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Chapter 10

Posted on Saturday, 19 February 2005

About halfway in the middle of the drive from her apartment to Will's, Elaine started having second thoughts about busting in on Will unannounced. It had seemed like such a sensible idea when she first thought of it and rushed out of her apartment with Jane's car keys in one hand and the pan of dumplings in the other. But now, she wasn't sure.

Her confidence flagging, she would've turned around at the next light, except that that there was a sign forbidding U-turns at the intersection as well as a parked police car, clearly challenging motorists to defy the law. Elaine took both as a sign from the gods, and forged on. Not that it did anything to ease her nervousness.

Elaine had the dumplings clutched to her chest as she rang the doorbell to Will's apartment. She'd never visited his apartment without him bringing her there himself, and even then it had only been twice. Normally, when they went out, they met on mutual ground. As she waited for Will to respond, she wondered if this was what people meant by the phrase, "throwing yourself at a man."

Don't be stupid, Elaine, she told herself. He's your boyfriend. It's your prerogative to throw yourself at him.

She'd just about convinced herself of that when the sound of Will's husky voice propelled her back into the present.

"Who is this? And what time is it?"

Will had been sleeping the sleep of the dead when he was rudely awaken by the loud, insistent buzzing of the intercom that was attached to the front-door of the old, Victorian house which he and three other tenants shared. At the noise, he'd gotten to his feet, rubbed his groggy eyes, and shuffled his way to the front door. It'd been light when he'd plopped onto the couch, intending to catch a quick nap. It was pitch dark now. Outside his windows, the only lights he saw were those of the city's, blinking like a string of Christmas lights in the distance.

"It's Elaine!" she shouted back into the intercom. "And it's," she readjusted her hold on the pan of dumplings and peered at her wrist, "almost nine."

Surprise and pleasure melted his irritation from having been awoken from his nap, but quickly gave way to self-flagellation as he realized he'd slept too long and forgotten to call Elaine like he'd promised earlier in the week. "Cripes! Sorry, come on up."

Curious to know what had brought Elaine to his doorstep at this hour, Will unhesitatingly hit the switch that would let her through the front door and then unlocked the door of his own apartment. He opened the door and leaned against the doorway, waiting for her to appear. Since she only had to climb one flight of stairs, it didn't take long before he spied her dark hair coming up the steps and then the rest of her.

He hoped she hadn't come to ream him out; she didn't appear as though she had.

"Hi!" she called out cheerfully. Somewhere between the bottom of the stairs and the top of the stairs, Elaine had resolved not to let Will see how nervous she was about being in his apartment at this late hour, and without invitation.

"Hey."

"You didn't call." It was said matter-of-factly, without any hint of reproof.

Will rubbed his tired hands over his even more tired face. "Yeah, about that, sorry. I got home later than I expected and immediately fell asleep. I meant to call you when I woke up, only I never woke up."

Elaine beamed at his sheepishness, and was relieved to find she wouldn't be walking in on Will with another woman. Not that she believed him capable of that, but still. A person couldn't read romance books or watch television and movies without being infected with a healthy dose of paranoia, no matter how small the dosage or the fear.

"I figured that's what happened. Have you eaten?"

"Uh." His stomach growled boisterously. "No."

"I can see that. You're in luck." Elaine brushed past him and headed straight for the kitchen as though she did this all the time.

Will watched amusedly as Elaine set whatever it was she'd brought with her onto the counter and then took charge of the kitchen, opening and closing cabinet doors and drawers with a slam. The only problem was that she couldn't very well take charge of the kitchen when she didn't know where anything was kept.

He moved from one doorway to another, and leaned against the archway leading into the kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"Making you dinner!" she said, as though she were stating the obvious.

Will's jaw dropped. "You? Making dinner for me?"

Elaine turned away from the counter and glared at him. "Why is that so hard to believe? And where do you keep your large pots?"

He was chuckling as he stepped forward. "Because you freely admit yourself that you're no cook. Besides, I've tasted your spaghetti meat sauce before. It was a little . . ." Will searched for the right word to use. "Bland."

"So I forgot to drain the ground beef before I added the marinara sauce. Sue me. It could've happened to anyone!"

"And your Swedish meatballs from hell?"

"What would you know about my Swedish meatballs? I've never made them for you."

"No," Will agreed. "But I've heard all about them."

Elaine rolled her eyes. Charlie was such a tattle-tell. Last year, for her sister's birthday, she thought she'd try and do something nice by cooking Jane dinner for a change. An avid watcher of the Food Network television channel, even though she couldn't cook squat, Elaine thought she'd try one of the cooking show's recipe for Swedish meatballs. It called for, amongst other things, three onions, two cups of flours, and eight cups of chicken broth.

The results were disastrous.

For one thing, Elaine discovered after sniffling away tear-streaked eyes that one finely diced onion was more than plenty. That left her with two extra onions to rot in the refrigerator. Then, when she tried to make the sauce for her Swedish meatballs, she found out too late that the trick to making a perfect roux was to start out small. Elaine started out by dumping one cup of flour into eight cups of broth. At least she hadn't tossed both cups of flour into the pot. Still, as it was, she had a very sticky and lumpy sauce to contend with and she only saved it after straining out three-fourths of the flour. By the time she added in the cream and cheese that the recipe required and finished making her sauce, Elaine was ready to call it quits. And she still had the meatballs to make.

The meatballs didn't fare any better than the sauce; it too had some flour trouble and came out doughier than it did meaty. To this day, Elaine still wasn't sure where she'd gone wrong. She'd followed the recipe to a "T," except for where she'd cut back on the ingredients because it obviously yielded more than was necessary. As it was, with eight cups of chicken broth, she had enough sauce to last her for five Swedish meatball dinners, four more than what was necessary for Jane's birthday dinner.

It didn't need to be said that after that dinner, both Jane and Elaine had never hankered after a Swedish meatball again. Or the Swedish meatballs from hell, as Jane had officially termed them.

Elaine poked Will in his lean stomach as she retorted, "That was the recipe's fault, not mine! I'm telling you I followed it point for point, so whatever went wrong with that meal I blame entirely on the recipe."

"If you say so."

"Are you going to show me where you keep your pots, or are you just going to stand there and make fun of me?" Elaine asked exasperatedly.

The latter option was tempting, but he decided to play nice. He reached around her, dug underneath the counter, and came out with a pot. "Here."

"Too big."

He set it aside and dug some more. "How about this one?"

She peeked under the aluminum foil, covering her pan of dumplings and thought about it for a second. "Too small," she told him.

He sighed and put the pot back before pulling out another one. "Better?"

"Perfect."

"So what are you making?" Even as he asked the question, he was wondering how well-stocked his medicine cabinet was with Maalox, Tums, and Pepto Bismol.

Elaine narrowed her eyes at his seemingly innocuous question. It was as if she'd read his mind when she said, "Don't worry. Nothing you'll have to break out the pills over.

"I brought over the leftover dumplings my mom made Friday night. All I have to do is boil them. How hard can that be?"

Half an hour later, two blown out ranges, and thirty extra-soggy dumplings later, Elaine had her answer.

Will was laughing as he cupped the back of her neck, kissed her forehead, and said teasingly, "I'm never letting you into a kitchen ever again."

"I can't believe I broke your stove!" she wailed, frustrated by the fact that she'd failed a task as simple as boiling dumplings and that Will was taking it in stride. In fact, he didn't seem the least bit nonplussed. It was almost as if he expected her to flub in the kitchen. That only frustrated her more.

"It's not that big of a deal, Elaine," he reassured. "You didn't break my stove. And the problem's really easy to fix."

When the water had boiled and overflowed, it went cascading over the edges of the pot and onto the stove, dousing the flames of his gas range and putting out the pilot light on the right side of his stove.

"See? All I have to do is relight the pilot light." He already had the top of his stove lifted and the extended lighter in his hand. With a flick of the lighter, the pilot light was once again flaming blue. Will put the stove cover back in place. "See? All better. No harm done."

"It must've been bring the water to boil three times, not four." Elaine wasn't paying the least bit of attention to Will. She was still trying to figure out where she'd gone wrong.

Too much water in the pot to begin with and an extra cup of water when she'd brought the water to boil a fourth time would account for the water running over the pot. The extra time that the dumplings sat in the water waiting for it to boil a fourth time would account the soggy dumplings. Each time she lifted a dumpling, the meat broke through the skin and fell on the plate. The plate looked like a mess.

"I'm sure it still tastes fine." Will grabbed the plate and the bowls and carried them to the table. "Come on, are you going to make me eat this all by myself?"

As usual, Will was right, and Elaine was slightly mollified that despite the dumplings' appearances, they still tasted fine. They tasted so fine that Will ate the majority of them. "Man, I didn't realize I was so hungry!"

"This isn't going to turn into another one of those Chicken McNuggets competitions, is it?"

With his cheeks already full of dumplings, Will's eyes bulged at the thought. Elaine laughed at his comical expression. He barely managed to swallow what was in his mouth and shuddered as he sipped water. "Please. You're not supposed to remind me of that incident, and definitely never when I'm eating. It makes my stomach churn."

"Then I bet you don't want this last piece do you?"

"Think again." Before Elaine could even react, Will stabbed at the dumpling and gulped it down.

"Hey! I was going to eat that."

"But I wanted it more."

"I thought you said your stomach was churning," she groused.

"Not that much."

She waved a non-threatening finger at him. "I'll get you back for that."

"I can't wait."

When the table was cleared and the dishes were clean, Elaine knew it was time for her to go, but she was loath to do so. She was having too much fun in Will's company. Equally obvious was Will's reluctance to give her up.

"Wanna stay for a movie?" He didn't know what was playing on the television, but he immediately turned it on and started flipping channels.

The minute he found a channel that wasn't airing a commercial and looked as if there was a remote possibility that what was already playing was a movie, he put the remote down and asked, "How does this one look?"

"Looks good to me!"

They had no idea what the name of the movie was or what it was even about, but it didn't seem to matter. The movie was just an excuse. They settled comfortably onto the couch together and somehow, during their never-ending conversation, they ended up such that Will was reclined against the length of the couch and Elaine was curled up against him.

In a random moment, Elaine turned her head, the top of her hair brushing the underside of his chin, and leaned back just far enough so she could look into his tempting face. It was a face that called to her potter's instincts. If she could have molded any one of his faces, it would've been that one, with his eyes darkened with desire and his expression softened with affection. Her fingertips reached and danced along the shadow on his cheek. When she reached up to play with the dark curls of his hair, still tousled from his earlier nap, he reached up and brought her hand back to his mouth. Their eyes locked and engaged he dropped a kiss in her soft palm. Elaine's eyes fluttered shut.

She was tempted, oh so tempted, to disclose in that intimate moment that she had told her parents all about him. It was a moment designed to make any woman spill her secrets. Despite the temptation and the allure, she still held back. It'd been such a wonderful evening thus far, both light-hearted and romantic, and Elaine was reluctant to spoil what was left of the night. So she held her information back, resolved to tell him about it some other time, but soon.

When she opened her eyes again, Will could see that hidden deep within the recesses of her eyes was something he needed to know. "What?" he asked.

Elaine shook her head. "Nothing."

He nodded his head, trusting that when the time was right, she'd tell him what was on her mind and in her heart. He leaned over and took her lips in his own. Elaine braced her hands against his chest and returned the ardor, telling him everything she couldn't say with words in her actions.

Eventually, their conversation trailed off. Not because they ran out of things to say, but because the hour grew exceedingly later and they both fell asleep. Will woke up, the arm of the couch digging into his back. The television was still on, now playing late night infomercials. The tiny, green numbers on his VCR's clock said it was a little past two in the morning. He groaned as he realized he'd have to be up again in just a few hours.

He could've stayed there forever, in spite of the hardness and discomfort of the couch, with Elaine wrapped around his body. He had a feeling though, that she'd feel a whole lot better in the morning if she woke up alone without any trace of having slept beside him. Very carefully, so as not to wake Elaine, he slid out from underneath her and covered her with a throw. Then, without even bothering to get under the covers, he collapsed on his own bed for two more hours.

Will had to be at the hospital early to make his rounds, so he tiptoed around his apartment when he woke up, so as to not disturb Elaine who was still curled up on his couch. Before he left, he hastily scribbled out a note and put it on the coffee table where she'd be sure to see it when she woke up. He told her to help herself to anything she might need in the apartment and left her an extra set of keys to lock up after herself. And then, because he couldn't help himself, he kissed her on the forehead. Elaine shifted in her sleep and stretched towards him, but didn't wake up. When Will locked the door behind him, she was still slumbering deeply.

He'd just gotten his first cup of coffee at the hospital when he remembered Jane. Not wanting her to worry should she wake up and find Elaine still missing from their apartment, he quickly detoured towards the nearest phone and called her.

"Hello, Jane?"

"Will?"

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Kind of. Not really. I think my alarm went off, but I can't be sure. Anyway, I should get up and get ready for work. What's up?"

"Oh, I guess you haven't looked in on Elaine yet."

"No . . . should I?"

"Well, that's why I was calling you. I didn't want you to freak out if you couldn't find her this morning."

Jane was stumped. This was too much to take in a six o'clock in the morning.

"Elaine slept over last night," Will explained.

"Oh!" Jane was shocked. She'd never expected that.

"We stayed up late talking and I guess we both fell asleep without realizing. I didn't see any point in waking her up and making her drive home after that, so I left her sleeping on the couch. But I didn't want you to worry this morning either."

"Ohhhh." Understanding dawned. "Thanks, Will. That was nice of you, I appreciate it."

"No problem. I've gotta run and make rounds. I'll catch up with you later."

"Okay."

They hung up and Jane fell back on her pillows. Elaine asleep on Will's couch. This was certainly a development. She smiled thoughtfully. But only until she realized Elaine still had her car. "Crap. How am I going to get to work?"

Elaine rushed into the shop, her purse and jacket one step behind. Madeline looked up from behind the cash register with a bemused expression. "Hey there, stranger. Having a bit of a late start this morning, are we?"

"Coffee, I need coffee. Do we have coffee? Please tell me we have coffee."

Madeline jerked her thumb in the direction of the back.

"Oh, thank you! There is a God!"

Madeline followed her friend and watched her fill a large mug to its brim before taking a long swallow from the mug.

"Yum." Elaine felt calmer now that she'd had her daily intake of fuel. She smiled perkily at Madeline. "What did you ask me?"

Madeline just laughed at her friend. "You're pathetic. Are you going to help me open up or what?"

"Yeah. It's just that it's been a weird morning already."

"Oh yeah? How so?"

Elaine wondered where she should begin. "I slept over at Will's last night."

"Whoah. What?"

"It wasn't like that! I fell asleep on his couch."

"Uh-huh. Okay."

"No, seriously. I took him some dinner, we watched a movie, talked, and fell asleep. When I woke up, he was gone and there was a note and extra pair of keys on the table. He told me to help myself to anything and then lock up after him."

"Wow. So he gave you keys to his apartment already?"

"I don't think it's like that. More like he needed me to lock his apartment behind me when I left, and how else was I to do that unless I had keys."

"True. Still, that's exciting."

"Yeah. Except that I took Jane's car when I went to Will's last night so I got a bit of an earful from her this morning when she realized she didn't have her car. She had to catch a cab, and you know how she hates doing that. Anyhow, I ended up rushing home to shower and change, and then dropped her car off at work, then caught a cab back here. As you can see, not even nine and I feel like I've been rushing around all morning. And on no coffee, no less!"

"I'm amazed." There were times when both Madeline and Elaine were convinced that coffee was what actually ran through their veins.

"I didn't have time to make any when I got home and there was no way I was making any at Will's. Not after the mess I created in his kitchen last night."

"What'd you do?"

Madeline was doubled over in laughter by the time they finished unlocking the door and cash register, prepared to welcome another day of customers. "That's rich, Elaine. Only you would cause utter mayhem over something as simple as boiling dumplings."

"Thanks for the support."

"You're laughing too!"

Elaine's face wobbled as she tried to hold onto her stern, disapproving face. She gave up and said, "Yeah, you're right."

Their first customer walked in shortly thereafter and Elaine and Madeline tabled their conversation for later. When the second customer walked in, Madeline decided that it was time for her to work on her pottery. After all, she claimed, she'd been so busy watching after the store for the past couple of days when Elaine had been out she hadn't had any time to concentrate on her work.

As she walked past Elaine towards the back of the shop, Elaine clucked, "Chicken."

"I don't deny it."

The morning passed quickly with Elaine tending to the customers and Madeline working the pottery wheel in the back. When the hour hit noon, Elaine ducked out to get some lunch for both herself and for Madeline. She was surprised when she returned to the store and found Madeline at the counter, talking to Will.

"Hey Elaine! Look what the cat dragged in."

She almost dropped the bags and drinks from McDonald's she was carrying, she was so surprised. Fortunately, Will had the presence of mind to take the tray of drinks from her before she could disgrace herself in front of everybody.

"What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you."

"I was headed over to the VA hospital this afternoon, and thought I'd take a detour on my way over there. Clinics don't start for another half hour."

Once a week, as part of his training, Will had to do clinical examinations of the patients that visited the local Veterans Affairs medical center in San Francisco. Compared to the training he received at the hospital, his rotation at the VA hospital resembled more of an office setting approach.

"Oh. French fry?"

Will reached in and took a handful, popped one in his mouth. "Thanks."

Madeline looked from one to the other and decided to make herself scarce. She grabbed her bag of food and said, "Well, I'm going to get back to my work. Eat my lunch. You know."

Elaine and Will watched her leave. Then, Elaine held out her bag to Will again and asked, "Chicken McNugget?"

He tugged her hair playfully. "You're cute when you're being devilish."

"Suit yourself." She shook one out, dipped it in the sweet and sour sauce, and took a bite. "If I'd known you were going to stop by, I would've gotten you something. Want to share some of my Cobb salad?"

"Nah, that's okay. I can get something at the VA."

"Okay. So, what's up?"

Will wasn't sure. It'd been an impulsive decision to drop by the store. All he knew was that he'd left the hospital, merged onto S. Van Ness Street and was on his way to Geary Boulevard when, instead of turning left at the junction, he'd continued on until he met North Point Street and turned right. The next thing he knew, he'd found himself at Ghirardelli Square and in front of Elaine's store.

He shrugged. "Just wanted to see you. I hope you slept okay last night."

Elaine blushed in what Will thought was a most adorable and becoming way. "Yes, I did."

"You were sleeping so peacefully; I didn't want to wake you when I left. Hope you didn't mind me running out on you like that."

"No, I appreciate it. Oh! That reminds me. I still have your keys. Hold on." She dashed off and returned, quick as a flash. "Here you go."

Will took them almost reluctantly. "I suppose it'd be premature of me if I suggested that you hold onto them, wouldn't it?"

"Ex-excuse me?" Elaine asked falteringly; she was sure she'd heard wrong.

Oops. He hadn't actually meant to say that aloud. It's just that having Elaine in his home last night had felt right; he'd enjoyed sharing the space with her. Having her in it had made everything feel complete.

He fiddled with the collar of her blouse and, to cover up for his faux pas, said very nonchalantly, "I was just teasing."

Elaine sipped from her cup of Sprite and wondered whether that was disappointment she was actually feeling. If it was, those feelings surprised her. It was much too early in their relationship to be contemplating moving in together.

Will looked at his watch. "Well, I should get going if I don't want to be late."

"Oh. All right."

He popped his head into the backroom to say good-bye to Madeline. Madeline had already finished her grilled chicken sandwich and was back at the wheel. "Nice to see you again, Will," she called out. "See ya!"

Elaine walked Will to the door. "Will I see you tonight?"

Her eyes sparkled with an exuberance he found both adorable and enchanting. One glance at them was enough to remind him of how she'd stood in his kitchen the previous night, teasing and taunting him as she'd cooked dinner for him. With his right hand, Will caressed the side of her cheek. Before she could even think, he leaned in, kissing her slowly and deeply until it reached her very soul. Elaine was grateful for the support of the doorway when Will lifted his head and brushed the pad of his thumb over her breathless lips, and said, "Count on it."

Elaine was humming with barely contained energy as she bopped around the store, closing things down by herself. Since she'd worked the entire weekend while Elaine was out, Madeline had skipped out a few hours after lunch. Lydia had come in after her last afternoon class and worked a few hours before Elaine sent her home.

Business had been slow that afternoon and Elaine hadn't seen the point in both of them sitting around with nothing more to do than twiddle their thumbs. In the meantime, she'd used the slow afternoon to her advantage by writing out a few checks to cover their expenses, tallying their monthly figures in the accounting book, and dusting three-fourths of the shelves in the store. She also rearranged some of the displays in the storefront window, leaving the rest for Madeline's input when she came back tomorrow.

All in all, Elaine felt good about putting in an honest afternoon's worth of work.

Now that she'd ushered out her last customer of the day, locked the door behind him, and emptied the cash register of its cash and checks for deposit, Elaine couldn't wait to leave. It didn't take a lot of imagination for her to replay Will's parting kiss over and over again in her mind. If that was his intent in kissing her, it had certainly worked. She could still feel his heat in the pit of her stomach.

And in another hour she'd be seeing him again. Elaine couldn't wait.

The plan was to run home for a quick shower and change. Then, they were to meet in town for a dinner and a movie at the Castro Theatre. The Castro Theatre, located not too far from Elaine's apartment actually, and just off of Market Street downtown, was one of the oldest movie theaters in the city. Built in 1922 and designed by Timothy Pflueger, a celebrated architect in the Bay Area, the building was an eclectic study of not one, but a variety of architectural styles.

Elaine always loved visiting the old theater, both for its wonderfully ornate interior as much as its intriguing exterior. The façade of the theater's exterior was suggestive of a Mexican cathedral, but the most striking composition within the theater was undoubtedly its mandala-like ceiling, plastered and painted to resemble a tapestry of oriental designs, replete with ropes and hanging tassels. More recent additions to the theater's exterior, such as the marquee and the neon, vertical sign, both added sometime during the 1930s, only added to the theater's overall and unique charm.

Even more amazing was that, despite the Castro Theatre's age and the fact that, these days, most older movie theaters were being shut down in favor of larger, newer theaters with stadium-sized seating, it was still an operating movie theater. These days, its programs tended towards the artsy and independent films, with the occasional hosting of annual film festivals throughout the year, including the San Francisco International Film Festival. Elaine wasn't sure what the Castro Theatre was currently playing, but she figured they would have dinner at a nearby restaurant and then stop by the theater afterwards. If there was nothing showing to their liking, they could always do something else instead.

After all, less important was what they actually did. More important was that whatever it was they ended up doing, they did it together.

Elaine reentered the front of the store from the backroom, where she'd gone to fetch her purse. She rifled around her carryall purse to make sure she had the money she intended to deposit with the bank in the morning and her heavy ring of keys. When she looked up, she saw the shadow of a person's head peering in through the front door. She almost screamed.

She watched the door for a few minutes, fervently hoping that whoever it was would figure out that with the lights off and the shades drawn that meant the store was closed. She really didn't want to have to summon the police.

Elaine wasn't sure what to do. The person didn't seem menacing, and surely the person would've broken in by now instead of standing around with his or her nose pressed up against the window for everyone else outside to see. Maybe, she thought, the person simply didn't understand that the store was closed for the day.

"We're closed!" she called out shakily. "Come back tomorrow!"

"Elaine-ah! Is that you?"

"Ma?"

That was the last voice she'd been expecting to hear.

Chapter 11

Posted on Tuesday, 5 April 2005

"Elaine-ah, you in there?"

Elaine quickly rushed to unlock the door. "Ma, what are you doing here?" Her mother never came by the store.

"What? I can't visit? You no want me to visit? I thought you always complain I no visit."

"Well of course I want you to visit, Ma, but we're closed now. You should've come by earlier, when the store was still open."

"But this better, no? You can show me everything and no one interrupt us. You make changes since last time I here with your father. Arrange things different, no? I like, Elaine."

A compliment? From her mother?

Elaine looked past her mother, out the door. "Where's Ba?"

"Your father at home, playing wei qi with your Uncle Hsu tonight. I make them wonton soup for dinner and they not even notice when I tell them I coming to see you." Fanny laughed quietly as she thought about her husband and how involved he and his friends always became when they played their favorite Chinese game.¹

"I like this piece, Elaine. You make?"

Elaine watched her mother embrace her store and her artwork with curiosity, hunger, and confusion. Curious as to why her mother had come tonight, of all nights, hunger for the appreciation her mother so rarely showed, and confused as to how she was supposed to approach the situation. Particularly since she was supposed to meet Will in less than an hour, and the clock was ticking.

More than once Elaine tried to relay to her mother that this wasn't a good time, that she already had plans for later that evening, but every time she tried to broach the issue Fanny deftly prevented her from saying anything more by cutting her off mid-sentence. It was almost as if on some cosmic level she knew her daughter had a date, and was preventing her from seeing Will on purpose. Fanny couldn't have known about their plans though. Except for Madeline, no one knew that she and Will were going to have dinner and then watch a movie afterwards.

"You know, Elaine. I never tell you this, but my wai gong, your great-grandfather on my mother's side, he also make things with his hand. Whenever he have free time, he always make things out of wood. Ma ma, she used to tell us that her ba ba made all the furniture in their home and all the toys she and her sisters and brothers used to play with."

"Really?" Elaine asked with interest; she'd never known that about her ancestor.

"Yes. You must get your art and your creativity from my side of family."

"How come you never told me this before?"

Fanny shrugged. "I thought it would be . . . how you say in English? A passing fancy. Something you just played around in, like when you little."

"You hoped it would be a passing fancy."

While she was surprised to hear such honest words from her mother, Elaine wasn't above ruining the moment by calling a spade a spade.

"I was wrong."

"Excuse me?" All thoughts of Will flew out of her head the minute her mother uttered those words. Elaine was sure she'd heard wrong.

"You have gift, Elaine. Look how pretty you make this." She held up one of her daughter's vases and showed it off as if Elaine, the creator, had never seen it before.

Elaine had never seen such pride in her mother's eyes before. She pulled out two chairs, gestured for her mother to take one, and sat in the other. "Tell me more about my great-grandfather, Ma."

For the next hour or so, Fanny regaled Elaine with stories about their ancestors. Elaine sat mesmerized as she learned how her great-grandfather had made his living in the construction business, and how he'd bring home pieces of leftover wood to make things for his family. Fanny even described for her daughter the toy her grandfather had made for her when she was just a little babe. "I show it to you, next time you and your sister come to dinner," Fanny told her.

Elaine still couldn't understand why her mother had never shared these stories with her before. But, whatever her mother's reasons, she was glad that her mother had chosen to open up her family's past with Elaine tonight.

As a child, one of Elaine's favorite things to do as a family was to sit around the table, long after dinner had been eaten, and listen to her parents talk about what it'd been like for them to grow up in Taiwan. It was also through these stories that Elaine got to know her grandparents and other relatives, most of whom still lived overseas.

When an hour had passed, Fanny stood almost regretfully it seemed to Elaine. "Ai-ya! So much time has passed. Your ba ba is probably wondering where I am!"

Elaine stood and put away the chairs. "How will you get home?"

"Same way I come. I take cab."

"Do you have enough money?" Elaine asked. "Here, why I don't give you an extra twenty. Just in case."

Fanny smiled and patted her youngest on her cheek. "You a good daughter, Elaine-ah."

Elaine was practically bowled over with the number of compliments her mother had paid her this evening. "Elaine-ah," her mother began. "Why we no go have dim sum this weekend, hm? Been long time since I have dim sum. You come with me Saturday morning?"

"Just you and me?" Fanny nodded. "Well, okay, yeah. Sure."

A million thoughts ran through Elaine's head. First and foremost, she was surprised by the invitation. Ordinarily, she probably would have come up with an excuse to get out of having lunch with her mother, just the two of them. But, something special had happened tonight. Mother and daughter had shared a moment. Even better, her mother had been approving of everything Elaine had ever done in her life. It was such a wonderful feeling, so wonderful that Elaine wasn't yet ready to lose it. Especially when her mother's approval often seemed so elusive, making Elaine crave it even more.

Elaine made sure all the store doors were locked then walked her mother to the corner of the street where she helped her mother find a cab. Once she'd closed the passenger door and given the driver her parents' address, Elaine watched the car drive off. Then she was alone.

She happened to glance at her watch, noted the time, and yelped in surprise. Will! She couldn't believe she'd forgotten all about him!

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," she muttered to herself as she hit the pavement running. "Maybe I can catch him," she wondered aloud. Don't be stupid, her brain answered back. She was already twenty minutes late, and with traffic in between it would be at least another half hour before she could reach their meeting point. The likelihood of him waiting around for almost an hour was probably nil.

As she ran, she reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. Turning it on, she hit the speed dial button to call Will. No answer on his cell phone. She tried his home phone. No answer there either. She left messages for him in both places, and then noted that she had several voicemails on her cell phone too. She listened to them as she caught the bus uptown, towards the movie theater.

The first message from Will was to let her know that he was going to be ten or fifteen minutes late. This was good, Elaine thought, if he was late . . . well, so was she. His second message was to let her know that he was standing out the Castro Theatre waiting for her. A third message told her that he was still waiting for her. In the fourth message, he wanted to know if he was waiting in the wrong place. By his fifth message, Will sounded a little annoyed.

Hey, it's me again. Look, I don't know where you are or what's going on. You're usually on time, but you're forty-five minutes late now, and I haven't been able to reach you for the past hour. I hope everything's okay and that nothing's happened to you, but I'm getting hungry and, well, I guess I'm a little tired now. So I'm going home. I'll talk to you later.

Elaine listened to the last of her messages just as she got off the bus. Interspersed, there'd also been two messages from Jane wanting to know where she was. As the second one mentioned that Will was trying to find her, Elaine had to assume that Will had also tried calling Jane when he hadn't been able to get in touch with her.

It was with a heavy heart that Elaine rounded the corner and came upon the Castro Theatre. Its marquee was ablaze with lights, but standing underneath there was no Will. Elaine walked towards it anyway, mentally berating herself all the while. She stood under the marquee with her hands shoved in her pocket, and kicked at the sidewalk. On the one hand, she was angry at herself for having forgotten her date with Will and not even remembering to call him to either let him know she'd be late or cancel the meeting altogether. It was just that she'd gotten so caught up in the moment with her mother, and Elaine couldn't regret the hour they'd spent together in her shop.

Ah well. What was done was done, she sighed philosophically. Elaine figured she'd go home, try to call Will and explain. Hopefully he wasn't so mad at her for standing him up that he wouldn't give her a chance to explain.

She started to walk away from the movie theater, in the opposite direction from which she'd come, when she something red on the ground caught her eye. It was a single, long-stem rose, slightly crushed from when it'd been thrown to the ground. It looked so sad and so alone, lying there as the rest of the world hurried past it. Elaine picked it up and examined it, and then she hugged it all the way home.

Elaine sat nervously in the on one of the hard plastic chairs, lined up against the wall of the hospital's corridor. She had a hard time sitting still; her shoes bounced against the floor and her head kept craning from left to right to see down the hallway. Around her, there were people doubled over in pain, sniffling from persistent colds, and children wailing at the highest decibels their voice allowed. Everybody around her was waiting to see a doctor, and so was Elaine. Only, she had a particular doctor in mind.

Charlie slipped into the seat next to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

Elaine's tightly wound bundle of energy popped. "Hi! What's going on?"

"Been waiting long?"

She shrugged. "Not very. Well? Did you see him? What'd he say? Is he going to come down?"

Charlie shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Before I say anything, can I just say again how uncomfortable I am playing the go between, between you and Will?"

"I know." Elaine kissed him on his cheek. "I really appreciate it."

"And that I'm only doing this because you're like a sister to me and because Will's my best friend, and I think you guys are perfect for one another, even if I do think he's being a bit of a pain at the moment."

"I know."

"Are you sure you even want to deal with him?"

Elaine didn't even hesitate to say, "Yes."

"Well, okay then. He's with patients right now, but he says he'll be down as soon as he's through."

She took Charlie's hand and squeezed it. "Thanks. You're such a softie. I love you for it."

"Yeah, yeah."

"I owe you one."

"I'll keep that in mind next time Jane and I want to be in the apartment alone."

"Um. You are aware that you live by yourself, right? That any time you want to be in an apartment alone with my sister you have only to go to your apartment, which is only a few floors down from ours?"

"All true, but you're forgetting one very important point."

"Which is?"

"Your television's bigger."

Elaine rolled her eyes. "What is it with men and their television sizes?"

It was at least another half hour before Will came down. Elaine was bored and had started humming to herself. It was purely by happenstance that she looked up at the right moment and saw Will walking towards her. The vision took her breath away.

She'd never seen Will in his full doctor's regalia before. But now that she had, she could see how well his profession suited him. He had his hands tucked into the front pockets of his khaki pants, and he'd left his long, white lab coat unbuttoned, revealing the blue button-down he wore underneath. The tails of his lab coat flapped in the wind with each of his purposeful strides down the hallway.

As Elaine stood to meet him, she rubbed her damp hands anxiously against her pants and fiddled with the straps of her small, leather backpack. This was clearly his domain and she was the intruder.

Will drew nearer and Elaine could see there was a hard edge to his expression. He wasn't fuming, but he didn't look happy either. He looked grave and serious, which only added to his distinguished air. Gone was the boy with whom she'd joked and teased over shaved ice, hoop games, and extra-soggy dumplings. In his place stood a man, a cool and collected professional.

They met head to head in the hallway, like a showdown in some Western movie. All that were missing were the silver spurs and the tumbleweed.

Will's shoes came to a clicking halt on the linoleum floor in front of her, and Elaine noted with some surprise, "You wear glasses!"

She was far from disgusted by them. In fact, she thought they made him look even more intelligent and distinguished than he already was. But they also served as a reminder that there was still so much that they had yet to learn about one another.

Will shrugged in answer, lifted them from his face, and slid them into the breast pocket of his perfectly ironed lab coat. His name was embroidered there, and had it been any other moment, she would've been tempted to run her fingers over it.

"I don't wear them all the time," he explained unperturbedly. "Just whenever I need them."

"Cool."

Will coughed and looked briefly away before turning back to her. "So what's up? Charlie said you needed to see me."

"I was hoping you had some free time."

"You know I'm on call right now, don't you?" he cut in.

"I really need to talk to you. To explain about last night. You've been ignoring me all day and this was the only way I could think of to get a hold of you. I really think you need to hear what I have to say."

"I got your messages."

At first, he'd been relieved to hear that she was all right, that his worst fears hadn't come true and she hadn't met with some accident on the way to meeting him. Then, once his relief had been tempered by time, and he'd thought about it a little more, he'd grown increasingly irritated. "How long does it take a person to pick up the phone and let someone know they're going to be late?" he'd asked himself. A one-sided conversation had continued after that, and the results were less than flattering for Elaine. By the end of his tirade, he'd determined that Elaine was selfish and unfeeling. And he'd even brought her a rose last night! Well, he was glad now that he'd thrown it away after all.

Didn't she know that he would worry about her? Letting someone know that they were going to be late, or wouldn't be able to meet as planned, was a simple matter of common courtesy. Still indignant that she hadn't bothered to do either, Will decided to deal with the problem by ignoring it altogether. That included not speaking with Elaine, even though she'd tried on several occasions to contact him.

A part of him knew she probably had a very good reason for standing him up the night before, but the other part of him - the part that was irritated - wasn't ready to let it go. He'd needed time to dwell over matters, except Elaine had now taken that away from him by tracking him down to the hospital.

"I'd like an opportunity to give you a better explanation. The whole picture?"

He continued to stare blankly at her for several minutes, causing Elaine to squirm as she stood. Then he looked at his watch and said, "I suppose I can swing a half hour, so long as no emergency comes up. But it'll have to be over dinner in the cafeteria. Since I'm on call, I don't know when else I'll get to eat."

It wasn't Elaine's first choice, but she'd take what she could get. There were things that needed to be said, things that needed to be discussed, and they would not be put off any longer.

"That sounds fine," she answered. "Lead the way.

"I tried calling you last night," she continued, as they waited in line for the evening's du jour, chicken picatta with egg noodles and a side dish of vegetables. "I even left you several messages, both on your home phone and cell."

"That must've been after I left the restaurant and went home, because I checked both while I was waiting for you. Then I gave up, went home, and went to bed."

Although he'd left it unsaid, his message came across loud and clear. He couldn't say he'd turned off all his phones or hadn't heard the phone rang; he was a doctor, trained to heart the phone ring and accustomed to being roused in the middle of the night. He'd simply ignored her last night, and that was that.

She deserved it, she reminded herself, even the jab about her calling him after he'd left the theater. She'd stood him up. Now she was paying penance by eating dinner at the hospital cafeteria, choosing between dripping mashed potatoes or yellowed succotash beans. She ended up going with the chocolate pudding.

They carried their trays to the far corner of the cafeteria and sat across from one another. Will hoped that in sitting so far away from the others, it would send a clear signal to anyone who might recognize him and try to sit with them. He needn't have worried. Both his and Elaine's body language clearly indicated that they wanted to be left alone.

"You'd better talk fast if you want to talk to me," Will said, as he buttered his roll. "You never know when I'll get paged."

Elaine poked a straw through her milk carton and sipped before saying, "I wanted to apologize for last night."

"So you said. In the seven messages you left after you stood me up."

"I really am sorry about that, Will. I didn't mean to stand you up, didn't want to stand you up, and actually I really do have a good reason for not showing up."

Will took a bite of his roll and chewed thoughtfully until he swallowed and said, "Okay, yeah. I figured you probably did have a good reason, but I was pissed and had to stew about it for a while."

Elaine let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. This was good news. He wasn't really mad at her.

"I promise you, I didn't forget about our date last night. It's just that . . . my mom showed up unexpectedly at the store last night, right after we closed. Then she stayed to talk."

Will frowned. "You couldn't call to tell me that? I mean, at least I wouldn't have stood around for an hour looking and feeling like a fool, not to mention starving to death, and wondering where you were and whether you were okay. I worried, you know."

"I know." That was probably the worst part, making him worry about her. She'd never had anybody other than her family to worry over her. "At first, I wanted to get rid of her as soon as I could. But it's not often that my mother stops by my store. In fact, she rarely ever does, so I had to show her around. Then I wanted to call you to let you know what was going on, but she never gave me an opening. And if you knew my mother, you'd understand why I couldn't just tell her to hold on for a second while I gave you a ring."

"Why don't you make me understand?" Will suggested.

Over chicken picatta and chocolate pudding, Elaine tried to paint as best she could a portrait of her parents for Will to see. She even told him about their hope that she would one day marry someone Chinese.

"You've got to be kidding me," was Will's reaction. "You were born and raised in America. How can they expect you to marry someone Chinese?"

Elaine shrugged. "Personally, I've never felt the need to limit my options based upon ethnicity. I've always looked for someone who has similar interests, makes me laugh, and is a good person. But my parents they have their reasons too."

"Such as?"

"Fear of loss of identity, culture, communication. It's difficult to explain. But mostly, I think they worry about what kind of a home their future grandchildren will grow up in. Will they be more American than they are Chinese? How will they communicate with their grandchildren, or even their son-in-law if he doesn't know how to speak Chinese?"

"But you live in the United States now; it's where you've grown up. And surely your parents speak English."

"Of course, but it's easiest for them to relay their thoughts when they're speaking Chinese. There's always the fear that something will get lost in the translation when they attempt to communicate in English."

Will shook his head. "Their fears. They seem very much all about them. What about you? Don't your needs and your interests factor into any of this?"

"Certainly, but my parents tend to focus on the bigger picture."

"I'd think that your happiness would be the biggest picture of all. After all, you're the one that's going to have to live with your husband for the rest of your life, not them."

This was always the most difficult part of explaining her parents' beliefs to her friends. It never made any sense to anybody, but still she slogged on and tried. "I'm not trying to defend them, Will, nor am I even saying that I agree with them. What I am saying, however, is that these are their views and as arcane as they may seem or as difficult a time as I may have in accepting them, I can understand where they're coming from. That doesn't mean that I choose to live my life by them, and in fact I don't. But, in the meantime, this is how they view the world, and that's what I have to live with. When I don't see eye-to-eye on something with my parents, that's what I have to fight against. I'm constantly toeing the line between living my life as me and as a good, Chinese daughter."

"I just don't understand why they're two separate things."

"I learned early on that sometimes that was just the way it was going to be. They're not always mutually exclusive, but on some things I doubt my parents and I will ever agree."

"Such as marrying someone that's not Chinese."

Here, Elaine hedged. "I don't think that they'd ever not accept someone simply because they weren't Chinese. It's more that they'd prefer if it if I did marry someone Chinese, and until such time as I do marry, they'll probably try their hardest to convince me to marry someone who is Chinese, someone who speaks the language and understands all our traditions and customs because they've been raised to value those notions as well."

"Pretty much all the qualities I don't possess."

Elaine smiled and, reaching out, touched the back of Will's hand. "No, but you have other qualities to recommend yourself."

"Qualities that your parents clearly don't care about."

"It's enough that I care about them."

"But, in the meantime, we're facing an uphill battle."

"Yes."

"And you knew this, even going into this relationship with your eyes wide open."

Elaine sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. Very determinedly, she said, "Like I said, I know what I want."

Will sat back as well, and tapped the table with his knife. He took a few seconds to process all the new information he'd been given. It wasn't easy, digesting all that Elaine had told him. But he knew it mattered, that it was important. So, he leaned forward in his chair and said, "Fortunately for you, I've never been one to back down in the face of a challenge either."

Those were the exact words she'd needed to hear. Until he said it, Elaine hadn't known how afraid she'd been that Will might turn tail and run at the first sight of difficulty. That he hadn't only endeared him to her even more. "Thanks," she managed with a wobbly smile. "I know it isn't what you bargained for when you met me."

He came around the table and took the seat next to hers. "Elaine, everything's going to be just fine. We'll make it work. Who knows, maybe your parents will even learn to like me, and all your worries will have been for nothing."

She wished she could be as optimistic as him. He had yet to meet her parents.

His beeper went off. "You know, there are times I really hate this thing."

"At least it gave us enough time to talk."

He looked at her and his expression softened. "Yeah, it did. We'll talk more when we have more time." She nodded in agreement. "You'll find your way out of here? Be okay?"

"Yup."

"Okay, because I've really got to run."

She laughed then and shooed him away. "So go then! Go!"

"I will, but not before a kiss."

"Always happy to oblige."

Footnotes:

1. Wei qi is also known as Go in English. For more information about this game, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(board_game)

Chapter 12

Posted on Tuesday, 10 May 2005

Seated side-by-side on the couch, with Will's legs stretched and propped along the coffee table and hers drawn up to her chin with her bare feet tucked under his knees for warmth, Elaine paused and looked up from her sketchpad when Will coughed. She took advantage of the moment to study his profile. He looked so studious, concentrating on the textbook he'd been studying ever since they finished dinner.

Feeling her eyes on him, Will lifted his head, took of his reading glasses and looked questioningly at her. "What?"

"Hm? Oh. Nothing."

"Still cold?"

Elaine picked at the oversized sweatshirt she'd borrowed from Will, and said, "No. Not anymore."

Will reached out and fingered the hand that held a stick of charcoal. "You're lying. Your hand is as cold as a block of ice."

Elaine took her hand back and rubbed it against her stomach, mildly embarrassed. "I'm always cold. Even when it's a hundred degrees out, my hands are often cold and clammy."

"So what have you been drawing?"

For the past hour, since they'd finished dinner and cleaned up after themselves, they'd been sitting in companionable silence on the couch, each doing their own thing.

"What have you been reading?" Elaine countered.

Will held up the front of his textbook for her to see. Elaine leaned over and read aloud, "Ultrasound in Surgical Practice: Basic Principles and Clinical Applications. Sounds absolutely fascinating!"

"Oh, let me assure you, it is. Absolutely riveting. Now what have you been doing over there, so quietly for the past hour?"

Not without some hesitation, Elaine finally handed over her sketchpad while biting her lower lip. Will was surprised to discover that she'd been sketching him.

"I know, it's not a very good rendering," Elaine offered when Will remained silent.

Drawing, sketching, and painting had never been her forte. She was much better at creating images out of clay. But, she often drew out first what she'd want to create in clay later on, to get a better mental image. This is why she tried to keep a sketchpad on her at all time; she never knew when inspiration would strike.

"No," Will said after a fashion, "You're wrong. It's a very good rendering. In fact, it looks better than the real thing."

"Oh, I don't think -"

"May I keep this?"

Elaine was both pleased and flattered, but a little embarrassed too. "Um. Sure."

"Would you sign it for me?"

"Of course."

Blushing, Elaine took back the sketchpad and signed her name in the right hand corner under the silhouette of Will's face. When she was done, she tore off the page carefully and handed it back to him.

Will took it with two hands, handling the piece of paper like it was a delicate flower. Then, leaning over, he cupped her right cheek to kiss her full on the mouth. "Thank you," he whispered against her lips.

"You're welcome."

The phone rang, ruining the moment. "Hold on. Don't move."

"I won't."

"Hello? Oh, it's you. Go away."

Still sitting on the couch, next to Will, Elaine couldn't help but listen in on his conversation. She wrinkled her brow as she continued to listen to the one-sided conversation. Will was being awfully rude.

"I don't have time to talk to you right now, Georgie. I'll call you tomorrow."

Ah, Elaine thought to herself, it was his sister.

"Yes, I'll call you tomorrow! I said I would, didn't I?"

He sounded chagrined, and Elaine could just imagine the verbal assault his sister was lynching upon him from the other end of the phone.

"Fine, if you're going to be like that, what's so important that you absolutely have to discuss it with me right now?"

Will sighed exaggeratedly and rolled his eyes at Elaine. When he started miming choking gestures, she merely giggled and waved back at him.

"The club picnic?" she heard him say. "What about the club picnic? No, I'm not going. I don't have to go because I have the convenient excuse of work. Why do you want to know? Are you being dragged to the thing?"

He must've found his sister's answer hilarious because he laughed out loud, clearly enjoying her pain. "Sorry, babe, but if the parental units want you there you're going to have a difficult time getting out of it unless you can come up with a really good excuse for why you can't attend.

"What? Oh! Grandmother wants you there too?" Will was practically falling off the couch at this point. "Good-luck getting out of the picnic then. No, I'm not going to intercede on your behalf. Why should I after all the times you used to get me in trouble? You're finally getting what you deserve.

"Nice try, but I don't love you that much, Georgie. You're just going to have to go to the stupid picnic and make the most of it. But don't worry, I'll be sure to think of you while I'm somewhere else and you're suffering at the picnic."

Even sitting as far away as she was, Elaine could hear Georgina's high-pitched, irate voice through the phone. Wincing and grimacing, Will held the receiver away from his ear. When he'd let her finish saying her piece, he put the phone back to his mouth and said, "I've put in my time at the picnics, Georgie. It won't be that bad. After all, I made it out alive, so why shouldn't you?"

Georgina apparently had a few more choice comments to make in answer to her brother's question, causing Will to roll his eyes some more.

"Hey, listen Georgie. Can I call you back later? I really can't keep talking to you about this right now. If you want to discuss this some more, although I honestly don't know what I can do to get you out of the picnic, we can talk again tomorrow. But right now really isn't a good time."

At the mention of time, Elaine looked at her watch. Yikes! She hadn't realized the hour was so late.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am entertaining company," he told his sister. "I'm not going to answer that! That's none of your business! You're such a pest, Georgie.

"Yes," Will groaned, as his sister continued to badger him, "it is my girlfriend. Of course she's real! What? Did you think I was making her up when I said I was dating someone? Have some more faith in your brother, Georgie. Sheesh. I don't know what she sees in me.

"Elaine? What do you see in me?" he turned away from the phone to ask. Grinning, Elaine shook her head refusing to speak. "She won't answer your question, Georgie. I guess you'll have to ask her yourself when you meet her. When will you meet her? I don't know. Maybe the next time you're in town, which will probably be for the picnic, huh?"

Laughing devilishly, Will quickly yelled into the phone and over Georgina's ire, "Bye, sis! I'll talk to you again tomorrow!"

He quickly pressed the off button and returned the receiver to its cradle. "Sorry about that," he said to Elaine. "I couldn't get her off the phone."

"So I noticed." Elaine smiled. "What was she so upset about?"

"She doesn't want to go to some picnic that my parents and grandmother are making her go to." Will shrugged his shoulders. "She'll get over it."

"You don't have to go to this picnic?"

"I've served my time. It's her turn to suffer. Now, where were we?" Even as he started to lean in again, Elaine pushed him back with a hand to his chest. "What's the matter?"

"Have you looked at what time it is?"

Will took a quick peek at his watch. "Crap."

"Crap, indeed. I should get going. Thanks for dinner. Again." Elaine smiled.

"Any time."

When Will got up as she did to gather her things and collect her bag, she stopped him and said, "No, don't get up. I'll see myself out."

"How were you planning on getting home?"

"I can take a cab."

"I'll drive you home."

"It's okay, Will. I can take a cab. You have to get up early for work tomorrow morning. You should go to bed."

"And I will. After I've seen you home."

"But . . ."

"Elaine?"

"Yes?"

"I'm driving you home."

"Okay."

Elaine was up early the next morning. She wasn't meeting her mother until eleven-thirty, but she had a few things she wanted to do first that morning, and was determined to be early if not on time to meet her mother. When she couldn't find a blouse to match her flower-printed skirt, she stormed her sister's room, completely ignoring the fact that Jane was still abed and taking advantage of a morning where she didn't have to go into work for once.

"What do you think would go with this skirt?" she asked her sister, standing at the foot of Jane's bed.

"Are you kidding me?" Jane, who'd never had as difficult a time waking up in the morning as her younger sister, sat up confused but alert. "You just woke me up!"

"So?"

"I was sleeping!"

"And looking very pretty."

Jane tilted her head and looked incredulously at her sister. "Elaine!" she exclaimed, drawing the name out into three syllables.

"What?! You wake me up all the time."

"Only when you have to be somewhere! You'd kill me if I tried to wake you up when you were sleeping in."

"That is true."

"So you're just going to wake me up when I'm trying to sleep in?"

"I think I already did."

"I'm going back to sleep. Turn off the lights when you leave."

Jane flopped back onto her bed and rolled over, fully intending to ignore her sister, except Elaine kicked the end of her bed and said, "Come on, Jie, don't be like that. I really need your help. Help!"

"Go away," was Jane's reply, muffled by her pillow.

"Please? Pretty please? You're the only person who can help me."

"Argh."

"Don't you want me to look nice for my lunch date with Ma?"

Jane shifted onto her back, lifted her head, and focused on the thing dangling from the hanger in Elaine's hand. "Oh my gosh, are you holding a skirt in your hand? Or maybe I'm really still asleep and this is just a dream. Or nightmare for you."

"Don't be cute. You know it's a skirt. So come on, what goes with it?"

Jane held two fingers to her temple, pretending to think. "Wait. I know. Are all your jeans dirty and you haven't done your laundry this week. Am I right?"

"Are you going to help me or are you going to sit there and make fun of me all morning long?"

"Tempting as the latter suggestion may be, I suppose I'll help you. What's so dire that you had to wake me up?"

As she swung out of bed and reached for her robe, wrapping it around herself, Elaine explained her problem. "I don't have anything that goes with this skirt. It's got red, white and black in it, but I don't want to wear black or white because that's all I ever wear and if I show up to lunch in either color I will never hear the end of it from Ma.

"Why don't you wear something other than black or white, Elaine? Always black. Always white. So boring. So uninteresting. How you going to catch a boy's eye when you always look so plain? You're young. You shouldn't always wear the colors of death. You should wear more color. Like pink or purple or yellow or blue." Elaine mimicked.

"So you need something red."

"Preferably."

"I think I have just the thing for you."

The thing turned out to be a silk knit, red sweater set: a tank top and a cardigan. It did match the skirt perfectly. "That looks really nice, Elaine. If that doesn't wow Ma, nothing else will. I think she'll be pleased that you're not wearing jeans and flip-flops anyway. You have shoes to go with that outfit? Or do you need to borrow a pair of mine?"

"I was going to wear the strappy, black sandals that I bought when we went shopping together the other weekend."

"Oh, yes! Those are beautiful shoes and they'll be perfect with that outfit."

"Thanks for the help and the clothes, Jie."

"No problem. Now can I go back to sleep?" Jane asked, climbing into bed even as she spoke.

Elaine came over and kissed her sister on her cheek. "You're the best."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what you always say."

It was several hours later when Elaine strolled up to the Chinese restaurant where she was to meet her mother for dim sum.¹ She examined her watch and was pleased to discover that she was better than on time. She was ten minutes early. So far so good, she told herself, and patted herself on the back.

Just in case, she looked through the restaurant's front window. Good thing she looked. Her mother was already seated, waiting for her. "Figures," Elaine muttered to herself.

It was with some curiosity, however, that Elaine noted another woman sharing the table with her mother. It wasn't anyone Elaine recognized, but the two women seemed comfortable enough with each other, chatting over tea while they waited for Elaine.

"Hi, Ma!"

"Ah, Elaine-ah. At last, you have arrived." She unsubtly ran her eyes up and down, and nodded, approving the way her daughter was dressed. Out of habit, she reached out and tugged her daughter's skirt straight, and asked, "Is this new?"

"I got it with Jie when we went shopping the other weekend. Do you like it?"

"You don't think it a little short?"

Elaine frowned and looked down, saw her knees peeking out from underneath the hem of her skirt. "I don't think so," she answered hesitatingly. She didn't wear skirts on a regular basis. How long were they supposed to be? "Jie didn't say anything. She said it looked good."

Fanny shrugged her shoulder then as if to say it didn't really matter. "Come sit down and pay your respects to Mrs. Pan."

Gritting her teeth, Elaine took her seat as directed, and tried not to think about how her mother had an uncanny knack of always making her feel reduced to a five-year-old child, having to be told what to do and constantly reminded about her manners.

"Hello, Mrs. Pan. So nice to meet you," Elaine said politely, though still wondering about this woman's identity and presence. When Elaine had agreed to have dim sum with her mother this afternoon, she'd been under the impression that it would be just the two of them. Not a party of three.

Mrs. Pan nodded appreciatively at Elaine's fine display of manners and obedience. "She'll do well," she told Fanny.

Her comment and the long looks Mrs. Pan kept giving her made Elaine incredibly uneasy. Who was this woman and what did she want?

Elaine didn't have to live in suspense for very long. As Fanny signaled to the waitresses that they could finally roll their carts around, and picked out the dishes she wanted, she told Elaine in Chinese, "I've asked Mrs. Pan to join us for dim sum because she is a matchmaker and she wanted to meet you, to see what you looked like and get a feel for the kind of person you are, before she made any recommendations."

"A what?!" Elaine quickly shoved back from the table and stood up. Her napkin fell to the floor. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Elaine," Fanny hissed. "Sit down. You're creating a scene."

Elaine did as she was told because there was no other option other than to storm out of the restaurant. Not to mention, there was something about her mother that prevented her from picking that option. Her mother had always held an inexplicable power of her.

"Ma, I don't need a matchmaker."

"Don't be silly. Look at you, in your mid-20s and without proper prospects. I've put this off for too long. I should've done this years ago."

"Ma," Elaine said, a little bit more insistently. "Don't you remember our conversation from the other week? I already have a boyfriend."

"Of course you have a boy friend. You have always had many boy friends, Elaine. What has that got to do with anything?"

"No, Ma. Not a boy-space-friend. But a boyfriend. You know there's a difference."

"You are not married. Or even engaged to be married."

"But I'm still in a committed relationship."

"I don't think it would hurt to consult Mrs. Pan anyway," was Fanny's dismissive acknowledgment of Elaine's relationship with Will. "She comes highly recommended. Mrs. Gao's daughter met her husband through Mrs. Pan. Mrs. Gao said she doesn't know what she would've done if it hadn't been for Mrs. Pan's intervention. Most likely, her daughter would still be single and living at home in her attic. But now she's married, and with a baby on the way! All thanks to Mrs. Pan."

Fanny's thinly veiled compliment went a long way towards assuaging Mrs. Pan's fragile nerves. During the rather heated mother-daughter exchange, Mrs. Pan had started to revise her opinion of Elaine. She was loud, not meek, and she was argumentative instead of accepting. Mrs. Pan wasn't sure she'd ever be able to find a match for Elaine, especially as her clients tended to run towards the more traditional, but then she always did enjoy a challenge.

"What year were you born?" Mrs. Pan asked Elaine.

"She's a Monkey," Fanny answered, referring to Elaine's Chinese zodiac.²

"Elaine-ah, why you no eating? Here, have some steamed spare ribs. They're your favorite, no?"

"I don't want any spare ribs."

"Monkey," Mrs. Pan repeated thoughtfully to herself. She pulled a tiny notepad from her oversized purse and scribbled some notes. She took one more hard look at Elaine and said, "As a Monkey, she must be quite intelligent and quick-witted, with a healthy dose of common sense, but she is also strong-willed and impatient with a quick temper."

"It has always been so," Fanny agreed delightedly, already impressed with the way Mrs. Pan had so quickly and accurately pinpointed her daughter's personality and temperament.

"Elaine-ah? Did you try some of the shao mai? Or how about some of the ha gao if you'd rather the shrimp dumpling over the pork."

Elaine poked at the dumplings in their practically translucent wrappers. "I'm not feeling very hungry."

Fanny stared exasperatedly at her daughter. Impatience dripped liberally from her voice when she said, "You cannot not eat anything, Elaine. Now stop behaving like such a child. Eat."

Stop talking about me as if I wasn't here! was what Elaine wanted to yell back. Instead, she stopped pushing her food around with her chopsticks and tried to polish her plate tiny bite by tiny bite.

"She'd do well with a Rat or a Dragon," Mrs. Pan continued, making a few more marks in her notepad. "I'll have to consult my charts to determine which one would be her best match and get back to you."

"Of course," Fanny said understandingly.

There were a lot of factors that went into the matchmaking business. As they'd waited for Elaine, Mrs. Pan had explained that she would also have to consider the year in which Elaine had been born. That would determine which of the five elements in the Chinese zodiac: wood, earth, fire, water, and metal, that she was. She would also have to study, as part of her analysis, the phases of the moon and any other auspicious signs she might uncover.

"Do you think you'll be able to find someone for her?" she asked.

"There's always someone," Mrs. Pan reassured. "And it's my job to find that person. Don't you worry. I always make a match."

With her mouth full of fried turnip cake, Elaine almost butted her head against the table. "I don't need her to find me a person," she tried to tell her mother. "I already have found someone."

"It never hurts to look, to consider all your options."

Elaine had never met a more formidable fortress than her mother. Since they appeared to be at an impasse, Elaine decided that it would be best for all if she just left. Her mother didn't seem to need her in order to organize the rest of her life for her, and Elaine was not inclined to suffer through the rest of their conversation. "I really don't think I'm very hungry this afternoon. If you'll excuse me . . ."

"Sit down, Elaine. Don't be rude. I'm so sorry," she apologized to Mrs. Pan. "I don't know what's come over my daughter. She's not usually like this. Usually, she always listens to what I have to say. She really is obedient."

"Ma."

"Did you have some of the braised chicken feet?" Fanny cut her off by asking.

"I don't like chicken feet," Elaine found herself whining.

"Oh that's right. It's your sister that likes chicken feet."

"Ma."

"Maybe you'll feel better if I order you some of your favorite ma cho."

Fanny snagged the dessert cart as it whizzed by and had the waitress place the dish in front of Elaine. The little fried balls with sesame seeds on the outside and either lotus paste or red bean paste on the inside was a favorite dessert of Elaine's. But, today, she couldn't stomach the thought of even one. She hadn't had an appetite since her mother had said the word, "matchmaker."

"Ma."

"Elaine-ah, you're interrupting me again. Please stop."

And you're treating me like a child again., Elaine thought. Please stop.

Fanny continued to spout her daughter's attributes to the matchmaker, believing that if the matchmaker had all the best information in front of her she'd be able to find the best match for her daughter. "My Elaine-ah, she is also an excellent artist and a businesswoman. She has her own store, down by the wharf. You should visit her store," she gushed. When she saw Mrs. Pan's eyes narrow in doubt, she quickly added, "But don't worry. She is not so much of a businesswoman that she has no sense of family. Family is very important to Elaine, isn't that right, Elaine-ah?"

Elaine looked away not even bothering to agree or disagree. Her mother would do and say what she wanted to at this point anyway.

"And I know Elaine wants children. She'll make a wonderful mother. Why just look at her hips. Elaine-ah, stand up. Stand up so Mrs. Pan can look at your hips."

Elaine stared at her mother as if she'd grown two heads with horns sprouting out of each one of them. Was she for real?

"This one's not going to have any problems birthing babies," Fanny continued on blithely and obliviously, patting Elaine's hips underneath the table as Elaine had refused to stand up and be examined like a horse on the block. "She'll have nice, strong, healthy babies. And boys. I bet you she'll breed lots and lots of boys."

The remainder of dim sum continued to go downhill after that. Elaine had never felt less like a human and more like a brood mare than she had that afternoon. It was one thing for her mother to completely ignore the fact that she was in a happy, monogamous relationship, but it was quite another for her mother to try and pawn her off as some docile, obedient, baby-making machine.

It wasn't so much an issue of whether she was in fact docile or obedient, or whether she would one day bless her mother with grandchildren; specifically, grandsons. Rather, it was antiquated for her mother to believe that was all that was important in a relationship. Forget compatibility, equality, and love. Apparently, the only thing her mother deemed necessary for a successful marriage was for her to walk around pregnant with an apron around her waist, saying, "Yes, dear," at every turn.

Elaine was relieved when her mother and Mrs. Pan stopped swapping information and decided to call it a day, and prayed she'd be able to come up with an excuse the next time they wanted to meet.

Will was thinking fond thoughts of a hot shower and several hours of uninterrupted sleep as he grabbed his lab coat and bag, locked his car and rounded the corner to the house where he lived. His back was sore, his neck was sore, and his feet were killing him. It'd been constant emergencies, one right after the other, all day long. He looked forward to having the next day off. Daydreaming about how he was going to spend his day off lazing around his apartment, Will was surprised when he turned up the front walkway to his apartment building and found Elaine sitting on his doorstep, her face hidden behind her knees.

"Hey. What are you doing here? Have you been waiting long?"

When she didn't answer, he sat next to her and put down her things. It was clear Elaine was upset, though over what he wasn't sure. He had an inkling, however, of what it might be. Rubbing the back of her neck and kissing it, he tried again. "How was dim sum with your mom?"

He heard a groan and caught a brief sight of Elaine's tear-stained face before she burrowed it and her tears in his chest, and all but climbed into his lap as she clung to his waist.

It was the only answer Will needed for him to wrap his arms around Elaine and let her drain her tears.

Footnotes:

1. Dim sum is a Cantonese custom that has, through the years, spread its way across the Chinese culture generally. Served primarily on the weekends as a breakfast/lunch/brunch sort of meal, it consists of many types of small dishes that are served on carts that waiters push around the restaurant. As the carts pass by tables, restaurant patrons select the dishes they want directly from the carts thus negating any need for menus.

For more information about the history, tradition, and culture of dim sum as well as descriptions and recipes of some of the most common dim sum dishes, see the following two websites:
http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa070700a.htm
http://www.wanderingspoon.com/about/clips/clip_cs-dimsum.html

2. There are twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac (in order): Rat, Ox/Cow, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram/Goat/Sheep, Monkey, Rooster/Chicken/Cox, Dog, and Boar/Pig. Although the Chinese adopted the Western calendar in 1911 and has followed it ever since, the traditional Chinese calendar is a lunar one and runs on a twelve-year cycle where every year is named for one of the twelve animals zodiac.

The exact origins of the twelve animal system is unknown and, not surprisingly, there are several variations as to the folklore. Some say it was the Buddha who assembled the twelve animals, others the Jade Emperor, and some just say "gods" generally. One variation to the legend is that invitations were sent out to twelve animals (believed to be a representative sampling of all the animals) who then congregated and were assigned an order. Another variation is that after the animals all came together, there was a race and the order in which they completed the race is the order of the current Chinese zodiac. Still, another tale involves a cat and tells how the cat and rat used to be good friends until the rat, out of spite and jealousy, prevented the cat from attending the gathering. That is why the cat is not part of the zodiac and the rat and cat no longer get along.

As you can see, no one is quite sure how the twelve animals came to be a part of the Chinese zodiac. But everyone can agree as to the purpose of the twelve animal system. For more information, see http://www.c-c-c.org/chineseculture/zodiac/zodiac.html.

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