Chapter 19: Chinese Takeout
The office building was deadly quiet on Saturday. Jesse was sitting on one of the file cabinets next to his office window, looking out with a coffee mug in hand. Its early fall already, the leaves were starting to change colors to different shades of red, orange, yellow and green. Fall was always his favorite season, especially here on the East Coast where temperature is cool in the early mornings and late nights, but still warm during the day. He also loved the foliage during this time of the year; they didn’t have that back where he grew up, which made it even more attractive and mesmerizing.
The tax bill was passed with no surprise. RFIs and RFPs are already popping up the government contracting registry like wild mushrooms after the spring rain. Troy had asked him to concentrate on two of the biggest projects: the Central Master Control System (CMCS) and the Automatic Recording System (ARS) since D&W had built similar systems for Department of Education. The total revenue of these two projects would add up to half of D&W’s worth.
With the amount of work and Mei being out for a full week, Jesse and his team had to put in extra hours to get things done. He actually stayed overnight on Friday and only had a few hours of sleep on the couch. The physical exhaustion and fast approaching deadline was not what bothered him most at the time, it was the distraction from how he couldn’t get his mind off of Mei that has been eating him alive.
Watching Mei lying in the hospital bed with no response tore his heart apart. He thought he saw Ryan in his last days and the overwhelming fear of losing someone dear to him all came back like a flood. He felt like a zombie at work during the day and stayed at the hospital at night. He talked to her, told her how important she was to him and how scared his was at the thought of losing her. He didn’t know whether she heard him, it didn’t matter. He prayed to God again and again to bring her back.
He was so thankful and relieved when she finally woke up. But then reality hit. He’s engaged, to a beautiful girl who loved him and was currently planning their wedding. He was her boss; they still need to work together; not to mention she has a boyfriend as well.
He put in a lot of effort to stop himself from calling or visiting since she went home. But the desire of wanting to see her had only become stronger and he just couldn’t concentrate on getting any work done no matter how hard he tried.
Part of being best friends is that you never stay angry with each other for long. Mei woke up Saturday morning and saw Tammy had made breakfast before she left. Dan was sitting on the couch reading news from his phone when Mei walked out of her bedroom.
“Good morning! Mei.” Dan stood up and quickly walked over to give her a hug.
“Good morning, you are early.” Mei smiled and felt really lucky to have Dan and Tammy in her life.
“Tammy left you a note. It’s on the fireplace; let me go get it for you.” Dan moved a chair out of the way and made sure Mei had no objects within close vicinity to touch her casted arm at the dining room table.
Tammy’s note was short and sweet: “I am sorry about last night, I guess we are even now. J” Mei laughed out loud; she knew Tammy was referring to her coo coo bird clock again.
“Is everything all right between you too?” Dan asked as he was heating up breakfast in the microwave.
“Oh yeah, we are good. How can you stay mad at your sister?” They are really like sisters from different mothers, Mei thought. She looked at the note and said in silence: “I am sorry too.”
Dan and Mei spent most of the day chatting. He told her about Sarah, and how he wanted to help her get back on her feet. Mei didn’t mind at all just as Dan thought. She told him she trusted him and was also willing to provide help as needed.
The day passed by so fast that before they knew it dinner time had come. Mei had Tammy’s cooking for several days in a row and felt like some Chinese for a change. They ordered Mu-Shui Pork and Orange Chicken from “Peking Manor”, her favorite takeout place just a couple of blocks away. The delivery was going to take 30 minutes due to the busy Saturday night, Dan decided to walk over and pick up the food instead since it was faster.
Just five minutes after Dan left Mei heard a knock. Dan must have forgotten his wallet, she thought as she opened the door: “It’s not locked. What did you forget?” That’s when she saw Jesse, holding a beautifully wrapped wild lily bouquet, looking back at her.
“Hi Mei,” He smiled.
“Hi…” Mei didn’t know what to say or how to react; she did not expect to see him at all.
“I got your address from the company files, I hope you don’t mind.” One thing obvious, Jesse looked just as uncomfortable as Mei, he brushed his hair back with one hand while taking a deep breath, Mei thought if she wasn’t mistaken Jesse almost looked nervous.
“Oh, no, of course not… come in please.” Mei finally realized it was rude to keep her boss at the door and moved over to let him in.
“Please, have a seat wherever, would you like something to drink?” Mei felt her heart beating at 100 miles per hour; she walked over to the kitchen to try to calm her nerves where he can’t see.
“No Thank you. You should take a seat. I can’t risk having you break the other arm too…” he joked and lifted up the flowers, “do you have a vase somewhere?”
“Oh yeah, thanks for the flowers, they are beautiful. I think the vase is somewhere on the top cabinet over the refrigerator.”
Mei tried to move out of the way so Jesse could reach over for the vase as her kitchen is very narrow. To avoid any contact with him she stayed as close to the back cabinets as possible while stepping toward the living room. What she didn’t realize was that her casted arm was heading directly for the coffee machine on the countertop.
Bunk! The coffee pot fell to the ground as her arm swung into it. “Ah!” she screamed, partly because of the pain and partly because of the sharp sound of glass hitting the tile floor. Before she took in another breath Jesse’s arm was around her back and she heard his anxious voice just like at the hospital: “Are you OK? Mei?”
“I am fine, but the coffee pot is…” Mei couldn’t finish her sentence as she turned her head and looked right into Jesse’s eyes. They are a deep blue today. Jesse is standing so close that she could see her own reflection in them and felt his breath gently brushing over her face. She felt her heart stopped beating, and everything around became absolute still. She was not sure whether the fire, eagerness and passion she saw in his eyes are his emotions or hers. Time and all motions have stopped and she was completely lost in his gaze. Then suddenly she saw her own image becoming bigger in his iris, and realized he is leaning over. She closed her eyes.
That’s when the door opened, and Dan came in with 2 bags of Chinese food in hands.
