Chinese Taeout

Readers be warned, this is the first chapter in a multi-chapter story, there's no sex in this first chapter. This is all lead-in and teaser for the main event which will be a chapter or three coming. That said, I do hope you all enjoy.

A Christmas present for the real Round-Out (you know who you are) -- with thanks for all the help and encouragement.

Chinese Takeout - Chapter 01 -- Dim Sum Octopus

"Hey Jay-Lin, you'll like Peter." Ginny exuded confidence. That should have been a red flag. "He's so cool. He's coming to dim-sum tomorrow with me and Jiffy. Come with us."

I shrugged. "My parents' are working, I can't get a ride."

I was making excuses. Blind dates, even for dim-sum, weren't really my thing. Actually, dates weren't really my thing if we're being honest. I might sound a bit jaded but hey, the guys I knew were all horny little dickheads who thought they were god's gift to a girl because their parents were loaded and they drove expensive cars.

Just once, I wished I'd meet a guy who didn't fit that description. I didn't mind the parents being loaded, that was okay. Mine weren't exactly poor. It was the dickhead bit that frustrated me. Unfortunately, living where I lived, most of the students at my High School were either Chinese or some other kind of Asian. That largely meant they were either dickheads or nerds. Not interested in dickheads or nerds, that was me.

Which left me with what amounted to no choice at all.

Not that I wasn't a bit of a nerd myself. It was hard not to be with my parents. My parents, in other words, were typical Chinese parents. But at least I had aspirations. Dating dickheads or nerds didn't fit with those. Ginny, in my opinion, dated dickheads.

Ginny's phone rang. She was on it right away. "Wei, wei. Jiffy!" Squealed of course.

Of course it was Jiffy. Ginny was in constant communication with whatever guy she was dating. Talking or texting. Right now Jiffy was arranging tonight's date. And tomorrow's dim-sum. Ginny grinned at me. "Jiffy's with Peter right now, you know, the cool guy, he says Peter can pick you up and drop you off if you need a ride."

She didn't even wait for me to reply. "Sure, tell Peter she says yes, you know her address, you give it to Peter. They can meet us there."

"Thanks Ginny." I sounded dry, even to myself. Ginny's idea of cool and mine usually did not intersect. She didn't get the sarcasm at all. Or if she did, she was being subtle. But subtle and Ginny weren't a combination I'd ever run into before so probably not. Whatever, her only response was a smiling "You're welcome Jay-Lin" as the bell rang and afternoon recess ended. Nope, the sarcasm had flown right over her head.

I liked Ginny a lot, she was my best friend, but with guys she was just a pain in the butt. I knew I went along with her plans for me far too easily. But she

was

my best friend. Not my only friend, I wasn't that much of a nerd. But she did qualify as my best friend. We'd been best friends since forever. Like, Grade One. I still didn't particularly want to go on a blind date, even if it was only dim sum. But what the heck, going out for dim sum was better than sitting at home all day.

Marginally.

Maybe.

Fingers crossed.

And what could possibly go awry with dim sum.

* * * * * * * *

"Out of bed Jay-Lin, your Dad and I are off to work, see you tonight."

"Okay okay, I'm getting up. Bye Mom, see you when you get home."

"Don't cook. We'll bring some takeout home for dinner."

"I can do that Mom, I'm going for dim-sum with Ginny, I'll get some takeout and bring it back."

"Thanks dear, you do that then. Have a nice day. Say hi to Ginny for us."

"I will. Bye Mom, bye Dad."

The door to the garage slammed. The garage door opened and then closed. Alone at last. I snuggled down under the duvet. No way was I getting up this early. It wasn't even eight. Another couple of hours of sleep sounded just right. Enough to give me the energy to cope with whatever Mr. Wrong it was that Ginny had lined up for me. Hopefully, he wouldn't be too bad. Think positively Jay-Lin! Positive thoughts were definitely needed before I made myself too depressed. The power of positive thinking, my Mom always said. My Mom was right far too often for her own good.

Positive thinking? I was willing to give it a try.

Eyes closed, I pictured Mr. Right.

Taller than me, but not too tall. Maybe five foot ten, now that sounded a good height. Four inches taller than me. Just right. Strong but not an overdone jock. Good looking of course, color of hair irrelevant although blonde always looked good. A blonde guy with blue eyes and dimples and a sparkling smile. And polite. Definitely polite and caring, the sort of guy that opened doors for you and looked after you. With a car. Some college guy. But not a nerd. A couple of years older than me sounded nice. Twenty? Maybe twenty one or two, not too much older than me, definitely not the same age though. Eighteen year old guys were such dicks.

At least in my admittedly limited experience.

My mind formed a picture of him. Him and me, out on a date. Dinner at a really nice restaurant (because everyone knows that the way to a Chinese girl's heart is through good food) and romance. Definitely romance. Flowers. Wine. Not that I drank wine, but hey, a girl has dreams. And aspirations. In my mind, I was a little black dress type of girl who delicately sipped wine. After a long romantic dinner, he'd drive me home in his car, I'd invite him inside. My parents would of course be conveniently out. Actually, they often were. We'd sit together in front of the fire, he'd take me in his arms, we'd sink back together onto the fluffy silk of that sheepskin rug we had and he'd kiss me.

Sweet romance.

What a laugh. I'd never met a guy like that in my life.

I wished I had.

Still, sleepy, my eyes slowly closed. I woke again up to my phone doing its little song thing. I blinked, wide awake. Ginny. After thinking about it for all of a couple of seconds, I answered. "Hi Ginny."

"Hi Jay-Lin." God, she sounded so perky. What was it with her and mornings?

"Ginny."

"You ARE coming aren't you, Peter was really interested."

"Yes Ginny, I AM coming, okay, but he better not be as bad as that last guy you dragged me along to meet." He'd been awful. He'd actually looked okay, I'd even kissed him. Yuck! His mouth tasted of old cigarettes and like he hadn't cleaned his teeth for six months. Because I'd kissed him, he thought he could go further. It'd taken me weeks to shake him off. It'd been awful.

"No no no, hey, I told you I was sorry about Jerry, okay, don't rub it in. Peter is cool. He drives a Mercedes convertible."

Oh Sweet Jesus Ginny, spare me. She was so into guys with money. Indoctrinated by her Mom, who was totally a prize snob. Her Dad was a total sleaze. He always looked at me

that

way. If you're a girl, you know what I mean. If you're a guy, well, it's that look that feels like a guy's undressing you with his eyes. Yuck! Fortunately, her Dad was away on business in China a lot. The only reason I was permitted as one of Ginny's friends was because, well, I was Chinese as well and I looked good, but not as good as Ginny.

Even I thought Ginny was hot. Her family was from Sichuan and Ginny was definitely là mèi zi! Speaking dispassionately here, I'm not bad looking myself. Her Mom more or less regarded me as one of Ginny's necessary accessories. That "

good looking friend who's not quite as good looking as my daughter

" one. For all that her Mom was a pain in the ass, Ginny actually was a good friend when it counted. So I forgave her her Mom (what could she do about that, after all) and her sleazy Dad and her lamentable taste in guys.

I'd been thinking. Ginny had been burbling as I half listened. I switched back on with the "What're you going to wear?" question. Ginny always liked to coordinate. She was so into fashion statements. THAT I didn't mind. I was into fashion statements myself. If they were on sale. My parents gave me an allowance for clothes. But it wasn't anything like Ginny's.

"Casual," I said. "It's dim-sum, it's not like we're going to a club or anything. And it's hot today." It was. Hot and sunny. Beautiful early Fall weather. One of those perfect Fall days when the leaves are beginning to change color but they're all still on the trees and you just want to get outside and bask in the warmth and the sunlight. I'd checked the temperature while we were talking. "Shorts and a tanktop."

"Wow! That IS casual. What colors?"

I grinned. My turn to push Ginny's buttons. "Black and white." I knew she hated wearing anything white. Hey, I hadn't had a coffee yet. I was feeling mean.

"Not a white tank top. Please Jay-Lin." She meant it to. She was begging. I took pity on her.

"Black tank top then. I'll think about the shorts." I would at least give Ginny some hope. Anyhow, I hadn't made up my mind what I was going to wear.

"Okay," she chirped, happy again. "Jiffy's outside now. I better start getting ready. I'll see you there."

"Where's there anyhow?"

"Peter knows."

"Ginny!" She knew I didn't like surprises. Some of Ginny's surprises had not been the best. Like that time we all got food poisoning at that Vietnamese noodle soup place.

"Okay okay, we're going to the Imperial Dragon."

"Oh good." I liked the Imperial Dragon. The dim-sum there was the best. Expensive, but I knew Peter or Jiffy would be paying. Ginny's guys always paid, even if they were assholes. Jiffy was okay for a dickhead though. Always very polite. I hoped this guy Peter was more like Jiffy than he was like the last dickhead.

* * * * * * * *

He wasn't.

He was worse.

How did Ginny do it?

He looked okay when he picked me up. Actually he was quite good looking. He obviously worked out, he was taller than me (totally a must if you have to know) but I didn't really go for the buzz cut and the mirror shades. He was overdressed as well. Way overdressed. I mean, a suit for God's sake? A suit? I didn't know ANY guys who wore a suit. I was at High School for goodness sake. A suit with NO tie! He wasn't much older than me and he was trying to look like one of those cool guys in a Hong Kong movie. Aiiyaaahhh! Get a life.

The bling. Okay, let's talk about the bling for a moment. It was painfully obvious he was mainland Chinese. It was all about the bling. Ostentatiously displayed Rolex watch. Open necked shirt (like, unbuttoned half way down his chest open) so as to show off a gold chain with links as thick as my middle finger looped round his neck. Twice. Gold ear studs with a diamond in each one. Not a small diamond either. All minuses. Wonder of wonders, he didn't have any diamonds in his teeth. Pluses? Well, he opened the passenger door for me. And it would have been a nice convertible without all the add-ons. Just like Ginny said, it was a Mercedes convertible.

Minuses? How can you turn a Mercedes convertible into a Rice Boy car? Well, he'd managed. The wheels looked like they were straight from some movie about a Rap singer. That beautiful Mercedes had a huge spoiler stuck on the back, enormous fireball stickers down the sides, half a dozen foglights on the front, a "Nocturnal Racing" banner across the windshield. And a couple of Mugen stickers. Mugen? On a Mercedes SL? Where was this guy coming from? I was already feeling embarrassed before I sat down inside it. I put my shades on right away. Hopefully no one I knew would see me. And if they did, they wouldn't recognize me.

More minuses? He told me all about it, including the model (SL if you want to know), how much it cost (way too much) and how much power the engine had. Also, all the after-factory modifications he'd had made. I almost went to sleep until he put his hand on my leg while he drove. That woke me up fast. Okay, those short-shorts were obviously a bad idea. I removed his hand. Sixty seconds later it returned. I removed his hand. Sixty seconds later ....

You get the idea.

Pluses? We arrived at the Imperial Dragon alive. Minuses? He drove like he was in The Fast and the Furious. I was actually seriously scared. Really, I was! He laughed when I asked him to slow down. He didn't slow down at all. The way he laughed he seemed to think I was joking. So, an asshole, not just a dickhead. Pluses? He opened the car door for me, then the main door into the restaurant. Minuses? We walked the whole way across the restaurant to the table where Ginny and Jiffy were already seated with his hand on my butt. I fumed silently. I didn't remove his hand though.

I was so NOT going to make a scene. Not like that time with that asshole Kam.

But I really REALLY didn't like it. Ginny took one look at my face as we sat down and she knew. Her expression told me that, along with the forced chatter.

Dim-sum was good. It always was at the Imperial Dragon. Peter's hand on my knee turned that wonderful dim-sum to ashes in my mouth. I didn't appreciate his hand on my knee. I appreciated it even less as it moved higher. High enough that I was forced to remove it. Sixty seconds later..... My replies to Ginny and Jiffy were monosyllabic from the start. They became more and more terse as dim-sum progressed. Jiffy and Ginny looked more and more uncomfortable. Peter was arrogantly oblivious. I was quietly fuming. When Ginny decided she needed to visit the washroom I disengaged myself from the tentacles and followed her. I didn't even wait to get into the washroom.

"What a creep," I hissed. "How could you do that to me? You're supposed to be my friend."

"He's not bad." She sounded defensive.

"Not bad? He scared the heck out of me driving here. And he's been groping me since he picked me up."

"Hey, it's just his hand on your leg."

"Ginny! I am so NOT getting a ride home with that asshole. He can't keep his hands to himself, he won't take no and his driving scares me. And he wouldn't slow down when I asked him too."

"I'll talk to him, okay, just stay here for a couple of minutes and cool down, okay. Take a few deep breathes or something."

I gave her the icy "we are not amused" look. "Okay."

I gave her extra time. I stayed in the washroom for five minutes.

When I sat back down the asshole's hand did not return. I smiled gratefully at Ginny. The conversation became rather less forced. My replies became multi-syllabic. Even chatty. Finally, replete with dim-sum, Ginny and I watched as the guys finished everything. Peter rather ostentatiously grabbed the bill first and paid for everything over Jiffy's protests. The usual point-scoring between the guys. As we all stood to leave, I thanked god that this nightmare was almost over.

Only to discover how wrong I was!

We walked across the restaurant with Peter's hand firmly implanted on my butt. It felt like everyone's eyes were burning into my butt as I walked to the door. Outside on the footpath, Ginny, Jiffy and Peter were talking. Meanwhile, I was doing my best to remove Peter's hand from its unwanted position gripping my posterior. Somehow, he'd slid his fingers into my pocket. My dance away from him ended when his fingers in my shorts brought me to a standstill. Peter grinned at me.

I was about to slap his smug face hard when a large and very loud motorcycle pulled up right in front of us. The very large and rather hairy looking gweilo guy riding it climbed off and walked into the bakery next to the Imperial Dragon. He gave me a smile as he walked past us. I used the distraction to disengage myself from the tentacle in my back pocket and move away to what I considered to be a safe distance. No way was I getting a ride home from Peter. Jiffy and Ginny better drive me home. If they didn't, I'd call my Dad to come and pick me up. I'd never needed to do that before but there was always a first time.

Ginny, Jiffy and Peter kept talking while I eyed that motorcycle. Honestly, I'd always liked motorcycles. I'd have liked to have gone for a ride on one but none of the guys I knew had one or even knew how to ride one. I'd have dated a guy with a motorcycle. Seriously! Well, if they weren't a dickhead I would've. This one was a Harley. Even with my lack of knowledge of things motorized, I'd heard of Harley's. You saw them now and then. So big and powerful. I'd even seen a couple of Hell's Angels on them once. Come to think of it, that gweilo guy had been wearing something that looked vaguely like those patched jacket things those Hell's Angels I'd once seen had worn. Was he a biker? Wow.

I was still looking at that Harley when the gweilo guy walked out of the bakery. He was carrying a box of pastries along with his helmet. A biker that liked Chinese buns? Cool. He wasn't a young guy, but he wasn't old and grey either. More like Salt and Pepper. Maybe in his thirties somewhere but you know how it is, hard to tell. He half-smiled at me as he walked past. I half-smiled back.

Wow again! He'd looked at me? He'd noticed me? He'd smiled at me? I glanced around just to check if there was someone else he was smiling at but there wasn't. Which of course was when Peter the Tenticular Creep placed his hand firmly on my butt and gave me a squeeze too many.

My patience abruptly came to an end. Especially with that gweilo guy watching me. I was, like, so totally embarrassed. "Peter, will you for God's sake stop groping my butt and keep your hands to yourself!"

I wasn't quiet. Not this time. I slapped his hand away. Ginny looked at me, wide-eyed, wincing. I'd shocked her I think. God, I was so never going to go anywhere with a guy that Ginny set me up with every again in my entire life. Never! Even if she was my best friend. If he did it again, I was going to start swearing. I was so going to call my Dad for rescue. He'd always told me to call him if I ever needed an emergency pickup. Dad was good like that. Really, I'd never ever had to do it before though. This time, I knew I had to. It was either that or getting charged with homicide. Although maybe it would be reduced to ham-sup-lo-icide.

Peter completely ignored me. The asshole!

Only, he didn't ignore me. He gave me a supercilious grin that totally infuriated me. He winked at Ginny and Peter. "Jay-Lin and I better get going, don't want to waste any of that make-out time before her Mom and Dad get home tonight."

I saw Ginny wince. She knew me.

I exploded. I just ... exploded! "Peter Wong, if you think I'm going anywhere in a car with you, let alone making out with you, think again, you ... you ... you jerk. I'd rather walk home."

I turned and stormed off, feeling for my cellphone. That was it! I wasn't just furious with the creep, I was mad with Ginny for putting me in this positon as well. I was going to call my Dad. The last thing I heard as I stormed around the corner of the building, wanting nothing more than to get that octopus both out of my sight and out of tenticular range before I did my best to kill him, was his voice calling out to me. "I'll wait here for you Jay-Lin."

"Fuck off" I screamed as loud as I could. That arrogant asshole! I'd never ever sworn at anyone like that in my life. Not even that total asshole Kam. The looks I got were, like, totally embarrassing but I was just so mad I didn't care.

Around the corner, out of sight, I came a halt. I wanted to hit something as I fished around for my cellphone. Shit! I couldn't find it. It wasn't in any of my pockets. I must have left it back at home. Shit shit shit. I couldn't go back and ask Ginny to borrow her phone. Not with the creep there. Now I was going to have to find a payphone and god knows they were few and far between. I realized I didn't even know my Dad's number. I just hit the button on my phone and it did the dialing. Oh no! I just couldn't walk back round the corner and face that creep. I just couldn't. Even to rant at Ginny.