Page 104 of So Not Meant To Be
“Brilliant chef who makes the best fucking dumplings you’ll ever have. He started his culinary journey in Chinatown, actually. Huxley found him and offered him a job that he couldn’t refuse. Not many people can afford to eat at the Parkside Club, but those that do, eat well.”
“Well, you know, you could’ve taken me there.”
He shakes his head. “Nah, the vibe wouldn’t have been right. Formal attire is required and the place is stuffy as shit. Here, we get to relax.” He says that as he slouches in his chair.
“So, then who would you take to the Parkside Club? A special date?”
He adjusts his hat on his head and says, “I’ve only gone with my brothers. Haven’t taken anyone. Like I said, food is fucking good, but it’s stuffy. I’m not about to take a date there.”
“But I thought you said this wasn’t a date? Maybe you should’ve taken me there.”
“And miss out on the opportunity to see you cry over a picture of yourself with braces? Fuck no.”
I laugh. “Ah, yes, a dream moment, I’m sure.”
He taps the side of his head. “Filed that away for safekeeping.”
“I’m sure you did.” I lean on the table and ask, “So, what did you do today?”
“Nothing special,” he answers. “Answered a laundry list of emails from my brothers, worked out, did some visits.”
“What kind of visits? Conjugal?”
“What?” He laughs. “Who the fuck would I be visiting in prison?”
“I don’t know your life. Could be anyone.”
“That fucking brain of yours, there’s something wrong with it. No, I just visited with some nonprofits in the area.”
That perks me up. “Really? Which ones?”
“If you must know, you fucking nosey thing”—that makes me smile—“I met with a foundation that saves pigeons and then stopped by an animal shelter.”
“You just casually went and saved animals today. Is that what you’re telling me?”
“I didn’t save them but, you know, grew some connections.” He shrugs. “Then went back to the penthouse where I took a shower and got ready. If I knew you were going to take forever to get dressed, I would’ve spent more time in the shower.”
“Oh yeah, doing what?”
He raises a brow, and that’s all he has to say.
“Ah, I see. The old scrub and tug, huh?”
His head falls back and a very sexy rumble of laughter falls out of him. “Yeah, something like that. What about you, how were your meetings today?”
“Fun,” I say with a smile. “I met with Dena over at the South building. She was the sweetest, and we spent all morning walking through the building and seeing where we could make changes. She’s very excited about all the plans we mapped out.”
“Dena is chill, I like her.”
Just as my belly rumbles, the waitress approaches with our food, so conversation is put on hold as we make room for the dishes. Pork and chive dumplings, shrimp dumplings, Shanghai chicken bun, vegetable spring rolls, and sauteed asparagus. It smells amazing.
We both pick up chopsticks, prep them, and without saying a word, we dig in.
* * *
We standon the sidewalk outside of the Dim Sum Star, waiting for the car to pull around, when I say, “You know... I remember it being a lot better than that.”
JP pats his chest as he lets out a quiet burp. “Fuck... I need something to remove the taste of that chive dumpling from my mouth.”
