Sushi for One? (15 page)

Lex needed money.

How ironic that something so important to her might be over before it began.

She knew Wassamattayu charged several thousand dollars per year for membership — but that hadn’t worried her when she worked for Pear Technologies. She would have been fine taking the money out of her savings and then living cheaply at home until she made the money back at her higher-paying engineering job.

Now she had to cough up five thousand dollars as a deposit before tryouts. It would be refunded if she didn’t get chosen.

She re-read that line. She
would
be chosen. She’d train extra hard.

But the money worried her. Now she had to rent an apartment instead of living free with Dad, and her SPZ job didn’t pay as much as Pear. And she had thought she’d use her savings as a backup plan —even though it wasn’t enough — for the girls’ playoffs expenses.

Aiden dropped down next to her to take off his shoes. Both their cell phones rang at the same time.

Lex barely glanced at the number before ending the call and tossing it down on the floor. She’d missed six calls during the night. How many friends with eligible sons did Grandma have? She sighed and glanced up.

Oh, no. Talk about persistent.

The tall, thin guy had stayed. The other two had left. Lex groaned and dropped her head. A pulsing headache started right behind her eyeballs.

“So, Lex.” Mr. Persistent bent at the waist, hovering over her. “Let’s talk tickets.”

“Let’s not.” He hadn’t even introduced himself, the pushy creep.

Her foul mood only made him smile. “Come on. It’s an easy answer for both our problems — my mother, your grandmother.”

An idea dawned. Lex shoved aside the immediate guilt that followed. “What do you do?”

Mr. Persistent blinked. “Uh . . . I’m an optometrist.” He dug out his wallet and handed her a business card.

He was solvent. And she needed money. He probably wouldn’t be willing to cough up five thousand dollars for the weekend Cal game, but he’d know friends who’d be willing to pay for other tickets . . .

Nonono.
She couldn’t believe she was even considering it. Aside from being, oh, slightly
illegal
, she couldn’t betray the alumni associations who gave her the tickets in good faith.

Mr. Persistent smiled with that same slick confidence her brother Richard had.

“No.” She thrust the card back at him. “No.”

His smile widened. “Lex — ”

“No.”

“Aw, come on — ”

“She said no.” Aiden’s sharp voice cut through them. Lex had forgotten he sat beside her. He’d apparently ended his cell call and overheard Mr. Persistent.

He tossed Aiden a dark look before gazing at Lex with chagrin that almost looked real. “Keep the card. If you change — ”

“I won’t.” She turned away from him and started tugging off her shoes. She didn’t look at anyone. Certainly not Aiden.

She waited until she got the second shoe off. “Is he gone?”

“Yeah.” Aiden dug in his bag for his street shoes.

She stared at her feet, wiggled her toes in their socks. Finally she raised her eyes to him. “Thanks.”

His look rested on her, gentle but not probing. “Anytime.”

A warmth settled over her ribs. She liked having him . . . not say anything. Especially since practically every guy wanted tickets from her.

Except him.

Lex glanced at her discarded cell phone.

It rang.

NINETEEN

M
ariko had given her notorious sweet tooth full rein.

Lex stared at the table of food and could already feel the sugar eating cavities into her enamel. Banana nut bread, sesame-crusted Chinese doughnuts, almond cookies, fruit cocktail and almond custard, steamed egg cake, even honey walnut prawns. On the non-Asian side was rum cake, blueberry pecan muffins, strawberry almond rolls, and croissants. The radioactive coffee Lex had bought that morning from Tran’s Nuclear Coffee Shop burbled in her stomach.

“Not hungry?” Lex’s cousin Tiki fluttered impossibly long lashes as she bit into a chocolate croissant.

Okay, one, what Asian had eyelashes that long and curly? They had to be fake. And two, how did this size-zero chick get away with eating a chocolate croissant with gusto? Tiki even had a
son.

“So, Lex, I heard Mariko has a surprise for you.”

Lex peered down her nose at Tiki. “She’s wasting her time.”

Her cat-eyes glittered with mirth. “Oh? And why is that?”

“I don’t need a man when I’ve got Byron Harvey.” Only the points leader on the Sacramento Kings’s roster.

Tiki blinked. Her face had a vacant look that matched her brain capacity. “That’s . . . nice.”

Lex pursed her lips. “Uh . . . I’m trying decide between Byron and Geoff German.”

Tiki’s plucked brows wrinkled. “Who?”

“German. The new pitcher for the Oakland A’s?”

Her brow cleared. “Oh. Baseball.” She said it the way she’d say
toilet.

Lex’s diaphragm dropped like a trapdoor. These dodos didn’t know any of her sports heroes. A professional athlete as a date to Mariko’s wedding would be like a Pulitzer Prize winner at an Illiteracy Dinner.

“Tavi’s crying.” Tiki flounced away to soothe her shrieking baby.

Lex’s shoulders sagged. Well, at least she didn’t have to suck up to the UCLA alumni association rep in order to get Byron’s number. She probably couldn’t have convinced Grandma it was true love anyway.

“Okay, everybody, let’s start the games.” Mariko stood in the middle of the living room as perky as a cheerleader.

Tiki sidled up to Mariko, bouncing her crying one-year-old.

“Where’s Burt? He’s supposed to be here to babysit.”

Mariko shushed her with a hiss.

The door opened.

Mr. Babysitter had the coloring, build, and look of Russell Crowe as he entered the Colosseum to fight the gladiators. Shoulders back, chin up, firm jaw, eyes stern and ready for warfare.

“There you are!” Tiki mobbed him, shoving baby Tavi into his arms. “See, Tavi-wavvie? Here’s Uncle Burt.” She danced back to Mariko’s side. “Okay, we can start now.”

“Burt, sit
there.
” Mariko stabbed a lacquered nail at one of two chairs sitting side by side. “Lex, you sit — ”

“Yeah, yeah.” Lex plopped down next to him.

He jiggled baby Tavi like a jackhammer, brushing her arm with his elbow.

She hopped her chair a few inches further away.

“Okay, everybody, take five clothespins.” Tiki passed them out. “Stick them somewhere on you.”

Lex stuck them out from her blouse sleeves like a porcupine.

“Okay, if someone catches you saying the word ‘wedding,’ they can take a clothespin. Whoever has the most pins at the end wins!”

Tiki clapped her hands and bounced on her toes as if this were the most clever game ever invented.

Lex unclipped herself and handed all five clothespins to Mr. Babysitter. “Here. Wedding.”

“Lex!” Tiki’s face matched her pinky lipstick. “Can’t you even try to get into the spirit of things?”

“Nope.” Lex said the word with relish.

Mr. Babysitter shifted the now-hiccoughing Tavi to one arm and grabbed Lex’s pins. “Thanks. I’m not saying another word all afternoon.”

“Okay, everyone, now take some toilet paper. However much you like.” Mariko giggled as she passed around the toilet paper rolls. Several of the other women also started giggling and pulling off wads and wads of paper. Lex tore off one sheet.

“We’re separating you into two teams. You guys are team one — ”

Mariko pointed to three Barbies (Lex didn’t remember their names), Lex, Mr. Babysitter, and baby Tavi. “The rest are team two. Now, pick a model and make her a bridal gown from the toilet paper!”

You have got to be kidding me.
Why did Mariko cheer? It would be hard to find an older or dumber bridal shower game in history.

“Lex, you’re our model.” Tall girl with fried blonde hair.

“Because we know how to make a good dress.” Asian girl with green contact lenses, making her look rather alien-like.

“No. Way.” Lex crossed her arms.

“Oh, come on.” Buxom girl with short hair held out her length of TP. “The less you fight, the faster this will be over.”

She had a point. It wasn’t as if Lex was going to help them make the dress, and Mr. Babysitter had his hands full. “Fine.” She flung out her arms and clipped Green Contacts’s nose.

Mariko should have set a time limit. The Three Stooges dithered over where to put every single length of TP.

“Over her shoulder?”

“No, then it won’t drape for a nice train.”

“How about dipping down in front?”

“No, that’ll upset the lines.”

Lines?
It was a TP dress, for crying out loud. And did they need to touch her so much? “Just put it on!” Lex swiveled so she could give all three her hottest glare. Mr. Babysitter sat apart from them, holding baby Tavi a little like a football.

The doorbell rang. Since Lex’s group was the only one in line of sight with the door, Buxom Girl darted to open it.

Lex twisted around. “No!” She looked ridiculous. She didn’t want anyone to see —

Too late. The door swung open. “Got a package. I need a signature.” A UPS deliveryman stood there in his brown uniform. He did a double-take at seeing Lex mummified, with Fried Blonde wrapping her head in more TP for a veil.

Lex’s glare lanced right through him. “What are you looking at?”

He jumped. “Nothing, ma’am.” He grabbed the electronic pad from Buxom Girl before she could scrawl more than an initial and raced away.

They finally finished, and Lex stood glowering while the girls laughed at her — no way would she believe they were laughing at the dress instead — until Mariko nodded, and she could tear it off her body.

“Oh! Be careful!” Green Contacts tried to save their creation.

Lex stuck her face close enough to see her pupils shrink. “
It’s toilet paper.
”

“Okay, next game is Guess That Lingerie!” Tiki trilled a sadistic laugh. “We asked everybody to bring some sexy lingerie for Mariko —they’re all laid out here — so now each of you will guess who brought which outfit!”

Was Tiki dropped on her head as a child? What kind of inane game was this?

Baby Tavi let out a particularly shrieking wail — man, that kid had cried nonstop so far — and Mariko glanced in Lex’s direction. “Lex, you go first.”

“No way.” Lex thrust out her jaw.

Mariko’s eyes spit daggers at her.

Lex burned holes in her Shiseido face with her laser-beam vision.

Mariko took a step toward her.

Rrrrring!

Saved by the cell phone. Lex would even welcome a call from one of Grandma’s friends’ sons right now.

Maybe it was . . . the number looked familiar, but she couldn’t place it. “Hello?”

“Lex, it’s Aiden.”

Lex flashed a brilliant smile at Mariko. “Sorry, I have to take this.” She escaped into the kitchen.

“Hey, Aiden, what’s up?” She peeked into the refrigerator. Maybe Mariko had some carrot sticks . . .

“You have my cell phone.”

Lex straightened, clipping her forehead on the edge of a shelf. “What do you mean? You’re talking to me.” She rubbed her raw skin.

“From your cell phone.”

Lex peered at the phone. Oh. “When did this happen?”

“Last night at volleyball. Remember? We both answered our phones.”

“Oh, yeah.” She’d tossed hers down without answering. She hadn’t even noticed it when she put her phone away.

“Where are you now?” Aiden asked.

“Cupertino.”

“I’m in the area. Want me to come by so we can switch phones?”

“Yes!”
Whoa, easy there, Rover.
“I mean, that would be fine.”

“Give me your address.”

Lex recited Mariko’s address with the gusto of the kids in Sunday school. “Need directions?”

“No, I’ll MapQuest it. I’ll call if I get lost.”

She hung out in the kitchen, munching on an apple until the mortifying lingerie game had finished. She took her seat next to Mr.Babysitter, who was trying to juggle a squirming Tavi and a cup of syrupy punch someone had given to him.

He held out his cup to her. “Can you hold this for a sec?”

“Sure.” She grabbed it.

Mr. Babysitter changed to a weird stiff-armed bouncing thing with the squalling baby. Tavi had crescendoed to a piercing howl.

Mr. Babysitter’s eyes held pure panic as he turned to her. “Know anything about babies?”

“No.” He couldn’t pay Lex enough to lay a finger on Tiki’s spoiled brat.

Baby Tavi paused his wide-mouthed crying to burp. A drop of cloudy drool trickled down his chin.

Ew.
Lex flipped her eyes away faster than Dad with the remote control. Mariko bustled past her, wafting some sickly sweet scent her way. Lex’s abused stomach rumbled, then stilled.

Baby Tavi had quieted to sniffles, snorts, and hiccoughs, all of which started to sound very wet and slurpy and gross. He now had a large spot of ochre-colored drool on his bib.
Don’t think about the color!
Lex tried to shut one eye so she couldn’t see him.

She breathed a shallow breath in through her nose, but then caught a whiff of something distinctly urp-smelling. She gagged.

“Mariko, I’m not feeling well.”

Mariko tilted her head down as she glared at Lex. She propped a hand on her hip, making her bangles jingle like chains. “You stay right where you are.”

“I’m serious, Mariko.”

A pink glitter extension aimed at her. “Stay put.”

Lex’s stomach heaved again. Maybe if she didn’t move, it would settle down.

A gushing liquidy sound. Warmth dripping on her hand, soaking through her slacks.

Don’t look, don’t look, don’t —

The smell of regurgitated carrots assailed her. Her eyes flew open in shock.

Orange-yellow splattered on her hand, her forearm, all over her leg. Lucky her. Tavi had the projectile thing going.

Her stomach rose to boiling. She clapped her hand over her mouth and nose, trying to think cool, calming thoughts while her gut roiled.

Unfortunately, she forgot about the cup of syrupy juice in her hand. It spilled all over the source of her misery.

Well, she got most of it on Tavi’s bib. And his head. And Mr.Babysitter’s pants. And Mariko’s floor.

“
Aaaaiiiiieeeee!
” Mariko’s piercing shriek sent a jolt through Lex’s body.

Lex couldn’t move. She stared at Tavi’s red-orange grinning face and pressed a shaking hand to her midsection.

Tiki rushed to Tavi’s side, but then stood there flapping her arms canary-style when Mr. Babysitter shoved the newly anointed baby at her. “Ew . . . ugh . . . er . . .”

“Lex, how could you?” Green Contacts circled them, but she also kept out of reach of Tavi’s flinging arms. “He’s just a baby.”

“He started it.” Lex tried to wipe the baby urp from her hand onto Mr. Babysitter’s pants.

“Hey!” He shifted away from her.

“Your pants are already dirty.”

“So are yours.”

Hmm. Good point. Oh, no. Lex’s stomach started boiling again. “I’m going to be sick.”

The circle around them expanded faster than a balloon. Mr. Babysitter’s dismayed gaze passed over each of the women. “Somebody take the kid!”

Lex gagged in Mr. Babysitter’s direction.

“Aim at your own pants!”

The doorbell rang.

Green Contacts waggled a finger at Lex. “Put your head between your legs.”

Lex tried to glare at her through the tears gathering in her eyes.

Rats. Being sick always made her cry. Not now, not in front of
these
people . . .

“Is Lex Sakai — ?”

Aiden.

He stood in the open doorway, the sunlight bright behind him. Her knight in shining armor.

“Save me,” she croaked.

He felt like a knight in shining armor.

Lex looked paler than mochi rice-dumplings. Tears streaked down her face, and she held her orange-colored hand out from her, as if in denial that it belonged to her.

Aiden strode to the refreshment table and grabbed the entire stack of cocktail napkins. He had to use half the napkins on her hand, the other half on her pants. “What’s wrong? Dizzy?”

She shook her head. She kept her eyes screwed shut, her mouth pinched closed.

“Nauseated?”

She nodded.

The women chattered around him, as intelligible as a flock of pigeons. He ignored all advice, questions, innuendoes, and flirting.

A girl who looked a little like Lex sank her talons into his upper arm so she could hiss in his ear. “Get her out of here.”