Chapter Twenty-One

The chilly spring breeze blows through my flimsy pajama pants and light sweater. Strings of my blond hair fall out of my bun, but I can’t take my eyes off of what’s – who’s in front of me. My mouth is open and I could’ve sworn a mosquito almost went in. I regain my senses and close my mouth and stand straighter.

             Madam Jin is standing in front of me.

            She is dressed in a dark green dress and holds a black coat to herself. Her dark hair is in a tight bun, and her eyes are staring straight into me. She has a warm smile on her face, despite her cold aura. Behind her, there is a black –surely expensive – car with two men dressed in black standing by. They must be her bodyguards. She is the queen of the Asian market, a very important business partner to Lee. I think back to the night I met her at Lee’s birthday bash. She seemed to like me…I think. Then a thought strikes me.  That means I have to act like Lee’s girlfriend again.

            “Madam Jin,” I whisper. I cough, clearing my voice. “What’re you doing here?” Maybe that seemed a bit rude to ask so abruptly.

            “Ivory,” she smiles, wrinkles appearing on her clear complexion. “Well, aren’t you going to invite me in?”

            For a minute, I just stare at her before realizing what she had just said. Immediately, I move out of the way and allow her to enter. When she passes by, she smells faintly of a floral perfume. I look outside again. Her bodyguards are still as statues, exactly where they were before. Are they going to come in too?

            “Don’t worry about them,” Madam Jin calls. I turn to face her. She’s smiling at me. “I have ordered them to wait outside – which took a lot of effort because they thought I was going to get assassinated inside.” She chuckles softly. “You can close the door.” I nod, feeling bad for letting them just stay outside in the dark, cold night.

               Madam Jin takes a seat on the couch. She looks to Lee and Mark. “Mark, dear, why are you half-naked? Get some decency, child. Put clothes on.”

                  Contrary to her orders, Mark grins and just attacks Madam Jin into a big bear hug. It looks like he’s squeezing the life out of her, but she just slaps his back and yells to get off of her. Even though she’s refusing his hug, she has a faint smile on her face. Wait a minute…do they know each other?

               “I missed you too, grandma Jin!” Mark chirps, still hugging her.

                 “Get off, Mark! Learn your manners!” she yells back, slapping him.

            “You love me anyway!”

                “Get off, you rude boy.”

                Mark finally lets go, the grin never leaving his face, and quickly runs upstairs and returns in seconds with a gray shirt on. He takes a seat beside me, across Madam Jin. Lee looks a bit flustered since he’s not wearing his suit in front of Madam Jin. This must be the first time he’s ever been unprepared. It’s quite hilarious watching him trying to keep himself professional even though he’s in pajamas.

                   “So,” I say, “Madam Jin, what brings you here?”

              A sympathetic look passes upon her face. “Why, Mark has told me what has happened and since you are like my own daughter, I couldn’t help not coming.” She gets up and takes a seat beside me before she envelops me in a hug. I’m in shock, but I don’t even have time to respond. “Are you okay, Ivory?”

           Well, considering my mother is in the hospital on the brink of life and death, certainly not. But Brent is here, I have – almost – two friends who are with me, and now I have Madam Jin supporting me. I guess it’s not all too bad. “I’m fine,” I answer, hugging her back. She smells like a grandma.  I’ve never really had a grandmother in my entire life, so holding her is comforting.

               “I knew she would make you feel better,” Mark says, genuinely smiling from the corner of my eye. “Nobody’s better than grandma Jin.”

                   Madam Jin pulls back, but still holds my hands in hers. “Wait, you’re Madam Jin’s grandson?” I ask. Mark didn’t really look Asian, but maybe he was mixed or something.

              Mark chuckles. “I wish, but no. Our families are super close and I’ve basically grown up with Madam Jin all my life so she’s basically my grandmother. Though, it would be nice if we were related.”

                     “That would be horrid,” Madam Jin chimes in.

               “Aw, you know you love me,” Mark says. I’ve never seen this playful side of him. I can tell he’s really comfortable with Madam Jin and trusts her more than anyone else. “You are just too cute, Madam Jin.” Mark leans and pinches Madam Jin’s cheeks. Usually, it should be the other way around but with the way my life has been lately, I can’t even tell the difference between weird and normal. The line is blurring into one.

               “Anyways,” Madam Jin begins, “I will be coming back in a couple of days – maybe tomorrow if my schedule clears up – and we’ll go visit your mother together. I’ll bring flowers and everything.” She holds my hands in hers. “Ivory, even though we haven’t known each other too long, I feel a strange connection to you and if you’re hurting, I’m here for you.” She smiles a little. “You know that, right?”

            My cheeks are wet. “Thank you so much, Madam Jin.” I don’t realize what I’m doing but suddenly I’m engulfing her in a hug. Her floral perfume soothes me and I feel more close to a stranger I’ve only met than to any of the far away, distant relatives of mine.

                   Lee clears his throat. I almost forgot he was there. Almost.

                  “Madam Jin, are you hungry?” he asks. “You must’ve not had dinner yet – always so busy with work. Would you like to stay for dinner?”

                She chuckles. “That would be delightful.”

                   A phone rings.

               “Excuse me,” Madam Jin says, reaching for her pocket. Lee nods and heads to the kitchen where Mark follows. “Mmm-hmm,” she speaks to the phone. “Really? Oh my. Okay, yes. Thank you. Yes. All right. Goodbye.” She snaps her phone shut and places it back in her pocket.

                  “Is everything okay?” I ask.

               “It’s fine,” she replies, smiling. “Actually, more than fine. It seems my secretary has cleared up tonight so I guess I can stay for a while. But I have a meeting at noon tomorrow. I love my job, but I dislike it at the same time.”

              “I know the feeling,” I chuckle, thinking back to my own job. It must be hard for Madam Jin, running everything at such an old and fragile state. But, something tells me that despite her looks, she’s feistier than a wild bull. I mean, you can’t become queen of the market without having a backbone. “Oh! Madam Jin! If you were not busy till noon tomorrow, would you like to stay overnight? My brother is back in town from college and Lee and Mark are staying over, too. It’s kind of hectic without another female in the house.”

                 “I don’t know, Ivory….”

                   “C’mon! It’ll be fine,” I reassure, patting her forearm. My grin is etched onto my face. “I can do your nails and hair and we’ll do girly things. You need a break from work, too! Isn’t it stressful?”

                “Yes, but—”

            “I’ll even make you gourmet food!” Yeah, okay, Ivory. Good lie. 

                “Are you sure?”

                 “Yes, Madam Jin! Please?”

              Madam Jin looks around, her eyes passive and thinking. She starts chewing on her index fingernail and I can see her mind slowly changing. I grin even wider. She sighs. “Fine.”

               I almost lung at her like an animal but stop myself because I don’t want to break her bones. I still hug her with a lot of force though. Enough to get oomph! out of her. As I hug her, her clothes feel so silky – but tight. “Thank you so much! I promise you’re going to love tonight.”

                 “As you say so,” she smiles.

                       “First thing’s first,” I say. “Let’s get you in comfortable clothing.”

                  Madam Jin gives me a strange look. “But I am in comfortable clothing – not to mention the most updated fashion look of the week. I just bought this dress from Europe a couple of—”

                  I  drag her up with me and I hear a “Woah!” as I run up the stairs to my mother’s bedroom. She’s barely catching up with me but I’ve just always wanted to do with an aunt, or a grandmother, or anyone else. My mother is always working away in her studio and the only time I really see her is meals and when I get in trouble. I can feel my body shaking with excitement.

                     In Mom’s room, I dig through her closet. There’s always a pile of clothes to the side where Mom puts her old t-shirts, oversized or too tight, or out of fashion clothes. She never throws them away because she always thinks it’s a waste of money. Usually, she ends up using them as towels to wipe her hands after working on some painting.

                    “Ivory, what are you doing?” Madam Jin asks.

                 “Hold on, just a moment,” I say. I put to the side all her jackets and pants. I don’t know why but with Madam Jin here, I feel like Mom is going to be all right. “Found it!” I take the clothes and hand them to Madam Jin. “The bathroom’s down the hall. Try these on.”

                She holds the clothes to her eyes and examines them. “You want me to wear these clothes?” It feels like deja-vu. And then I remember. Lee reacted exactly like this before. I scoff. Rich people.

                      “Yes, Madam Jin.” I turn her around and push her out the door. “Now go!”

            I hear her heels clacking down the hallway. She’ll need some proper shoes, too. As she enters the bathroom, I head to my room and go through my closet. I know I had thrown some slippers in there the other day. Finally, I find my pink pig slippers that feel like you’re walking on clouds and go wait outside the bathroom for Madam Jin to finish.

            “Are you sure this is okay?” she asks from the bathroom.

            “Yes,” I say, “it’s fine, Madam Jin! Nobody is here that will take a photo of you and post it on some website.” I tap my foot as I wait. “I’m sure you look just fine.”

            The door clicks open.

            Madam Jin walks out in an oversized pink shirt and neon sweatpants. Her hair is still in the bun, and with the heels that she is wearing – the whole outfit looks hilarious. I bring a hand to my mouth, but small giggles escape. She puts hands to her hips. “Are you laughing at me, Ivory?”

            I make a muffled laughing noise. “What? No, of course not. You look simply… amazing.” I grin. “I think you really work this look.”

            “Hush now, child,” Madam Jin says, faking anger.

            “Okay, okay,” I say. I pass her the slippers. “Here. The heels can’t be that much comfortable either. These are really good for your feet. Not to mention they totally fit with your outfit.”

            She takes the slippers and steps out of her heels. I see the surprise on her face when she wears the slippers. “Wow,” she says, her mouth agape. “I’ve never felt something so soft.” She brings her fingers and touches the pigs’ heads. “Where do you get these? They must be expensive. Forty thousand? Fifty? This must be imported silk from China.”

            That causes me to laugh. I clutch my stomach, “No, actually. I got it from Dollar Tree.” Madam Jin arches an eyebrow. “It’s a store where everything’s cheap.” She still looks confused. “Nevermind,” I say, “let’s go downstairs. The boys must be setting up dinner.”

            Madam Jin nods. “Yes, let’s go.”

            We make our way down the stairs.

            “So,” she asks slowly, “how are you and Lee, dear?”

            I stop dead in my tracks. Facing her, I try to compose myself. “U-uh, Lee?” I say. I scratch my neck. “H-he’s – we’re fine. We’re wonderful, haha. Why wouldn’t we be? We’re wonderful.”

            “Is he proposing anytime soon?”

            “Proposing?” I shout.

            “Yes, dear,” she says calmly.

            “Of course not!” I reply. “Madam Jin! I’m only eighteen! Well, I’m turning nineteen soon, but it’s still too early to get married! Why would you think that?”

            Madam Jin shrugs. “I don’t know. I mean, you two seem lovely together. You might as well finish the deal now. Get married, do everything while you’re still young. Have children. Oh, it’s wonderful. And too young? This country has many people that are getting engaged at nineteen.”

            “Name one.”

            “Oh heavens, I don’t know. They’re all famous.”

            “They don’t count.”

            We get to the bottom of the stairs eventually. All I hear in my mind is marriage, Lee, marriage – marrying Lee. I wonder how that would be. I’d probably never find out. Eventually, we’d stop our dating façade and he’d go off with Penny and the newspapers would forget about the middle class, average girl and just move onto beautiful, model Penny. Though, I still wonder what it would be to wake up to Lee’s face everyday – to eat his cooking everyday, to kiss him goodbye when he leaves for work. All I ever got was a rude and cold attitude with random kisses that never meant anything. Lee could be such a little—

            “Ivory!”

            Suddenly, Lee’s in my face. He’s holding up a whisk covered in dough, and his other hand is holding a bowl. There is flour all over his face – still attractive, maybe even cute, I might add – and he’s yelling at me. Too bad I’m not even listening. I take in his messy hair, which somehow managed to get eggshell in there. He still looks amazing.

            “Ivory!” he shouts. “God damn it, are you even listening?”

            “Be gentle, Lee,” Madam Jin warns.

            Lee widens his eyes, like he forgot she was there. “Oh sorry, Madam Jin. Of course.” He chuckles. “We’re just playing around.” He throws his whisk in the bowl and wraps his empty hand around my shoulder. “Just a little couple game we play.”

            Madam Jin smiles. “Ah, young love.” She turns and goes to help Mark.

            Lee leans in – close enough to smell his filthy rich cologne – and whispers in my ear, “Thanks for ditching me with Mark. And you could at least listen when I’m talking to you. Rude.”

            “I’m rude?” I back away and glare at him, crossing my arms.

            “Yes, you—” he gets the whisk and points it at me, “—are rude.”

            “You’re getting the mix on my shoes, you prude!”

            “You were already messy anyways!”

            I hear footsteps and Madam Jin is back. “Is everything okay here?” she asks. She crosses her arms and I have to stifle a laugh because in all the pink attire she’s in, she looks like a circus clown.

            “Everything’s great!” Lee answers for the both of us. He wraps his arm around my shoulder again. I want to rip it off, despite the small tingles it’s creating. I feel something on my cheek. I gasp. Lee is kissing my cheek. “See? We’re just having a couple’s quarrel, Madam Jin.”

            She chuckles. “Okay, kids. Don’t have too much fun.” With that, she leaves again. I can hear her shuffling away in the pig slippers. Until I feel the distance is enough, I don’t speak. Lee stays still.

            I roughly shrug Lee’s hand off my shoulder and face him. “What the hell was that?” I ask. I seem to always be crossing my arms when I’m with Lee.

            “What?”

            “Oh don’t you act all dumb on me, you idiot!” I stab his chest with my index finger. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.” His confused face makes me want to rip it off too and give it to a hungry zombie to eat. “You know….” I don’t want to say it out loud. It would be weird.

               But Lee’s face drives me off the edge.

                 “The kiss!” I yell. I shove his chest. “The kiss, damn you!”

               “What kiss?” he says, mixing his batch casually. I’m so close to throwing him out the window and into the cold night. “Oh! That kiss? That little peck? That’s barely a kiss. That was merely even two faces touching.”

                “Shut up!”

                “I mean we’ve kissed before. Now those were—”

                I give an aggravated groan before I march into the kitchen. I can’t stand even breathing the same oxygen as him. He drives me nuts but it’s so weird how much I feel for him – wait, not that I do or anything. Not anymore at least. In the kitchen, it’s a mess. Plates and dishes scattered everywhere.

                   “Mark!” He’s standing next to the stove, holding a bowl and whisk and slowly mixing it. He was wearing a floral apron and had flour all over his nose. Mark’s eyes were trained on a page in the cookbook Mom kept in case she ever wanted to make something different once in a while.

               “Yes, love?” he grins.

               Of course, him and Lee would act so frickin’ casual making such a big mess everywhere – when it isn’t even their own house!

             I rub my temples. I keep my voice calm. “What—what are you doing, Mark?” I ask, a sigh escaping my mouth. Lee steps back into the kitchen. I ignore his presence all together.

             “Making pancakes, of course!”

                 “Pancakes?” Just perfect.

                “His idea,” Lee says, an annoyed tone in his words.

                   “Mark,” I say slowly, “why are you making pancakes so late at night? What about dinner? Why are you making such a big mess for pancakes? And where is Madam Jin anyways?” In the entire mess, I had not seen her anywhere. I mean, she’s wearing pink – you couldn’t miss that.

               “The bathroom,” Mark answers as he returns reading the cookbook and mixing his batter. “I hope these taste good. I’m making them chocolate chip.” He puts his batter down on the counter and takes a bag of chocolate chips. Mark puts some in his hand and walks over to me.

               “What are you doing?” I ask, backing away slightly.

                 “Shh,” Mark cuts me off. He brings his finger to my lips – a single chocolate chip lay perfectly on it. “Try it.”

                   “It’s fine.” No way in hell when Lee's just standing there drilling a hole in my head. 

                  “Open your mouth.”

                    “No.”

                        “Do it.”

             “No—” He shoves the chocolate chip in my mouth and I “accidentally” bite his finger. My cheeks are red from Mark’s proximity. The chocolate melts on my tongue and I don’t know how hungry I am until I find my stomach growling for more.

               “How is it?” Mark smirks.

                    I look away. “It’s alright.”

                I feel my wrist being grabbed. Looking up, I find Lee holding it. “We need to talk.” Mark gives a suspicious look before Lee drags me to the living room. He looks around, like it’s not the right place. Suddenly, we’re off again as he drags me off to a door – Mom’s studio – and pulls me inside. I have a bad feeling about what he wants to talk about for many