Second Chance (4 page)

“Ms. O? Hmm,
maybe we’ll get to meet her. Are you a fan?”

“Somewhat.”

“Either you are
or you aren’t.”

“Well, since I
only have two choices, I’ll go with are.”

“Up tight are
we?”

“Just hungry,”
she replied. “Feed me and I shall be content,” she added with a sweet smile.

“Is that a way to
a woman’s heart then? Through her stomach?”

“Why yes,
Michael,” Sue replied, bringing her hands to her chest in a mock display of
utter surprise. “Feed her food and you will find that a woman can be quite
placid and agreeable.”

“I thought a
diamond was a way to a woman’s heart and food was a way to a man’s heart? Was I
wrong then?”

“A diamond is a
woman’s best friend. Food, especially chocolate, is a way to a woman’s heart.
Whoever told you that it was only to a man’s heart told you only half the
truth, I’m afraid.”

“I see. And you
are an expert in this observation?”

“I’m a woman,
aren’t I?”

“Somewhat.”

“Either I am or
I’m not.”

“Well, since I
only have two choices, I’ll pick the safer answer and say am,” Michael replied
grinning. “Happy now?”

“Once I’m fed,
yes.” She grinned.

“Did I reach your
heart with that giant candy bar then?” he teased.

“Straight to the
heart…all five pounds worth.”

“What did we
miss?” Katie asked as she and Patrick approached the laughing, handsome couple.

“Hey, Mike. Sue.”
Patrick waved.

Michael
acknowledged the greeting with a nod. “Food is a way to a woman’s heart,”
Michael answered Katie with a grin as his gaze reverted back to Sue. Michael
gave Sue a conspiring wink. Sue smiled.

“Who told you
that?” Katie asked Michael.

“I did,” Sue
answered. Patrick grinned as he greeted her with a hug and a kiss on her cheek.

“Ignore her,
Michael. Diamonds will get you there faster.” Katie handed Patrick her purse
and she took off her coat. “And chocolate,” she added. “Hi hon. Glad to see you
out of scrubs.” She hugged Sue.

“Really?” Patrick
asked. He turned to Katie. “Is that why you agreed to marry me?”

“Of course. Why
sweetheart, when you presented me with this engagement ring, I had to say yes,”
Katie answered, holding out her left hand for Sue. “See why I agreed?” On her
forefinger was a three-carat, princess cut, canary diamond ring set in
platinum.

“Yes, I see,” Sue
said. She turned to Michael, “Diamonds are another way to a woman’s heart.” She
laughed. “Especially one like this. Although, you know, Patrick, chocolate
could have done the job. You didn’t need the ring.”

They were
laughing when their waiter approached to announce their table was ready. He
showed them to their table and apologized for their wait. He also pointed to a
screen and explained that the private party was larger than expected and
screens were placed close to their table. He apologized for any inconvenience
while he handed them their menus, then took their drink orders.

Everyone ordered
sake except for Sue. Sue was seated across from Michael while Katie and Patrick
sat across each other.

“So, tell me Sue.
You don’t smoke. You don’t drink, and you don’t have casual sex. So… What do
you do for fun?” Michael asked, placing his menu on the table.

Patrick and Katie
exchanged looks then turned their heads to Sue, waiting for her reaction.

“Well, Michael,
first of all I don’t have to smoke or drink to enjoy life,” she replied.
“Secondly, how do you know I don’t have casual sex,
which
,” she said
with emphasis, “is none of your business and lastly, I read for fun.”

“Really?” Michael
replied, leaning toward her. “And what do you read?” he asked.

“Comics,” she
replied in a mater-of-fact tone. Michael laughed.

Katie and Patrick
looked at each other again. Grinning, they returned their attention to their
menus.

“You’re lying
again, aren’t you?” Michael asked Sue.

“Lying? Again?”

“There is no such
country called Hmong.”

“I could have
told you that.”

“But you told me
Hmong was a country between China and Mongolia.”

Sue shrugged.
“Had you asked me if Hmong was a country, I’m pretty confident I would have
told you the truth.”

“Pretty
confident? You suffering from chronic lying?”

“I’m afraid so.
‘Tis an affliction I suffer from since meeting you. Don’t worry though, it’s
not contagious.”

“Is there a cure
to, ah, this affliction of yours?” Michael asked grinning.

“I’m afraid not.”

“Surely there
must be treatments to ease
my
discomfort?”

“There is
actually,” she said smiling sweetly.

“Oh? And what
might that be, doctor?”

“Ask me no
questions and I’ll tell you no lies,” she quoted, still smiling.

“Touché,” Michael
said as he leaned back into his chair. “Touché.”

While this
conversation was going on between Sue and Michael, Katie and Patrick watched in
amazement. No woman had ever talked to Michael this casually, and Katie was
still surprised to find her friend flirting. Although Sue and Michael kept
their tone formal and businesslike, as if they were discussing an actual
disease, they were smiling and relaxed the whole time. Katie and Patrick
exchanged more looks, not that Sue or Michael noticed.

The rest of the
evening passed pleasantly with conversations of wedding plans.

“Michael, will
you remember me in a week?” Sue asked unceremoniously as they finished their
dinner.

“Yes,” he said,
sipping his sake.

“Will you
remember me in a month?”

“Yes,” he said,
placing his sake on the table.

“Will you
remember me in a year?”

“Yes,” he said,
wondering where she was heading with these questions.

“Knock, knock.”

“Who’s there?” he
answered automatically without thinking.

“So much for
remembering me,” Sue said solemnly. Then she burst into laughter at the look of
disbelief on Michael’s face. Michael’s lips slowly formed a lazy grin then his
shoulders shook with laughter.

Katie laughed and
Patrick choked on his sake. Some sake from Katie’s cup splattered onto Sue’s
white cardigan and her dress. Katie apologized and handed napkins to Sue at the
same time Michael handed his napkin to Sue. Sue automatically took the napkin
from Katie. She didn’t notice Michael’s gesture.

“Did you learn
that one from your comics?” Michael asked as he retracted his hand.

“Of course,” Sue
replied, dabbing the sake from her dress. She was lying. Her niece told her
that joke during the holidays. She didn’t read comics either. For some reason,
she had just blurted it out. She was turning into a chronic liar like Michael
said.

Michael laughed.
“What else did you learn from your comics?”

“I did learn some
poetry as well. Would you like to hear some?”

“Yes,” Michael
said.

“No,” Katie and
Patrick said at the same time.

Sue grinned. “I
do have to apologize, Michael. I must obey the bride.” Placing the napkin on
the table, she leaned toward

Michael and
shielded her mouth with her hand. “Bridezilla,” she whispered as if that
explained it all. Michael laughed and nodded in understanding. Patrick gave
Michael a warning look while Sue laughed some more.

“Don’t listen to
her Michael,” Katie said grabbing Patrick’s hand from across the table. “Honey,
tell him I’m not.”

“She’s not,”
Patrick said with a grin.

“Thanks honey,”
Katie said.

Still grinning,
Sue excused herself to use the ladies room. As soon as she was out of hearing
range, Patrick turned to Michael.

“What do you
think of her, huh?” Patrick asked.

“She’s stunning.
I’ve not met a woman that could make me laugh so much in one day,” Michael
replied.

“Michael, don’t
pursue her if you’re not serious,” Katie warned. “I don’t want to see her hurt
again and if you hurt her you’ll never hear the end of it from me. Got that?”

“Hurt again? What
are you talking about?” Michael asked.

“Well, I can’t
say. She’ll tell you when she’s ready,” Katie said. “I’m warning you.” She
pointed her index finger at Michael. “I only agreed to allow this because I
know you’re a great guy so don’t hurt her.”

“Relax, Kate,”
Michael said his gaze upon Sue’s empty seat.

In the short time
he had come to know Sue, he was already falling for her. Perhaps it was her
cuteness. Maybe it was the way she was toward him—honest and true. No false
laughter. No false pretenses. She didn’t even want his attention. In fact she
had made no attempt to capture his attention. If anything, she was trying to
avoid him. She loved children and he knew if she were to love him, she would with
a fierceness that would match his. He wanted that kind of love—that
unconditional love.

Michael stared at
Sue’s empty seat, thinking that if Sue didn’t come back soon, he would go after
her.

CHAPTER
6

Behind the
screen, Khyba’s drink arrested partway to his lips at the sound of a woman’s
laughter. He glanced at his drink, thinking he must have had more to drink than
he thought. He walked to the screen. “Yes, I see,” the voice said. “Especially
one like this. Although, you know Patrick, chocolate could have…” His eyes
followed the sound of her voice and when his eyes caught sight of the beauty
whose voice summoned him, he smiled.

He called for a
waiter and asked a table be cleared for the four waiting individuals by the
door. His eyes followed her to her seat and stayed on her.

“Going to join
your own celebration,
Hyung
?” Jackie asked. “Something more interesting
caught your attention?”

No response from
Khyba.

“What’s so
amusing?” Jackie asked when Khyba laughed. In the time he had known Khyba, he
had never heard him laugh like this. Curious, he followed Khyba’s gaze. He
looked back at Khyba with amusement then back at the image Khyba was so
intently focused on.

Jackie had known
Khyba since the beginning of his career when he was assigned to oversee Khyba’s
singing lessons. The guy could dance, but his singing needed development at the
time. Soon, Khyba became lead singer of Eastern Tides and the group soared to
popularity. Four years ago, Khyba went solo and Jackie followed. Since then, he
had never seen Khyba pay this much attention to any female.

Watching Khyba
pay this much attention to any woman could only mean that he had found her.

“Sorry Jack,
change of plans,” Khyba said, handing his long forgotten drink to Jackie
without averting his eyes. He was afraid she would disappear. “Instruct Ty to
prepare the limo.”

Stunned, Jackie
watched as Khyba approached the beautiful woman in a blue dress.

“
Ahn-nyung
(Hi), Shorty.”

Sue’s body
stiffened and her heart began to race. Was she hallucinating? She must be. He
was from another lifetime, from somewhere on the other side of the planet. No,
it can’t be, she thought as she continued walking toward the bathroom.

“It’s been a long
time, Suzy.”

Sue whirled
around so quickly she almost lost her balance. Her eyes widened in surprise,
recognizing that bump on his nose, those brown eyes, and those lips. “Jae?”

“The one and
only,” he replied, still grinning. “How are you, Suzy?”

Sue didn’t reply.

“Looks like you
haven’t grown an inch since the last time we met,” he said.

Silence.

He had
anticipated her to be surprised, maybe even angry. He even hoped she would be
happy to see him. But he hadn’t expected what happened next.

Jae watched the
play of emotions in Sue’s glistening brown eyes. Then, without saying another
word to him, she raised her hand. Thinking she was going to embrace him, he
took a step forward just as her hand made contact, slapping him across his
face. She silently turned and walked away.

Sue walked to the
bathroom as calmly as she could, restraining the urge to break into a run. She
didn’t think she would ever see that man again. The world with him was far
away, in another lifetime she would rather forget. She hated him. He was
grinning wily, that grin that had haunted her for so long and all she wanted
was to run into his arms. She wanted to hurt him, too. In the spur of the
moment, she decided he deserved the latter.

She was still
trembling when she reached the women’s bathroom. Once safely inside, she
collapsed against the door.

Oh God, I
slapped him
.

She fought the
knot in her throat.

Oh God, I
slapped him
.

She went to the
sink and looked into the mirror. An uncertain reflection stared back at her.
Her hands were shaking and she clenched them tightly together to stop the tremor.
She took a deep breath, counted to ten then stared back at her reflection. Not
satisfied with the expression staring back at her, she took several more deep
breaths then prayed he would disappear when she left the bathroom. She must
leave.

“Sorry I took so
long,” Sue announced when she returned to the table. Her party was ready to
leave. “Something came up and I’m afraid I must call it a night.” She gave
Katie an apologetic look. “Enjoy yourselves and I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”
She turned to Michael and gave him a polite smile. “Thank you for the ride this
evening. Good night,” she said as quickly as she could before he could protest.
She muttered something about grabbing a taxi and for him to not worry.

Before she could
turn to walk away, Michael caught hold of her elbow. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just not
feeling well. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she replied, trying to free her arm. He
wouldn’t let go. Instead he gently pulled her toward him. Something had
happened to scare her.