I stood at the exit from customs anxiously awaiting the arrival of my company's special guest that had just landed on a flight from Beijing through Tokyo. Professor Tze Yeung Lok was an expert; some considered him the leading expert, on Chinese herbs and natural compounds. It had taken the company, Apollo Pharmaceuticals, over a year to convince the Professor to travel to our headquarters to lecture and collaborate with the research team. Although at twenty-nine I was still very much a junior member of the team, I had been selected to play host, chauffeur and something of an interpreter as well. The reason for this was that I had minored in Mandarin at school and spent a year doing post-grad work in China. Thus, I was naturally deemed an expert on all things Chinese.
In front of me were two large sliding doors that periodically opened, allowing small groups to emerge, and giving the waiting crowd a peek into the arrivals corridors and the throng of passengers. Each time it opened, I looked up hopefully but it was almost twenty minutes before I spotted the Professor, recognizing him from pictures. I skirted the others gathered around the doors and met him just as he stepped from the cordoned area.
"Professor Lok?" I asked in a hopeful voice.
Without speaking he nodded his head and a big smile came to his face. We shook hands while I, in my best Mandarin, introduced myself then taking one of his bags I motioned in the direction of my car.
The first thing I noticed about the Professor was that the pictures did not capture the warmth and energy he showed in person. His bio had said he was fifty-one and the pictures indeed showed a mature man but in person he exuded a playful charm that softened his age. From my perspective, it was a good development since it looked like my job was going to be much easier.
The Professor was mostly bald and appeared to be about 5' 9" tall. In addition, he was thin and wore wire rim glasses. His rumpled, loose fitting clothes were indicative of someone that had just completed a long journey.
"You must be quiet tired," I said in Mandarin as we left the parking garage.
"Please Jim. May we speak in English? I would like to improve my skill during this visit," he responded.
"Of course," I answered even though I had hoped for just the opposite. My words brought out once again his open, beaming smile.
The rest of the drive we chatted idly about a variety of things and when we arrived at his hotel, which would be his home for the next two months, I helped him check in then gave him a local cell phone that was preprogrammed with my number and told him to call me as soon as he felt like getting out. Purposefully, he had arrived on a Saturday, to allow for a day of rest, so we had a free day before he was expected at the facility.
"Did everything go okay?" my wife Stephanie asked when I got back. She was straightening the house while jazz music played in the background.
"Yes it did and he seems like a really good guy," I told her.
"Great. That will make things much easier," Steph replied reaffirming my view.
My wife Stephanie or Steph for short is the joy of my life. She is an amazing beauty standing 5'7" tall and weighing in at 126 pounds. Her frame, as you can imagine, is quite slender, with long, smooth legs and perfectly shaped B-Cup breasts. Her hair is jet black and she has large dark brown eyes that make me melt. To top it off, she has full succulent lips that are soft and perfect for kissing. The conventional view is that I punched way above my weight class when I landed her as in comparison I am quite average. I'm 5'11" and have a medium build with more or less average looks but I am in pretty good shape. In fact, the reason Steph and I got together was because of our love for activities. We met through a group that cycled on weekends and ended up training together for Sprint Triathlons.
That first meeting was five years ago when I was twenty-four and she was twenty-three and after dating for a year we got married. We continue to enjoy sports and outdoor activities and had put off starting a family although we both realized we needed to start soon.
Like I mentioned above, I am a junior member of the research team for a drug company and have been in this role since graduating college. Steph works in commercial real estate having started in marketing but recently moved into leasing.
It was after lunch the next day when the phone rang and I saw that Professor Lok was calling.
"Hello Professor. I hope you rested well," I spoke in English per his request.
The Professor stumbled with his English but I was able to understand that he had indeed been able to get some sleep, despite the jet lag, and had enjoyed a late breakfast. For the last few hours, he said he been watching TV and waiting for a civilized time to phone. His description made me start to laugh, which made him as well. After chatting for a while, it was decided that I would pick him up and let him spend the afternoon with us in our home.
Both Steph and I prefer the urban life to suburbia so we had purchased a small three-bedroom bungalow in an eclectic neighborhood near the city center. It was a fabulous location for parks, the arts, dining and entertainment but meant that we didn't have the big yard and pool. It was a forty minute round trip to pick up the Professor and when we returned Steph met us at the door and I noticed by the expression in the Professor's eyes that he approved. Steph, always the good hostess, had prepared tea, which thrilled our guest and we sat in the small back yard and got to know each other.
It was a great afternoon. The Professor was charming and showed the same open mannerisms that he did at the airport. Steph and he got along quite well and maintained a lively conversation for the entire afternoon. Later, after I had dropped him back at the hotel, my wife agreed that he was indeed quite charming. We laughed thinking about how he would be able to manipulate the stiff researchers that were very set in their ways.
In fact, that was exactly what happened. Professor Lok made quite the splash at the facility and with his personality he soon was being hounded for social engagements with many of the senior staff. This went on for a couple weeks then, like most things, started to wane. Make no mistake, he was still in demand and considered quite interesting but dinners four to five nights a week had now become one or two.
The Professor seemed to be enjoying himself immensely with all the attention. Plus, while the senior staff might lack in social graces they were still very intelligent people and we could see that Professor Lok enjoyed this element.
During this time, Steph and I had only seen the Professor once for lunch and that was at his insistence. It had been on a Saturday and been relatively brief as he had an engagement later to attend. However, sensing that things had calmed socially, I asked him on a Thursday if he wanted to come over and watch a movie with us the following night. He immediately accepted with eagerness and we agreed we would leave straight from work the following day.
When we arrived, Steph was busy in the kitchen working on dinner. Having changed from her work attire into slacks and a sleeveless blouse, she was trying to put an oriental spin on the preparation, which was challenging, but she seemed to be having a good time with it. We had purchased several bottles of a decent California Chardonnay and Steph had already opened a bottle and poured a glass. I filled two glasses for the Professor and me and we retired to the living room and chatted while Steph finished.
The dinner was excellent and it was easy to see from the reactions of our guest that he enjoyed it. I was happy to see that my wife and the Professor were interacting and even though the conversation at times was stilted it was apparent everyone was having a good time. We all helped with putting the dishes in the sink then moved again to the living room while we continued to sip on the wine. It had made a big impression on the Professor and I seemed to be in a continual state of refilling his glass.
"Thank you very much," Professor Lok said to my wife in deliberate English when we were all seated.
"You are very welcome," Steph responded with an appreciative smile.
For the next hour, we chatted with jazz music playing in the background. It was my wife's first opportunity to spend any significant time with our guest and she pummeled him with sincere questions about China, his background and his family. Professor Lok appeared to be enjoying the discussion and would give slow rambling answers to her questions filled with detail along with philosophical thoughts that had her mesmerized. What he lacked in perfect English he made up with sincerity.
Steph had begun fidgeting on the couch and raising her arms over her head in a stretching motion. It wasn't anything new for me as she often felt stiff after a long day at work but I noticed that Professor Lok was watching with some interest. At first, he merely observed but after twenty minutes or so he asked her about her condition.
