#technically thursday

A/N: You don’t have to understand/translate the Chinese. If you’ve ever been in a situation where you don’t understand the language someone else is speaking, that’s the feel I was going for. If you *can* read the Chinese, it was written with Cantonese in mind (hence more slang).

Chapter 8

“阿玲玲,過裡同阿表姐影相!” Mrs. Chou, Mindy’s mother, called over the bride and groom. “Do you know what she’s saying?” Chris asked “No idea,” Cici shook her head. “I caught ‘Ling-ling’. That’s Mindy’s Chinese name.” “Mom wants her to take a picture with our cousin,” Mandy clarified. “Mandy to the rescue,” Cici said. “阿平平,你同阿Cici同靚仔哥哥一齊影!” Mrs. Chou called out again. “I caught ‘Cici’ that time,” Chris said. “Leng-zhai! I caught that. That’s you,” Cici pointed to Chris. “Their whole family calls you that.” “Is that a good thing?” Chris furrowed his brows. “What do they call Ted?” “Ted’s just ‘Ted’ or ‘Teddy’. 靚仔 is like ‘pretty boy’,” Mandy said. “C’mon, my mom wants all of us in the picture too.” “阿哩個靚仔哥哥唱歌又幾好聽,佢有無女朋友阿?” the cousin asked, eying Chris up and down. “Our cousin said Chris sings well and wants to know if he has a girlfriend,” Mandy laughed. “I think she wants to play matchmaker.” “Tell her I’m an aspiring musician,” Chris said. Mandy whispered something to the cousin. “It’s OK. My daughter CFO. You be stay home trophy dad,” the cousin said excitedly. Cici and Mandy bursted into laughter as Chris turned several shades of red, matching the tablecloths. “That’s very—flattering. Thank you, I think. My heart is set on someone special,” he said. “And if things go my way, I might have a girlfriend by the end of the night.” “So I take it things went well with Sera last night?” Cici whispered into his ear. “Things went splendidly.” He pulled Cici in closer and smiled for the pictures. “Good,” she finally said, her voice a little hoarse. “I’m happy for you.” Her mouth conveyed a smile, but her eyes were distant. “Cici!” a deep voice called out from behind them. “Henry?” Cici turned around to see her bar buddy from last night. “Fancy seeing you here,” Henry said. “Hi, I’m Henry.” He shook Chris’ hand. “Chris,” he introduced himself. “You—you’re Sera’s Henry?” Henry smiled. “What gave it away?” Cici’s eyes widened. “Oh—oh! No! I mean—,” she looked from Chris to Henry then back to Chris. “But—!” “But what?” Chris smirked.

Cici didn’t know why Chris was so calm. He never was great at confrontation and this type of competition required his A game, which was nowhere in sight. “You’ll find Sera by the back bar,” Chris pointed. “She’s making sure the DJ got the right playlist. Mindy was very specific about wanting the Glee version of Marry You instead of the Bruno Mars version.” “Thanks! Nice seeing you again, Cici,” Henry leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Good meeting you, Chris.” “What was that about?” Cici and Chris both asked as Henry walked away. “I—I met him last night,” Cici said, “at the hotel bar. Some guy was bothering me and Henry kinda came to my rescue. I didn’t know he was Sera’s ex—or whatever.” Chris tried to understand the distraught look on her face, “Wait, did you—him?“ “No!” Cici almost shouted, slapping his upper arm. “I don’t sleep with every guy I come across. You really should know me better than that.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply—then why are you so upset?” “Because—he and Sera. What if they get back together?” “So what if they get back together? Good for them,” Chris said. “But what about you?” “What about me?” he smirked again. “Why are you smiling? What did I miss?” “I realized last night that Sera wasn’t the one.” Chris shrugged, took her hand, and led her to the nearest bar. “So you two didn’t—“ Cici wasn’t sure if she wanted to know exactly what they did or didn’t do. “No,” Chris shook his head. “And you need to relax before the waltz. Two seven and sevens, please,” he said to the bartender. -- “And now, the bride and groom, along with their party, would like to share a dance with you,” the MC announced. “新娘和新郎想給大家一個特別的舞.” “Mindy looks amazing,” Cici said, placing a hand on his shoulder and another in his hand. “She’s glowing.” “You look pretty stunning yourself,” Chris said. “Thanks,” Cici forced a smile. “You’re pretty snazzy looking in that tux.” “What? This old thing?” Chris scoffed. Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers started and the couples began their dance around the room. “By the way,” Cici’s grip tightened, “Cole told Mandy what happened at the golf course the other day.” Chris swallowed hard, “Yeah, wasn’t my proudest moment. I almost decked him.” “Thank you,” Cici looked into his deep blue eyes. “It was nothing,” Chris smiled, squeezing her hand. “Everyone’s looking pretty good,” Cici watched the other couples. “Well, Mindy made us all take lessons,” Chris chuckled. “She knows what she wants and knows how to get it. She’s been planning her dream wedding since she was like five. Speaking of wedding planning, guess who came into my work the other day?” Cici asked directing her gaze back at Chris. He pouted and shook his head. “One Sarah Elaine Spencer.” “Ellie?” he was a bit surprised. “Wow, blast from the past.” “Yeah, she is getting married to this guy—coincidentally, also named Chris—and our firm is planning their wedding,” Cici said. “Are you working on their wedding? Did she remember you?” “Yes and yes, it was like we had just seen each other last week. I’m still in touch with most of your exes.”

Chris looked down and rubbed his chin against his bowtie. “Cici, why did we never go out?” “Because you never asked.” She didn’t miss a beat. “What do you mean?” he asked. “You never asked me out on a date.” “What? That doesn’t--” “You never ask anyone out, actually. Eighth grade. That girl who used to make those awesome drawings. She went by--Mint? She asked you to the Sadie Hawkins dance with a really cute doodle.” “That was Sadie Hawkins. Girls are supposed to ask guys out. I remember that girl; she had the moves. She could dance with the best of them.”

“I have no doubt that Quinn made the first move in high school. Freshman year of college, I’m pretty sure that girl from your astrology class--” “Astronomy,” Chris corrected her. “Right, astronomy, that girl Natalia asked you out because you were too chicken shit to ask for her number,” Cici continued. “You weren’t there,” Chris said. “Just because you were in Boston and I was in New York doesn’t mean I didn’t know what you were up to. Every AIM away message you put up that first semester was a pining note for her. I mean, it wasn’t explicit, but I could read between the lines.” “Sure you can,” Chris was slightly amused; he knew subtlety was not going to help him get his point across tonight. “Did you keep tabs on her too?”

“Teaching science, still in Boston, married, kids,” Cici spewed. “Facebook is a gold mine of knowledge. Summer of sophomore year, you taught that band camp in the midwest and had a fling with that girl Sammie. She asked you out after learning that you went to school in Boston, a place she had always wanted to visit, which she did by the way, moved there actually. She’s doing well, has a dog.” Chris was about to interject, but Cici cut him off, continuing her list. “The summer after junior year when your band toured the country. Those two groupies that followed you from Chicago to Seattle. They were very friendly. I’m pretty sure they liked you, but you were too dense to get the clue. When you were volunteering at the Boston Children’s Hospital, Dr. Prabhu, finally asked you out after dropping hints of her schedule for over a month.  A month!” “And how is Naina doing?” “Last I heard, she was still in Boston,” Cici said. “And your last girlfriend, Billie, asked you out after writing a piece on your band.” “Billie still with Collider?” he asked. “No, she’s a best-selling author now. There’s a signed copy of her book on the Billy bookshelf in the living room, but you probably haven’t seen it because you don’t look at books.”

“Have you been tracking all my exes all this time?” Chris asked. “I can’t veto them if I don’t know anything about them,” Cici said. “You’ve never vetoed any of them,” Chris said. “That’s because they were all really sweet,” Cici gave a half smile. “I didn’t mind partying with some of them. I loved shopping and sharing clothes with others. I don’t know why they never worked out, honestly.” “That--yeah, ok,” Chris bit his lower lip. “I only know one of your exes.” “There was only one. If James wasn’t so emotionally unavailable, maybe we’d still be together. He’s an astronaut now.” “And I’m guessing he asked you out?” “Several times before I agreed to it. Point is: you don’t ask girls out. That’s why you’ve been single the past two years. You never initiate it. Why do you think I pushed you so hard with Sera?” “Because you were pushing me away,” Chris said emphatically. “Wha--what? No. Why wou--” Cici stammered. “You’ve always pushed me away--when it came to us, you and me,” Chris looked down to the floor and thought carefully about his next words. “Cici, I finally realized something last night. All this time, I keep looking for the one—and I realized last night, that maybe I’ve been—maybe she’s been in front of me all along. What I’m trying to say is: I want to give us a try.”

He felt her whole body stiffen; she looked away from him and took a deep breath. “I--” her voice barely a whisper as the song ended. “I can’t do this right now. I have to help Mindy change into her qipao.” Cici quickly exited the ballroom. Chris chased after her, grabbing her arm. “Cici, please stop. Stop running away from me.” She turned away from him, blinking back the wetness in her eyes, praying that her makeup stayed intact. “I’m not—I need to—help Mindy.”

Just then, Chris caught sight of Mindy and Mandy walking into the bridal suite. Mandy saw them and waved him off, signaling that she got Mindy. “I think she’ll be alright,” Chris said. “Can we just talk?” “I can’t--” Cici still avoided eye contact. “Look, if you don’t feel the same way, then just say it to my face.” His heart sank when he saw the tears streaming down her face. “But I think you do.”

“Chris, I can’t,” she finally mustered. “I had dreamed of this since we were twelve. Eighteen year-old me would have been over the moon. Believe me when I say I’ve thought about how this could happen a million times over. I waited, time after time, for you to see me as more than just the girl down the street who brought you your homework when you were sick. Each time I met one of your girlfriends, I asked myself what they had that I didn’t, and I don’t know. They’re all beautiful people, inside and out, and I just figured I was a little off somehow--a little broken. I mean, that’s why guys never ask me out, right? I’m just a booty call.” She swallowed back a sob.

“Sebastian was the first guy that had taken me out in a very, very long time. Like, it wasn’t just Netflix and chill; we actually did an activity that didn’t involve sex. And before you make a comment about my promiscuity, I really haven’t slept with half of Manhattan as people like to believe,” she rolled her eyes and made a face mocking herself.

“Just because I said What’s Your Number? was ridiculous and that I could sleep with twenty guys in a month, which I did, whatever. So I have one night stands. It doesn’t mean I can’t make emotional connections. I dated James for two years before he went to work for NASA,” she sat down against the wall as waiters bustled past them with large trays of cake.

“But you—and me—“ she looked up. “I gave up that notion a long—very long time ago.”

He knelt down next to her and took her hands. He couldn’t recall the last time he saw his best friend so vulnerable.

“There must be a reason why it took you this long to see me as dating potential,” she said softly. “Maybe you’re just settling at this point. Maybe it’s all this wedding fanfare. Whatever the reason, I can’t just ‘give this a try’ because if things don’t work out, I’ll lose the most important friendship of my life and I can’t risk that,” she sniffled and wiped her face. “I can’t lose you.”

This wasn’t the response he was hoping for. There were so many things he wanted to say to her and every word remained a lump in his throat. They sat there in silence for a few more moments, the music blaring against the wall behind them.

She squeezed his hands and gave a small smile. “I’m going to go now. Tomorrow, we can pretend this conversation never happened and go back to the way things were.” Her hands slipped from his as she picked herself up and walked away. -- "Wow, you look like shit, man. How much did you drink last night?" Ted sat down across from Chris. "I'm pretty sure I cleaned out their stock of Jäger," Chris said, pinching his nose. "Wow, you look like shit," Mindy said, sitting next to Ted. "Thank you," Chris said. "That much has been established. Have you guys seen Cici yet?" "She left really early this morning," Mindy said. "She offered to house-sit for us the next two weeks while we’re in Turks and Caicos, so she went home to pack a few things. You two okay? What happened in the hall last night?” “Nothing,” Chris closed his eyes and put his head on the table. “I need more coffee.”

--

Chapter 9