"Virginia Slims," he said as he picked up her pack and pulled out a 120, "a distinctly feminine cigarette that obviously sends a deliberate message of, 'I'm proud to be a female smoker.' You don't like the masculine image conveyed by smoking a common brand cigarette, but you also don't want to sacrifice the rich flavor that a menthol 100 brand can provide. Fortunately," he added before putting the cigarette in his mouth, lighting it with her lighter, and inhaling a full puff, "Virginia Slims provide a surprisingly smooth and silky experience that is extremely pleasing. It's definitely a choice that maximizes physical pleasure."
"Of course, location," he continued on with the wave of a hand, "is also an important factor that we need to take into consideration. You're an exhibitionist," he said pointing the cigarette at her accusedly. "You are the only one smoking here in a public place. You
want
other people to see you smoking because you know how good you look."
"Which finally takes us to the most important factor: the distinct physical qualities of the cigarette itself. You chose a 120 because it exudes sensuality and seduction. Indeed, you are confident in your feminine sexuality. But a super slim 120 would highlight that to an even greater degree. No, you chose a VS-120 because it's thicker than a super-slim but thinner than a 100. A Virginia Slims 120 puts forward a clear statement: you're looking to convey dominance while still celebrating your femininity."
Thoroughly pleased with himself, George ended with the following statement: "Taking all of this into consideration, it would have to be a brave man indeed to ask you out on a date."
Throughout his whole presentation, the woman wore a smirk on her face as she listened. When he was done, she wondered whether she should clap. She certainly found his description fit her to a T. She brought the remainder of her cigarette up to her lips, took a 4 second puff as she stared into his eyes, snapped back the smoke, and dropped the cigarette into her Starbucks cup while exhaling from her nose.
"Well, George Zhou with a 'Z,'" she said ripping a blank page out of the back of her textbook and pulling out a pen, "if you are as brave a man as you seem to think you are, here's my number." She handed him the piece of paper, stood up and turned to head to class.
"So will you marry me?" the young man asked boldly.
"Absolutely not," she said with no hesitation as she walked away.
"One day you'll say yes," he hollered.
CHAPTER 1 - ARRIVAL AT AUNTIE NANCY'S
Twenty Years Later
"Hey Mom, are we there yet?"
Lisa and her twin brother, Jacob, giggled in the backseat after asking their mother this question in unison. It was a running joke in their family as the two teenagers knew that there was no better way to get a rise out of their Mom. Normally the joke received a wry "ha-ha" from her, but not today. Today Jennifer Chou was focused on getting her two kids over to her twin sister Nancy's house where they would reside for the next ten days. Jennifer had a vitally important conference to attend in Rome where her presentation would determine her career advancement. Normally she thrived on such pressure, but the stakes of this trip abroad were so high that there were moments when she thought she was going to crack mentally.
There were ways, of course, that she dealt with this kind of stress that was so normal in her management role in a high tech company: Yoga, long walks, a glass of Chardonnay. For now, though, she would have to work through the stress the old fashioned way: grit and bear it.
Lisa, an 18 year old who was the spitting image of her beautiful mother, including an oval face with high cheek bones and dark black hair (though Lisa kept it long while her mother preferred it short to the base of her neck), was pretty mature for her age. She could sense her mother's anxiety, and wished she could find the words to comfort her; but she also could not hide her own concerns about the living arrangements for the next ten days. "Mom," she said, "you know we love Auntie Nancy; but she smokes A LOT. I'm kinda worried about the health effects from all that second hand smoke."
Jennifer eyed the off-ramp that would take her into her sister's Palo Alto neighborhood. "Well," she said with a glance in the rear view mirror at her daughter, "I grew up in a two bedroom home in Marin where everybody smoked, and it didn't affect me any."
Given a choice, Jennifer would have preferred to leave her kids with someone else; but ten days was too long for either a babysitter or to leave them on their own as she might do for an overnight business trip. Nancy was the only family she had left. But it wasn't her sister's smoking that she worried about; it was that the two of them were not as close as they once were before Jennifer decided to leave home at 18 and live on her own. The sisters still got together for holidays every few months, but Jennifer never felt completely comfortable around Nancy, especially when they were alone together.
"I don't know how you could live with three smokers, Mom. I'd go crazy."
Jennifer made a right turn. "You get used to it," she said blandly with another right turn onto a tree lined street. "Besides, Auntie Nancy's house is pretty big. You probably won't even notice her smoking unless you're in the same room."
"Why are you so down on smoking?" Jacob asked his sister in a whisper.
Lisa looked at him like he was an insane person. "Uh, because it causes lung cancer???"
"That's only if you smoke for a lifetime," Jacob said, glancing at the rear view mirror to see if his mother was listening. "Besides, I think it smells kinda good."
In truth, Lisa did, too - though she never understood why. When she was a little kid she loved watching Nancy's smoke tricks, especially the way she could exhale enormous rings. Sometimes she would just sit on her Auntie's lap and watch how she would cock her head and blow long, flowing streams of smoke. But every child wants to grow up and be a smoker - that is, before they learn about the health consequences. As they grow older, most come to reject it while some keep their desire to smoke a secret. Lisa knew she was one of the former, but she now wondered whether her twin was a member of the latter. "You're crazy," she whispered in exasperation.
Jennifer eavesdropped on their conversation in amusement. Weren't there bigger problems in the world to worry about over rather than whether people wanted to smoke or not? She believed so...and with that final thought, she passed through an open gate and turned on to a private drive-way which brought the house into view.
"House," in fact, was a misnomer. This was a luxury 15 bedroom mansion with two separate live-in wings, an in-door open-air atrium, home theater, game room, and ballroom, all located on several acres with tennis courts, gardens, a redwoods grove, and an extravaganza Roman villa pool and entertainment complex. There was even a third floor to house live-in help (though Nancy only relied on Ayi, an old Chinese woman, who cooked and did light housekeeping). The space was obviously far larger than one person needed; but her late husband used it as a showcase for business associates; and she still found it useful for hosting events related to her charitable foundation. As young children, Lisa and Jacob loved running through its hallways and many rooms looking for hidden passages. Lisa would imagine that she would find a secret garden somewhere on the estate. Visiting Auntie Nancy's house was always something they looked forward to since there was so much to do.
Now that they were older, however, they wondered if it would be as exciting. And they were particularly worried about their mother's decision that they could not bring electronic devices. "What are we supposed to do for fun?" they complained.
"Read!" she admonished them like any good Tiger Mom would. "Study for your Stanford courses!" Indeed, the twins were both accepted to Stanford for the Fall, but they also wanted to enjoy what little free time they had left before the hard work began.
"But it's summer," they complained.
"Do you think your future classmates are taking a summer break?" she always replied. "Do you know how hard I had to work to get into Stanford and then Berkeley?" Jennifer was a third generation American, but there were times when her kids wondered if she had just gotten off the boat from China.
