Second Chance (23 page)

Their friendship
had remained strong. Perhaps even stronger through the years. There was a time
when she thought she would die. Especially when she thought she had lost
Patrick forever. Through those dark days when she didn’t think her tears would
ever stop, she had Sue to hold her hands.

Katie had seen
the look in Sue’s eyes and noticed the way Jae looked at her. There was no
doubt in Katie’s mind that this Jae was the one who changed her friend’s life
years ago. Katie heard someone call Jae Khyba that night at the karaoke party.

Every time Katie
tried to give Sue some information regarding Jae, Sue had politely changed the
subject. The exception had been today at Cary’s Boutique. Katie had thought
about letting it go but she had seen the longing in Sue’s eyes. It was the very
same pain Katie had seen that night Sue was singing. Sue never drank alcohol,
had always condemned it, had always stayed away. But that night, Sue drank, had
gotten drunk and Katie had seen the pain in her loyal friend. It was time for
Katie to give Sue a little prayer of her own.

Katie went online
and surfed the Internet for what she needed. Once she found it, she picked up
the phone and began dialing.

CHAPTER
29

Sue looked
through the framed photographs of lighthouses on the wall of Michael’s study.
Michael had brought takeout and they had finished dinner earlier in the
evening. Now Sue was browsing through Michael’s pictures while he worked at his
desk.

There was a
framed picture of Michael and a beautiful woman standing in front of a peaceful
scene of a lone lighthouse by the shore. “Where was this picture taken?” Sue
asked Michael. Her back was to him.

“Which one?” he
asked, getting up from his desk.

“This one. The
one with you and this beautiful woman—the background is breathtaking.
Everything about it is perfect, peaceful.” As Sue was asking the question,
Michael was already standing behind her. He was standing very close and as he
slightly shifted his weight to get a closer look at the picture, she caught a
whiff of his scent. He smelled clean. But instead of thinking about Michael,
she thought of Jae.

“Ah, that one. I
meant to take it down,” Michael replied.

“Why?” Sue turned
to him. He was just inches away from her.

“I hate that
picture,” Michael declared turning away.

“Why?”

“I just do.”

“It’s a beautiful
picture. I would have loved to see a place like that.”

“Why do you
always look so sad, Sue?” Michael asked, wanting to change the subject.

“I don’t look sad...do
I, really?”

“Yes, you do. Why
is that?”

Sue shrugged.
“One woman’s frown is another woman’s smile?”

Weighing what she
said, Michael said, “That picture was taken in Maine.”

Sue wanted to ask
who the woman was but bit her tongue. She didn’t want to be nosy. “It’s
beautiful. It’s so peaceful looking. So different from here.”

“So, tell me,
what do you think of NYC so far?”

“Hmm, what do I
think of NYC?” Sue gave it a thought then she grinned and said, “
Veni, vidi,
vici
.”

I came, I saw, I
conquered. Michael laughed at Sue’s quote from Julius Ceasar. “And what did you
conquer?”

“My fear of
drowning in a sea of people.” Sue smiled.

Michael continued
to laugh. “That’s all?”

Sue nodded.

“Does that mean
you’ll consider staying?”

It was Sue’s turn
to laugh. “Maybe…”

“What does that
mean?”

“It means, I
wouldn’t choose to live here, but I might consider visiting again, only next
time, I’m bringing a GPS. Although, you know, I think, even with a GPS, I’ll
still get lost.”

“I can help with
that. Getting around I mean, not getting lost.”

“Thank you, I’d
greatly appreciate that.”

“Would you like
to see Maine?”

“Maybe one day,”
Sue said turning back to the picture. “Don’t take it down. It’s a nice
picture.”

The next thing
Sue knew, Michael had grabbed her wrist and was pulling her toward the door.

“Michael, what
are you—”

“We’re going to
Maine.”

“In this
weather?”

“It’s perfect.”

“At this hour?”

“Come on Sue,
let’s go on a road trip!”

“Michael, we
can’t…the shower, the—”

“Let Tony take
care of that. You and I are going to have some fun!” Michael declared, placing
a kiss on her lips before grabbing her coat from the foyer closet.

“How are we going
to get there?”

“We’re driving.”

Sue gasped in
mocked surprise. “You know how to drive?”

Michael chuckled.
“I’ll learn,” he said leading her to the garage.

Sue stood by the
shore with the cold ocean waves chilling her face. The chilling wind brought
sprays of ocean water her way and she closed her eyes to feel the cool mist on
her face. She drew a deep breath then opened her eyes to take in the view. She
felt at peace. She closed her eyes again and listened to the waves. She inhaled
tasting the salty air. The air was cool and crisp and it reminded her of
standing on the hill at Indian Mounds Park. She immediately opened her eyes.

Don’t. Not
now. Just enjoy
.

They had driven
all night and had reached Maine sometime after midnight. They had checked into
a hotel, separate rooms, and this morning, made their way to the lighthouse
Michael called Lover’s Cliff. Sue cupped the sides of her mouth with her
mitten-covered hands and screamed. “Ahhhhhh…” She grinned. She turned to
Michael and found him smiling, watching her.

Sue hugged him.
“Thank you!” she said. “I really needed this.”

“I know,” Michael
answered, hugging her back.

Sue let go of
Michael and turned back to the ocean. She closed her eyes, inhaled then exhaled
audibly.

“Will you be
mine?” she heard Michael ask.

She froze for a
second then slowly turned to him, puzzled. “Did you say something?”

“Will you be
mine…for Valentine?”

“Michael… I…”

“You don’t have
to answer me now. Will you think about it?”

Stunned, she
could only nod.

Sue thought about
it all the way back to New York. She internally debated, mentally plucking the
white petals off some poor daisies.

Yes, no, yes,
no…

Her heart
screamed “no” while her logical mind asked, “why not?”

Memories of a
sorrowful twenty-year-old, too broken to fight, painfully squeezed through the
cracks of her patched up heart. “A Jap knocked her up!” “No, it was a Korean!”
“Tsk, tsk, shame, shame, shame.” “Only good for second wife!” “Lost face!”

She was no longer
twenty and scared. She was much older now with a career. What was she afraid
of? Michael?

Michael McHeney
was everything she had hoped for when she was young and eager to explore the
world, to live the American dream and fulfill her childhood fantasy of happily
ever after.

Life plan: Go to
college, become a doctor, marry a loving man, and have a family.

Well, here he
was. Sue took a detour and was lost for a while, but she found her way back.
She went to college, became a doctor and now the man of her childhood dreams
was giving her another chance at her American dream. She should be jumping with
joy. Yet here she was, mentally torturing some flowers, interrogating them for
an answer she already had. Pathetic!

No. I can’t.

Why can’t you?

Because he is
too nice to get hurt by some insecure Hmong girl too stupid to keep her legs
closed!

Harsh. You’re
starting to sound like your mother; besides, you’re not a girl anymore.

Some things
never change.

And some do.

Sue closed her
eyes, counting, trying to calm her mind. Why was she making this so difficult?

Things were
always easier said than accomplished. Jae’s Khyba now. And in Sue’s mind, if
they didn’t fit when he was just a lonely, young fish hauler, why would they
fit now when he was Khyba? There was no future with Jae, but Michael? Perhaps.
Just perhaps. Why was that possibility so hard to accept?

 Sue gave a
slight groan that drew a response from her car mate. After assuring Michael she
was just tired, they remained silent again, leaving each other to their own
thoughts.

“Why do you want
me, Michael?” Sue asked as he walked her to the townhouse. The silent drive
back had given Sue ample time to think. The question she asked was one among
many.

“You’re smart.
You’re honest. You’re beautiful.” Seeing her hesitation, he added, “And I want
you.”

At the word, she
cringed. “I’m…flattered, but I’m a chronic liar, remember?”

“I know.”

“And you still
want me?”

“Liar and all,”
Michael answered smiling. “Take your time, Sue. Just think about my proposal.”

“What exactly are
you proposing?”

“If marriage is
too soon…stay with me? In New York. Be mine and…we’ll take it from there?”

She owed it to
him to think it over. She owed it to herself to think it over. How dreadfully
similar this was to her big mistake before. Stay with him in New York? They
hadn’t known each other long.

Sue nodded and
bid him goodbye. It was already evening and they were both tired.

CHAPTER
30

One knock, two
knocks, three knocks. One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand,
four one-thousand, five one-thousand. If there was no answer after the second
attempt, she told herself she would leave. One knock, two knocks, three knocks.
One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four one-thousand…

She heard the
clicking of mechanisms, and then the door opened.

“Hello, Plain
Sue, please come in.
Hyung
is in a meeting but he’ll be done soon.”

Sue smiled,
recognizing Jae’s assistant Jackie, impeccably dressed and courteous as the
other times she had met him. “No, thank you. I came to return this.” Sue handed
Jackie a black, square velvet box.

Jackie opened the
box and stared at a beautiful diamond bracelet and drop earring set. “This is a
gift from Khyba
Hyung
, surely you must keep it.”

“It’s generous of
your
Hyung
, but I can’t keep them.”

“What should I
tell
Hyung
?”

“Tell him, thank
you, but I can’t keep them.”

“Perhaps you
would like to return these to him yourself?”

“I’m afraid I
won’t have time to return. If you are uncomfortable, I can leave it at the
front desk instead.”

“I can return
them to him.”

“Thank you. I
greatly appreciate it.”

“May I ask why
you can’t keep them?”

Sticking with
honesty Sue answered in the simplest way she could conjure into words. “Because
they remind me of him every time I see them and for that reason alone, I can’t
keep them.”

Jackie nodded and
Sue bid him farewell.

The bracelet and
earrings arrived that morning with a simple note, “For my Shorty Suzy Sue.”
My
?
Since when was she
his
my? She wasn’t anyone’s
my
, certainly not
his and probably not Michael’s as well. How could she belong to anyone when she
wasn’t whole? Jae didn’t want her years ago when she wasn’t so angry at the
world. They didn’t fit when she was whole, why would they fit now when she was
so bitter and broken? As for Michael, he deserved a whole woman, someone who
could love him, someone who was not a shameful whore whose value depleted with
the years of her youth.

As the day
progressed, Sue kept herself busy preparing for Katie’s bridal shower. It was a
time for celebration, and she pushed her misery aside to think about her
friend.

Katie’s own
journey had not been an easy one. Her meeting with Patrick had turned to
friendship then to love. After September 11, 2001, Patrick had been deployed to
Afghanistan. His convoy was attacked and he was reported dead. Had Katie given
up on him, they would not be here today. Because of their years of separation,
Sue had planned the shower with them in mind.

In her brief
absence, Tony had created an exotic theme of East meets West. Silks of various
vibrant colors decorated the townhouse.

Sue watched Katie
laughed. Occasionally, she caught Katie stealing glances at Patrick where-ever
he was in the room. Whenever Patrick caught Katie’s eyes, he returned the
warmth, the smile.

“I met Rufus at a
game. I was watching; he was playing. I should have paid more attention because
all of a sudden—pow! The next thing I remember, a gorgeous, sweaty man was
staring down on me. I thought I was in heaven,” Genna Kallany said, laughing.
She laughed so hard, she snorted. Blushing bright red, she covered her mouth
and laughed louder. “Then I kissed him, umm, sweaty.” She croaked and laughed
harder.

The women laughed
with Genna. The men turned heads, nervously watching their women, wondering if
they were the subject of their women’s hilarity. Genna caught a glimpse of her
husband, a large Samoan with arms the size of Sue. Rufus gave his wife an
affectionate wink and Genna returned the affection.

“Oh, God, Katie.
I met Toby through his grandmother. Yeah, of all people, right? I was on my
break, running errands and getting lunch. Long story short, I saved his
grandmother from a cart. Yeah, of all things, a cart. Who would have thought
that saving an elderly woman would lead me to such a man?” Gina Gray said,
lovingly watching her own husband.

Dreamily, Katie,
Gina, and Genna turned to their significant others and sighed in unison.

“Yeah, it’s few
and far in between but when he does decide to be romantic, oh yeah, he can rock
my world. You know what I mean?” Gina said, laughingly.