It had been years since Mei last visited San Francisco. She'd spent a majority of her life there, but after college she married and moved to her husband's home state. Luckily, Mei had always kept in touch with a few old classmates and they were urging her to please make an appearance at an upcoming college reunion. She hadn't been able to make their first reunion years ago, but this one she made it a point not to miss.
Mei's flight from Texas was long and the hotel room didn't look as nice in person as it had online, but that didn't take away from her excitement. One little black dress with a pair of high heels later and Mei was ready to make her way to a nearby dining hall that was reserved for the reunion. Her husband Mark stood in the cramped bathroom doorway as he watched his wife model her outfit in front of the mirror and play with her new bob-cut hairstyle. It was likely that no one would recognize him at the reunion even though he had been very popular in his college days. Mark's once tight physique was gone and so were most of his boyish good looks. Nearly everything had changed about him except his controlling attitude.
"Are you really gonna where that tight dress?" Mei's husband asked sarcastically.
"Sure, why not?"
"How
old
are you again?"
"I admit that it's a little form fitting, but definitely age appropriate. And the women at the boutique didn't see anything wrong with it."
"Were they your age or younger?"
"Well..."
"Listen. Don't embarrass yourself. There's nothing more pathetic than a soccer mom trying to look like a schoolgirl," the woman's husband remarked before walking away.
Mei was finding it harder and harder to get a long with Mark. He had never been perfect and she accepted that, but as 40 approached, she began to realize that much of her marriage had been nothing but criticism. She felt alone in their relationship and Mark's own insecurity was beginning to create her own. Mei took one last look in the mirror wondering if he was right about the dress. All of the mean things he'd said over the years about not loosing all of the baby-weight when their daughter was born or not being a "spring chicken" anymore, made her cheeks flush with embarrassment. She was just about to unzip herself and find something more homely to wear when Mark opened his big mouth again.
"Aren't you ready yet? I'm hungry and I don't want to miss a dinner that we've already paid for!"
"Okay, okay," the dark haired woman rushed. Without time to change, she grabbed a black jacket that was hanging near her suitcase; but not the small one that she had first intended to wear. Instead, she accidentally grabbed the blazer that Mark had worn on the plane ride and didn't notice until they were on the elevator. Any other time she would have been upset with herself for making the mistake, but right now Mei felt so self-conscious that she was more than happy to be swallowed up in its oversized material.
Mei wasn't at all surprised to hear some familiar 80's tunes when she walked into the dining hall lobby with her husband. She clutched his hand with excitement and began to smile. "Let's dance after we check in," she insisted. Mark just rolled his eyes with a look of irritation. She used to love his eyes, so blue; the color of calm and clarity. Now they just reminded her of how cold and unfeeling he could be, like a block of ice.
"Tickets please," said a narrow man at the hall's inside entrance. Mei handed over the two orange sheets of printed stock card. "Name?"
"Mei-Lin and Mark Hafford."
"Table 36, please sit in the assigned seats," the ticket taker breathed without enthusiasm. "Next!"
Mark was happy to find that their table was closest to the exit. "They spelled my name wrong," the man began to complain as he took his seat and held up the name card in front of it. "It says Hanford instead of Hafford. We paid fifty bucks a piece for this dinner, the least they could do is check the spelling."
Mei could already tell that this was going to be a long night unless she could find something to hold her husband's interest. "Hey look," the woman gestured toward the bar. "Someone with an old varsity jacket. Maybe you know him."
Mark squinted his eyes before a grin slowly spread across his face. "Hey! Hey Bruce!" the man got up from his seat and began walking over to say hello.
Sure, she was alone and probably the only person sitting down, but Mei felt relieved once her husband left the table. It was still nice to watch all of the other couples dance and have a good time, even if she wasn't included. Plus, she was still anticipating the award ceremony that was scheduled for the end of the night.
Once the current song ended, someone took hold of the microphone and directed everyone to take their seats. The alumni and their dates scattered from the dance floor quickly, knowing that it meant dinner was about to be served.
Mei smiled as her husband returned to their table. From what she could tell, the other couple assigned to sit with them had never shown up. So she and Mark actually had a good shot at having a very private, romantic dinner together. A female server gracefully set their meals on the linen table cloth; chicken for her and steak for him.
"Looks good," Mark said while inhaling the aroma of his food. It was the first nice thing that he'd said all day and although it wasn't much, those words made his wife feel happy. Unfortunately, that feeling was short lived. He picked up his plate and moved to a nearby table where some of his old sports buddies were sitting with their wives. Mei hadn't been invited over and even if she had been, there were no seats left for her to join in. She had been abandoned. Sitting by herself, it didn't take long to realize that other people were trying to hide that fact that they were staring at her, whispering, joking, pitying...
Embarrassment got the best of her and Mei just wanted to get to the ladies room before she became too upset. She stood up from the table abruptly, accidentally knocking over her glass of water, which caused a domino effect against Mark's glass, and the candelabra centerpiece that would have sent everything up in flames if not for the tablecloth being soaked. Embarrassment turned to utter humiliation as she heard people begin to laugh and saw that Mark was just looking at her, shaking his head as if he were ashamed. Mei grew more frustrated as she tried to undo her mess, but it was impossible. Once two servers came to her aid, she grabbed her purse and ran out of the dining hall.
Outside on the front curb, Mei waved her arms trying to hail a taxi. Her face began to tighten as the trail of tears dried on her skin from the evening air. It was only then that she realized how much she had been crying.
"Gimme a break!" the dark haired woman stamped her foot. Someone stole the second cab she'd tried to flag down within the last 5 minutes. Just then, a few people from the dining hall began to emerge from inside to have a smoke. Mei turned away, not wanting to be seen, but with no real place to run. From the corner of her eye she saw people seemingly rise up from the pavement and realized that they were climbing the stairs of the subway. Mei rushed down the steps in time to board a two-car train. Not that she was going anyplace in particular; she just needed to get away. Without much of a plan, Mei eventually went to the only place she knew better than she knew herself, Chinatown.
Four dollars later, Mei was in familiar territory. The sight of red lanterns and fresh laundry hanging out on balconies, the smell fried rice, and the chatter of disoriented tourists with bad maps, told her that she was home. The streets were mostly empty now that it was getting late and the popular shops had closed for the night, but it was something that she was grateful for. The midday crowd was irritating as is and she wouldn't have been able to tolerate them right now without making a scene.
After two blocks, the dark haired woman finally came to her parent's building and began to climb the stairs. For the last 25 years, they had lived in an upstairs apartment while leasing the shop below to a typical Chinese souvenir business. She knocked on the apartment door, but there was no answer. She knocked again.
"Mama!" she called and tried to peek in the curtained side windows. "Mama, it's Mei-Lin!" she said loudly, wondering if her parents were already asleep. It wasn't like her mother and especially not like her father to just leave her out on the porch like that.
"Can I help you?" someone asked from behind.
Mei spun around and saw a young man ascending the staircase with groceries in his arms.
"What? What do you want?" she asked suspiciously, wondering why a stranger was walking his way up to her parent's home in the middle of the night. He was tall and the black knit hat on his head made him look like the thugs that usually hang out in the back alleys.
