“Who called earlier?” Ariel asked Joe as they sat in the kitchen of her house after the dinner with Mrs. Cheng.
“Oh, it was Bianca.” Joe answered nonchalantly.
Ariel raised her eyebrows.
“Bianca is… She’s….”
“You don’t have a secret girlfriend tucked away somewhere do you?”
“It’s nothing like that!” Joe hastily assured her. “It’s just that it’s complicated.”
“Kindly explain.” Ariel went to fetch some cookies and coffee.
“Alright. You remember that story I told you in the garden about how Melissa helped my Mom through school and everything?”
“Yes, but what does that have to do with Bianca?”
“Well, when I was about nine, Mom wanted to help someone the way Melissa helped her. Dad travelled a lot for work, and Mom always wanted a girl. Because of that, she took in a foster child, who happened to be Bee – Bianca. Bee’s had a traumatic childhood. She was abandoned by her mother at birth and her adopted mother was not someone you want to live with. Bee was kind of like Cinderella without her Fairy Godmother. When she was six, her adopted mother got into an argument with her boyfriend. Someone fired a gun, the boyfriend was taken into custody, and the government decided that Bee shouldn’t live in that kind of an environment. She went through two foster homes before she came to live with us.”
“So you knew her when you were young?”
“Sort of. Mom fell in love with Bee. I think that’s the only way to describe it. Bee reminded her of herself, and when I was 11, Mom formally adopted her and she lived with us until she went to Japan to dance three years ago.”
“So she’s your adopted sister?”
“Yes. She never calls my Mom ‘Mom’ though. I think it’s trauma from her first adopted mother.”
“Wow.” Here’s a girl with a worse childhood than me. “What’s she like? As in personality-wise.”
“Bee is… well, let’s put it this way. She’s so perfect that even catty girls can’t dislike her because she is so astoundingly nice.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. She’s really pretty but also spirited and flighty. She’s good at everything – school, athletics, art – you name it, she can do it. Because of that, she hasn’t ever settled down with one thing for long. Before she found ballet, she tried all sorts of other jobs and careers. Her fashion sense changes every three seconds, and she hasn’t ever had a best friend or steady boyfriend throughout high school. That drove Mom nuts.”
“Wow.”
“Mom’s happy now. She’s been with her boyfriend, Ethan, for almost two years.” He grimaced, “Mom wants grandchildren. Badly.”
“Ah.” Wow, this girl is amazing…
“When can I give you your present?” Joe asked Ariel when she’s been silent for a few moments.
“Hm…?” Ariel asked. She had almost fallen asleep as she had been lying with her head in Joe’s lap.
“You said you don’t want to get your present until you gave me yours. So when can I give it to you?”
“Tomorrow should be ok.” Ariel yawned. “Remember the price limit.”
“It’s not over the limit. I’ll show you a receipt if you care so much.” Joe pretended to sound wounded.
Ariel laughed. “I just don’t want your present to be 10 times better than mine.”
“Oh don’t worry,” Joe said enigmatically, “my present will be better than yours for sure.”
“We’ll see!” Ariel yawned again. “Gosh, I’m really tired.”
“We’ll, that’s my cue to get lost.” Joe dipped down to kiss Ariel. A quick peck on the lips turned much more enthusiastic than he had anticipated, and soon, Joe’s brain felt foggy. After a long time – or it seemed so to Joe – his brain woke up and he pulled away.
“You could stay over.”
“What?” Joe looked utterly shocked.
“Get your mind out of the gutter.” Ariel wacked him slightly. “I meant you could crash on the sofa. It’s getting late.”
“I would, but I’m afraid I would be tempted to do other stuff.” Joe said only half jokingly. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Sure, Ariel followed Joe to the door, and to his great surprise, gave him a quick peck on the lips before shutting the door quickly behind him.
—————————-
“Hey Papa.” Rainie smiled into the receiver.
“Hey Raindrops.” Mr. Yang said affectionately. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine.” Rainie chirped. “I’m starting school right after new years.”
“Terrific. I hope that once you start school, you won’t go shopping quite so much.”
“Hey! Papa, I’m already regulating my spending habits!” Rainie protested.
“Yes, I know. You haven’t maxed out your credit card yet.” Mr. Yang joked.
“Alright Papa, I get it.” Rainie rolled her eyes. “Why are you calling me today? You’ve already wished me a ‘Merry Christmas’ yesterday.”
“What, I can’t call my daughter up to see how she’s doing?”
“You know you don’t do that sort of thing.”
“Alright.” Mr. Yang turned serious. “Do you remember Wilber Pan?”
“Pan… Pan…” Rainie thought hard. “You mean the son of the President of Pan Corps, the shipping company?”
“That’s the one.”
“What about him?” Rainie had a bad feeling about this.
“Well, we’re in the middle of signing a business deal.”
“Papa, you run a large online auction business, why are you signing a deal with a shipping company?”
“The deal if for us to ship our products exclusively by them. This way, we can increase our shipping efficiency and lower costs. It’s also good for them because they will get more business.”
“What does this have to do with me?” Rainie was feeling nauseous.
“One of the terms on the contract is for a marriage between you and Wilber.” Mr. Yang stated clearly.
“Oh.”
“Don’t ‘oh’ me Raindrops. You knew that your mother and I are looking for a good husband for you.”
“No, you’re looking for a good heir to inherit your business.”
“Yes we are. And I won’t lie to you. Wilber’s born in the States and has a MBA from Harvard. He’s actually heading the signing of this new deal with us, and all I can say is: he’s doing terrific work.”
“Why would he agree to marry me? Is he ugly? Or is he disfigured.”
“Really Raindrops, would your mother and I pick an ugly or disfigured husband for you? As to why he agreed to marry you, I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him yourself.”
Rainie stayed silent.
“You knew this was going to happen Rainie. Your mother and I gave you a choice to study commerce and take over the family business. But you wanted to study History.”
“I don’t want to take over the family business Papa.”
“Yes, but if you don’t, who will? You’re an only child Raindrops. Our deal was that you would study whatever you want, but your mother and I will find a suitable candidate for you to marry.”
“I didn’t think it was going to be this soon Papa. I’m only 20.” What about Mike…?
“And twenty is high time to get married. Your mother had you when she was 21.”
“Papa, just because you and Mama are happy with your arranged marriage doesn’t mean we all would be!”
“Wilber is a nice man and he will make the perfect husband for you.” Mr. Yang said with finality.
“Papa, I’m not going to marry a man I haven’t even met.”
“You will meet him. He is coming to Vancouver in the new year.” Mr. Yang had anticipated her reply. “I will talk to you later.”
“Papa!” Rainie exclaimed into the now silent receiver. “Shit!”
——————–
Izumic is a busy bee right now, please leave a message, and she will get back to you when she can breathe. *beep*
PS. She’s sorry about not being able to update soon!
