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Chapter 16

Posted on Sunday, 23 October 2005

After dropping Elaine off at her apartment, Will went home. He found the hour still early though and he wasn't yet ready for bed. He flopped onto his couch and started flipping through the television channels. It was a rare night that he had an opportunity to just sit and vegetate in front of his television. Will was halfway through Law & Order: Criminal Intent when his phone rang.

"William!" His mother's voice, cheerful and warm, made him feel instantly at home.

He was smiling when he said, "Hello, mother dear."

His mother was not to be charmed. "William, I have a bone to pick with you."

"Oh?" He lowered the volume on the television.

"I've been talking to your sister."

"Uh-huh?"

"And I've been hearing things."

"You know you can never trust a word that girls says. Georgina likes to tattle and carry tales."

"So, are you saying then that it's not true that you've met a girl?" The hitch in Will's breath gave him away. "Aha," his mother said softly. "So it is true. Shame on you, William, forcing me to find out this way."

"Aw, Mom." He scratched uncomfortably at the back of his neck. "I haven't known what to say."

"Why don't you start from the beginning?"

Like a boy coming home from school and reporting everything he'd done that day, that's just what Will did. All that was missing was the kitchen table, the plate of cookies, and glass of milk. For hours it seemed, Will told his mother how they'd met and how he felt. "She's like no other woman I've ever met, Mom. There's no artifice to her; she's the genuine thing. And best of all, I love how I feel when I'm around her. I feel right at home."

"You've fallen in love," his mom observed, her voice happy but tinged with sadness from knowing that her boy would never be fully hers alone anymore.

"Yeah, I have."

"I'd like to meet her."

"I'd like for her to meet you and Dad too."

"Why don't you bring her to the Country Club picnic?" she suggested.

"Oh, come on, Mom," he groaned. "Anything but that. Couldn't we all meet for dinner or something instead?"

"It's a perfect opportunity," his mother continued. "Not only will we be able to meet your Elaine, but your sister will as well."

"Perfect," he muttered.

"William," she said more sternly. "This is what you get for not bringing her to our attention sooner."

"I can't believe I'm being punished for this."

"Not punished. I'm just eager and curious. The picnic's next weekend and I don't know if I can wait any longer than that to meet her!"

"I'm going to kill Georgie. She knew I wasn't going to the picnic and I bet this was her way to make sure I'd have to go. The little twerp."

"Personally, I'm rather grateful that one of my children doesn't know how to keep a secret." He made a grumbling noise. "Don't be such a party pooper, William. It'll be fun! Do you think she'll be able to come to the picnic if you ask her?"

"I guess I'll ask her and see if she can get away from her store for an afternoon."

"I'd love to see her store," she said unsubtly and enthusiastically. "It sounds fantastic!"

"Mom," he said warningly. "Let's try not to bombard her all at once, shall we?"

"Oh fine. If you say so."

"Let's let you guys meet first at least."

"So you'll bring her to the picnic then!"

"If I have to."

"It'd make me very happy if you did."

"Then I guess I will." Across the lines, Will's mother beamed brightly. "There's just one more thing I haven't mentioned," Will said.

"What's that?"

"Elaine is Chinese."

There was a longer than necessary moment of silence. In the background, William heard the opening music segueing into the eleven o'clock news. Finally, his mother asked, "And?"

"And I'm just letting you know that."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Were you afraid that this was going to be a problem?"

"I don't know. Maybe." He confided in his mother some of the problems they'd faced so far with her parents. She wanted to be outraged on her son's behalf; after all, who could object to her son dating their daughter? He was the best. But hers was a mother's opinion, and because she understood society and the way it worked she held her tongue.

"I'm sorry you've had to deal with so much already," she told him, "and I wish I could reassure you that you wouldn't run into any more reactions similar to those of Elaine's parents, but you know as well as I do that's not true. And I daresay it won't all come from Elaine's side."

"I know." Will could think of at least one person who would have a problem with his relationship. But then, she'd disapprove of anyone he dated if it wasn't the woman she'd long ago picked out for him to marry.

"But you know your father and I don't care about those sorts of things. We only want to make sure that she's the perfect woman for you, and that she makes me happy."

Grateful that at least his parents were so easygoing and laidback, he said, "Then I think you'll like her."

"I'm sure I will, son."

"Well? How do I look?" Elaine asked, twirling in front of the mirror to seek her sister's approval.

Jane lay sprawled in the middle of Elaine's bed, surrounded by a pile of skirts, blouses, hats, scarves, and dresses. They'd all been discarded in favor of the outfit Elaine currently wore. Jane ran a critical eye over her sister's form, carefully studying the simple sundress she wore. "I think that's the best outfit so far."

"You don't think it's too simple?"

"It's a picnic you said, right? How fancy can you get?"

"I suppose. The coloring's okay? It doesn't wash me out?"

"You're beautiful, Elaine, the dress looks beautiful on you, and I have the perfect pair of earrings that'll go nicely with that dress."

"Thanks, Jie."

While Jane went off to find the promised earrings, Elaine examined herself critically in the mirror. This was going to be the first time she met Will's family and she wanted to make a good impression. Ever since Will had asked her to the picnic, Elaine had been worrying over what to wear and how to behave. Will kept trying to reassure her by telling her that the annual picnic at his family's country club was the perfect place to meet his parents because their attention would be diffused by so many other things, but Elaine took the position that she'd be dissected in front of all their friends. She would have much preferred a private setting for their first meeting.

As a man, Will was of little assistance at all. Yesterday, he'd told her not to worry because he knew his family was going to love her. When she'd asked him about the proper attire, he'd shrugged his shoulders and told her to "just wear something nice." He'd then proceeded to reassure her that what she wore really wasn't that big of a deal. Elaine marveled that he could really believe that. Didn't he know that a person's appearance meant everything?

Elaine was desperate for his family's approval. Especially since they hadn't had much luck in the family approval department so far.

When Jane reentered the bedroom, she found her sister still in front of the mirror, turning left to right, straightening the pleats in the hem of her dress. "You need to try and relax," Jane said, coming to stand behind Elaine. She placed her hands on her sister's shoulders. "Take a good look at yourself and be proud of what you see. You're an intelligent, vibrant, and beautiful young woman. Have confidence in yourself. No matter what happens this afternoon, trust in yourself. You alone know your self-worth."

Elaine took some deep, cleansing breaths. Her sister was right. She was smart and she did have a lot going for her. She was a good and honest person. There was nothing to be ashamed of. Will's family would have to take her as she was. "You're right, Jie. I can do this. Can't I?"

"Of course you can."

"Right."

"I'll be here waiting for you this evening," Jane said, pressing her cheek up against Elaine's.

With her sister's approval in hand, Elaine headed off to the country club picnic with Will. The unease she'd been experiencing all day and had only just managed to set aside returned to the fore once Will's car sped past the large iron gates that barricaded the private and exclusive country club from the rest of the world. The tension in her shoulders and nervousness in her stomach only increased exponentially as Will steered his car up the long, winding, poplar-lined driveway towards the club itself.

They crested a hill and, suddenly, the magnificent brick and white-columned building rose into view. Elaine gasped out of sheer delight. It was majestic, like something straight out of the movies.

"Impressive, isn't it?"

It was. Pity that ninety-nine percent of San Francisco's population would never be able to admire this fabulous piece of architecture.

Will pulled his car into the circular driveway. In the middle of the circle was a large water fountain surrounded by colorful flowers. Like a child in a candy store for the first time, Elaine's eyes continued to dart every which way, soaking in all the grandeur. Before Will could even bring his car to a full stop, there was already a valet there to open her door, and another to take Will's key and park his car.

Elaine thanked the man who opened her door, and received a look of surprise. It was almost as if the valet was shocked a guest at the country club would deign to speak to him. Will came around the car to join her. Resting his hand lightly along the small of her spine, he leaned next to her ear and said, "Just remember to relax and have fun. Everything's going to be fine, you'll see." Winking at her, he took what she prayed weren't sweaty palms, and led her straight through the building and out the back.

From the moment Elaine walked onto the back lawn of the country club where the picnic was being held, she felt out of place. Growing up in San Francisco, where the city was rich in diversity and culture, she'd never felt as though she was in any way different from the next person walking past her on the street or standing next to her in a line. Here, however, behind the segregating walls of the country club, Elaine was keenly aware of all the white surrounding her. And she wasn't referring to the tall, white columns that lined the colonnade of the country club's rear patio.

Unconsciously, she took a step closer to Will. He, misunderstanding her, continued to smile at her, slipped his arm around her waist, and guided her through crowds of his acquaintances. Although Will had asserted on several occasions that he hated attending social functions like this picnic, it was obvious he was in his natural milieu. He seemed to fit right into the blend, know everyone around them, and know exactly what to say and when. Elaine, on the other hand, felt dowdy, out of place, and unsophisticated in their company. The sundress that had looked so pretty in her bedroom looked cheap and common compared to all the other women present at the picnic.

Elaine only felt worse when three young women bedecked in designer suits and matching hats accosted them. Elaine couldn't help but peevishly think that they looked a little like walking Easter eggs. Will quickly pointed them out to Elaine before they descended upon them. She learned that the one wearing the pink bouclé suit was Crystal. Victoria was the one dressed in a pale yellow chiffon suit, and Jennifer wore a mint green suit. Each woman wore matching colored pumps on their feet and carried carefully coordinated handbags.

"Will, darling!" it was Crystal who cried out most excitedly. The sharp edges of her oversized brooch dug into his chest as she leaned in for an air kiss. "It's been ages since we've seen you! How are you doing?"

"Your parents said you weren't coming," Jennifer added, pressing forward for her own air kiss. "We were absolutely devastated to hear that, but I'm so relieved to see that they were wrong."

"We're always sure to ask," Victoria said, not wanting to be left out. "We miss you terribly. We hardly see you these days." She very coquettishly twirled a section of her pearl necklace around her finger as she bat her eyelashes at him.

Crystal tapped his chest with her pink lacquered finger, "Not to mention, this picnic's been an absolute bore. But now that you're here, the picnic will be ever so much more fun." She wriggled her shoulders to emphasize her point.

Will rolled his eyes and extricated himself from their clutches. Drawing Elaine forward, he made the introductions. The threesome didn't even bother to hide their disdain, as they looked her up and down and then dismissed her as someone obviously inconsequential. Who wore hand-me-downs to one of the social events of the year?

They refocused their attention on Will and started asking him about their mutual acquaintances, whether he'd been to the theater lately, and would he be attending the club's charity auction next month. Out of the corner of his eye, Will saw Elaine's eyes start to glaze over. Before Crystal, Jennifer, and Victoria could get the idea that he was actually interested in their conversation, and before Elaine turned into a pillar of salt, Will pretended he'd seen someone he wanted to introduce Elaine to, and politely excused both Elaine and himself from their company. As they walked away, Elaine said very softly, "You could've kept talking to them. I didn't mind."

"Are you kidding me?" he whispered back. "I'm glad you were there to give me an excuse to walk away. Those girls could bore a statue. Always have and always will."

"They seemed nice," Elaine said magnanimously. "Very pretty too."

"If you go for that sort of style, I suppose."

"Their outfits were gorgeous. And looked very . . . expensive . . ."

Will stopped walking and turned Elaine to face him, taking her by the shoulders. "Sometimes there's a thing as too much." She was still musing over his words when he looked past her and brightened. "Ah, there are my parents. Come on."

At his announcement, Elaine's knees practically buckled underneath her. Hoping her hair was in place and her dress hadn't wrinkled or creased since she'd last checked herself in the mirror, she let herself be dragged across the lawn.

"Mom! Dad!"

"William!" His mother cried out in glee. "There you are. Goodness, but this picnic is a crush. We've been looking all over for you."

"Where's Georgina?"

"She decided to come separately; she'll be here later." Will's mother peered around him to the half-hidden Elaine. "And you must be Elaine," she said with some satisfaction. "Welcome, dear."

Will stepped to the side to make room. "Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet someone very special to me, Elaine Bai. Elaine, these are my parents, Geoffrey and Annette Darcy."

His mother clasped her hands to her chest, said, "Oh," and proceeded to overflow with tears.

Elaine stood horrified. Was she really so objectionable?

"Oh good grief, Mom," was Will's reaction.

Her husband took out his handkerchief with a long-suffering sigh and handed it to her. "Here you go, Annette. Really, must you carry on so? You're scaring the poor girl. Not to mention drawing a lot of attention.

"I'm sorry," Annette whispered, dabbing at the corner of her eyes. "It's just that . . . oh, but this is a very special day. It's so nice to meet you finally, dear. So nice. Come here and let me give you a hug."

Elaine stepped forward woodenly. She was unaccustomed to overt warmth and public displays of affection. Though she was relieved to see such obvious acceptance from Will's parents, she almost wished they would be a little less happy. That she would've known how to handle. "It's nice to meet you too," Elaine said, and looked a little helplessly towards Will. He shrugged his shoulders, a clear indicator that she was on her own.

"You can't know how surprised William's father and I were when we learned of your existence," Annette told Elaine, "But I also can't tell you how happy we were after we spoke with Will the other night. He was so happy, and all because of you. I've been looking forward to our meeting all week!"

"I, um, have too," Elaine tried to answer brightly.

"Oh dear. I think I've managed to shell shock you, haven't I? Did I come on a little too strong?" she looked to her son and husband for confirmation.

"Just a smidge, dear," Geoffrey answered.

Annette took one of Elaine's arms and led her over to a lawn chair. "It's a bad habit of mine, but come, you must tell us all about yourself. William tells me you're a potter and that you co-own a store. He's only had good things to say about your work and your store, and now I'd dearly love to see it as well."

"Oh, well, you're always welcome, Mrs. Darcy. I'd be happy to show you around."

"Please dear, you must call me Annette." Elaine felt discomfited by the request. She'd been raised to address elders by their honorifics; to call them by their first name was unthinkable in the Chinese culture.

"Oh great," Geoffrey groaned loudly.

"What?" his wife turned back to ask.

"You? In a store? I'm going to have to hide my credit cards."

Annette huffed loudly. "Really, Geoffrey. You make it sound like I'm about to bankrupt you."

"That's because you always do."

"Really? Always? Name a date when I've done that."

"Last Thursday when you went to Saks."

"Bu they were having a sale! Think of all the money I saved you by purchasing only those items that were on sale."

"Think about how much money you could've saved me by not buying anything at all."

"But what would've been the fun in that?"

Geoffrey stuffed his hands in his pocket. "I suppose you've made your point."

Annette grinned broadly and turned back to the somewhat wide-eyed Elaine. It'd been a learning experience for Elaine, watching Will's parents volley back and forth like that. "So," Annette started to ask, "when would be a good time for me to stop by your store, dear."

"Ah . . . anytime we're open, I suppose."

"But my dear, I want to make sure to go at a time when you'll be there."

"Oh, well, I don't keep a static work schedule, but I work most days and we're open seven days a week. If you'd like to call ahead and make sure I'm there before you make the trip to come down, you're certainly welcome to do so."

"I will, dear. That's a fabulous idea."

Geoffrey tapped his wife's shoulder. "I hate to interrupt, but I see Jay standing by the water fountain. We should say hello and let the young people have an opportunity to interact with their own set."

While Will threw his father a grateful look, Annette looked towards the water fountain and saw her husband hadn't been lying just to give their son and his girlfriend a break. "Oh, we should, shouldn't we?" She turned back to Will and Elaine and said, "I'm so sorry dears."

"Quite all right, Mom."

"It was so lovely meeting you, Elaine. Thank you for coming this afternoon."

"It was my pleasure. Thank you for inviting me, Mrs. Darcy."

"Annette, dear, Annette. I'm sure we'll meet up again this afternoon though. Don't leave without saying good-bye!"

"We won't, Mom."

They watched his parents walk away. "There, that wasn't so bad was it?" Will asked.

"They liked me," Elaine said dumbfounded.

"Of course they did. Did you think they wouldn't?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"They're accepting people, Elaine. Not everyone isn't."

Like her parents. She didn't need for him to say it; she knew it herself. And yet she bristled at his words and the way he'd said them all the same. Which was stupid, especially considering she'd said it many times herself.

"But not everyone is either." Elaine thought of several of the glances she'd encountered so far at the picnic.

Most of the glances she'd received had been curious ones, but amidst them had been the thinly veiled ones betraying that they didn't think she belonged. She wondered how much of it was because she wasn't a club member and how much of it was because her hair was black. It was probably a bit of both.

"No, that's certainly true."

Will took Elaine's arm. "Let's go and get something to eat. I wonder what's keeping my sister. Go figure Georgina gets me dragged to the picnic and comes late herself."

They had just reached the end of the refreshment table and Will was about to hand her a small, glass plate when he pulled up short. "Well, I'll be."

Elaine jerked her head up abruptly from where she'd been concentrating on her footsteps, "What? What's the matter?" Her gaze followed his to across the lawn, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Just clumps of people standing together, mingling, laughing, socializing. There were clumps all over the country club's back lawn.

A small smile crept across his face. "Nothing. I just wasn't expecting to see her here today. In fact, I didn't even know she was back in San Francisco."

Elaine's brow furrowed. "Who?"

Will looked back at her. "Look, I know I promised you some food but would you mind if we held off on the sandwiches for a couple of minutes longer? I just spotted an old friend of mine whom I haven't seen in years."

"Oh. Um, sure, no problem," Elaine said. It was obvious this "old friend" had riveted his attention, but Will had never given her a reason to be wary or jealous before. "You'll probably want to catch up if you haven't seen her in years. Why don't I stand over here and wait? You can come back for me."

"Oh no you don't. You're coming with me. I want to introduce you to her. You'll love her," he promised.

He took her elbow and carefully maneuvered her around the corner of the refreshment table. As they did so, they turned and walked into the path of, "Grandmother de Bourgh!"

"Hello William." She raised an imperious eyebrow. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your little friend?"

Chapter 17

Elaine stared at the cars zipping past as she and Will drove to another gathering of family and friends. This time, hers. When her mother found out how she'd spent her Saturday afternoon last weekend, she wasn't about to be left behind. She immediately invited Elaine and Will to join them for a mahjong party at her Aunt and Uncle Liu's home. Elaine had been leery about accepting the invitation; it was Will who'd wanted to go.

"This is great, Elaine," he'd said. "Your parents must be coming around to the idea of us."

She wished she could be so optimistic. She rather thought her parents were still of the opinion shared by Will's grandmother. Just remembering her introduction to his Grandmother de Bourgh made Elaine's stomach knot and twist all over again. Not that it'd been far from her thoughts all week long. Their meeting was like one bad rerun, replaying over and over again in her head.

It didn't take much effort for her to start remembering how his grandmother had come up to her at the picnic and cornered her while Will had momentarily left her side to visit the men's room. It wasn't so much what she'd said during their conversation that bothered Elaine so much, but what she had insinuated instead.

To say Elaine was surprised by his Grandmother de Bourgh seeking her out would have been a lie. She'd seen the way his grandmother had given her the look-over during their first introduction; it had promised that there would be more to come. They'd been on their way to meet his childhood friend, Michele, when she stepped into their path. "Hello, William. Aren't you going to introduce me to your little friend?"

Will made the introductions as his grandmother requested. "Hm," was all she said at first. "I wasn't aware that my grandson was seeing anyone."

The way she said it; it implied he'd been keeping her a secret, but not because he cherished her so much he wanted to keep her protected and all to himself, but because he was ashamed of her. Will was having none of that though. "You've been out of the country for almost two months, Grandmother, and on a ship no less. It's not like you were an easy phone call away. And you're meeting her today, aren't you?"

"Don't be so impertinent to your elders, William. It's quite ill-mannered and you've been taught better." Then she'd glared at Elaine as if this were all her influence.

"And how did you meet my grandson?" she asked Elaine. The way she asked the question made it very clear there was no way she could have met him through the country club. In that, they both agreed at least.

"It's a funny story."

"I believe I asked Elaine, William. Surely your girlfriend has a mouth and can answer for herself."

He rolled his eyes, but clamped his mouth shut.

"We ran into each other in my apartment building when he was visiting a friend, and then at a coffee shop several days later. But we were introduced again by my sister and her boyfriend and Will's best friend, Charlie Bing."

"Oh? How very interesting."

"I thought you might have met at work."

"No, ma'am."

"Not a fellow physician?"

"No, I don't work with your grandson in any capacity."

She held in her hand a small, delicate fan, and tapped it against her chin thoughtfully. "In what capacity do you work then?"

"I'm an artist. I co-own a store."

"An artist!" She arched an eyebrow. "How very interesting." Not that she sounded interested.

"It's a great store, Grandmother," Will interjected. "You should visit Elaine's store. She and her partner do really great work."

His grandmother seared him with a look. "Was I questioning the quality of your girlfriend's work, William?"

"Er, no."

"Well, children, I won't keep you. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other." Her pointed look let them know that she wasn't making an idle promise.

And it wasn't one. She made good on her promise an hour later when she found Elaine standing by herself on the portico overlooking the country club's back garden.

"I'm surprised to see you standing here all by yourself, Elaine. I couldn't help but notice that my grandson hasn't left your side all afternoon. How quickly you've shackled the handcuffs."

Elaine jerked in surprise and straightened. "Mrs. de Bourgh!"

She joined Elaine at the balustrade and in looking down below at the picnic still going strong even as the afternoon passed into the early evening. "I'm glad my grandson has finally left you alone, if only for a moment."

"Er, he'll be back soon probably. He just went to the men's room."

His grandmother waved her fan dismissively. "That gives us plenty of time. I've been hoping we'd get a chance to talk. Just us women."

"Um, sure."

"My daughter and son-in-law seem taken with you already. My granddaughter too." Elaine had meet Will's sister earlier and found Georgina just as friendly and welcoming as his parents.

"I'd like to get to know you better as well. I wasn't being facetious earlier when I said I was surprised to learn of your existence. My grandson and I are quite close, you see. Usually, he tells me everything."

Elaine arched her right eyebrow. Not only had the interaction she'd witnessed earlier between grandmother and grandson lacked any sort of familial warmth, she'd also never heard Will mention his grandmother prior to this afternoon. Not exactly signs of a doting grandson. But she didn't think his grandmother would appreciate hearing her say that.

"But then, I'm not surprised. He probably thought I'd disapprove."

This was interesting, Elaine thought. From the frosty greeting she'd received earlier, she hadn't anticipated this new self-deprecating tactic.

"But William misunderstands my concern. He probably feared I'd look down upon the fact that you're just an artist or that you're Chinese. My grandson has it all wrong though. I'm so glad you've been able to find success in your hobby; it's always nice when one has a job they can truly enjoy, isn't it? Not everyone can say that. Pity.

"But my grandson is right in that I do have some concerns about your background." Beside her, Elaine stiffened. "Oh," she flicked her fingers unconcernedly, "it's not that I look down on you, my dear. I already told you it wasn't that."

She guided Elaine's attention back to the garden's lawn, to the people milling about beneath them. "What do you see down there?" she asked.

"Um." Never a fan of pop quizzes, Elaine wasn't sure how she was supposed to answer.

Will's grandmother answered for her. "People." She held up a finger. "Not just ordinary people, but people William and his family have known forever." Opening her hand and waving it across in a sweeping gesture, she added, "This is his world, don't you see?"

"I'm afraid I don't, Mrs. de Bourgh."

She sighed heavily. "I was afraid of this. I see I'll have to speak plainly, though I dislike it so. Everything always comes out sounding wrong." Taking Elaine's hand in her own, she said sympathetically, "You're Chinese, dear."

"I know what I am."

"Of course you do, and you think me a senile old lady for reminding you of it. But that's my point. You'll never be able to forget that you're Chinese, and my grandson is not. That's how it would always be here in this world.

"Oh, you needn't look so shocked," she continued on. "They may be my friends and the people with whom I socialize, but that doesn't mean I'm immune to their faults. They might smile and say the proper things to your face, but what will they say behind closed doors? Behind your back?" She waved her hand as if waving away a thought, "I know what you're going to say, this is the twenty-first century, that we should have moved away from racial divides. But you'd be naïve if you really thought that was possible and true. In fact, you've probably encountered it already. Amongst your own people."

The expression on Elaine's face had Catherine smiling triumphantly. "As I said, my dear, it's not me. But you must admit the world can be a terribly cruel place. I don't want to see you or my grandson suffer at its hands.

"You're an intelligent woman, Elaine. My grandson, he is oftentimes too idealistic for his own good. He likes to view the world through his rose-colored glasses, so these are things I could never say to him. He'd send me away and label me an old, close-minded woman, set in my ways. I confess to being set in my ways, but close-minded I am not. I love my grandson and everything I've ever done has always been with his best interest uppermost in my mind. That's why, I hope you'll forgive a shocking old lady like me when I ask you to break things off with my grandson."

Elaine looked up, her mouth agape and her mind flooded with disbelief.

"Of course, I don't expect you to do it immediately or even without some reluctance. You'll want some time to think it over. That's natural and I understand. Given time, however, I'm sure you'll come to see things my way and agree. You seem like a realistic woman, Elaine. Things may seem perfectly fine and rosy now, but once the first flushes of romance fade and reality sets in, you may find that things are not as easy as you anticipated. I doubt you'll find the world as accepting as you hoped. When that time comes, you'll start to wonder: is this worth it? For the sake of your futures – to avoid all this trouble, I hope you'll give what I've said to you this afternoon some thought."

She patted Elaine's hand, almost grandmotherly in her gesture. "Ah, I see my grandson headed towards us. I won't keep you, but I do thank you for listening to an old woman like me. And don't forget – give it some thought, and remember, this is between just us girls."

Right. Us girls. She'd made it sound like they were part of some exclusive and chummy club.

Elaine sighed audibly at the memory while Will expertly parallel parked his car in Chinatown. He turned the key in the ignition but kept his hands on the wheel. "Look," he said suddenly, turning so that he was facing her. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, why?" She reached for the door handle, but he lunged across and grabbed the door, blocking her way. "What? Will, what on earth?"

"I'm sorry. I just . . ." His grip slackened and he sat back. "Hell, Elaine, I don't know what came over me. It just seems like you've been channeling some negative energy all week long or something," he said finally. "I can't understand why. Is it something I did?"

"Nothing's wrong, Will. And that's what I keep telling you every time you ask me if everything's okay," she said, giving him a pointed look. "Frankly, if anything's annoying me, it's your incessant questions about whether I'm okay. It gets tiresome after the fifth time in one day."

"I know," he said repentantly. "I know, it's just . . . I don't feel like you're telling me the truth." There, he'd said it.

Pangs of guilt surged through her heart. Elaine didn't know what to say because his observation rang true. "I can't help how you feel," she said, softly.

"No, I suppose not," he said, equally soft.

They both stared at their own laps. Each thinking a myriad of thought, but each unwilling to give voice to them. It was Elaine who finally said, "Look, I admit to having had some doubts about whether this relationship is ever going to work lately."

"Elaine!" Will's voice was filled with shock and surprise, but Elaine was determined to have her say.

"It's not something I wanted to tell you, because well, then I'd have to admit to having them. I'm not ready for that. It's not that I don't want our relationship to work, it's just that sometimes I look at you and I look at me, and I consider all the differences in our background, and it seems like instead of growing closer as most people do with time, the distance only grows greater with time. I wonder if we'll ever be able to bridge that gap."

"I wish you'd mentioned this earlier."

"I know this isn't exactly an optimal moment to be having this discussion." They were parked near her Aunt and Uncle Liu's apartment and had about ten minutes before they'd officially be late. "But you asked, and it didn't seem fair to keep hiding how I felt from you."

"This is why you didn't want me to come this afternoon?" There was an edge to his voice that Elaine didn't recognize. She'd hurt him, she realized.

"Will, I . . ." She wasn't sure how to answer. "No, I didn't think it in your best interest to come today," she admitted. "Not for the reasons you're probably thinking right now though."

She rested a hand on his arm. "You want to believe my parents invited you today because they've had a change of heart, that they've somehow come around to the idea of us and decided to be open about our relationship. I've had twenty-five years to know my parents though. That's not the way they work. And I'm not being pessimistic," she said, cutting off any argument he might have tried to make. "I'm being realistic. These are my parents. I promise you, no good can come from this afternoon."

"So you're not even going to try?"

An excellent question. Elaine wasn't sure how she wanted to answer. She'd been debating all week whether there was any point to trying, and whether she should just throw in the towel and call it quits before anyone got hurt.

"Of course I want to try," she answered finally.

"You needn't sound so reluctant about it," Will said, sounding chafed.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to. You are important to me, Will. And I'd like to make us work, if we can."

"We will make it work," he said insistently, and with renewed determination. "We have to believe in us, Elaine, if we're ever to make it work. Do you believe in us?" he asked, pressing his forehead to hers.

"Yes," she said, smiling at long last. He always could bring out the laughter in her. "Yes, I do believe in us," she repeated with a laugh.

"Good. Now don't forget it. And just to make sure that you don't." He lowered his head and kissed her so deeply and so thoroughly that Elaine almost forgot why she'd ever had any reservations about their relationship in the first place.

A sharp rap at Elaine's window had them jumping out of each other's arms. "Hey! Get a room!"

Breaking away, Elaine turned to look out the side window and stared in disbelief. "Charlotte?!" All at once she was laughing and racing to exit the car. "Oh my gosh! What are you doing here?"

"Surprise!" Charlotte threw her arms open wide for an expectant hug.

"Seriously, what are you doing here? And why didn't you tell me you were in town?"

"Because that would've ruined the surprise!" Charlotte laughed.

"So you're not going to tell me why you're here?"

"Not until everyone's assembled at my parents' house. I'm under strict instructions from my parents."

Elaine put her hands on her hip, and cocked her head to consider her friend. "So not really a mahjong party this afternoon, huh?"

"Nope, that was just the cover," Charlotte admitted with a blush to her cheeks. "Where's Jane?" she looked around.

"Jie? She's coming separately with Charlie. I came with someone else I'd like you to meet." Reaching around, she brought Will to her side. "Charlotte, be nice, this is my boyfriend, Will. Will, one of my best friends since childhood, Charlotte Liu."

"Nice to meet you, Charlotte."

"Oh my gosh! You sly thing," she said to Elaine. "You never said a word." To Will she said, "Wow, you're gorgeous. Lucky Elaine." Will laughed.

"I thought you would've heard about him from your mother, and if you ever bothered to call I would've told you myself!"

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "You should know my mother better than that to count on her to pass on the truly important things, like Will, here. Instead, all I hear about is how wonderful you are because you go home at least every other week to visit your parents in addition to talking to your mom almost daily. And I know I should call you more often, but I swear I've been so busy at work I often forget to sleep! But that always seems to be the excuse, doesn't it?"

Elaine swung a companionable arm around her friend's shoulder. "Let's go on up before our parents send out the search team, and we can catch up."

Once they entered the Liu's apartment there was little time for catch up though. Charlotte's mother whisked her off to pay her respects to all their neighbor and friends. Elaine fared little better, as she and Will were forced to endure a round of nosy introductions. Everyone wanted to meet the sole Caucasian in their midst and get their gossip fodder by observing the couple in action. Elaine felt like a circus animal on display. In her more pessimistic moments, she wondered when her parents' friends were going to start throwing peanuts at them, forcing her and Will to dance.

"Relax," Will leaned down at one point and whispered into her ear, while covertly stroking her shoulder. "Everything's fine."

"I'm trying."

But it was difficult to remain calm when she and Will were so obviously being treated so differently than her sister and Charlie, who'd arrived only seconds behind them. Even more aggravating was that Will didn't see all the ways he was being slighted by her parents and their friends. He was oblivious to it all because he didn't recognize the subtle signs.

Though her parents hadn't treated them like lepers, as Elaine had half expected them to do, they definitely weren't going out of their way to embrace Will either. Which was exactly what Elaine had expected. Will, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice that whereas her parents had paraded Charlie around the room, showing him off proudly to their friends, they had only introduced Will when approached by their friends. And done so begrudgingly.

The disparate treatment hadn't ended there. Elaine knew her parents loved Charlie, but she'd never seen them fawn over him quite like they had today. It was as if every other second her mother was walking up to him with food in her hand, pressing him to eat, and telling him that he worked too hard at the hospital and really needed to get more rest. The last bit she'd say very loudly so that her friends who happened to be sitting near would be able to overhear that her eldest was dating a doctor.

Never mind that her youngest was as well. But their acknowledgment of Will's profession was grudgingly given. It was as if they were loathe to admit he might have at least one redeeming quality.

If Elaine hadn't already known the reason, she would've wondered why they'd even bothered to try and include Will in a family affair. They were so obvious in their efforts to keep him separate from the family, such as speaking only in Chinese. Though they did speak Chinese most of the time, it wasn't as if they never threw in a mix of English now and then either. In fact, Elaine knew for a fact that her parents frequently conversed in English with Charlie even though he could speak Chinese as well. This afternoon, however, it appeared Fanny was only speaking Chinese.

Elaine considered it a slap in Will's face.

It was rude.

It was excluding.

It was wrong.

Elaine hated that there was such an obvious preference towards Jane and Charlie, and she wished Will did too. But as far as she could tell, Will didn't mind. Because he hadn't noticed. Which both relieved and infuriated her.

Relieved, because she didn't have to deal with the guilt she'd feel if he was aware of the way he was being treated. She didn't want to have to deal with that. She was already feeling embarrassed for him as it was.

Infuriated as well though, because he ought to be able to recognize when he was being slighted. And it should make him mad, so mad that he'd stand up for himself and demand proper treatment and respect.

And, if she were truly honest with herself, she'd admit that it made her feel ashamed too. Because she knew she ought to be the one standing up for him when he couldn't stand up for himself.

Jane turned from where she'd been chatting with some friends of her parents. She saw Elaine sitting by the window, looking unhappy, with Will standing helplessly behind her, and decided to give her sister a break. Not that it was any loss on her part, separating herself from the sea of questions about her career and when she was going to get married and start producing grandbabies for her parents.

Fetching Charlie so that he could distract his friend, she crossed over to her sister. She took Elaine's hand and smiled. "Are things really as bad as you look?"

"What? Oh. No, yes, I don't know."

Jane rubbed her hand sympathetically. She knew Elaine was having a rough time this afternoon. "Only, what? Four more hours to go."

"Oh, is that all?" The sisters looked at each other and burst into laughter. It was their only option other than to cry. "Thanks, Jie."

That's how they came to be standing together when the reason for assembling that afternoon was announced. "Thank you all for coming this afternoon," Charlotte's father began in Chinese until Jane dared to cough ever so slightly under her breath. It earned a glare from her mother, but it worked.

"Oh, excuse me," Mr. Liu said, switching over to English. With an apologetic glance at Will he said, "We forget, you no speak Chinese, Will."

"It's quite all right, sir." He smiled at Mr. Liu and the rest of the room. "Please, continue."

"We asked you here today because Charlotte engaged! To son of Chiu's, Billy!" As his name was announced, the newly anointed fiancé appeared in the doorway all smiles and looking like the most important man in the world.

"Oh!" said one person.

"Gong xi! Gong xi!" said another.

"Congratulations!" a third.

All at once the room was abuzz. It seemed everyone was making a mad dash towards Charlotte and Billy, the happy couple, to hug, slap backs, shake hands, and congratulate. Elaine, on the other hand, stood next to her sister and exclaimed quietly, but in a strained voice, "Charlotte's engaged to Billy Chiu?"

Jane looked on in equal horror. "So it would seem."

Several hours later, Elaine was dressed in her pajamas and standing in the living room she shared with her sister, still repeating the question.

"Charlotte. Engaged. To Billy Chiu."

"Elaine!" Jane, also dressed in her pajamas, rolled onto her back on the floor and slapped the floor in exhaustion and frustration. "I know! Now can we please go to bed!"

It seemed as if Elaine had been going on like a broken record ever since they'd left the Liu's house earlier that afternoon. Jane was not only tired of hearing her sister vent her disbelief, but she was also physically tired and wanted to go to bed.

"Billy Chiu!" The name came out in a strangled, gurgled voice.

"Oh, Elaine," Jane said, rolling back onto her stomach and then sitting on her knees. "I know he's not your favorite person, but consider. There must be something about him that attracts Charlotte, else why would she date him let alone be engaged to him? We should be happy for her."

"Charlotte! To be married! To Billy Chiu!"

"Has anyone told you lately that you sound very much like a parrot?" Jane's quip earned her a glare. "Okay fine. I guess not."

"How can she marry Billy Chiu? He's so . . . gross." Elaine made a face, drew up her shoulders, and shuddered. "Doesn't she see how full of himself he is?" Why, even that afternoon, Billy had managed to corner her for a few minutes to "reassure himself" that everything was okay between them, and that Elaine harbored no ill-will towards his and Charlotte's happiness. Never had Elaine been so tempted to kick a man where it counted. It hadn't helped that she was already in a foul mood when Billy trapped her. "And how can she be agreeing to marry him when she's only dated him for less than half a year? Less than a quarter of a year!"

"It does come seemingly out of nowhere," Jane admitted. "They've only been together about what – a month or so? About the same as you and Will, right? I remember you were chasing away Billy right about the time you met Will, and then Charlotte came back to Frisco around that time too."

"Who would want to marry Billy Chiu?" Elaine asked again.

"Charlotte, apparently."

"What can she be thinking?"

"I don't know. I didn't talk to her, but didn't you? I thought I saw you guys head for her bedroom after the announcement."

"I managed to snag her for a little bit. Charlotte said there was no point in waiting, or 'beating around the bush' as she put it. She says he's probably as good a guy as she'll ever come across, so she's taking the plunge." Elaine practically choked on the words. "She makes it sound like she's getting a shot at the doctor's office or something. Hardly the love-filled words of a newly-engaged and dewy-eyed woman."

Jane frowned over the image. But, being the kinder, more understanding sister, said considerately, "Charlotte's not a romantic, Elaine. She never was. We always knew that when the time came, she'd choose duty over heart. But then, she's so practical that she probably doesn't see it that way."

"Still. Would you want . . ."

"What?"

"Oh, I don't know. Never mind."

Jane crossed over to the couch and tugged her sister down next to her. "What's the matter, Elaine? There's something that's been bothering you all week, hasn't there? Since the picnic. What's going on?"

Elaine crossed her arms over her knees and burrowed her face, while shaking her head. "I don't know," she groaned.

"You told me you had a good time at the picnic. But you haven't acted like a person who had a good time at her boyfriend's family's annual country club picnic." She nudged Elaine's leg. "You want to talk about it?"

Elaine sighed. "It was just . . . I don't know. Awkward."

"How so?"

"Oh, Jie. I felt like I stuck out like the sorest thumb that ever was. I didn't dress like anyone else there. I didn't behave like anyone else there. It may sound stupid, but everyone at the picnic seemed so sophisticated and cosmopolitan. I, on the other hand, looked like a provincial in my department store dress that was probably also several seasons too old, or something. Dowdy! That's how I looked standing next to the other women there."

Jane stared concernedly at her sister. It wasn't like Elaine to be so caught up in appearances and what other people thought of her. It was one of the traits she admired most about her younger sister.

"And let's not forget the fact that I looked different from everyone else, because I was."

"Elaine, what's going on?" She emphasized the point because she knew her sister well enough to know when Elaine was just circling around an issue in a poorly disguised attempt to avoid the issue. "These aren't things you were unaware of when you started dating Will," she reminded gently. "You knew you had different backgrounds growing up. You can't hide from the fact that you're Chinese and he's not. What's been running through your mind these past few days? Hm?"

Looking at her feet, so she wouldn't have to look at Jane, she admitted in a whisper, "Maybe we're too different."

"Is it Ma and Ba? Are they getting to you again? I thought you and Will agreed that you were going to try and work with it. They'll come around eventually, Elaine, you can't let their nagging and their disapproval get to you. It's your life. You have to live it your way."

"It's not just Ma and Ba. Not anymore."

"Will's parents too? Did they say something to you on Sunday? Is that why you've had such a long face ever since?"

Elaine laughed pathetically. "Oddly enough, Will's parents and his sister were the friendliest people I met at the picnic." As well as one other person. "But you should have seen the looks I kept getting from the other people there. I can't explain it, Jie. There were times I just felt that these people didn't really want me there and didn't think I belonged. Would never belong."

"Surely they couldn't all be so close-minded. It is the twenty-first century!"

Elaine shrugged. "Not in their world. And then there was Will's grandmother."

"His grandmother?! I didn't know you were going to meet her on Sunday."

"I didn't know I was going to meet her. I asked Will about that after we left and he said he was just as surprised as me to see her there. Apparently she takes an annual cruise around the Greek Isles around this time of the year, but for whatever reason she cut her trip short this year. Frankly, I think it's because she caught wind of Will and me and came home with the specific purpose of checking me out and warning me away from her grandson."

Jane gasped. "No! What'd she say?"

Elaine quickly recounted their conversation for her sister.

"That cow!" Jane exclaimed in outrage, when Elaine finished. "How dare she say that to you?! And to play the role of the concerned elder relative! As if she was doing you a favor. Despicable. And truly evil! Elaine, you can't seriously be letting her words get to you."

When her sister didn't say anything, letting her silence speak for itself, Jane grabbed her sister's shoulder and forced Elaine to look at her. "Elaine!"

She shrugged Jane grip away, and said, "I'm tired, Jie. So tired of butting heads against people: Ma, Ba, now Will's grandmother. Where does it stop? The members of Will's country club? Our parents' friends? The rest of society? Will we always be on the receiving ends of funny looks when we eat out or go shopping? And what if we marry and have children? What then? How will society receive them?"

"Not everyone you come across will be so judgmental, Elaine. The world's a lot more tolerant than it used to be."

"Things are much improved than say even ten years ago," Elaine agreed. "But there's still a lot of intolerance that lingers about. I hate to say it, Jie, but Will's grandmother wasn't inaccurate in all the things she pointed out to me on Sunday. Heck, even Ma hasn't said anything that isn't true – and don't you dare ever tell her I said that – in fact, she's pretty much been saying everything Will's grandmother said to me, only in a higher pitched and shriller voice."

"You're giving in to their narrowed, prejudiced views, Elaine." There was a tint of disappointment in Jane's voice.

"You can't know what it's like, Jie. You with your perfect Chinese doctor." She smiled and reached for Jane's hand when she saw her frown. "I don't say that in a mean or bitter way. I'm not even blaming you or holding it against you. I'm just stating a fact.

"And wondering if all this is really worth it."

"I thought you were happy with Will. I thought you cared about him."

"I am. And I do. But only when cultural differences don't get in the way and matter."

"Then why let them?"

"You really have to ask? After you see the way Ma and Ba constantly attack us? Are ashamed of us? How long did it take for them to tell their friends about Will? I'm surprised they asked Will to the Liu's this afternoon, and allowed us to be seen in public together. They probably gave in only because I ran into Mrs. Liu several weeks ago already anyway. Besides, inviting Will to the party and then purposefully ignoring him was a perfect way for them to warn us that this is how it will always be."

"Elaine."

"What? Are you going to tell me I'm wrong?" Jane couldn't refute her sister's comment. "I didn't think so. And now I've Will's grandmother to contend with as well – great. I wish it could be as easy as you suggest and ignore them, that it was just about gaining parental approval. But you know as well as I do that's only the beginning.

"One thing that really stuck out in my mind from my conversation with Charlotte this afternoon is her comment about how Billy was an ideal choice for her because he was Chinese. I told her she couldn't have based her decision on that alone, and she replied that it'd certainly been a significant and attracting factor. They have the same background, the same understanding of what it's like to grow up Chinese in America, their families have the same customs and traditions, and not only can Billy converse easily with her parents, and vice versa, but their parents get along too because they can actually communicate with one another.

"Can you imagine our parents sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with Will's and trying to converse through an entire meal in broken English? I can't. I mean, look at this afternoon."

"They're only important features if you let them be important, Elaine. I mean, it's not like I sat around before I started dating Charlie and made a pros and cons list, and then decided to date him only because he was Chinese and he'd be able to speak Chinese with my parents."

"I know you didn't, and I'm not saying we should do that. It's just – argh, I don't know what I'm saying." Elaine flopped back against the arm of the couch and covered her eyes with the back of her arm. "Obviously you were smart to take care to only fall in love with a Chinese boy. I should've had your sense," she added wryly.

Her flippant comment gave Jane pause. Finally, she asked, "Are you saying you're in love with Will?"

Though she didn't answer immediately, Elaine did answer, "I think so?"

The admission was said in so weak and child-like a voice that it tugged at Jane's heart. Her sister was obviously struggling with a wealth of emotions and problems all at the same time, and having trouble staying on top of them.

"Elaine . . ."

"Let me have a moment to wallow in my self-pity. Please?"

"Have you talked about any of this with Will?" Jane asked patiently.

"Yes. No. Vaguely. I mentioned something to him briefly right before the party."

"Today's party?"

"Yes."

"So you really haven't discussed this at length?"

"No."

"You're going to have to."

"I know."

"And soon. You can't procrastinate and put this off, Elaine. You and Will have to have the discussion we had tonight. It's important stuff."

"I know."

"And you guys have to make some decisions."

"I know."

"But?"

"But . . . I'm afraid. . ." Elaine trailed off.

"Of what?"

"Of the decision I'll make."

Chapter 18

Posted on Thursday, 22 February 2007

In the end, the choice was taken out of Elaine's hands. Foregoing the advice of her sister, and her own better instincts, Elaine opted to ignore the issue at hand altogether. It helped that Will seemed equally inclined to let the brief interlude they'd shared outside the Liu’s apartment. The subject regarding her discomfort and their interracial relationship never again came up.

But that didn't mean it went away.

They simply took the path of least resistance, and avoided all those things that would make them confront reality. From the sidelines, Jane watched warily and said with uncharacteristic pessimism to Charlie, "They're living in a bubble and one day it's going to explode."

But while the bubble lasted, Elaine threw herself into the relationship with what could only be described as impassioned determination. It was almost as if she was afraid things as they were would not last, and was thus determined to recapture what they’d had at the beginning of the relationship, before their families had entered the picture, and before issues other than their burgeoning attraction to one another had mattered. Will, for his own part, was more than willing to match Elaine’s enthusiasm in what he saw as the continuing growth in their relationship. There were days when he felt he couldn’t get enough of her company and was thrilled to see she felt the same.

Will whisked Elaine away on a romantic afternoon trip to a vineyard. Elaine convinced Will to run barefoot across the sandy dunes of China Beach. They shared a sumptuousness picnic under the Golden Gate Bridge. And on one rainy Saturday afternoon, Elaine attempted to teach Will how to throw a pot. The result of which was that most of the wet clay ended up on their persons rather than the wheel. But, most of the time they spent together were quiet, happy evenings that started out with them sharing dinner and ended with them locked in each other's embrace, oftentimes doing nothing more than staring into each other's eyes with Will stroking Elaine's hair until both of them fell asleep.

It was pure bliss.

But as the summer wore on, so did Elaine’s nerves. As much as she tried to pretend that everything was all right, she couldn't keep ignoring what was reality. Her parents wanted to know if she was still seeing “that white boy” and Will proudly informed Elaine that his parents wanted to know when they were going to meet her again. Bringing their families back into the relationship caused Elaine’s eyes to start twitching and her brain wheeling.

Will could feel the tension in her shoulders that night as he gave her a back rub. It’d been like that for the past several evenings now. He wondered why she was so tense and wanted to do something about it.

“Hey, Elaine? You haven’t fallen asleep on me, have you?” he asked suspiciously.

“Mmm? No.” She had her eyes closed and was luxuriating in the sensation of Will’s hands traveling in small circles across her back, but chuckled nonetheless.

“Another long day at the wheel?”

“Mmm.”

“Do you always get this knotted up when you’re creating pieces?”

“Mmm . . . yes, no. I don’t know. Feels good though.”

He leaned over and kissed the nape of her neck, causing her to smile and melt. She’d just started to relax when he said, “You’ve had a long and hard week. Why don’t we do something fun this weekend?”

Elaine’s eyes flew open and she jerked around. “This weekend?! As in four days away – this weekend?”

Will laughed, surprised by her reaction. He stilled her by placing his hands on her shoulder and leaned forward to tease. “Yes, this weekend. Why? Have plans already?”

“Well,” she huffed. “As a matter of fact I do.”

“Oh.” He hadn’t expected that.

“I thought you had to work this weekend.” She wrinkled her brow. “Didn’t you tell me you had to work this weekend? I could’ve sworn you said you had to work this weekend.”

“Did I tell you that? I guess I must have. I did have to work, but it’s been so nice spending our weekends together that I didn’t want them to end. I called in a few favors and had my schedule rearranged so I’m working a double-shift tomorrow and Thursday and get Saturday and Sunday off.”

“Oh. I see.”

“Yeah. So, what’s this about you making plans the minute my back is turned? Not tiring of me already, are you?” he teased.

“It’s nothing like that,” she blushed. “It’s . . . I’m having lunch with my family.”

“I didn’t realize. You never mentioned it.”

“Didn’t I?” Elaine’s voice trembled. “It must have slipped my mind.”

In fact, it hadn’t. She’d purposely omitted the information. She hadn’t wanted Will to assume that he was automatically invited and then be forced to admit that her mother had called her and specifically told her Will wasn’t invited, so please be sure not to bring him.

“It’s no big deal, really,” she tried to shrug it off. “This Saturday is Mid-Autumn Festival, so my parents thought we should get together and go out for dim sum. You know, just a little family gathering.”

Will dragged Elaine up and into his arms. “Mid-Autumn Festival? What’s that?” he asked as he played with her hands.¹

Pulling her hands away, she rolled over until she lay atop of Will with her chin resting on his chest. “It is a day where families get together to celebrate the summer harvest.”

“Oh right, I’ve heard Charlie talk about this before. It has something to do with a moon too, doesn’t it?”

“It’s a lunar calendar holiday, so the festival always falls on the day the moon is at its roundest and brightest. You can also see the profile of a rabbit in the moon when it’s at its roundest.”

“A rabbit?”

“It has to do with the legend behind the Mid-Autumn Festival. I always forget how it goes exactly, but there’s a woman – maybe a goddess? – who lives in the moon with this rabbit that makes medicine. Once a year, her husband gets to visit her and it takes place on the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is why the moon is always so bright that night.”

“How romantic. An annual reunion with a rabbit looking on.”

Elaine stuck her tongue out.

Will pushed up to kiss her on the forehead. “Well, I think it’s great. You absolutely should spend some time with your family this weekend. I know how important your family is to you and you haven’t been spent a lot of time with them lately because you’ve been hanging out with me. I won’t be sorry about it because I’m selfish like that and love having you to myself, but I suppose I can learn to share you too.”

Elaine frowned and quickly flipped to her other side so Will wouldn’t be able to see her face. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. This was what she wanted. The least amount of contact between Will and her parents. So why was she so disturbed when she was getting exactly what she wanted?

Somehow, Elaine felt just as disappointed with Will now as she was with her mother when Fanny had called and expressly told her not to bring Will to dim sum. She wanted Will to want to be with her family, just as she wanted her parents to want Will to be with them. In fact, she wanted them to like each other so much that she became the impediment who kept them apart. But apparently she was succeeding just fine in keeping them apart without having to lift a finger.

There was something wrong with this picture.

Behind her, Will frowned. He could tell everything wasn’t right. He wished she wouldn’t take the misunderstanding in their scheduling so hard. It wasn’t her fault. Of course she should spend time with her family; family, he knew, was important to Elaine.

“Hey,” he said, rubbing her back soothingly. “Don’t worry about it. You didn’t know. I should’ve consulted you about what I was thinking before I changed my schedule, or at least not waited so long to tell you of the change instead of assuming you’d have nothing better to do than entertain me on the weekends.”

Elaine twisted around and looked at Will warily. It appeared he hadn’t picked up on the reason behind her mood change. “Huh?”

“So you’re busy Saturday. No big deal. I’ll find something else with which to occupy my time. That still leaves Sunday free. What about Sunday; are you free then?”

“Sunday?”

“Yeah. Oh you know what? This works out even better, actually. I just remembered there’s a concert at Stern Grove on Sunday, the last of the season in fact. I remember looking at their schedule a couple of weeks ago and thinking this would be a perfect concert to take you to. How about it? Should we go?”²

“What’s on the schedule?” she asked curiously.

“Come with me and find out.”

“All right.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. We’ll hang out on Sunday.”

“Great.”

He looked so satisfied, Elaine thought to herself, having settled their weekend schedules accordingly. Never once did he suspect that she was upset with him for not assuming he would be going to dim sum with her family. But he had picked up that she was upset. He’d just attributed it to a different cause, instead. Well, maybe it was better this way, she decided.

She wasn’t prepared to dissect their relationship tonight anyway. Her brain already hurt from over-thinking things through. Feeling suddenly drained, she decided to cut the evening short and head home before something else came up.

“I should go,” Elaine said, standing up.

“Already?”

She glanced at her watch. “It’s getting late.”

“But I’m not tired yet,” he pouted.

“Tough. I am.”

“Oh fine. Kill all my hopes and dreams.”

As she gathered her things together and fished for her keys, Will searched for his shoes. “What are you doing?”

Will looked up from where he’d been tying his laces. “I’m putting on my shoes.”

“Why?”

“To walk you out to your car.”

“Oh.”

“Did you really think I was going to let you go out, at this hour, by yourself?” She didn’t answer but headed for the door where Will stopped her. “Are you sure everything’s okay? You really do seem out of sorts tonight.”

“Yeah.” She sounded impatient.

“I haven’t done anything to offend you, have I?”

“You? My perfect Will? Hardly.”

“Okay.” Will didn’t find her answer comforting in the least.

“It’s nothing. It’s work. No big deal. It’ll sort itself out, but until it does I tend to mull things over. A lot,” she finished lamely.

“Okay.”

“It’s late and I’m tired. Can we go now?”

“Oh. Yeah. Sure.” He stepped out of the way and followed her outside to her car.

Before she got in, she leaned up and kissed him good-bye. “I’ll see you Sunday!” she promised. She sounded genuinely excited for their date so, as he walked back upstairs, Will decided that he was probably being paranoid. More than likely, because things had been going so well for so long now, he was expecting something to go wrong and was starting to read into things. He mentally chided himself as he tucked himself into bed, and resolved to worry less about himself and be a more supportive boyfriend as Elaine worked out whatever difficulties she was facing at work, starting from tomorrow.

Elaine was sitting on the couch flipping channels when her sister came rushing out of her bedroom. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s go,” Jane said.

Elaine looked up in confusion. “Aren’t we waiting for Charlie?”

Jane turned off the television and dragged her sister out the door. “Why on earth would we be waiting for Charlie?”

“I don’t know. Isn’t he coming to dim sum with us?”

Jane looked confusedly at her sister. “I could’ve sworn Ma had the same conversation with you as she did with me. This afternoon’s a family only luncheon.”

“I know. I just thought . . .”

“He’s not part of the family, Elaine. Yet. I’m still working on that,” she added impishly and with a wink for her sister.

Elaine was too busy digesting this new bit of information to notice though. She’d been so caught up in her mother’s insistence that William not join them for dim sum that she’d never considered the possibility that Charlie might also have been excluded been from the party. She already considered him a member of the family and was convinced her parents felt that way too. In fact, she knew with utter certainty that they were eagerly waiting the day they could call Charlie son-in-law. Yet, he too had not been invited to their family celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival. What a revelation. With her parents’ behavior towards Will at the mahjong party-cum-Charlotte Liu’s engagement party still fresh in her mind, Elaine couldn’t help but be relieved to know that Will hadn’t been excluded just because it’d been him.

She was thus in a much more charitable frame of mind when she and Jane met their parents at the restaurant. Not surprisingly, their parents were already seated and waiting. Her father, Elaine mused, looked a little lost without a television in front of him to keep him occupied.

“Kuai dian, kuai dian,” Fanny urged her daughters to hurry and take their seats. “The food will get cold.” She then explained that they’d had to start without them or else the restaurant wouldn’t have seated them and then they would have had to wait even longer for a table. Elaine looked behind them and indeed the line for a table seemed to have grown exponentially in the short amount of time since their arrival. Dim sum on weekend mornings always created brisk business and having to wait for a table was not unheard of, but the crowd seemed even more unmanageable on this holiday weekend.

Picking up their chopsticks, Elaine and Jane quickly dug in while Fanny called the attention of one of the cart pushers. “Eat more,” she told her daughters as she had the waitress fill the table with more silver containers of food. “You girls too skinny. Especially you, Elaine. You been too busy at work. Eat more, eat more.”

Elaine’s food suddenly grew difficult to swallow as she reflected guiltily on how she’d been lying to her mother for the past month about the amount of time she’d spent at her store. “Thanks, Ma.” She tried to smile as her mother loaded her plate with the steamed pork ribs she loved so much. She was granted a small reprieve as Fanny directed her attention next at Jane and asked after her eldest daughter’s work. But all too soon, Fanny returned to her.

“How is Will?”

Elaine choked on a shrimp. “He’s um, doing well,” she answered after swigging some lukewarm tea.

“You no bring him home anymore?”

“He’s um, well, he’s been busy with work.”

“Everybody so busy with work!” Fanny proclaimed.

“Well, ‘tis the season?” Elaine tried to quip. She was confused. She was sure her mother had no love or affinity for her boyfriend, yet here she was bringing him up. Trying to include him. Why? With reluctance, Elaine was forced to give credit to her mother for recognizing that Will was important to her.

Of course that goodwill was eradicated the next moment as her mother said, “You know who call me this week? Mrs. Wu. You know what she tell me? George move back to San Francisco. He ask after you, Elaine. You should contact him.” Fanny pulled a slip of paper from her bag and pushed it towards her. As Jane was sitting in between then, she helped move the paper along. Elaine picked up the post-it sized note and saw her mother hadn’t missed a trick. Listed in order were his home phone number, cell phone number, pager number, and email address. She was surprised her mother hadn’t solicited the man’s home address too. As if reading her mind, Fanny added, “His mother not remember his address, but she say she call next week and tell me.”

Elaine pocketed the piece of paper with a sigh. Still, she glanced at it one more time before putting it out of sight. George Wu. Elaine could hardly believe it. Growing up, they’d been nemeses in art classes, each always trying to outdo the other. Elaine had often bested him and though it would usually only be by a hair’s breath, it would still irritate George who was not used to coming in second. Excelling in all other subjects, he’d graduated the valedictorian of their class.

For years, Elaine had harbored a secret schoolgirl’s crush on George. Unfortunately, that whole beating him in art class had gotten in the way of his returning her affections. That and he had been popular and could have had the choice of any girl he wanted. So, it was with some surprise that Elaine heard he was now asking after her after all these years.

“George is now a doctor,” her mother was now telling them. “Jane, maybe Charlie know him.”

“I’ll be sure to ask,” Jane smiled.

A doctor, Elaine thought to herself. She wasn’t surprised to hear it. She’d always known he’d favored the sciences, and she knew just what her mother was thinking now too. That she should trade her Caucasian physician in for the Asian model.

As if on her cue, her mother asked, “Elaine, weren’t you and George close in high school?”

“I don’t know that I’d describe our relationship as ‘close,’ Ma, but yes, we knew each other.”

Fanny smiled to herself. Like most mothers, she often knew more than she let on and knew perfectly well that for years her daughter had worshipped George Wu from afar. “You call him soon! He no know many people in San Francisco anymore and his mother very happy when I tell her you not married yet.” Elaine thought it a positive sign that at least her mother hadn’t described her as “single.”

“When your Auntie Liu found out George move back home, she so mad Charlotte already engaged,” Fanny continued on. “But that what she get, throwing her daughter into path of Billy Chiu and pressuring her to marry. I so glad you reject him, Elaine. Billy not very smart. Our Elaine smarter than him, eh?” She nudged her husband for confirmation and gave Elaine an approving wink from across the table.

While her father roused himself long enough to sound an agreeing grunt, Elaine sighed with relief that finally there was something she and her mother could agree on. She just wished her mother hadn’t moved from Billy to George and would settle on Will.

“So, when you call George?”

Elaine was stunned. She hadn’t even made the decision to call him, although she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to reach out to an old acquaintance. It wasn’t as if she would be asking him out on a date. Even if that was what their mothers intended. She was still figuring out how best to phrase her answer so as to not mistakenly raise her mother’s hopes when she was saved from the trouble of answering at all.

“Jane! What are you doing here?!”

“Charlie!” Jane was laughing as she stood and exchanged a quick hug with her boyfriend. “I could ask the same of you!”

“Mr. & Mrs. Bai, nin men hao,” he said in deferential greeting to her parents. “Hey Elaine. I didn’t expect to see you guys here.”

“I thought I told you we were going to dim sum today,” Jane told him.

“Did you? You probably did and I forgot,” Charlie admitted. “But this was my parents’ idea, actually.”

“Oh? Are they here?” Fanny asked him in Chinese.

“They should be right behind me,” he answered in kind. “Ah, here they are! Ma, Ba, look who I found!”

“Ah! Jane! And the Bai’s!” his mother exclaimed. Another rousing round of greetings was exchanged between the two families.

“We’re so sorry,” Charlie’s father said. “We are disturbing your lunch.”

“Na li, na li,” not at all, Elaine’s father responded. “It’s been too long since we’ve seen each other.” It was the most Elaine had seen him speak all afternoon. Probably grateful for some male company, she snorted to herself.

“Ah, Jane, you grow prettier every time I see you,” Charlie’s mother said.

Fanny beamed at the compliment but said with just the appropriate amount of disparagement, “You are too generous. I was just telling Jane that she does not look at all well! She’s not getting enough rest, not enough sleep. Look how pale she is. She’s not taking care of her health and her looks.”

Charlie’s mother tsked, “How can you say that about your daughter? If she’s not getting enough rest it’s because she works so hard. She’s so disciplined in everything she does, and it’s too your credit.”

“Thank you,” Fanny said demurely.

Meanwhile, the fathers had roped Charlie into a discussion about their latest ailments. It didn’t seem to matter that he was a pediatrician; they still looked to him to diagnose and treat their aching bones, mysterious itchy rashes, and tingling throats.

From her seat, Elaine watched the scene play out in front of her in awe and amazement. It was the first time since she’d started seeing Will that she’d seen her parents and Charlie’s together, in the same room, interacting. The experience was an eye opener.

There was ease and understanding in both their verbal and non-verbal communication. It was, Elaine recognized, the common bond of their language and cultural background that acted as the natural facilitator. Nothing needed to be explained. It simply was. Elaine tried, in her mind, replacing Charlie’s parents with Will. The exercise proved so confounding that she gave it up almost immediately.

The whole exchange between her mother, Charlie’s mother, and Jane, for example, probably would have blown Will’s mother to pieces had the roles been interchanged. If Will’s mother had tried to compliment Elaine and her mother swooped in with her criticisms, no doubt Will’s mother would have misinterpreted and thought Fanny harbored a great dislike for her daughter. This could not have been farther from the truth though. It was a cultural thing. The Chinese never could be gracious about accepting a compliment from others; instead, they always had to find a way to put themselves down. Charlie’s mother accepted that because she understood it and would have done the same had Fanny praised her son.

Propping up her chin with her linked hands, there was wistfulness in Elaine’s heart as she looked on. This was what she wanted, she realized. She didn’t want just a boyfriend. Someone with whom she could have a good time and share some laughs. She wanted someone who could be a part of her life. Someone who would fit.

For the first time, Elaine started to feel the weight of her responsibilities on her shoulder and understood what her mother had always tried to explain when she’d been younger. Family was at the core of her being. For all that her mother drove her mad at times and for all that she rolled her eyes at knowing she was expected home every other weekend for the requisite family dinner, her family was in truth important to Elaine as well. She and her sister had been raised under the notion that some day they would take care of their parents when they were old and infirm, just as their parents had taken care of them when they were young and helpless. Her future was one that encompassed others and not only herself. And she ought, she knew now, to give consideration to those others as well.

Her hands slipped to her lap and she let her head hang. Elaine had never expected that she would receive a life’s lesson at today’s luncheon.

“Elaine? Do you want this last radish cake? Elaine!”

“Huh? What?” She raised her head and looked dazedly at Jane. She saw that Charlie and his parents were gone. When had they left?

“Elaine? Is everything okay?” her sister asked. “Where did you go just now?”

“I – I don’t know.” She forced a smile. “I’m fine. What were you asking me?”

While Jane looked doubtful, she didn’t press the issue either. “If you wanted the last radish cake.”

“No,” Elaine shook her head. “You go ahead.”

“Are you sure? I could split it in half.”

“Don’t, Jane. Have it. Really. I’m stuffed.” She patted her stomach for emphasis.

Fanny overheard her youngest daughter claiming to be full. “But you no have mooncake yet!” she wailed.³

The burst of motherly concern had Elaine suddenly on the verge of tears. Blinking them back, she looked on with renewed gratefulness at her mother and said, “I saved just enough room for one. Yours?”

Fanny beamed happily at her daughter. Digging into the purse at her feet, she drew out a tin foil packet containing the mooncakes she’d woken up early just to make for Elaine. While she knew Jane would eat any of the ones bought in a store, she knew that her youngest daughter was pickier and preferred her homemade ones to any of the store-bought variety.

“You take home and eat,” Fanny told Elaine.

Surprising the both of them, Elaine rounded the table and hugged her mother. “Thanks, Ma.”

Fanny didn’t quite know how to react. She patted at her daughter’s arms helplessly. “There, there. Go back and finish your lunch now,” she shooed Elaine back to her seat.

Later, as Jane drove them home after lunch, and away from their parents, Elaine thought about all that she’d discovered that morning and realized she could no longer afford to be selfish. She stared out the window and watched the happy scenes of her courtship with Will flash by like a movie reel. Her heart felt weighted down and ached with dull pain. Rubbing at it absently, she didn’t know what she was going to do, but recognized that she could no longer put off what she’d been avoiding these past weeks.

She only hoped that she’d know what to do when the opportunity presented itself.

When Madeline arrived the next morning for work she was surprised to find the shop already open and ready for business. Lydia was rarely, if ever, on time. To be early was unthinkable. Tucking her newspaper under her arm, Madeline carefully pushed open the door ready to give Lydia one of her classic smart comments. Too bad she would never get to use it. It would have been a good one.

“What are you doing here?” Madeline stood dumbfounded. “I thought you had plans today.”

“I do.”

“So where’s Lydia then?”

“She has a paper due tomorrow morning and she really wants to finish it this morning. She called last night asking if I would mind subbing for her. I don’t.”

“But you have plans for today!” Madeline wailed.

“They’re not until the afternoon. I don’t have anything to do this morning.”

“But –”

Elaine looked up from the order slips she’d been organizing. She thought she’d spend what was typically a slow morning putting together the purchases people had made yesterday and wanted delivered for the mailman to pick up tomorrow. “Madeline, are you trying to get rid of me?”

“No!”

“Not secretly wishing I was elsewhere?”

“Of course not!”

“Then what’s your problem?” she chuckled.

“It’s just . . . oh! You drive me nuts, Elaine Bai!” With her hands on her hips, she was clearly appalled. “I can’t believe you. You are the nicest boss ever. I can’t believe the little twerp. I notice she didn’t call me asking for favors. Probably because she knew better than to even try,” Madeline finished darkly.

Elaine laughed. “You’re all talk. I know for a fact that you gave Lydia an afternoon off last week when she had that exam to study for.”

“What! I never!”

“On top of that, I also overheard you asking if she had enough money for lunch and offering her a loan if not. Why Madeline, you’re turning into a regular mommy!”

“You’re making that up!” Madeline accused. “I’ve never been that nice to anyone in my entire life. Not even to you.”

“Okay, whatever.” Elaine rolled her eyes. “If that’s how you want to play it fine.”

Madeline walked over to the counter and plucked the order slips from her friend’s hands. “You’re a mean one, casting up my nice deeds to my face. You know I have a reputation to maintain. But seriously, Elaine, you have a date with Will this afternoon! Shouldn’t you be spending your morning doing, oh, I don’t know,” she waved her hands, “getting dressed up or something?”

Elaine looked at her friend as if she’d sprouted horns. “You do remember who you’re talking to, don’t you?”

“Hm. True.”

“And besides, we’re going to a concert at the Stern Grove this afternoon. A few hours sitting outside, I don’t think any amount of primping is going to stand up to this heat!”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am! And since I won this round, you can box up yesterday’s orders and get them ready for tomorrow’s mail.”

“Ugh. I hate packing. What are you going to do then?”

“Dust. Wanna trade?”

“Not on your life!” Madeline quickly took the order slips Elaine handed her. If there was anything she hated more than packing boxes, it was dusting and Elaine knew it.

The morning passed by slowly. So far, they’d only had three customers – two browsers and a purchaser – so Elaine was left with a lot of time on her hands to think about yesterday’s lunch with her family and her upcoming afternoon with Will. She wondered if she’d find the courage to voice her concerns when she saw him, or whether she’d allow him to sweep her up in the magic of the moment, something he was very good at doing, and take the coward’s way out again.

She also wondered what she would say when she did finally broach the subject. As she pondered the question, she noticed that she was dusting a teapot and set of matching teacups. Only someone had inadvertently placed an extra teacup of a different color in its midst. It did not look out of place, but it definitely didn’t belong. But could it belong?

She posed the question to Madeline.

“What?” Madeline bit off the end of some packaging tape and finished taping her final box closed. “I missed your question. Taping can be very loud.”

“I was wondering if this looked bad. Awkward.”

“What looks bad?”

“This.” Elaine gestured with her feather duster. “See how this dark green cup has been set amidst this set of azure cups? Do you think it could be sold like this?”

“Well, now one set has an extra cup and that set next to it is down to three cups. I’ve never heard of anyone wanting to buy a three-cup tea set.”

Elaine rolled her eyes and put one of the azure teacups with the dark green set. “Okay now look. Do you think both of these tea sets could be sold as they were?”

“I guess. If you want. You’re the one who made those tea sets, Elaine. If that’s your vision for them then do what you want.”

“You’re not helping!”

“What do you want me to say?” Madeline wanted to laugh at what she thought were some very silly questions, but then her friend was so earnest in her queries that she hadn’t the heart to laugh at her either.

“Look at them! Do you think the random color inserted into the tea set looks out of place? I mean, sure the green and the blue pair well. But the lone teacup still stands out like a sore thumb, doesn’t it? And imagine a party being served with this tea set. Would the person who got the single color wonder why he’d been soloed out and didn’t have a teacup the same color as everyone else?”

Madeline gave up trying to be nice. She couldn’t help it. She burst out into laughter. “Okay, I’m sorry, but now I know you’ve gone mad. What on earth are you about this morning, Elaine? Mismatched teacups, hurt feelings?”

Elaine gave up and quickly rearranged the cups, putting the tea sets back as they were supposed to be. “Nothing. I guess I just have some stuff on the mind.”

“You have been rather quiet this morning,” Madeline observed. “Is everything all right?”

“Sure. Absolutely.” Elaine looked at her watch. “Oh, look at the time! I really should be going but Lydia’s not here yet.”

“Well that’s no surprise.”

“I don’t want to leave you alone though.”

Madeline waved her off. “You’ve got your concert to get to and I’m sure Lydia will wander in shortly. In any event, it’s not as if we’re exactly understaffed at the moment. I’ll be surprised if we get even one person in here, let alone two, before Lydia arrives.”

“Well, if you’re sure.” She fingered the strap of her bag.

“I am. Go. Have fun! Maybe spending some time with Will will get your mind off green and azure tea cups,” Madeline teased.

Elaine bit her lip. “Right. I hope so too. Bye!”

“See ya!” As Madeline watched her friend run out the door, she shook her head. “I hope she finds her sanity before tomorrow comes.”

A few hours later, Elaine wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to hold onto her sanity. There were so many thoughts running through her head, so many emotions coursing through her body. She was beginning to feel lucky if she remembered to breathe. There was so much on her mind that she almost blurted it all out when Will arrived on her doorstep. Surely getting it all out in the open, no matter how difficult, would be less painful than bearing the weight of it alone on her own shoulders. But he never gave her the chance, sweeping her away immediately with his enthusiasm, and the moment was lost.

From the moment Will picked her up at her apartment with picnic blanket in hand to now, he’d been bursting with excited energy both for the time they would spend together and also for the music they were about to hear. Holding her hand, he helped Elaine carefully navigate her way through the seated crowd.

“I can’t wait for you to hear today’s performance,” Will told Elaine for the thousandth time in the past half hour. He hadn’t even allowed her to peek at any signs that might give away this afternoon’s program, specifying that this was his surprise to her. Elaine was now dying to know what it was exactly that had Will bubbling with excitement like a little boy on Christmas morning.

“Jane mentioned to me that it’s one of your favorite pieces.”

Elaine frowned. She didn’t know what piece that might be. She’d never shown a particular fondness for any piece of music, as far as she knew. She shrugged and blindly followed Will through the large, open park. She didn’t know where he was headed, but since he seemed to know what he was looking for she kept her mouth shut. In spite of the fact that they’d passed what were, in her opinion, several prime seating spots.

“Ah! There she is.”

Elaine looked up. “Who?”

“My friend Michele. Remember? We met her at the country club picnic.”

Elaine searched her mental facebook trying to place an image with the name. Almost immediately, three faces came to mind. The ones who had fawned all over Will and turned their nose up at her. She shuddered involuntarily. No, not them. Definitely not them.

She then recalled another face, this one friendlier, and knew she’d found her match. She remembered Michele now; she’d been introduced as a childhood friend of Will’s. They’d suffered through cotillion classes together. She also remembered thinking, at the time, how pleased they’d been to reconnect and how well matched they’d looked standing arm-in-arm. In her rose silk blouse and cream-colored pants, Michele had looked every inch the society daughter, and probably the sort of woman Will’s grandmother had in mind as her future granddaughter-in-law.

“Oh. Right.”

“I hope you won’t mind that I invited her along. I sort of ran into her at the market this morning and one thing led to another.”

By now, they were close enough for Michele to overhear. She immediately came over to greet them. “Hi!” she called out. “It’s so nice to see you again, Elaine. I’ve been looking forward to it, and please don’t let Will here sugarcoat the truth. I know he’s trying to be nice to spare my feelings, but the fact of the matter is I shamelessly invited myself along this afternoon.”

As she spoke, Michele walked them back over to the clearing she’d staked out for them. Will laid down his blanket next to Michele’s and invited Elaine to sit. “I just moved back to San Francisco and this morning, Will and I discovered we live down the street from one another,” Michele continued on.

“We shop at the same grocery store,” Will interjected needlessly.

“One minute I’m complaining how I have absolutely no social life because ever since I moved back to the Bay Area I’ve been working nonstop and the next Will’s mentioning how he’s going to a concert this afternoon. And it was the Stern Grove! I couldn’t believe it. It used to be my favorite part of San Francisco in the summer and the next thing I knew I was inviting myself along. I was halfway through it before I realized like an idiot that this was a date. Of course, Will, being the polite person that he is, insisted I tag along anyway. Said you wouldn’t mind. I know I should’ve said ‘no’ anyway, but, oh, I really couldn’t resist the possibility of making another friend in town.”

“Ah. Well.” Elaine looked back and forth between Will’s guilty expression and Michele’s eager-to-please, wistful face. A part of her was irked at being placed in this position, but the other part of her couldn’t help but be charmed by this woman’s forthright, friendly nature. She said the only thing she could in such a situation. “Of course it’s all right! And I’m delighted to further our acquaintance as well.”

It wasn’t a total lie. Elaine had liked Michele when she’d met her at the picnic; she’d been as open and friendly then as she was now. She only wished she didn’t feel so uncultured and frumpy sitting next to her.

“Oh, good! I’m so relieved,” Michele gushed.

Determined to be equally charming, Elaine pushed herself to be social. “I didn’t realize at the picnic though that you were moving back?”

“Ah, yes.” Michele had opened a picnic basket and plucked a grape from within. She gestured for Elaine to do the same. “I didn’t tell anyone then that I was thinking about it. I didn’t want to jinx it all.”

“Jinx what?”

“Michele’s an opera singer,” Will announced proudly.

“An opera singer! Really? Wow.” The impressed factor went up a notch while Elaine felt her self-image downgrade a size.

“I know. It comes as somewhat of a surprise to most people when I tell them. Probably because I’m not a fat, screaming lady in a horned hat with breast-plated boobs,” Michele joked. “Instead, people usually take one look at me and peg me for a debutante whose ‘work’ consists of making sure she’s always perfectly coiffed and photographed at all the right society events.”

Elaine blushed. While she hadn’t exactly formed a negative impression of Michele like she had of the other three Easter eggs who’d rushed after Will at the picnic, she was guilty of thinking those very thoughts of Michele.

“I was actually in town that weekend because I was auditioning for the Opera Center here in San Francisco that week. I wasn’t sure if I’d be accepted to their young artists’ program, and really didn’t want to tell people in case I didn’t get accepted and then had to suffer the embarrassment of confessing I’d been rejected. But I wasn’t! So here I am.”

“Oh my gosh. Wow. That’s totally exciting! Congratulations.”

“Yeah, I guess it is. Thanks,” Michele answered modestly. At that moment, their conversation was interrupted by a sudden burst of the Anvil Chorus.⁴ It jolted Michele into action. “Sorry! That’s my cell. I promise to turn it off before the concert starts,” she sheepishly reassured.

As she turned away to answer her phone, Will apologized for his friend’s intrusion. Elaine didn’t understand why he’d think he had to apologize, and said so. “It’s okay that you invited her along, Will. I don’t mind.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Although, a little warning would have been nice.”

“It’s not as if I exactly planned to have Michele here, Elaine.”

“You had the entire ride over here to tell me!”

“So I forgot.”

“But remembered very quickly once you parked your car. You seemed to know exactly whom to look for as we walked across the park.”

”What?”

“Let’s be honest Will, it’s not as if we sat down and then you said, ‘Oh! Wait, we were supposed to meet someone here.’ You were obviously looking for something or someone the minute we stepped onto the green; I just didn’t know until we met her.”

“Elaine,” Will broached cautiously. “You aren’t jealous of Michele, are you?”

If she could have thrown one of the chorus’s anvils at Will’s head, Elaine would have. “No, I’m not jealous!”

“But you are annoyed.”

“Yes! I mean, no. Well, kind of. Not for the reasons you’re probably thinking. It’s not about inviting someone without my permission; it’s about not giving me time to mentally prepare. I realize you have friends outside of Charlie and me, and it’s absolutely fine that you want to spend time with them, Will. Our times together don’t have to be exclusive; we can be together in the company of others. I’d even enjoy meeting some of your friends.”

It suddenly occurred to Elaine that she’d been seeing him for several months now and apart from the country club picnic where she’d met his family and acquaintances, she’d never met any of his friends. Yet, he’d met Madeline, the closest person to her outside of her family, and even Charlotte too.

“Will, you aren’t ashamed of me, are you?”

It was his turn to be affronted. “What?!”

“Well, I just realized. I’ve yet to meet any of your friends - and no, Charlie doesn’t count - why is that?”

“Are you serious?”

“Are you avoiding the question?”

“No! I don’t know why you haven’t met my friends before,” he answered in honest befuddlement. “Honestly, I don’t have that many outside of work.”

“You’ve met my colleagues.”

“Yes, all three of them.” His sarcasm was as shocking to Will as it was to Elaine. This was their first argument and he wasn’t sure how it had started or why. Truth be told, he was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. He didn’t understand what was going on.

Elaine returned his stare. She wasn’t sure what she was doing. A part of her recognized that she was picking a fight with him, but the other part of her felt she truly was making valid points too. Was this the beginning of the end?

Michele ended her telephone call and turned back. “Is everything okay?” she asked, completely unaware of the undercurrents running rampant.

“Of course.” Elaine smiled brightly. Almost too brightly.

“Sure.” Will answered tightly. “Oh, thank goodness. The concert’s about to start.”

Equally relieved to leave the argument behind, Elaine turned to face the stage. Michele looked at them curiously, but directed her attention to the stage as well once the San Francisco Orchestra stepped onto the stage.

The second the flutists put their lips to the instrument, Elaine turned wide-eyed to Will. He looked at her and gave her a tentative smile. He’d wanted to please her so much. But the music made her want to laugh, and not for the reasons Will had anticipated. Elaine managed to give him the smile he’d been expecting, and then drew up her knees so that she could hide her face in them and silently cry all under the guise of listening intently to the music. Of all the concert pieces the orchestra could have played, they couldn’t have played a more ill timed piece than, “Butterfly Lovers.”

The music was aching and haunting, made even more so with the introduction of the erhu,⁵ a Chinese instrument, and it told the story of the ill-fated romance between two lovers, Zhu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo.

It was a story Elaine new well. Zhu Yingtai, an impetuous and determined young girl, disguised herself as a man so that she could study at the university in Hangzhou, China. As she traveled to the university, she met and befriended Liang Shanbo. For three years they studied side-by-side, becoming inseparable friends, and Yingtai fell in love. Unable to bear the thought of never seeing Shanbo again, when they parted, Yingtai invited him to visit her family and meet her younger sister. In fact, Yingtai had no younger sister but instead was inviting Shanbo to meet Yingtai as herself.

Shanbo was understandably surprised to discover Yingtai was a woman when he made good on his promise to visit. But surprise gave way to joy as they recalled their times together, and Shanbo happily returned her love. Unfortunately, when he went to her parents and asked their permission to marry Yingtai, he learned that in her absence they had already arranged a marriage for her to a wealthier man. Upon hearing this, Shanbo fell ill and eventually died of a broken heart. Yingtai was equally heartbroken, but reluctantly agreed to proceed with the marriage according to her family’s wishes. On her wedding day, she demanded that her marriage processional pass by Shanbo’s grave. As it neared his grave, Shanbo’s tomb suddenly opened and Yingtai dived in. From its depths emerged a pair of butterflies.⁶

In one respect, Will had been correct. “Butterfly Lovers” was a musical piece Elaine loved very much. But it was also a piece that, at the moment, hit too closely to the center of her heart. With every dip and sway in the music, Elaine could feel the anguish of the two lovers. She sympathized with Yingtai’s need for disguise, empathized with her unrequited love, shared in the excitement when that love was finally returned, and ached deeply for both lovers when they discovered that the love they shared could not be consummated due to familial objections. It was perhaps this aspect of the tragic tale that had Elaine hurting the most.

When the bow pulled against the sorrowful strings of the erhu, Elaine thought about the objections she’d encountered both from her parents and Will’s grandmother. With the low, moody tones of the cello, she thought about the clashes in their identity and culture. When the two instruments came together in a loud crescendo signaling the climatic moment of Shanbo learning that Yingtai was already engaged, Elaine finally accepted that she didn’t fit into Will’s world anymore than he fit into hers.

As the orchestra pulled its final note, Elaine burrowed her face even deeper against her legs. She felt depressed and bereft of all energy, as though she had been the one stripped raw. If only she too could morph into a butterfly and escape.

The orchestra paused for an intermission and Michele turned to Will and Elaine. “Wow, that was awesome. How did you guys like it?”

Elaine abruptly stood. “I don’t think I can stay. I’d like to leave.”

Will took one look at her tear-stained face and hustled to his feet. “Of course.” He turned apologetically to Michele, but she only shrugged her shoulders

They drove to her apartment in silence, each battling a gnawing sensation in the pits of his and her stomach. Will wasn’t sure what was going on but he had a feeling he was about to find out, and he wasn’t going to like it. Elaine knew the moment she’d been holding off for as long as she could had finally arrived, and she wasn’t looking forward to it.

As he parked his car outside her building, they turned and spoke at the same time.

“Will, I –”

“Elaine, is everything –”

“I’ll go first,” she offered. “I’m sorry about this afternoon. I know you’re not really ashamed of me. I don’t know why I said that. I guess I was just looking for a reason to fight. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”

“And I’m guessing they’ve had nothing to do with work.” Realization finally dawned on Will, though understanding still eluded him.

“I want you to know, Will, what I’m about to say, I’ve thought a lot about.” She took a minute to consider how best to phrase what she had to say. Though she’d spent a lot of time thinking about the situation, she hadn’t yet put her thoughts to words and she wanted to get it just right. So he wouldn’t feel hurt. If that was possible.

“There are so many reasons for why I think you’re wonderful and why I adore having you in my life. You’re so good to me, you’re good for me, but . . .” now what, she wondered. Just get it out, she told herself. “I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”

“What?!”

Elaine flinched from the harsh sound, but supposed such a reaction was inevitable. She waited for the barrage.

“I’m sorry,” Will shook his head, sure he’d heard incorrectly. “I don’t think I heard you correctly.”

It took all of Elaine’s strength to pull herself together and not break down, to finish what she’d started. “I want to break up.”

Will leapt out of the car, slamming the door behind him, positive he’d suffocate if he stayed in the confined space any longer. Maybe that’s what it was, loss of air, which had him hearing funny things. Elaine scrambled to follow him. “Okay, see, I keep hearing you say that you want to end our relationship, but I know that can’t possibly be right because why would you possibly want that? But you keep saying it. I don’t understand.” He suddenly stopped walking and turned around. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered and quickly looked away, unable to bear the pain etched across his face, deeply embedded in his piercing stare.

“Why?”

Elaine pointed tentatively towards a park bench in between them. “Can we – can we sit?”

“I don’t understand,” he repeated, as he did as she bid.

“I know this seems sudden and unexpected. To you. But it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot.”

“I’m beginning to realize that as you keep saying. But that’s the thing; you’ve obviously been questioning our relationship for quite some time now. But why is this the first time I’m hearing about it? What does that make all the dates we’ve had in between – one big joke?”

There was now hurt mixed in with the pain, and though she’d expected his reactions no amount of preparation could have made Elaine ready to receive it. “No! Will, no! Of course not.” The tears that’d been threatening to fall fell freely now. And with each tear, Elaine hated herself that much more. She’d wanted to be strong and she didn’t want sympathy. She knew everything she was doing, she was bringing it on herself.

“The times we’ve spent together, they’ve been the most special moments of my life,” she tried to impress, wanting him to understand that he meant something to her and that their relationship hadn’t been a lark. “There were so many times I wanted to say something, knew I ought to say something, but I couldn’t make myself do it because I knew the minute I did everything would end. I didn’t want to give up what we had. I still don’t.”

“Then why are you doing this? I love you, Elaine. I want to be with you. I thought, well I never thought we’d end up like this.”

His proclamation of love, at a time like this, was a dagger to the heart. Just one more twist in this sad tale. She was tempted to throw herself at him and retract everything she’d said. But she thought about the day before, how much her family meant to her, and how she wanted to bring to the family someone they could appreciate and embrace. As much as it pained her to admit, her parents’ approval did mean a lot to her.

“You have so many wonderful qualities, Will, and it’s because of them that I was attracted to you, but when I think about us, when I think about what kind of a future we’d have if we stayed together, I see too many impasses. We’re too different.”

“Is that what this is all about?” Suddenly, Will didn’t feel so despondent anymore. Here was hope. “The fact that you’re Asian and I’m not? We can overcome that, Elaine. I know we can.”

“No,” Elaine shook her head. “We can’t. I’ve tried so hard to make it work in my head. You have to realize, I really do want this to work. But it never works out. How can I make you understand? How can I make you see? Our cultures, our priorities, the way we view our families, they’re all so different. You’re not tied to your family the way I am. You’re not expected to talk to your parents almost every day, to see them as often as I do. My family, I can’t escape them, Will, and I don’t want to. They’re a part of my daily life. I need a person who can be a part of that.”

“I can be that person. You’ve only to let me and I will be that person.”

She wished it could be that easy. “It’ll never work. Just look at the way you were treated at Charlotte’s engagement party. You stuck out like a sore thumb and nobody there knew what to say to you anymore than any of your parents’ friends knew what to say to me at the picnic. And what really appalled was that my parents invited you to the party, but then practically ignored you the entire time and what’s worse, you didn’t even seem to notice or care!”

“I know your parents have their reservations, Elaine, and I didn’t expect change overnight.”

“But you don’t seem very determined to change their opinion of you either. Take yesterday’s lunch, for example. When I told you I had a family event, you didn’t try and get yourself invited.”

“Why would I? I figured if I’d been invited you’d have let me know. The fact that you didn’t mention it led me to believe you wanted to spend time with your family by yourself, and that was okay with me. I know your family’s important to you and I want you to have your time with them. I know I’m a distraction when I’m around and I didn’t want to make lunch with your family tense. I wanted you to enjoy your outing with them. Was that so wrong?”

Elaine pondered the question and her response. She let her vision stray and took in the street, teeming with traffic, and the occasional pedestrian walking past them on the sidewalk. To the outside world, they looked like two people sitting on a park bench having an intense conversation. What she wouldn’t give to be one of them.

She finally turned back to Will, keeping her voice as low and steady as possible. Wishing he’d finally understand. “I want someone who’ll belong, who’ll understand not just me but my family too, because he’ll understand why we do certain things the way do and why we say what we say without me having to explain or excuse every idiosyncrasy each time something happens. I want someone who’ll get along with my family and communicate easily with them. I want someone who’ll feel comfortable with them, just as I want to be able to be at home with his family.”

“We can make that happen,” Will promised. “You just have to give us a chance, Elaine. I know we can make it work because I love you and I know you love me too.” Though, as soon as he said the words, he realized he’d yet to hear such a declaration from Elaine’s lips.

“Elaine, you do love me, don’t you?”

It was a simple question and one that deserved a simple answer. It was on the tip of her tongue. But as she looked at Will, the hurt and the hope brushed across his face, she knew that any confession she made would only make it worse because in the end, her answer wouldn’t change a thing.

“I’m sorry, Will. Sometimes . . . it’s just not enough. I’m sorry!” Her choice made, Elaine quickly ran away before he could change her mind.

“Elaine!” Will cried after her, frustrated and pleading. But she would not be swayed and did not look back.

Later that night, after she’d shed all the tears she had in her and lay awake unable to sleep, she grabbed her yesterday’s jeans from where they lay at the foot of her bed and fished out the piece of paper in its pocket. In the moonlight, Elaine fiddled with the paper and considered the numbers that were written on it.

Footnotes:

1. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a lunar celebration celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. (It parallels the Autumn Equinox of the solar calendar and usually takes place sometime between the middle of September and early October in the Gregorian calendar.) On this day, the moon is at its fullest and brightest, thus marking the end of the summer harvest season for farmers. For this reason, it is tradition for Chinese families to reunite on this day and celebrate the abundance of fruit, vegetables, and rice. It is the Asian version of Thanksgiving, if you will.

The Mid-Autumn Festival dates back over 3,000 years to China’s Zhou Dynasty. There are several versions of how the celebration came to be, most involving Houyi, the archer, and Chang’e, the woman on the moon, and also one about the overthrowing of Mongol rule in China. Rather than trying to summarize them all here, I encourage you to read about the different versions here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival.

2. Each summer, the Stern Grove Festival Association holds an admission-free, performing arts series for the benefit of the Bay Area community at Stern Grove, a natural amphitheater in San Francisco. Established in 1938, it is the oldest admission-free summer performing arts festival of its kind in the United States. For more information about Stern Grove, please see http://www.sterngrove.org/.

3. Like any Chinese holiday, the Mid-Autumn Festival comes with certain associated foods that one is supposed to eat on this day, e.g., pomelos, taro, and edible snails. However, the most celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival treat is the mooncake. It is said that after the Mongol took over China, ending the Han-led Song Dynasty and creating the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming revolutionaries used mooncakes to coordinate the overthrowing of the Mongol rulers. Noticing that the Mongols did not eat mooncakes, they spread a rumor saying that a deadly plague was going around and the only way to survive it was to eat mooncakes. The mooncakes were distributed to all the Han Chinese, and inside each one was a secret message instructing them to revolt against the Mongols on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. Their success gave rise to the Ming Dynasty (the last Han-led dynasty in China’s history).

As for the mooncakes themselves, they consist of a tender, outer crust with either a sweet or sweet/savory filling on the inside. There are variations to this of course, usually dependent upon the geographical location of the mooncake’s origin. For more information and pictures about all the different types of mooncakes, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake.

4. The “Anvil Chorus” is a song from Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, Il Trovatore.

5. The erhu is a Chinese, two-stringed instrument. It is played with the base of the instrument resting on the musician’s left thigh while the right hand holds the bow. While “Butterfly Lovers” is more commonly performed with violins, perhaps because it is a more common instrument, I prefer it performed with an erhu. I think the erhu has an extra sorrowful quality to its music that really lends itself well to the narration behind “Butterfly Lovers.” For more information and pictures regarding the instrument, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhu.

6. For more information about “Butterfly Lovers” and to listen to musical clips, please visit: http://www.mandarin-center.com/culture/music-detail.asp?ID=6. The website features both a piano version and erhu version of the piece. I highly recommend the erhu version.

Two additional, informative sites are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_Lovers (for the story) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_Lovers%27_Violin_Concerto (for the music).

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