Second Chance (37 page)

“What kind of
dance are you going to show me?” she asked.

“You’ll find
out.” He was grinning wily, offering her his hand. “May I have this dance, Mrs.
Park?”

She placed her
right hand in his hand, smiling she answered, “Yes you may, Mr. Park.”

He pulled her off
the couch to stand in front of him. He laced his left hand into her right. As
he did so, his right hand circled her waist, resting at her back.

Leaning into her,
he whispered. “Hey, Shorty.”

“Hey, Lefty,” she
whispered back.

They danced
slowly as Jae sang to her. Never in a million years had she imagined being
serenaded to. Being the recipient of such affection, Sue finally knew how it
felt to be in a fairy tale.

They sat down by
the window, watching the snow fall. Jae’s back was braced against the wall as
she settled comfortably beween his legs, her back intimately pressed to his
chest. He had one leg bent and the other stretched out, long and lean. He moved
her hair to one side, exposing her bare neck. He kissed the sensitive spot
behind her ear, teasing her with his kisses while she drew tiny circles on his
bent knee. She flinched and giggled like a teenager in love when his lips
touched a sensitive spot.

“I looked for
you, you know,” Jae murmured against her temple.

“And you found
me.”

“That I did.” He
kissed her jaw then her neck. She closed her eyes to his sweet kisses and gave
a sigh of contentment. “Why didn’t you look for me?” he quietly asked.

His question took
her by surprise and she opened her eyes to look at him.

“Your elephant is
nagging me. Will you answer me?”

Sue returned her
gaze to the window and took his hands in hers. “Before I left Seoul, I came to
see you. I thought perhaps you didn’t mean what you said. That maybe there was
something bugging you that day, that whatever it was, we could work it out. I came
and I saw you kissing Hye Won and my world shattered. What you said to me, what
I felt—I was so hurt and angry.” She paused then chuckled. “I wanted to claw
her face off and do physical harm to you. It was probably the only time in my
life I actually contemplated homicide. I thought about demanding an answer from
you, but instead, I turned and walked away.”

Jae searched his
memory for what happened after leaving her underneath that willow tree. He was
drinking. He was hurt. Then came Hye Won, who took him into her arms, and she
kissed him.

“I’m sorry. The
kiss, it was nothing.”

“Maybe to you,
but to me, it meant a lot.” Sue shut her eyes remembering her nineteen-year-old
self crying to sleep, wishing he was with her. She remembered her empty
apartment, her lonely bed, her growing belly. There were many times she let her
finger linger over the enter key with his name typed in the search box.

“I’m sorry,
love,” he whispered.

“Me, too.”

“Why didn’t you
look for me when you discovered you were pregnant?”

Sue took a shaky
breath before answering. “I was scared. I felt used and stupid. You said we
didn’t fit so I…there were many times I wanted to look for you. I saw your
picture on the cover of People magazine once, but I couldn’t bring myself to…to
pick up the issue or to search for you. After that, I stayed away from anything
that reminded me of you,” she said quietly, examining his big hands. She never
noticed how big his hands were compared to her own. His hands were masculine
with long and lean fingers, clean and well manicured. It felt good to hold his
hands and to have his hands on her body.

Jae kissed her
cheek.

“I used to hug my
pillow pretending it was you. I missed you quite a bit,” she continued. “I saw
you on Ms. O but, I didn’t watch the show. I couldn’t. I’ve heard some of your
music, too. Only, I didn’t know you sang them. Mai asked me to translate
Vows
for her and I heard it. Only, I didn’t watch the video, and I didn’t ask who
sang it.”

He gave her a
light squeeze and rested his chin on her shoulder.

Silence passed
between them as each revisited their time in Seoul.

“Jae?” Sue asked,
breaking the silence. He was there. The past was the past and she didn’t want
to linger on what they couldn’t change. Knowing that he had searched for her
filled some of the cracks in her heart and that was good enough.

“Hmm?”

“Tell me about
your family.”

“What would you
like to know?”

“Tell me about
your parents. The story you told me—what happened?”

Moments passed
before Jae answered. “My mum left me at my father’s doorstep. She told me to be
a good boy and stay put. She never came back. My father passed when I was
seven. My uncle, Father Matthew, raised me since.”

“Father Matthew’s
your uncle? The priest?”

“Yeh. Father
Matthew, Sister Jamie and Sister Mary raised me. Do you remember them?”

“Yes. I do. Do
you still see them?”

“Occasionally,
but only Father Matthew. Sister Jamie doesn’t want to see me when I visit and
Sister Mary passed two years ago.”

“I’m sorry to
hear that.”

“Don’t. She
wouldn’t want you to.”

“How come Sister
Jamie doesn’t want to see you?”

“She was
disappointed.”

“About what?”

“Me.” Sue was
about to ask why but Jae answered her unasked question. “Sister Jamie was
disappointed that I didn’t keep my vows. When she discovered we were no longer
together, she said, my hot temper and youth made me dafter than the daftest
imp.” He grinned. “Her exact words.”

“Was she
disappointed in me, too?”

“No. My problems
went far before we met. Did you ever wonder why Father agreed to marry us that
night?”

“It has crossed
my mind. It wasn’t because you told him I was pregnant?”

“I lied about
that.” Jae placed his finger over her lips. “I was…not an easy child to raise.”
He gave Sue a lopsided smile then continued. “In an attempt to prevent me from
getting killed in the streets and to give me more structure, Father sent me to
a boarding school in England. I was there for two years and was expelled…one
too many misdeeds. He asked me, ‘Son, why are you purposely throwing your life
away?’ I told him I didn’t have much of a life to throw away. He looked at me
sadly and didn’t say anymore. When I asked him to marry us, he gladly
complied.”

“I see.” She
traced the bump on his nose and kissed his chin.

He smiled, taking
her hands in his. “Why do you like my flaws?”

“Because, they
make you human…real.”

“I am human.”

“Sometimes you
don’t seem so.”

“Woman, you make
me daft,” he said teasing her with a light kiss on the lips. “I’ll show you how
human I am.”

Sue laughed. “I
would love that, but perhaps later, my Lefty. Right now, you are talking and I
want to take advantage of that. Why didn’t you want to tell me any of this when
I asked you before?”

“My upbringing
had been most unorthodox. I didn’t want to scare you away.”

“Scare me away?
Why would you scare me away?”

“You’re very
smart, my Shorty. I often found myself ignorant of most of the things you said,
even the history of my birth country.”

She hit him
lightly on his chest. “You pig-headed man!”

“You are a
violent woman.”

 “Only with you,
my Lefty.” Sue placed a light kissed where she hit him. “I’m sorry. You make me
so angry at times. I used to do extra research because I didn’t want to sound
uneducated to you. You had so much experience, often I felt naïve and
sheltered. I came to South Korea in search of a world beyond the bubble my
parents wanted me to be in. You opened my world far beyond what I could ever
imagine. I loved you for you, everything about you.”

Love. She loved
him. He felt giddy like a little boy. Knowing she admitted it in Hmong gave him
hope, but until she admitted it to him, he would take whatever she would
give…for now. Softly, Jae said, “You are the only one who likes the bump on my
nose.” He took her hand in his and kissed her palm.

“Really?”

“Yeh. When I was
auditioning for roles to broaden my career, several people informed me I was
ugly, sore on the eyes, that kind of thing.”

“You’re lying.”

“Honest truth,”
he said. “A woman once suggested I fix my nose and I would be handsome. Another
told me to fix my eyes—single eyelids, too squinty.”

Sue laughed. She
took off her glasses before taking his face in her hands. She turned his
flawless face from side to side. She squint her eyes and bit her lower lip.
“Hmm,” she pondered, bringing her face closer to his.

He watched her
assessing him and frowned.

She smiled.
“Perhaps it’s a good thing I’m blinder than a bat.”

So engrossed in
each other’s company, they forgot about two other people who cared for them as
much as they cared for each other.

Michael spent
time in downtown St. Paul. He was going to leave but decided to give himself
some time to enjoy the city Katie and Sue had so fondly spoken about. St. Paul
was not New York, but he found the winter scenery enchanting and stayed.

Cherry found
herself in the company of Jackie and Tyson. Jae had called Jackie to make sure
Cherry was okay and Jackie was doing that. The gesture made Cherry hurt more.
Khyba cared enough to make sure she didn’t do anything stupid yet he was with
another woman. She was going to leave, but decided to give herself one more
fighting chance.

CHAPTER
49

The snowstorm
lasted for two days, bringing snow and cold. All across the East Coast, ice
storms stranded travelers. Since his flight was cancelled, Michael decided to
see Sue one last time before heading home. Since her flight was cancelled,
Cherry took it as a good omen that she was meant to fight for Khyba.

Upon arriving at
Sue’s apartment, Cherry requested a private word with Sue. Cherry needed to
speak her mind before she lost courage. Sue was glad to oblige. The tension in
Sue’s apartment was mounting and she could use some fresh air. Sue suggested
they walk.

“Give him to me,”
Cherry said without preamble. “I can make him happy.”

“He’s not mine to
give,” Sue said. “How can I give away something that is not mine?”

“Then give him
up,” Cherry persisted.

“Like I said,
he’s not mine to give,” Sue said simply. She gave Cherry a sympathetic look.
“I’m sorry, Cherry, I can’t help you.”

“Yes, you can!”
Cherry said, pleading, taking hold of Sue’s arm, arresting her in mid stride.

Cherry and Sue
looked at each other. Sue had to tilt her head in order to meet Cherry’s eyes.
Sue sighed. “If I were to ask you to—to give him up—would you be able to?”

“No.”

“Then you
understand. Even if Jae was mine to
give
, I’m sorry, Cherry—I won’t just
give
him away.”

“What if he
chooses me?”

“Then I’ll simply
have to change his mind.”

“You’re not
afraid he’ll choose me?”

“No.”

“Why, you’re
quite confident aren’t you?” Cherry sneered. Her expression changed from a
confident, polite courtesy to a cold, distaste. “You trust him that much?”

“Completely.”

“Bitch!” Cherry
bellowed, raising her hand and striking Sue across her face. The force from the
contact caused Sue to stumble. The ring Cherry wore nipped Sue’s lower lip,
drawing blood. Cherry shook with fear from her act of aggression. She wanted to
harm Sue but not physically. She raised her hand to soothe, to apologize, but
her gesture was not seen as so.

“I wouldn’t do
that if I were you,” Jae threatened from behind her. Cherry’s hand arrested in
midair.

It was not in his
nature to be verbally threatening to a woman or to intentionally inflict pain
to any woman, but the sight of Cherry hitting Sue made him lose all his
control.

Cherry
immediately withdrew her hands at Khyba’s threatening words. She watched as
Khyba approached Sue and tenderly wiped the blood from Sue’s mouth.

“Jae…I’m all
right. Really, it’s only a small cut,” Sue said, trying to soothe his temper.
Jae’s hands were shaking; his breathing was heavy and even Sue was taken aback
by his anger. She gently touched his face with one hand, feeling the tension in
his jaw and held onto his arm with the other.

“Jae, look at
me,” Sue commanded softly, turning his gaze to her. She looked into his
darkened eyes and gave him a sweet smile. “I’m all right,” she said, her voice
soothing, assuring. He was about to turn his head to Cherry but Sue pulled him
back to face her. “Love, focus! I’m all right.” She could feel his tight
muscles immediately relaxing.

This was the
first time she called him by an endearment and it calmed him instantly. “What
did you just call me?” he asked.

“Love, it’s a
term of endear—”

Jae kissed her.
“Say it again.”

She smiled. “It’s
a term of endear—” she teased, knowing full well what he meant for her to
repeat.

He kissed her
again. “That’s not what I’m asking.”

Grinning, she
brought both hands to his face. Holding his gaze and without shame, without
reservation, she said, “Love.”

To Jae, it wasn’t
the word that made his heart ache. It was the way she said it and the way she
looked at him when she said it, that made him want to hear it again and again.
Many women had called him by every endearment possible but none had looked at
him the way she did. When she said “love,” he could see it in her eyes she
meant it. She looked at him with love even before she said it and that’s why
the word, coming from her, meant so much to him.

Jae burst into a
throaty laugh filled with so much joy that it brought tears to the eyes of the
beautiful woman standing just inches away from them. Jae tightened his hold on
Sue, lifting her off the ground, kissing her in between laughter. He carried
her back to her apartment, forgetting that they left a woman standing alone and
defeated on the sidewalk.