back on the sidewalk, Elaine exploded. "Thanks a lot, Jie. I appreciated the back-up in there."

"What was I supposed to do? You know there's nothing I can do once Ma's on a mission."

"Couldn't you have said something, at least? Jie, she gave him my number! Can you believe that? Without asking me. She gave him my number! Billy Chiu! Do you remember what he was like last time we saw him?"

Jane winced. Unfortunately she did. Though she'd been two years ahead of Billy and her sister in school, she still remembered the geeky, awkward boy and the huge crush he'd had on her sister. He'd dogged Elaine's heels every where, convinced that if he did enough things for her or stayed within her sight enough she'd agree to go out with him eventually. Elaine never had. But then, she'd never had her hand forced like their mother had tonight.

"Maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe he's changed since high school."

"And maybe pigs have ears," Elaine shot back.

Jane stopped in her track. "Um. Elaine?"

Elaine was confused to find that her sister wasn't next to her. She turned back and found Jane several steps behind. "What?"

"They do."

"What are you talking about?"

"They do. You said 'maybe pigs have ears.' Well, they do have ears."

Elaine stared at her sister. Frustration gave way to more frustration. "Oh, whatever!"

Jane laughed at her sister then. "Come on," she grabbed her arm. "My car's parked over here."

Elaine rode in silence back to their apartment. She waited until Jane had parked the car and they were unbuckling their seatbelts to say, "I know. If he calls, I'll just tell him I'm busy. I don't have to go out with him. And I am busy. Madeline and I hardly ever have any time what with the store being as busy as it is."

Jane unloaded the shopping bags. "And if you do brush him off, Ma will just call every night wanting to know how come you haven't gone out with Billy yet. You know how good she is at nagging."

That was true. But there had to be a way out of this mess.

"I hate to say it, Elaine, but I think you're stuck."

"I don't want to be stuck," Elaine whined.

"So you'll go out with him." Jane shifted the bags so she could hit the button on her key chain and lock the car. "You don't have to date him. Once should be enough."

"For me to commit suicide?" Elaine asked, deliberately misinterpreting her sister's comment. She unlocked the parking garage door with her key and held the door open for her sister.

"You're such a pessimist."

"No, just a realist. I know, I know," she said, and hit the elevator button hard. "Maybe we'll find that he's changed," she mimicked in a singsong voice. "With my luck though, I know he won't. He'll be as boring as ever and as annoying as ever. But you're right. There'll be no peace until I go out with him, so if he calls I'll go out with him. Hopefully we'll be able to keep it to a cup of coffee or something."

"There you go." Jane let them into their apartment and flicked on the hallway light.

They shucked off their shoes and padded past the living room on their left towards the kitchen on the right. There, Elaine hoisted herself onto the countertop as she watched Jane put away the food their mother had cooked for them. She bit into an apple and spoke as she chewed, "I don't know why Ma insists on matchmaking. It never works."

"That's never stopped Ma before. And it's not going to stop her now."

"You're so lucky."

Jane thought of Charlie and smiled. "I know."

"Oh brother." Elaine rolled her eyes. "Gag me with a spoon!"

To appease her sister, Jane opened a drawer and grabbed a spoon. "Come here!"

Shrieking, Elaine jumped off the counter and ran from the kitchen. "You wanted me to gag you," Jane called after her.

"I changed my mind!" Elaine shouted back.

"Too late!"

They ended up on Jane's bed, toppled over one another. "You're such a child," Elaine said as she shoved her sister off of her.

"Me? A child?" Jane was laughing as she got to her feet.

"I'm going to bed." Elaine pulled her covers over her.

Jane pulled the covers back and dragged her sister by the ankles and onto the floor. "Not in my bed your not."

The phone rang and both lunged for it at the same time. Elaine was closer and got to it first. "Hello? Oh, hey Charlie! Hi, how are you? I thought you were on call tonight. Oh, there's a lull. I see. Jane? Yeah, sure. Jie's here. Hold on." She purposely held the phone out of Jane's reach as she yelled at the top her lungs, "Jie, stop sucking Billy's face! It's Charlie on the phone."

She'd pulled Billy's name out of the hat because it was convenient. Jane grabbed the phone out of her sister's hand and hissed at her. "You're such a pest." She put the phone to her ear. "Hello, Charlie? Sorry about that. Elaine's in another one of her moods tonight."

Elaine stuck her tongue out before exiting her sister's room. Alone and with nothing to do, knowing her sister and Charlie could be on the phone for a while, Elaine pulled out her high school yearbook from senior year. She hadn't looked at in years. Once she'd graduated from high school and left San Francisco for college, she hadn't looked back. There was only one person with whom she still kept in touch, Charlotte Liu. They'd known each other their entire lives, and had been friends and competitors for the same length of time.

Elaine still remembered how their parents had competed against each other as to who had the brighter daughter. For that reason, Elaine had dreaded bringing home report cards and performing in piano recitals. "How did Charlotte do?" her mother would always ask. And if Charlotte had done better, her mother would want to know why Charlotte had gotten a better grade or performed better than her. On the occasions that Elaine had done better than Charlotte, but still hadn't achieved a perfect score or performance herself, her mother would then say, "We're talking about you, not Charlotte." She never could win the battle, and Elaine very much suspected that it had been the same for Charlotte in her own home.

Charlotte lived in Los Angeles now, but she'd be visiting in a few weeks. Elaine couldn't wait. Even if it would once again raise comparisons. But, through the years, Elaine had gotten used to hearing them from her mother. They didn't bother her anymore. Much.

Elaine touched Charlotte's senior year picture fondly and then flipped the page. She'd forgotten so much, but looking through the pictures in the yearbook brought the memories back. She stopped when she reached back of the book where all her friends and classmates had signed her yearbook. There was one in particular that grabbed her attention:

Elaine - You are uniformly charming and I am persuaded that given time, you will one day decide to find me acceptable and go out with me. Until then - Billy.

Elaine groaned and threw herself backwards onto her bed, hugging one of her pillows. Even back in high school Billy had been abnormally persistent, never taking no for an answer. And now she had to go out with him. She imagined Billy was beside himself with glee.

Resigned, she prepared for bed. It was just as she was dropping off to sleep that she remembered they'd never called their parents to let them know they were home safely. Through the walls, Elaine could hear the muffled tones of her sister talking to her boyfriend. Elaine pounded on the walls.

"What?" she heard her sister yell from her bedroom.

"Call Ma!" she yelled back.

Then she rolled over and drifted off to sleep.

Footnotes:

1. The title of my story is derived from an old, Chinese folktale. The story goes that two lovers - one a celestial goddess and the other a common man - can only meet on a certain day when magpies fly together to form a bridge between heaven and Earth on which they may meet. Like these two lovers, Elaine Bai and Will Darcy will have to overcome their own hurdles before they can build their own bridge of magpies to meet each other halfway. For a more complete description of the Chinese folktale, see http://www.novareinna.com/festive/valmagpie.html

2. Chinese names generally consist of two or three characters. The first character is always the surname. The following character or characters represents the person's given name. Chinese names consist of any character, and thus can take on any meaning. Oftentimes, in a two-character name, one of the characters is shared by all members of a generation (but generally delineated by gender - so, for example, all sisters and female cousins would share a same character in their name). It is for this reason that I decided to alter "Elizabeth" to "Elaine," in order to follow accordingly with her elder sister, "Jane," in the sense that both their names rhyme in English. For more information on Chinese names, see http://www.fact-index.com/c/ch/chinese_name.html

3. It is the custom in Chinese families for younger siblings to refer to their older siblings as, "older sister" and "older brother" rather than by name. This is to show respect for their elders.

4. Dan Ta - http://chinesefood.about.com/library/blrecipe266.htm

5. Dim Sum - http://chinesefood.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=%2Flibrary%2Fweekly%2Faa070700a.htm

6. Mandarin is one of the seven major Chinese dialects spoken in China. For more information on Chinese dialects, see http://www.chinalanguage.com/Language/chinese.html

7. Mahjong - http://www.west-meet-east.com/mahjong.htm

Chapter 2

Posted on Thursday, 23 September 2004

It was a bright and sunny morning. It was cool out yet, but Elaine had no doubt that the weather would warm up by afternoon. She juggled the newspaper, her purse, and a cup of coffee as she tried to unlock the front door of her pottery shop. She'd just about gotten it when the door opened from within. She looked up from the lock. "Oh. Hey. You're here already."

Madeline waved her friend and partner through the door, shutting it behind them. "Just got in a couple of minutes ago. So, how did dinner go last night?"

"Ugh. As usual, I wasn't good enough and Jane was perfect."

"You know, with that attitude I've always found it amazing that you and your sister get along so well. You'd think you'd resent her more."

Elaine shrugged and put her things down on the checkout counter, then slipped out of her thin cardigan and added it to the pile. "It's not her fault what my mother thinks."

"I guess so." Madeline picked up the cup of coffee she too had brought with her and sipped.

"That's not the worst of it though."

"Well don't keep me in suspense."

As they chatted, they went through the store and prepared it to open for another day.

"My mother gave my number out."

"Oh, is that it?" Fanny Bai's disastrous matchmaking attempts were famed. Madeline heard a story every other month it seemed.

"No, it's much worse! She gave it to this guy I went to high school with. He was so annoying Madeline, and he had the biggest crush on me. I couldn't take a step forward or backwards without him being there. I remember he asked me five times to the senior prom. I'd already had a date by the second time he asked me, but he didn't care. He was convinced that I was just being coy and actually wanted him to pursue me. He claimed I was just playing some sort of a feminine game with him; he'd read about it in one of his Idiot's Guide to Dating handbook or something, he said. What he really needed was the Idiot's Guide to Life because I don't know from what planet he hailed, but it certainly wasn't Earth."

Madeline laughed. "This must be like a dream come true for him then."

"Who knows."

"Maybe he's changed for the better."

Elaine glared balefully at her friend. "You're beginning to sound like my sister," she warned. "The only thing my mother could tell me about Billy is that he's some accountant, recently moved back to the Bay area, and earns about one hundred thousand a year. Or so his mother told my mother at the market yesterday."

"Ah," her friend nodded wisely and sagely. "The reason he'd be such a fine catch, eh?"

"He's not a doctor, but one hundred thousand in the bank each year doesn't hurt either."

"That's okay," Madeline patted Elaine on the shoulder. "One day we'll be pulling in one hundred thousand each too. Then she won't have anything to say."

Elaine sipped her coffee and then said, "Doesn't matter. I still won't be married and I can't have a baby by myself."

"Well," Madeline looked at her slyly. "You could. Technically. If you really wanted."

Elaine practically spit her coffee out. "Don't tell my mom that!" she said, wiping her mouth with some napkins. "She'd have a heart attack!"

Madeline laughed. "Let's open up."

Elaine was exhausted by the time she entered the lobby of her apartment building. She knew she looked exhausted too with her clothes limp, her hair in disarray, and her face worn by tired lines. Neither she nor Madeline had had a moment to work on their pottery, as they'd been besieged by demanding customers all day long. But that was to be expected. Saturdays were always their busiest day at the shop. Now that their business was steadily growing, they really needed to see about hiring some outside help, Elaine thought to herself. It was a fleeting thought though; Elaine was more than ready to put anything related to the shop and her business aside for the evening. What she really wanted to do was kick up her heels and indulge in a nice big bowl of Ben and Jerry's Fudge ice cream before hibernating for the night. Ben and Jerry were her favorite Saturday night dates and she always kept a pint of their heavenly ice cream stashed in the freezer in preparation for nights like this. Elaine was also looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning, as she and Madeline always opened up their shop later on Sundays.

Because Jane drove to and from work and entered the apartment building from the parking garage in the basement, it was usually Elaine who picked up the mail. Today was no different as she entered the mailroom from the lobby and found the mailbox she shared with her sister. There were the usual circulars from local shops advertising their sales of the week and several take-out menus. Those Elaine chucked immediately into the trashcan. Then she thought the better of it and fished out the take-out menus. You never know, she thought to herself.

Going through the rest of the mail, which consisted mainly of bills and credit card advertisements, Elaine plucked out a sky blue envelope. It was clearly a greeting card of some sort. How odd, she thought. It wasn't her birthday nor was it Jane's. She couldn't imagine why anyone would be sending them a card at this time of the year. Then she saw that it was addressed to her and from her friend Charlotte. "What on earth is Charlotte up to?" Elaine asked herself as she walked back to the elevators. She flipped the envelope over and read the hastily scrawled note on the back:

Warning - I wrote this so long ago I don't remember what for. Please take contents with that in mind. - C.

How bizarre. She tore the envelope as she waited for the elevator and pulled the card out. It was a birthday card. The message inside was practically illegible and disjointed at best. Elaine held the card close to her face and was still trying to make sense of it as she entered the elevator and pressed the number for her floor. She looked up just in time to see someone rushing for the elevator and held it open for him to enter. Without really looking at the man who joined her in the elevator, Elaine smiled as he thanked her for holding the elevator and made room for him by standing to one side. Then, she went back to trying to read the card.

The elevator stopped and the floors opened. Elaine looked up. It wasn't her floor. The man got off and to Elaine's surprise, turned back to her and said, "By the way, happy birthday."

"Oh." Elaine stared dumbly at him, then at her card, then back at him. Like a deer caught in headlights she wondered whether she should try and explain that it wasn't her birthday and that her friend had randomly sent her a card that appeared to be about three-years-old. Then, just as the elevator doors were about to close, she realized that this was a stranger and he very likely didn't care. Though it was sweet of him to wish her a happy birthday anyway. The metal elevator doors were halfway closed before Elaine remembered to say, "Thanks!"

He waved. And then he was gone.

Elaine felt as though she were in a trance when she got off on her floor and walked the short distance to her apartment. She was relieved when she discovered that Jane was still out. She wasted no time in digging out the ice cream. Then, without even bothering with a bowl, she sat down on the couch and considered the card her friend had sent her. More, she considered the stranger that had just wished her a happy birthday. It was silly, she thought to herself, and stuck a spoonful of the ice cream into her mouth. So what if he'd had an attractive face? She'd only caught a glimpse of it before the elevator doors had closed.

Determined to put it out of her head, Elaine threw the card to the side, and reached for the remote to turn on the television. It was how her sister found her an hour later. Her belly full of ice cream and her eyes glazed over from too much television.

"Hey. I'm home. Finally."

"So I see. Amazing. They actually let you out of jail?"

"Ha ha. Very funny." Yet, she wasted no time in shucking off her killer heels, peeling off her black blazer and unbuttoning the top two buttons of her white silk blouse. As a first-year associate in her law firm, Jane spent a lot of hours putting in the grunt work that was required of her if she was ever to succeed in climbing the corporate totem pole. It was a lifestyle Elaine did not relish or envy.

Jane started to walk past her sister, barefoot but for her stockings, when she looked down and saw the now empty ice cream carton. "Is that all you ate for dinner?" Elaine shrugged. "You can't eat ice cream for dinner."

"I just did. Besides, you weren't home to cook for me, so what else was I supposed to eat?"

"That's pathetic, Elaine. Ma just gave us food yesterday. All you had to do was press some buttons on the microwave."

Elaine looked up from the television and into her sister's frowning face. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that stuff. I didn't look in the fridge. I just went straight for the freezer."

Jane just sighed and continued on to the kitchen. She knew her little sister was completely hopeless when it came to feeding herself. "You want me to heat you up a plate of something?" Jane called out.

"That'd be great, Jie. Thanks."

Jane was back in less than five minutes. Removing her sister's feet from the other end of the couch, she sat down with two bowls of steaming leftovers, and sighed in relief. "Ah. That feels so nice. Here."

Elaine took the proffered bowl and chopsticks, and glanced warily in her direction. "Don't you sit all day at work?"

"Yeah. But in a stiff, unbending, leather chair. It's so uncomfortable. I swear they purposefully give us underlings the crappy chairs, while the partners get the soft, cushiony, leather chairs. This is so much nicer. Plus, it's nice to be able to stare at something other than files piled a mile high on my desk. Also, there are no beady-eyed partners breathing down my neck at home."

"I could take care of that for you," Elaine suggested, always eager to torment her older sister in any way she could.

"No thanks." Jane hiked up her skirt so that she could copy her sister and prop her feet on the coffee table while she ate. In the process of doing so, she knocked off Elaine's birthday card. "Hey. What's this?"

"Oh, that? I don't know. A birthday card Charlotte wrote me and never sent. Judging by the contents, I'd guess it's from the year after we graduated from college."

"How odd. Why send it now?"

"Who knows? But you know, a funny thing happened to me because of it." She tore herself away from the movie she'd been watching on TV to tell her sister about the man in the elevator. "It was just so odd and bizarre," she finished. "I hardly knew what to say."

First things first, Jane thought. "Was he cute?"

"I think so. I only caught a brief glimpse of him."

"Elaine!"

"I was caught up in the card. I was barely paying attention."

Jane sighed. "You're hopeless. Do you know at least know what floor he got off on?"

"Afraid not. And before you say anything, I already told you - I wasn't paying attention."

"Can't you tell from how long the elevator ride was what floor he got off on?" Jane asked in exasperation.

Elaine thought about it for a second or two. "I don't know. Maybe the second or the third floor? What?" she asked when her sister gave her a look. "You want me to go ride the elevators tomorrow or something?"

"That might work. Or wait, you know what else would work? If we papered the elevators with flyers that said, 'You wished me a happy birthday, wish you'd stayed to help me blow out the candles.'"

"You're nuts."

"Was he single?"

Elaine threw a pillow cushion at her sister. "I wish you'd never come home."

"Now that's just plain mean. I was only trying to help. But don't worry. I'll be out of your hair soon enough."

"You're going back out?"

Jane finished her dinner and nodded. "Charlie's best friend from college and med school moved back to San Francisco and we're taking him out to the movies tonight. I would've asked if you wanted to come out with us, but I figured you'd want to stay home, rest and sleep."

"You figured right." Elaine was a self-described hermit and she liked it that way. "What movie are you going to see?"

"I don't know. I left it up to the boys to decide."

Elaine wrinkled her nose. "You're going to end up at some stupid, mind-numbing, action flick where the men can't string two sentences together and the women look like Betty Boop only with a whole lot less curves. Just plain sticks."

"Probably."

"Definitely glad I'm staying home tonight then."

"I'm going to go change."

Elaine went back to her movie. She was so engrossed that she barely heard her sister yell, "Good-night," before walking the two flights down to her boyfriend's apartment. When the movie ended, Elaine decided she'd read a couple of chapters in her new book before catching some shut-eye. She'd just grabbed a bag of chips and was heading for her bedroom when the phone rang. It was tempting to ignore it, so very tempting, but she pushed aside the impulse. The portable was closest. "Hello?"

"Elaine-ah. That you?"

So much for reading. She parked her bottom on the couch's side arm. "Hi, Ma."

"What you doing?"

"Nothing."

"What you mean nothing? You must be doing something. You afraid to tell me what you doing?"

Elaine sighed. "No, Ma. I just finished watching a movie. I'm thinking about reading before I go to bed."

"You eat dinner?"

"Ma, it's almost ten o'clock. Of course I've eaten dinner."

"What'd you eat?"

"Some of the food you gave us yesterday." She decided to omit mention of the pint of ice cream lest that bring on an unwanted lecture about her weight.

"Where's your sister."

"Jie went out with Charlie and some friend of his."

"Why you no go out with them?"

Elaine wondered what her mother would say if she told her she hadn't been invited. That would get her sister in trouble. It was only a passing thought though; she had no real desire to get her sister in trouble on purpose. "Because I was tired and didn't feel like it."

"You never feel like it," Fanny chided. "You always say you tired."

"But it's true. You've no idea what's like being on your feet for almost an entire day and battling with demanding customers."

Fanny continued on as if Elaine hadn't even spoken a word. "That's why you stay home and you single. You need boyfriend, Elaine. You no getting younger."

"Thanks, Ma."

"It's true! When I your age, I already married and have baby. But you? Ai-ya! Not even a boyfriend in sight. Did you get phone call from Billy?"

"No. Not that I know of." That much was true. There hadn't been any messages on the answering machine when she came home.

"Hmph. His mama say he gonna call."

"Well he hasn't yet." Maybe he wouldn't call at all. She crossed her fingers, but Elaine knew it was probably wishful thinking.

"Okay, fine. You be nice when he calls though. I don't want word getting back to his mama that you no treat him nice. Mrs. Chiu biggest gossip!"

Elaine held back the snort. They were all big gossips. Gossip was all they did when they ran into each other at the market, visited with one another, or met up for their weekly Mahjong games. "I promise to be very nice if Billy calls."

"Okay."

"Good-night, Ma."

"Night."

Elaine hung up the phone with relief. She gave up trying to read though and returned the potato chips to the kitchen. Probably better for her thighs, she thought with some regret.

Conversations with her mother often left Elaine exhausted, and it'd already been a long and tiring day. She wasted no time in hopping into bed. By the time Jane came home a little after midnight, Elaine was already sound asleep. She didn't wake up until the next morning when she opened one eye and saw her sister staring into her face. She would've screamed except that she was used to her sister pestering her awake in this manner on the weekends.

"What?" she mumbled before turning her face in the pillow, trying to shut the world out.

"The phone rang. Didn't you hear it? It's for you."

"What time is it?"

"A little after eight-thirty."

Elaine dredged up just enough energy to exclaim, "Are you kidding me? Tell whoever it is to go away!" Not a morning person to begin with, Elaine had strict rules about what time people could call her on Sunday mornings, the only day she ever got to sleep in. Everyone knew, including her parents, that she never answered the phone before ten.

"It's Billy."

Elaine peeked out from under her pillow. "Billy Chiu?"

"Do you know any other Billy?"

"How does he sound?"

"What do you mean 'how does he sound?' He sounds like a guy."

"You know. Does he mumble? Does he have a deep voice? More importantly, does he still talk in that really high-pitched whiny voice of his?"

Jane pointed to her sister's bedside phone. "Just take the call."

"Tell him to go away. I'm too tired. No, better, I've changed my mind. I don't want to talk to him. Ever."

"And when Ma calls? What shall I tell her?" Jane asked as she tapped her foot impatiently against the floor.

Ah, their mother, Elaine thought to herself. She was always the rub. "Fine. I'll take the call." She threw off her covers but remained in her bed. She waited until she heard her sister return to her bedroom before picking the extension in her room up. "Hello, Billy? Sorry to keep you waiting." In the background, she heard her sister hang up the phone.

"Elaine. It's so wonderful to hear your voice. I hope I didn't wake you."

Elaine wanted to pull her covers over her head and hide. Apparently, the seven years since high school had done nothing for his voice. It was still that shrill, high-pitched voice that sometimes haunted her in her very vivid nightmares. "Actually, you did." She saw no reason to sugarcoat the truth. "But I'm up now, so no matter."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. My mother mentioned that you run a little store. I was afraid I might miss you, and I didn't want that to happen. So I called you as soon as I thought you might be up, but not yet out the door. I've been most eager to get in touch with you, Elaine. You can't know how delighted I was to get your phone number from my mother and hear that you were interested in hearing from me. I can't tell you how often I've thought of you since high school, Elaine. You've never been far from my memories."

Elaine tried not to bristle at his "little store" comment or puke at the smarmy tone of his voice. At least she hadn't had breakfast yet.

She wondered what she should say. She certainly couldn't reply and tell him that she hadn't thought of him at all, however tempting it was. She opted for the diplomatic approach. "I was surprised to hear you'd moved back to San Francisco. Last I'd heard, you were supposedly settled in nicely in New York City." And I wished you'd stayed there for the remainder of my life.

"New York was nice, but it really couldn't compare to San Francisco. San Francisco's home, you know? My parents are here and I grew up here." Elaine could practically hear him wanting to say, You are here. She tried not to shudder.

"I guess what it all comes down to is I'm more used to San Francisco. I practically leapt at the opportunity to transfer back when it arose. And now I'm doubly glad I did, because I got to call you. I hope you won't think me forward, but I'd really love to see you again, Elaine. It's been years. Would you do me the honor of joining me for dinner sometime this week? We can reminisce about the good old days, and you can tell me about all that you've been up to since high school."

Elaine tried not to panic. "Oh, gees. Dinner. I don't know, Billy. I'm really busy at the store. My partner and I run it all by ourselves right now so we put in a lot of hours. It doesn't leave me with a lot of free time."

"But surely you have to take time out to eat dinner, don't you?"

She could hear the surliness in his voice, and she was so tempted to say "no" and then hang up the phone, but propriety prevented her from doing so. "Look, I'm really sorry to have to decline. It's just that these summer months are always the busiest for us. Tourist season, you know. But, if you're free this evening, why don't you stop by the store? We can catch a cup of coffee and walk along the wharf."

She hoped a quick coffee break would be much safer than a dinner, where she'd be trapped for hours if things didn't work out.

"That sounds great!"

Elaine winced from his eagerness and gave him the directions to her store. She sorely hoped she wouldn't regret it, knowing that it was a lost cause to hope that he'd get lost and wouldn't show up. "I'll see you later today then."

"Absolutely. I wouldn't miss it for the world. Bye, Elaine."

"Bye, Billy."

"Well? How'd it go?" Jane asked when Elaine walked into the kitchen.

After hanging up with Billy, Elaine had given up on trying to go back to bed. She pulled her hair back in a loose ponytail before grabbing a bowl to dump cereal in it. Then she sat next to her sister on a barstool and sighed. "I told him I'd have coffee with him this evening. He's going to stop by work."

"Sorry."

"Maybe I'll get lucky and the store will be so jam-packed I won't be able to take a break and leave."

Jane swallowed her cereal and said, "You know, Elaine. I've been thinking. This whole Billy business, it's like waxing your legs. Trying to pry the wax off your skin only results in major pain. So the best way to go about doing it is to grab an end and pull really hard and really quickly. Sure, it stings for that moment but then it's over. I think that's how you have to approach this coffee date with Billy."

"Great. Thanks a lot, Jie. Now when I see Billy tonight, I'm going to keep thinking of him as a huge ball of wax."

"That might be a good thing. Might make him more interesting."

Elaine choked on her cereal. Sarcasm was usually her approach. Jane was too nice and sweet to be sarcastic. "So what are you up to today?"

"I don't know." Jane fingered the folds of her bathrobe. "I think I might pay the bills and balance my checkbook."

"That sounds exciting."

"Doesn't it? Charlie is helping his friend move into his apartment today. I might go over later and help them out. Or maybe I'll just bring them sustenance."

"I'm sure they'd appreciate that." As the saying went, the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. "How was last night and how'd you like his friend?"

"I liked him very much and the movie was fun. You should've come with us, Elaine. You would've had fun. Charlie's friend is really great. He's smart, he's nice, and he has a wonderful sense of humor."

Elaine grinned wryly at her sister's enthusiastic description of Charlie's friend. "Should Charlie be worried?"

Jane blushed. "No. You know I'm totally devoted to Charlie. But, oh my gosh, you know what? I don't know why I didn't think of this last night, but you should totally meet him, Elaine. I think you'd really like him."

"Oh no. Et tu, Jie?" Elaine slurped the rest of her cereal bowl and then hopped off her stool to dump her dirty bowl in the sink. "Please don't start on me. Ma does it so much already, I think I'd die if you started matchmaking too."

"All right. If you don't want me to, I won't. But I still think you should meet his friend. Not necessarily as a potential love interest, just as a person and a friend. He's really nice."

"One man at a time," Elaine told her. Preparing for her coffee date with Billy was headache enough. "I'm going to go and figure out what to wear to work today. It might take me a while. And I might need some of your input."

"You're dressing up for Billy?" Jane asked in surprise.

"No. The opposite. I want to make sure that whatever it is I wear, he won't think I'm trying to entice him or something."

"Good-luck."

Will Darcy flexed his shoulders and then bent over to lift one end of his sofa. "Got it?"

At the other end of the sofa, Charlie Bing shifted his fingers so that he had a better grip and said, "Yup. Got it."

"Here we got then. Watch your step."

Although they'd come home late the night before, they'd gotten up early to move Will into his new apartment. Fortunately, they were used to functioning off little sleep. Both Charlie and Will were second-year residents at San Francisco General Hospital. Charlie was a resident in their pediatrics program while Will had just recently transferred into their surgical program. They'd met in college, bonded over the fact that both hailed from San Francisco, and continued their friendship through medical school.

They maneuvered the sofa through the door and into Will's living room. Will wasn't satisfied with its position though and had Charlie help him change it around several times before he found the perfect place. It was a good thing his friend was such a patient and easygoing person; any other person would've blown up already for all the times Will had changed his mind about the couch.

Charlie whipped a hand towel out of his back pocket and, sitting down, wiped the back of his neck. "Phew. It's hot."

"What are you doing?" Will asked. "There's still more stuff to unload."

Charlie groaned, but obediently followed him back outside. "You're such a slave driver!"

"I'll buy you dinner. Happy?"

"Hell, no. If I have to go to dinner with you that means I can't be with Jane."

"So bring her along."

"Oh, okay." That brightened Charlie's mood considerably. "So what did you think of Jane?" He tried to ask the question casually, but failed miserably. Casual wasn't Charlie's style. He only functioned on one level - excited exuberance.

Will hefted a box out of the back of his rented U-Haul and shoved it into Charlie's waiting arms. He answered his friend as they walked back to the house, each carrying a loaded box. "I liked her. She seemed very nice and very sweet. A perfect complement to your personality. It's kind of sickening when you think of it."

"How so?"

"Well, you're both so nice. You can't help but get along so well because you're so much like one another. You're so complying that you'll never agree on anything or disagree on anything; so laid back that your friends will walk all over you; and so generous that you'll never have time for yourselves because you'll be too busy watching out for all your friends."

Charlie laughed. "Well, Will, someone has to look out for you. If I didn't you'd die a hermit. Speaking of being a hermit, you know who you should meet? Jane's sister. I bet you guys would really hit it off."

Will tried not to shudder at the thought of being set up on another blind date. "Thanks, but no thanks. Actually, there is someone I'd like to meet. Maybe you might know her. Nah. Who am I kidding? Your apartment building's so huge, there's no way you'd know who she is."

"You're interested in someone that lives in my apartment building?" Charlie asked with some surprise.

"Maybe," Will qualified.

"Try me. You never know."

"I don't know who she is - obviously. I ran into her yesterday in your apartment building's elevator."

"You're going to have to be a little bit more specific than that."

"Ha ha. She was Asian."

"Like Jane!"

Will rolled his eyes. Charlie's brain never strayed far from his girlfriend. "Yes, like Jane. Except her hair was shorter. And she was a little shorter in height too. I don't know how else to describe her to you, Charlie. She wasn't extraordinary-looking nor did she have any sort of distinctive features. But, there was something about her that pulled me towards her. You should've seen her. She was reading this birthday card at the time and she got this little crinkle in between her eyes. It made me really want to put my thumb on it to smooth out all the crinkles." Will smiled fondly at the memory. "I wished her a happy birthday as I exited the elevator. The expression on her face was a hoot to see. She was totally surprised; you could tell that I'd shocked her. She managed to stutter her thanks before the doors closed. I should've stuck my arm out and then asked for her number." Will sighed. "Missed opportunities. Oh well."

Charlie wished he could help his friend out, but he was as much at a loss as his friend. There were, after all, several Asian women living in his apartment building, including Jane and her sister. "Well, take Jane and me out to a nice enough restaurant tonight and I might try and help you figure out the identity of your Secret Asian Woman."

Chapter 3

Posted on Monday, 11 October 2004

Ghirardelli Square was teeming with activity even as the dinner hour drew near on a Sunday evening. Not surprising when it was such a favorite spot in all of San Francisco. A historical landmark, Ghirardelli Square also boasted waterfront dining, art galleries and specialty shops, Elaine and Madeline's store included in the latter category. Both tourists and residents of the city came daily to admire the breathtaking views of the Bay, and take advantage of all the shops and restaurants located there.

Elaine turned away from the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate shop just in time to watch a little boy run by with a cloud of powder blue cotton candy in his hand. She smiled at the sight. She always enjoyed people watching, especially the families and the children that frequented the Square. She had secret dreams of one day bringing her own children down here with her husband. While she could imagine what her children would look - a boy with blue shorts and a sailboat on his white t-shirt and his younger sister in a pink pinafore - the husband always remained faceless. Until now. The face of the stranger from the elevator rose unbidden in her mind. Elaine quickly shoved it back down. It was silly to be thinking about him when one, she didn't know who he was and two, she was on a semi-date with another man.

When Billy Chiu had come to pick her up for their coffee date, she'd started out in the direction for the coffee shop. Halfway there, Elaine had changed directions and told Billy she was in the mood for ice cream. Billy, who would have followed Elaine to the ends of the Earth, gladly agreed to the change in plans. What mattered to him was that they spend some time together in each other's company, not what they consumed.

Upon reaching the famous ice cream store, Elaine had told Billy what she wanted and sent him inside alone. She preferred to stand outside, away from the long lines inside, and breathe in the faintly salted air, and watch the crowds of course.

"Here you go."

Elaine whipped around and leaned against the railing. "Thanks." She took the styrofoam bowl he handed her; it was filled to the brim with Ghirardelli's famous hot fudge sundae. A single bite of the heavenly concoction had her moaning in delight. Elaine peered over at Billy's selection and couldn't resist rolling her eyes at his staid choice of a vanilla ice cream cone. Who walked out of a Ghirardelli store without ordering something chocolate-flavored?

"Good?"

Elaine scooped up another spoonful of sundae and sucked it down her throat with pure pleasure. "Mm, very."

"Shall we take a walk?" Billy gestured in the direction of the pier.

"Sure."

"I was surprised by your store," Billy said, opening the conversation.

"Why? What were you expecting?"

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw him shrug. "I don't know. Nothing like that. Something smaller, more cramped. Dusty shelves lined with unsold ceramics."

"Gees. I hope my store lived up to your grand expectations."

"Have I offended you? Sorry. I formed my impressions based upon the descriptions my mother gave me."

"Your mother," Elaine said coolly, "has never stepped foot in my store."

He let the comment pass. "I shouldn't have been so surprised though. You were always artistically gifted. I remember in high school, your artwork always won prizes and high praise. I guess I always assumed it would be more of a hobby though. Not a profession."

"I think we've established that assumptions are never a good thing.

"No. I suppose they're not. Maybe when I take you back, I'll pick something up for my mother. An early birthday present."

"I'm sure she'd appreciate the gesture."

"Will you help me pick the gift?"

"It's my job," Elaine said gaily. "So, how are you finding San Francisco? Any different from before you left?"

"No, not really. It's still the came city that I loved. I guess nothing much every changes around here, huh?"

"Do you really think so? I thought it'd changed a lot when I came back after college." She shrugged her shoulders in an absent gesture. "Actually, I think it was me who'd changed, and not necessarily the city. It didn't make me love San Francisco any more or any less, of course. It just made me see things differently."

"I see." Though he didn't really see at all. "Are you and your sister still living at Waverly Place with your parents?"

Elaine stared at him as though he really were a big ball of wax. "No. Why? Are you still living with your parents?"

"Yes."

"Really?!"

Billy stiffened at her tone. "Just for the time being. I haven't had time to find a place of my own."

"Of course," she said, as if it made perfect sense when she didn't really think it did. San Francisco was, after all, a populous city and like every other large city in the United States, there were always apartments to be had. Her mind immediately connected to the nameless friend of her sister's boyfriend. Elaine knew that Charlie's friend had recently relocated to San Francisco to join the surgical residence program at the same hospital where Charlie worked; yet, he hadn't felt the need to bunk beds with Charlie for several months. He'd found an apartment before he'd even moved to the city, and, other than his first night in San Francisco, had moved straight into his apartment.

"Do you like your job?"

"I'm comfortable there. And it pays well. I make a lot of money," he added self-importantly.

Elaine couldn't help but notice that he hadn't really answered her question at all. "I see." By this point, they'd reached the end of the pier. Elaine threw away her paper bowl and plastic spoon and wiped her mouth with a napkin before throwing that away as well. Then she looked down at her watch. "Good heavens. Look at the time. I should get back. Madeline doesn't deal well with customers when left to herself for too long."

"By all means. Let us return then." Billy threw away his own napkin, turning to hide his disappointment that they hadn't been able to spend more time together, walking and talking.

Rather than return to the store at the same leisurely pace they'd taken walking down the pier, Elaine walked briskly back to her store. At the door, she invited him in to have a look around. "Hopefully you'll find something you think your mother will like. I'll be back with you in a minute; I'd like to check on the other customers first."

While Billy browsed the shelves, Elaine hurried towards Madeline's side. "Save me," she yelped before continuing on and greeting a customer with a broad smile on her face.

After she'd helped one customer pick out a present for his wife and rung up the sale of another purchase, Elaine decided she'd left Billy alone to his own devices long enough. "Find anything you like?" she said, joining him by his side.

He had in his hands a small bud vase and a medium-sized bowl. "I can't decide between the two. What do you think?"

"Madeline's bud vase is an interesting piece because it was made from clay of two different colorings, not completely mixed together. That's what gives it its streaked effect, and why it's called agate ware. My bowl is a celadon bowl, referring to its gray-green glaze. It's of Chinese origins, that style of coloring."

"You really know what you're talking about." Billy sounded impressed. "I thought you were just playing at this stuff."

Elaine laughed charmingly, sweeping aside the insult embedded in the compliment. "I should hope so. I've studied pottery for years and co-owned this store for the past three years."

"I'll take the bowl then. Because you made it," he added.

Elaine ignored the comment as she said, "I'm sure your mother will love it."

But Billy had no intention of giving the bowl to his mother. He was going to take it home and keep it on his bedside table; it would be like having a piece of Elaine with him always. He watched Elaine wrap the bowl carefully in tissue paper before placing it in a shopping bag.

"Are you sure you don't want me to put it in a box and gift wrap it? No extra fee."

"No, that's okay. This is perfect. Thanks."

"Suit yourself." She took his credit card and finished ringing up the purchase. While they waited for the receipt, Billy took the opportunity to ask when he could see her again. Elaine had been dreading this moment. She ripped the small piece of paper out of the credit card machine and placed it in front of him to sign. "I don't know, Billy. I really am busy with the store. You can see for yourself how busy we are." She gestured to the shop, filled with customers. "Why don't I give you a call when I know I'm going to have an evening free?"

It wasn't the answer he'd been hoping for, but it would have to do. For now, at least. He took the receipt and shopping bag from her hands, and said, "That'd be great. I truly hope I'll hear from you soon."

The minute Billy was gone from the store, Elaine and Madeline stole a few seconds for themselves to confer in the backroom. "Oh my gosh," Madeline whispered. "That's Billy Chiu?"

"Yes!"

"Why, he looks even geekier than he did in those pictures you showed me from high school. And he's practically bald! Though I suppose that might be considered an improvement from that bowl-shaped haircut he used to have."

"I know!" Elaine practically died from the relief she finally felt upon being able to say what she'd been thinking ever since Billy walked through the door of her store. While most people usually improved upon their looks after leaving high school, their features finally being able to mature and grow into their own, Billy's looks had receded. He hadn't grown since high school, and was consequently still head-to-head with Elaine's petite stature, but he'd grown in other ways. Mostly sideways.

"Oh, but Madeline. It's not just his looks. It's his personality! If he'd been an interesting person, I wouldn't have minded the looks. But he's so pompous. He's continuously amazed by everything I do - the store, the knowledge I possess, anything I do, really. And, on top of that, he's so incredibly boring. A total dud. I think I would've committed suicide if I'd had to spend one more minute in his company. The entire time we were together, he had nothing of interest to say. All he could tell me about his work is that he makes a lot of money, and he still lives at home with his parents - can you believe that? Oh, he says it's just temporary, but I don't think that's really true. I think he just said that because I looked at him like he'd had horns growing out of his ears when he said that he did. And, on top of all that, he actually got a kid's sized vanilla ice cream cone at the Soda Fountain and Chocolate shop. Where's the fun in that? Ugh. No. I'm not going out with him again. I can't!"

"But I heard you tell him you'd call him."

"I know. That's bad. But I didn't know what else to say. I'm just going to have to keep putting him off, and hopefully he'll get the hint."

Madeline looked askance at her friend. "Elaine. From everything you've told me about this guy, do you really think that's going to work?"

"No. But a girl can hope, can't she?"

"You're hopeless." Madeline sighed and gave up. "Come on. Let's get back to the customers."

Downtown San Francisco, unlike the city's other surrounding neighborhoods, was resplendent with high rises and urban energy. It was the financial district by day and an entertainment center by night. On the weekends, it was where the fashion-hungry came to shop. Elaine both appreciated it and hated it for what it was.

She loved the convenience of the location. Not only was it close to her workplace and where her parents lived in Chinatown, everything she needed was right outside her apartment building's front door. Union Square, an actual park in the middle of San Francisco's cultural and commercial center, named before the Civil War in honor and support of the Union troops, was just a few blocks away from her apartment building. The streets branching off from the square were lined with department stores and boutiques of the highest couture, restaurants and nightclubs, museums, art galleries, and theaters.

In spite of all its conveniences, Elaine also would've preferred living in one of San Francisco's more residential neighborhoods. Every day, as she navigated the crowded streets with barely enough room to breathe, she promised herself that one day she would live in a an adorable row house where the streets were lined with bookstores, family-owned restaurants, cute little café shops, and the sidewalks were filled with dogs and children, and people who took time to enjoy life instead of sprinting from one place to another.

In the meantime, she'd make do with what she had, which even she had to concede wasn't half bad.

These were the thoughts that ran through her head as Elaine sat at one of the tiny tables at the corner Starbucks coffee shop. Through the window, she could observe the women traveling in packs from one store to another with their multiple shopping bags in hand and the suited men going to work even on a Saturday. It was a real treat for Elaine to be able to sit around with nothing to do on a Saturday morning. She couldn't remember the last time she hadn't had to go into work - probably the last time she'd called in sick, which was so long ago she couldn't even remember when that was.

The reason she had the Saturday off was because she'd finally pried out of Madeline what it was that had been bothering her friend for almost three weeks. As it turned out, Madeline had been feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities of the store, and explained to Elaine that she thought it was time for them to consider hiring on help. Now that their store was flourishing and they could afford to hire help, Elaine readily agreed. It was something she'd been thinking about recently as well. Not only did having extra help around the store mean more personal time for her and Madeline, it also meant that they would have more time to focus on their artwork. Both partners were thrilled with their new arrangements.

Elaine couldn't believe how easily it'd been in the end to find new help. Through friends, Mariah Lucas and Lydia Bennet had been recommended to them, and after brief interviews, she and Madeline had hired the two college students. Though they'd only been with them for about half a week, already Elaine and Madeline were impressed by their performance. So impressed that Elaine had felt comfortable taking the day off to leave the store in their hands with Madeline's supervision. Tomorrow, it would be Elaine's day to supervise.

Still, a day away from the shop didn't necessarily mean that Elaine wasn't still thinking about work. Even now she had a note pad in front of her; she was fiddling around with a new work schedule. She could've worked on the schedule upstairs, in her apartment, but she'd felt the need to escape. Billy had been calling daily, almost hourly sometimes, and her own mother had been no better. With Jane gone for the day and no one to field the phone calls for her, Elaine sought solace in the coffee shop. She couldn't bear to listen to the answering machine running anymore, and at least at the coffee shop the only way a person could reach her was through her cell phone. Thankfully, Billy didn't have that number though her mother did. The minute the thought ran through her head, her cell phone rang.

Elaine swore her mother was a telepathic genius and answered it with gritted teeth. "Hello, Ma?"

"Elaine-ah. You no home?"

Elaine wasn't sure why her mother even bothered asking. She was sure her mother had already called the apartment and found no one there. "No. I'm at the coffee shop."

"Why you pay money to drink coffee when you can make own coffee at home I never understand."

The argument about how she frittered her money away was an old one. It was also an unfair one. Both she and Jane scrimped and saved whenever they could. Though they weren't averse to spending money and taking in life's pleasures, they also understood the need to save money for a rainy day.

"Was there something you needed, Ma?"

"You call Billy?"

"No, Ma. I've told you that Billy and I talked earlier this week and I explained to him that I wasn't interested."

"That's not what Billy say."

Elaine sighed heavily. "I can't help what Billy says, thinks, or feels, Ma. But I'm telling you how I feel. I don't like him. It's not going to work."

"You miss good chance," she warned for the hundredth time since Elaine had told her Billy was a no go.

Elaine definitely disagreed with that assessment - for the hundredth time. "If I end up regretting it years from now, I'll only have myself to blame."

"I think you should call him. Tell him you change mind."

"I don't think so, Ma."

"You only spend couple hours with him. What you know? Give him another chance. Maybe you like him better second time."

"I'll pass." Just the thought of having to spend another minute in Billy's company was enough to cause Elaine to break out into hives.

"You no getting younger, Elaine. If not Billy, who? Eh? I no see you with any other man."

"I know, Ma. And who's going to want to marry an old maid, right?"

Her mother rolled with the question. "And when you going to start having babies? Eh? Mrs. Fong, she show me medical report in Shi Jie Ri Bao when we play Mahjong yesterday. They say it best to have babies before thirty. You almost twenty-five! And your sister twenty-seven already. Ai-ya. I don't know what to do with you two. You make my hair turn gray, I worry so much. But at least Jane have boyfriend. Good, Chinese boy. Doctor too."

Elaine settled her forehead over a fist and tried not to groan audibly. She hated when her mother brought up some article she'd read in the Chinese newspaper, Shi Jie Ri Bao, also known as World Journal East in English, and cast it up to her face. They inevitably lead her mother into diatribes she knew could go on forever if she didn't step in and cut it off.

"Ma? I've got to go. Ma? I've got to go! There's another incoming call and I have to take it. It could be Madeline, calling me from the shop. Ma? I've got to go! I'll call you later. Okay, uh-huh, uh-huh, okay, buh-bye." She clicked the phone off quickly, before her mother could think of anything else to say and force her to stay on the line.

"Ugh." Shuddering, Elaine chucked the phone back into her tote bag and picked up her pen again, resolved to put everything her mom had said out of her head, and get back to work. Surely she could figure out a way to make the new work schedule work, she told herself. She picked up her cup of coffee, but found that it was empty when she put it to her lips. Frowning, she pulled out her wallet and walked back up to the counter for a refill.

She was standing at the counter, waiting for her refill, when she turned around and looked into the dancing, hazel eyes of the man who'd wished her a happy birthday last week. "Well. Isn't this a nice surprise?" he said. He looked as surprised as she did.

"Hi. Hello," she stuttered.

"It must be fate that has us running into one another again." He smiled charmingly.

"I guess so," she said stupidly.

The barrista chose that moment to interrupt and hand Elaine's coffee to her. "Here you go, ma'am."

"Oh. Thank you."

She turned around to retrieve her coffee and, not knowing what else to do, would've returned to her table except the handsome stranger quickly stepped forward to stop her with a hand. "I hope you won't think me forward, but perhaps you'd allow me to buy you a slice of cake or something. To celebrate your birthday, albeit belatedly."

Elaine blushed and twirled her cup around nervously. "Actually, I have a confession to make. My birthday isn't for another three months." He raised an eyebrow and oh, how his eyebrow arched. "The card you saw, it was sent to me by my friend almost three years late. At least I think it was three years old; she never did write a date on the card. But from the things she wrote, in the card, I could kind of approximate and date it back to then. Anyhow, I guess my friend found the card amongst her stuff and decided to send it to me anyway. That's why I was so confused that day, when you left the elevator and said, 'Happy Birthday.' I was trying to figure out what my friend was up to. I would've corrected your misconception then, only everything happened so quickly and I never imagined I'd see you again." Elaine wondered if she could sound any more of an idiot with the way she'd rambled on with her convoluted explanation. It was an annoying habit of hers, to let the words tumble from her mouth whenever she was nervous.

He thought her explanation charming though, and wasn't the least bit put off by it. "I'm glad we did run into each other again. And I hope you'll still allow me to purchase you a slice of cake, even if it isn't your birthday."

Elaine smiled broadly, feeling relieved by his warm invitation. "Well, I've never been able to say no to a slice of cake, so yes."

"Great."

She waited for him to order his coffee and their food, and then invited him to share her table. "Sorry. Just let me clear this stuff." She quickly swept her paper and pens back into her tote bag as she made room for all their plates and coffee cups. "I was doing a little work earlier," she explained.

"I hope I'm not keeping you from anything."

"No! Not at all. Nothing I can't work on later."

"I suppose I should introduce myself," he began mirthfully.

"Oh. Yes, of course. So should I, I suppose." Their awkwardness gave way to hilarity as they both contrived to laugh at themselves.

"William, at your service, ma'am. But most of my friends call me Will, and I'd be pleased if you did the same."

She was pleased by his manners and his obvious good sense of humor. "And I'm Elaine. Most people call me Elaine, and I'd be pleased if you did the same as well."

"Well, Elaine. Please, dig in." He pushed the plate of cheesecake forward and watched her take a bite before tucking into his own plate of coffee cake. "Good?"

"Quite. I confess I've a weakness for cheesecake. I can never say no if someone waves it in front of my nose." And what a pretty nose it was, he thought to himself. "So, do you live around here?" she forced herself to ask.

"No." He shook his head. "I have my own place over in Noe Valley."

Elaine raised her eyebrow. Noe Valley was exactly the sort of neighborhood she aspired to live in. It was a blend of youth and stability, and it was an eagerly sought home for both single persons and married persons. Its famed Victorian houses and surrounding hills gave Noe Valley the impression of it being a community far-removed from the city, attracting families with their children, strollers, and leashed dogs. But its artsy shops, intimate restaurants, and fashionable bistros drew in the young crowd as well.

Noe Valley was also fair distance from where they presently were downtown. As if reading her thoughts, he explained, "I'm in the area this afternoon, visiting a friend. He must live in the same apartment building as you. That's where I was headed the last time I ran into you."

"Oh. I'm not keeping you from anything, am I?" Elaine couldn't explain why she felt disappointed all of the sudden.

He looked at his watch. "No. I was early and my friend is always late. I probably have another five or ten minutes before I should head on out."

She smiled and relaxed. "Have you lived in Noe Valley a long time?"

"No. My family's from San Francisco, but I just recently moved back from Washington D.C. What about you?"

"Except for college, I've lived in San Francisco my entire life as well."

"Well, aren't we a fine pair of San Franciscans?" he asked. He sighed with a great deal of regret when he noted the time. As tardy as Charlie often was, he figured even his friend would probably be waiting for him by now. "Well, I'm afraid I really do have to be off now. I'm glad we got to meet and chat for a bit this time. I hope we can do this another time, when I have more time?"

He'd stood as he spoke and Elaine had been admiring the way he looked as he stood. She recollected herself when she realized he was waiting for an answer. "Oh! Of course. Let me give you my number."

"If you have an extra piece of paper, I'd be glad to give you mine as well."

She dug her note pad back out of her tote bag and tore a sheet off to split in two. She almost gave him her home phone number, but then thought about how she'd been screening it for the past week. "Here's my cell phone number," she told him. "It's a bit more reliable than my home phone."

"Great. Here's my home phone number. I haven't had time to get a cell phone yet, but I've an answering machine at home."

"Thanks."

"I'll give you a call some time?"

"That'd be great." He smiled before turning away, and Elaine practically swooned as she watched his backside, exiting the coffee shop. She tried to get back to the work schedule, but found that it was much too hard to concentrate after her little run in with Will. William. She ran the name around in her head a few times. She liked the way his name rolled glibly off her tongue.

In a bout of impetuousness, Elaine grabbed her tote bag, threw away her now cold coffee, and decided to move on from the coffee shop to take a stroll around Union Square. If she happened to see something she liked in one of the store windows, then perhaps she'd go inside and take a look. After all, it'd been a while since she last went shopping and it wouldn't hurt to have something new on hand.

Just in case she received a certain phone call.

Continued in Next Section