Harry was stunned when I told him that the girls had agreed in principle to Kang's proposal. He opened his mouth and then gave a long whistle. "She is way out of our league," he said and sat down to think.
"It is in her blood," he said, "the sex and the drive to lead people."
"Yes," I said, "she is one of a kind."
"Are you going to join her group?" he asked without looking at me, almost absent-mindedly.
"I am not sure, but I probably will," I whispered.
Harry nodded and looked at his feet blankly.
"I think it is important that we went through with it," I continued, speaking softly and trying to think for him. "It is important that we do this for the girls."
He continued nodding, then he took off his thick glasses and ran the palm of his right hand across his face. He always looked young without his glasses, and now he looked young and innocent.
"I think there is no way for us to back away from all of this," he frowned and put his glasses back on.
I shook my head and said, "No, you are right."
"Well," he slapped his knees and got up, "I'm sure he will be happy to learn that he is now going to feast on a smorgasbord of old Chinese cheeby!"
I winced at him: "cheeby" was an angry curse word, the equivalent of "twat" or "cunt," and I did not like the sound of it or the fact that he had used it.
"Please watch your words," I flashed an angry glare at him. "These are my sisters and you can't talk about them like that."
Harry was startled. He blushed and tried to smile.
"These are women who deserve every bit of respect that you can give to anyone on this earth," I hissed at him, "and if they want for once in their lives to go wild, you have no right to judge them."
Harry blinked and bent his head a little. "But, but, I didn't mean anything by it...."
"I am sure you didn't think it, but you felt it -- your contempt."
I was angry and was now determined to be part of Kang's enterprise. If Harry was going to react like that, I could easily imagine how the other husbands were going to take it.
I called Kang and expressed my concern to her. The plan was for each girl to tell her husband individually and to report back to Kang on how the husbands had taken the proposal. Kang would then intervene personally, as needed, and convince any of the recalcitrant husbands to acquiesce.
"I think it's best to bring all the men under one roof and explain to them as a group what this is all about," I proposed to Kang. "I don't think it's reasonable to expect the girls to do it on their own, one-on-one. It's just too much pressure and even dangerous."
Kang agreed and so we set up a general gathering in Kang's house for the Sunday two weeks hence, inviting all seven couples to attend. And since the invitation was from Kang and was formal (she sent out Hallmark cards, inviting them to "Celebrate our long, deep friendship"), all seven couples immediately agreed to attend.
Stephen welcomed the guests with an ironic smile and twinkling eyes. Harry stood back and nodded from afar, his hands crossed behind his back, forcing himself to smile and bow his head.
We were all dressed in our Sunday best -- you didn't attend one of Kang's parties in anything less than formal attire: the men in suits and the women in their finest dresses and most expensive jewelry. The girls put on extra make up and we all agreed to wear the same perfume, White Diamonds from Elizabeth Taylor.
Mozart's Divertimento no. 1 was playing and the smell of roasted duck wafted through the air. The men, sweating in their suits and smiling, shook Stephen's hands and then went up to Kang and bowed to her with a smile. She bowed back with a slight nod and showed them to an empty seat and chatted with them for a few seconds, beckoning the maid to bring over two glasses of wine for the husband and wife.
By seven thirty, all the guests had arrived and a steady, gentle hubbub of conversation and laughter filled the room. Harry was nervous all along, unable to take his mind off from what was about to happen next. We all sat down at Kang's dining table and ate slowly, laughing and exchanging stories and jokes.
Gao, as usual, was funny and made everyone laugh. He told us about the new Indian young man they had just hired -- twenty two years old and fresh out of college -- who behaved as if he were a high-flying executive with dozens of years of experience and an endless record of achievement and accomplishments.
"He makes forceful demands and indignantly insists that he is right, and is not afraid to publicly ridicule even the CEO," he said, smiling. Everyone laughed out loud, and some clapped their hands. "And everyone just humors him," Gao continued, "amused by his endless self confidence and afraid to burst his bubble."
Loud laughter followed.
"He says, and shakes a finger at us, 'We must systematically measure the parameters of our business or risk facing the wrathful consequences of our ignorance!"
They all laughed again.
The dinner lasted an hour and a half, but the time passed very quickly. It was a little past nine o'clock when Kang got up and asked everyone to quiet down.
"I need you all to join me in the basement where coffee and tea will be served," she said.
Harry blushed and frowned and nervously took off his glasses and cleaned them.
Downstairs, four rows of four chairs each were lined up. Facing them stood an oak lectern, on which was a tall glass of water. A laptop was set up and on the wall flashed the first slide of a PowerPoint presentation. The title was, "The Kang Project."
